213 Miles From Shea

The Baltimore Sun today has an impressive list of events that happened baseball today. If you have a copy of the newspaper, the list can be found on page 7Z. Here are some of the highlights:
    1917: Hank Goudy becomes the first player to enter World War I
    1939: “The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves played a 23-inning, 2-2 tie. Whit Wyatt pitched the first 16 innings for the             Dodgers. Bot clubs played a 26-inning tie in 1920”
    1993: “Anthony Young of the New York Mets set a major league record by losing his 24th straight decision, 5-3 to teh St. Lousi             Cardinals”
    2003: “Boston set a major league record by scoring 10 runs before the first out. The 50-minute, 91-pitch first inning came during a             25-8 victory over Florida.” The Sox went on to score 14 runs in that first inning.
There are a few other listed in the article as well. These types of articles always intrigue me because they really show the deep history that runs through the game as baseball. Today's doubleheader, if anything amazing happens in both games, seems primed to be in this section next year.

Feels great to be back at .500 eh? It hasn't been too long since the Mets were last at .500 but it really does feel like a long time. It might be because I am living right now in a place with limited outside connections, but it feels a like a different team and it feels like it has been like a different team for a long time. On the topic of the biggest change, Randolph to Manuel, I love that recent post on Metsblog.com were it was reported that Manuel kept Easely in because he is playing hot. That seems like great logic it to me, and lets hope that this play helps out.

For last night, how great it is to see some offense out of unlikely places. Nixon is a good addition to this team and I stand by that, but its hard to over look his .188 BA since he joined the team last week, especially when you consider that during his first game with the Mets, he went 3-4. So its nice to see him hit a homerun last night and help the Mets put up a pretty score of 7-2. With that, its also nice to see Delgado and Beltran hitting once again. Beltran with a 3-5 night and Delgado with is 2-5, these are the things you would expect to see out of this mets lineup when you look at them on paper. In Delgado's last five games, he has two games that he has gone 2-5. Over his last 10 he is still hitting a low .214 but hopefully he can start hitting consistently and get his BA to rise.
Theres light forming at the end of the tunnel, but there is a lot, a lot of baseball left to be played. Lets Go Mets!

So as you know from my last post, my knowledge about the situation is limited and constrained by time restrictions on the computer. Anyway, initially, when I found out that the Mets fired Willie I was upset. I was upset because I did support him, but I was more upset that they did it 3:15 AM eastern time. I understand they did what they had to do. I don't know how it went down (I would agree with it more if they started talking to him about it after the game and then through the conversation it happened).
More I am upset with the media. So it is a cowardly thing to do, to fire Willie after putting him on a plane to the west coast. I feel with the media, the Mets can never win. They wanted the Mets to fire Willie and then they got upset when he did. Another example is when the Mets got Santana. In December, the Mets had no shot because their farm system was apparently terrible. Then, their farm system is fantastic. It is so easy to get frustrated with the media, especially since it is New York and that is part of New York sports coverage.
Anyway, on to Jerry. It was known that the replacement would be Jerry Manuel, and its great that he is. He is familiar with the team, and the teams that the Mets play. He deserves a chance to manage. I hope that everything works out with him and the Mets this season.
The truth with the Mets this season is that they are a very unpredictable team. They play well. They play poor. It is going to take all season for the Mets to either make the playoffs or be eliminated. They should be in contention later in this season and lets just hope for the best.
Lets Go Mets.

When you read the articles posted here for the next 9 weeks, please take what I say with a grain of salt. One thing I hate to do is post without really knowing the situation, but that is what I have to do right now. I am at the start of a 9 week job this summer that has me away from the computer the majority of the week. When I can get internet access, its generally for 15-20 minutes, and if you write a blog, you know that planning an article can take 5-10 minutes, writing it 10-15 minutes, and then a minute or two to check the article for spelling mistakes. So, I will try to post when I can over this break, but its hard for me to get current sports news (no newspapers up here yet, expecting the first to arrive sometime next week). In short, I will try to be as factual as I can, but I will make mistakes for the next 9 weeks, so if you catch a blaring one, please post it in the comment section below. Thank you for understanding, and when I return from this job, I will be posting on my regular 2-3 post a day schedule through the rest of the baseball season and hopefully 1-3 posts during the off season

