213 Miles From Shea

The Mets were down 2-0 going into the bottom of ninth, and then they started hitting. They got the three runs thanks to a couple of bench hopefuls and they took the game from Italy 3-2. The last few days have been terrible for Mets pitching, but they got it on track today for the most part and were able to sneak out of this one with a win. Here are some box lines:
The Good:
    Valentine 1-1, R
    Sullivan 1-1, R, 2 RBI, HR
    Reed 2-4, RBI, 2B
    Maine 2.0 IP, 2H, 3BB, 3K
    Green 1.0 IP, 2H, BB, 3K
The Bad:
    Stokes 1.0 IP, 3H, 2 ER, BB
    Castillo 0-2
    Evans 0-2
    Mackowiak 0-3, 3K
Green got through his scoreless inning the toughest way possible. He struck out the side, but not before he allowed to hits and a walk. If this was the Mets bullpen of late last year, that would have been distasterious but he fought through and got the side to strikeout for the impressinve 27.00 K/9 on the day. Sullivan and Reed were monsters today. With Pagan pretty much having his bench spot wrapped up, these two have to really battle it out for that final bench spot (which in my personal opinion Reed is in the lead for). Maine also had a nice outing and reaffirmed to the world that Mets starters can make pitches.
Stokes struggled, what else is new. Mackowiak though, he might of just deleted himself out of the bench race. He already has to climb above Reed and Sullivan and going 0-3 won't help, but what really doesn't help is when each of those outs is due to strikeout, thats just terrible. Thanks to the WBC though he will have more chances (also thanks to the WBC, Havens got some time today, one of our first round picks from last year).

The title of the article is misleading because I have not played either game. This is a comparison based on the commercials, the online campaigns and some other stuff that is notable about both games. The introduction I have had with both games is their commercials, with for the most part have been entertaining. For The Show, Pedroia is addressing the makers of the game of why he, in the game can't hit the high inside fastball, they respond with its an accurate game, so it looks back on Pedroia as he is shining his MVP trophy. Its pretty funny to watch. For MLB 2K9, its Tim Lincecum and his video game double. He's basically teaching him how to be him, its also pretty funny.

MLB2K9 also tried to go Sportscenter with their online campaign as they have Lincecum working in the studio, and of course not fitting into everyday work life. They are ok, Sportscenter does it better. MLB the Show online is having a discussion on what other MVP's can't hit the high inside fastball. MLB2K9 has something else going for it, sort off. Their announcing is amazing. It seems so natural, and they have conversations. The other plus side is that one of the announcers, and the game caller, is Gary Thorne, who is amazing, I hear him all the time being in Baltimore as he is now the voice of the Orioles. The downside is that flanked with Steve Phillips. Luckily, Phillips is scripted, so I am hoping he doesn't say his normal stupid things.

Hopefully I will be playing a demo of MLB2K9 later this week, and I'll let you all know my thoughts.

Many Mets took the field again today as the warmups and tuneups for the WBC continued. Today there were some good performances, but a lot of bad ones, especially from the mound which is frustrating and concerning. Lets look at some of the box lines from today's multiple WBC exhibition games:
DR- Pedro 2.0 IP, 3H, 2ER, BB, 2K
US- Wright 0-2
        Putz L, 0.2 IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, K
Mexico- Perez 2.1 IP, H, 2ER, BB, 2K, Win
PR- Beltran 1-3
       Delgado 0-3
       Figueroa 2.0 IP, 4H, ER, BB
       Feliciano 1.0 IP, H, BB, K
I put up Pedro's line because he also had a bad day, so did Putz and Perez (who managed to get the win with that line). I am very disappointed in Putz just because I really wanted to see him perform well, but I understand that you can't be great all the time. So they joined Pelfrey and Hernadez as Mets with bad pitching performances. Delgado also strugglied today. For the good bullpen signs, it was nice to see Feliciano perform. Lets hope that tomorrow we will have some better news about our players.

After yesterday's terribly pitched game, a great way to feel better would be to have some good pitching. Well that wasn't in the plan tonight. Mets starters in the Spring Training game struggled and in the WBC games today. Aside from a few good batting performances, and some nice relief by O'day and Sanchez, today was tough to watch for Mets fans out there as the Mets dropped a game against the Nationals. Here are some box “highlights”:
The Good
    Tatis 1-3, R, RBI, HR
    Castro 1.2, R, HR, 3RBI
    Valentine 1-3, R
    O'day 1.1 IP, H, 0ER
    Sanchez 1.0 IP, 0 ER
The Bad
     Pelfrey 3.0 IP, 5H, 3 ER, BB, 3K
     Hernandez 2.2 IP, 5H, 3 ER, 3BB, K
     Evans 0-4, 2K
     Church 0-3, K
     Murphy 0-4
Castro and Tatis both had nice days at the plate. Castro keeps proving that we should keep him behind the plate. That he can be the offensive spark off the bench too late in games if needed. Its nice to have that in a catcher, especially for day games after night games when all teams usually have backups in, he could do some reall damage in those B-squad games. Sanchez has also started to perform well, especially after those trade rumors about him possibly being cut, lets hope he keeps this up for the season.
This really starting to get frustrating with the Mets last spot in the rotation. Garcia has failed and it looked like if Hernandez stepped it up again today, he could lead the pack. Well, instead he failed. He got lit up in under three innings of work and had really poor control. Pelfrey also got lit up today. It was just frustrating to follow. It was even worse from the plate side. Murphy and Church, both supposed to be starters, went a combined 0-7 today and Evans didn't help with his 0-4 with two strikeouts. Lets hope tomorrow is better.