The Mets try to make two in a row tonight as they continue their series with the Rangers. The Mets will once again face an unknown pitcher tonight in Gabbard. Last night, they were able to toss away the mystery and rock Feldman for 7 runs. Taking the hill for the Mets will be Pedro. I'm curious to see if and how the Mets use Nixon tonight. Gabbard is a left handed pitcher and Nixon is a career .214 hitter against lefties. Against right handers he is a .289 hitter.
Who is Gabbard? This season he has a 1-2 record over 9 games and 41.2 innings pitched. He has started all nine of those games and has a 4.75 ERA to show for it. Over his last three games he has struggled going 0-2 over 12 innings. During those 12 innings, he has allowed 18 hits, 15 ER (11.25 ERA), 15 BB and 9 K's. The Mets will want to expound on those numbers tonight. He has never faced any current Mets but here are some quick splits:
    Right Handed Batters .303 BA
    Left Handed Batters .250 BA
The Mets need to hit Gabbard early. Last night they struck early and with Perez, were able to get into a winning position early, the Mets will have to do that again tonight.
On the pitching side, the Mets will send out the always entertaining Pedro. In his first two games being back with the team, he is 1-0, over 11 innings, has allowed 7 runs, walked 3 and struck out 4. A lot of the damage is from his last start where he allowed 4 runs over 5 innings, didn't walk any but he did allow 10 hits, he also struck out 4. Hopefully pitching at Shea will awaken a lights out performance. Here are some Ranger numbers against Pedro:
    Cantalanotto 3-26, 8 K
    Young 5-19, 2B, HR, 8 K
    Hamilton 2-3
Young seems to be able to hit Pedro, but the strikeouts also show that Pedro can easily get him out. Hamilton will be the main player to worry about tonight.I would almost go as far to say that if a man is on second, and Hamilton is coming up to bat, depending on the outs, it might be a good idea to just intentionally walk him. Thats not Pedro's style, but later in the game, it might be an option.
There are few hitting stats that should be highlighted. Endy has really turned it up over the last few days. He is hitting around .220 right now. In the month of the June, he is hitting .245, which isn't really good, but is good considering his struggles on the season. Over the last two games he is 4-7 with 2R, 2B and a BB. He really looks different though. He looked really dialed in on Thursday, and was playing with a real fire. Beltran is also have a good couple days. In the last 4 games, he is 6-16, 4R, HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB. He has an OBP of .500! It would be great to see him to start carrying that cleanup spot. He has done it before.
Lets Go Mets!

The Mets have signed their second first round pick, 22 overall, Reese Havens to a minor league deal, and according to Metsblog, he will be starting at Brooklyn when the season starts. Havens is an interesting player, especially when you look at his development. His stats show a huge growth in skills between his sophomore season and his junior season, and I do not know whether it was one great season, or if it was all of his skills finally leading to a great player.
MLB.com says the very same thing about his hitting, “Havens has improved over time as a hitter and makes good contact with a very patient approach.” Over time, they feel he can have 10-15 homer power with the possibility of making it to 20. MLB.com likes his discipline at the plate and base running instincts, but they do not like his speed, which they say is “well below average”.

Going to the numbers, in 2006 he batted .259, and 2007, he batted .274. Then he went to the Cape Cod league where he batted .315 over the 2007 summer and he really turned it up in 2008 batting .360. So there is a positive progression. He also has had a huge increase of walks going 30 in 06, 21 in 07 and 58 in 08. The Power numbers have jumped as well going 4 homeruns, to 5, and this past season he knocked in 18. His RBI's have increased over time as well, but not as dramatically, 40, 43 and then last year 57. He played for the University of South Carolina.
When he was in high school, he was a highly touted prospect hitting .530 with 48 RBI's his senior year. In 2005 he was drafted by the Rockies in the 29th round (867 overall). MLB.com says that this was mostly due to his “strong commitment” to South Carolina, which he fulfilled.

Overall, his numbers look promising, and I am really curious to see how he does in Brooklyn this year. If he does well, he of course will have a formal introduction in a Get To Know A Prospect during the off season. Playing shortstop now, possibly moving to third due to speed issues, it will be interesting to see how the Mets raise him. For additional Havens information, check out his college profile here.

Before game time tonight, this was looking to be a pretty dark day. All of the major news outlets were saying that the job status of Randolph was day-to-day, his firing looked inevitable, and things overall looked dark for the Mets. Then the Mets played and the front office made a smart move. Over the course of three hours the mood pendulum has swung back to happier times. Have we made it through another dark part of the emotional roller coaster ride? Is this the start of something amazin? Or is this just a teaser before a long dip back into darkness?
Well only time will answer those questions but the way the Mets played tonight, you have to feel that this is a huge step in the positive direction. First, lets focus on the offense, who did it all by small ball tonight. I still feel the bottom of the first was the most important part of the game. The Mets were are down by one, but the players seemed determine to erase the gap and push ahead. Thanks to some hitting and some help by Texas defense, the Mets were able to take back the lead and never look back. That fire, that passion of first inning scoring, is what made the 2006 Mets so good, and is what the 2008 Mets need to take back this season.
The next important aspect of this game was Perez. He got off on a rocky start, giving up a homer to one of the best players in baseball right now. He did something though after, that he has not done for a while. He stopped the damage from that point on. When he got in trouble, he got out of it. For example, when the Rangers filled the bases, he struck out Murphy to get out of the inning. His 7 inning, 1 run, and 8 strikeout performance means that over the last 3 games, Mets starters are 1-0 with 22 innings pitched and have struck out 26 batters over that time. Thats very good. Hopefully Pedro will continue that tomorrow.
I'm also a fan of stolen bases. So, that early double steal made my night. Lets Go Mets!