Our starters are representing their countries, and that means we have to look at a lot of box scores to see how our team is getting ready for the season. I've collected the Mets from the box scores that played exhibition games yesterday. Some had good days, some had bad days, and I have to comment on this, it was really weird seeing Jeter play against the Yankees. Anyway, here are our box lines:
DR: Reyes 2-5, 2H, BB, 2R, SB
PR: Beltran 1-3
      Delgado 1-2, BB, 2B
Ven: Krod 1.0 IP, 0 ER
USA: Wright 0-3, R, BB
The only player who really had a bad day yesterday was Wright, but still he got on base, and then got across the plate, therefore he got the job done. The best day yesterday is tie between Krod and Reyes. Krod had a great game by doing what he had to do, allowed no hits and no runs with no walks over an inning. Reyes had a great day at the plate. He got on base three times, got home twice, and also stole a base. He hasn't done much at the plate since his amazing 6 RBI game earlier last week, so it was nice to see him perform.

The Mets entered Spring with several candidates for the fifth starting spot. The only problem with having a lot of average to below average pitchers to fill that spot is that the quantity of arms rarely increases the quality (sometimes it can inspire competition, but a lot of times it doesn't). Mainly what I am referring to is Freddy Garcia. A lot of us, myself included, saw him as a dark horse to get that final spot. However, he has now proved twice that his fastball has not much to it and he is consitantly doing bad. Here are the stats from the game, the pitching overall was pretty terrible:
The Good:
    Pagan 1-1, 2 RBI
    Anderson 2-3, RBI, 2 BB
    Cancel 2-3, R, RBI
    Cherry 1.0, H, K
The Bad:
     Castillo 0-3, R, BB
     Garcia 2.0 IP, 3H, 4ER, BB, 3K, 2HR
     Switzer 1.0 IP, 2H, 2ER, BB, K
     Gee 1.0 IP, 5 H, 7R, 2ER
To continue the topic started in the openning paragraph, not only is the two homeruns bothersome, but he also walked someone too. The three strikeouts though show that he has some potential. I am not going to count him out yet but in his next performance he is going to really have to show that he can he get outs, and not allow people to get on base or strikeout. Also on the bad side was Gee. Now it wasn't all his fault, as the difference between R and ER shows, but even with bad defense, he shouldnt have given up five hits in one inning, thats uncharacteristic of him. I look forward to his next outing cause I know he will be much better. Castillo is also struggling.

Now for the good stuff though! Cherry had another good outting which could get us closer to the Mets having a pitcher that reminds us constantly of dessert. Even better though was Anderson. He struggled last seasnon, and has struggled in Spring so far and yesterday he came out knocked two doubles. Nice. Cancel, our third string catcher, also had a good day, nice. And Pagan was Pagan, the guy is a freak at baseball (shades of Endy?)

Mike Pelfrey was a highly touted prospect. Brad Holt is a prospect that started off not getting as much attention as Pelfrey, but now is starting too. Following a similar path, in my opinion will be Dillon Gee. Gee has been with the Mets since 2007, when he was 21 years old. He has always had good stuff, and he is starting to slowly get recognize. If he pulls off another minor league year like his two previous, it is almost certain that at this time next year, he will be demanding a lot of attention (possibly as much as Niese). Who is this guy anyway? Well this year he will be 23 years old and more than likely will be starting at AA. This year, Baseball America, in their yearly top ten Mets prospect preview, didn't rank Gee but did say he had the best changeup in the organization. Here are his numbers over the last few seasons:
    2007-Brk: 3-1, 14G, 11GS, 62IP, 9 BB, 56 K, 2.47 ERA, 1.06 WHIP
    2008-PSL: 8-6, 21G, 21GS, 127.1 IP, 19 BB, 94 K, 3.25 ERA, 1.07 WHIP
    2008-Bng: 2-0, 4G, 4GS, 27 IP, 5 BB, 20 K, 1.33 ERA, 0.85 WHIP
    2009-Spring: G, 2.0 IP, H, 2K, 0.50 WHIP
The stats that should be jumping off the page are the WHIPs and the BB compared to the K. First off, at every level, he has had an amazing WHIP, including that stazzling 0.85 in AA last year. On top of that he walks so few batters compared to his strikeout rate. For a pitcher that is being praised with his changeup that means he is getting people to swing at it and he has good enough control with his pitches that he can use a changeup effectively and still have a low WHIP. His ERA has also been very good so far as well. Now at the age of 23, I think this year will be very important for him. If he has another good to great year in the minors, then next year he will be tryring to get a pitching spot. If the Mets rotation becomes too crowded next year, and it doesn't look like he will make the team, he could also make good trade bait (because his price could be potentially be high). Overall though, he is another player to pay attention to over the season.

The Mets bats exploded today as it was the last day that many of the Mets starters would be with the team (with the WBC teams getting their practice in starting tomorrow) and the announcing crew couldn't have been more bored towards the end of the game. If you were watching the game on MLBtv like I was, you get to hear Keith and the gang in between innings. Usually you don't, but for some reason, today they kept the mics on and it was very easy to pick some funny stuff out. For example, before the top of the 6th, Keith exclaimed “This game cannot get over fast enough.” Before the bottom of the 6th, (or maybe the seventh) they spent the break poking fun at Danny Graves and at the next break, or maybe the break after someone set up Keith with the line “Who is pitching now” to which Keith responded with “Who Cares?”. It was pretty entertaining, considering how boring the game was at that point (when I started watching, the game was already 10-1, so nothing really exciting, minus Castro's homer, happened after). So lets get a quick box up:
The Good:
    Maine 1-1
    Valetine 1-3, 2B, and a fantastic double play to end the game
    Delgado 2-2, 3R, HR, 3RBI, BB
    Wright 2-3, BB
    Beltran 2-4, R, RBI
    Putz 1.0, H, K
    Sanchez 1.0, H, BB, 2K
The Bad:
    Castillo 0-3
    Maine 2.0, H, ER, 2 BB, K
Three Mets homered today. With Delgado was also Schnieder and Castro. It was also Castro's birthday today. Delgado so far this Spring has really been hitting the ball well, with a BA above 700 right now. Wright is also making a lot contact recently and Beltran has too. Its nice to see the starters produce so much right now. The bullpen guys, Putz, Sanchez (recently under scrutiny) also had nice days, which makes us all feel better about the bullpen.
Valetine played well today. He went 1-3, and that double was a nice screamer down the line. Even better for him though was the way he played defense out there with a very nice double play to end the game. The Mets bench picture is starting to get really crowded, and you have to wonder who is going to make it. Other notes from today was Kieth, Ron and Ralph had a discussion about Tom Martin's locker which apparently has a full Boars Head in it. Also, did you know that Figueroa, during his first Winter start, took a no-hitter into the 10th inning? Well I didn't until today and now you know too. The Mets don't play tomorrow and Tuesday starts camp without many of the starters.

About a month ago, the Rangers unveiled their new uniforms. This year, none of the jerseys say Rangers on them anymore, the all say Texas, and now they have two alternates. Besides the White Texas and the Gray Texas, they will also have a Blue Texas and they are bringing back the all Red Texas. The material for the jerseys is also changing. Like many teams that changed their uniforms, they will use the Cool Base uniforms now. This of course means that they needed to add in a new hat as well to match the Red uniforms, so now they have a red hat too.

This would be all fine and normal if they didn't make another change. Before I can explain, or try to explain what they did to their batting helmets. I want to give a brief history of batting helmets over the last few years. In 2005, during the allstar game, the players used the batting helmets that the Mets and many other teams started to use in 2006. Now the Mets and the Rockies went a different way with their helmets. Instead of having the one solid color, they had a front color that blended into the back. For the Mets it was a blue that blended into the black. The Rockies had a purple that blended into the black.

Courtsey of Google Image search.
See the Purple blends into the black. Well the Rangers this year wanted to make a big change, and they decided that they wanted red helmets or something for days when the wear red. Or maybe, they wanted to show more red every day. Anyway, they came up with this two tone design:

Courtsey of Google Image Search
Instead of blending colors that blend with each other. The Rangers have a blue piece that fits in with a red piece. It just looks terrible. Its one of those things that leaves one wondering how uniform changes like this make it through prototype phases.

The Mets sent only their B-squad players on the road today to Detroit, where they lost 7-2 against a lot of the Tigers starters. If you like young players, than this was your game as a lot of the Mets young stars got chances to play today. Some of them did well, others did not. Here are some highlighted box lines:
The Good:
    Parnell 2.0 IP, 3BB, K
    Pagan 2.4, R, BB, SB
    Thole 1-1, RBI
    Evans 1-2, BB
The Bad:
    Ramon Martinez 0-4, K
    Niese 2.0 IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB, 2K
    Ruelas 1.0, 2H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB
Despite the 3 walks, Parnell had a good outing. If he can get better control, then he would have had a great outing. Pagan is still continuing to impress and he is really going to enter himself into the bench conversation for the Outfield. Thole had a nice PH as well with his RBI. On the downside, Ramon Martinez really had a terrible game, and he could be leaving camp soon to minor league camp. I was also really hoping Niese would do well to enter himself into the last starter spot, but he couldn't handle the Tigers starters. Hopefully he will have a much better outing next time out. Ruelas really had a terrible outing. The Mets are home against Houston this afternoon and then get a day off.