The Front Office made a great move tonight with Nixon. Before we look at his numbers, we have to look at his play style. He plays hard, he's a gamer, he can be a spark for the Mets. His presence could start something. Momentum wise, this feels like a good move. He got a ring with the Red Sox in 2004. He also has post season experience from 98, 99, 03, 04, 05, and 07. Stat wise, he is a solid player. He has a career .275 BA and a career .364 OBP. He can hit for power, he can drive in runs, and more importantly, he can play the Outfield, and could potentially provide a more pernament solution to the problems in left than Tatis and Anderson, allowing the Mets to have a bench again.

Lets Go Mets!

By The Way:
This was Randolph's career 300th win as a manager. Thats a nice accomplishment, congrats Willie. Heres hoping you win a lot more with the Mets. On a similar topic, at Mets gift shop, I saw them selling Randolph shirts with the #12. I have never seen manager shirt sales, thats really cool. Back when Mazilli was the manger of the Orioles, I really wanted a shirt with his name and number, its a pretty cool and unique item that the Mets make this Randolph shirt. The Mets marketing always amazes me.

The Mets will attempt to take the opening game of the series tonight against the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have been described on TV as a team with the best hitting, but the worst pitching and the worst defense in the league. Thats great for them because the Mets have pretty poor pitching as of late, when it comes to the bullpen. So the overall key of this series is to get leads in the game early, and then add on runs throughout the whole game. That being said, lets look at the pitching matchup, Feldman vs Perez. Neither pitcher has recent experience pitching against the other team, so we are back to the unknowns once again.
Feldman for the Rangers is starting game this year for the first time in his career. This season he has a 1-2 record over 10 games, 8 of which he started, while pitching 56.1 innings and posting a 4.31 ERA. Over the last four games, he has pitched 25 innings, took a loss, has a 5.40 ERA, 7 walks and 12 strikeouts. More importantly, over the last 4 games, he has given up 7 homeruns, and on the season he has given up 8. Castillo is the only current Met that has a record with Feldman, and he is hitless in two AB's. Here are some splits:
    Right Handed Batters, .250 BA, 4 HR
    Left Handed Batters, .232 BA, 4 HR
The Mets need to jump on the long ball with this pitcher and really do some damage. This is not the guy to go silent against and make him look like Cy Young.
Perez did well in his last time out. He didn't stay out very long, only 5.1 innings, but he gave up only 4 hits, a run, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. The last time he pitched against Texas was 2004, and he gave up 6 runs over 6 innings, but that was a very long time ago. Here are some Ranger stats against Perez:
    Bradly 1-7
    Young 1-1
As you can see, not many stats. If Perez can pitch like he did last time,  but just longer, that would be very good and hopefully this Mets bullpen can get their heads on straight tonight.
We all know overall, the Mets have been a better team at home then on the Road, so Beltran and Reyes' batting statistics are very telling about this trend:
    Beltran Home: .284 BA, .416 OBP, 5 HR, 28 RBI
    Beltran Away: .246 BA, .322 OBP, 2 HR, 13 RBI
For the first time as a Met, he is doing a lot better at home than away. His OBP at home is very surprising, and his RBI production is so much better.
    Reyes Home: .313 BA, 128 AB, 23 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 8 SB, .516 SLG
    Reyes Away: .266 BA, 143 AB, 20 R, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 15 SB, .448 SLG
Reyes BA is so much better home than away, but its interesting how that has translated across his numbers. From the AB difference, he must walk more at home. Its really interesting to see that the run producer Reyes is more on the road than at home (especially considering the Slugging numbers when they are split), and if he is on base more at home, his SB numbers are really off. The BA difference I think is really felt with runs, because he is scoring more at home.
Lets beat them tonight! Lets Go Mets!

Yesterday I made my last trip to Shea Stadium, probably ever, and it was a day of mixed emotions. I am pretty lucky that yesterday was my second game seeing Santana pitch (I saw him in Washington on April 23rd), and he really was amazing yesterday. The few times he got into trouble, he got out of it. At one point he struck out five in a row. He was dominate…and some how it wasn't contagious. The bullpen fell apart again, the Mets left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and then again in the ninth.
I want to get away from the struggles of the team for a little bit. Living outside of Baltimore when the team is in a 10 year losing season streak, and living nearby to Washington, where support is hard to come by, despite a new ballpark, I am always amazed by Mets fans when I go to Shea Stadium. At Oriole games, very, very few people are wearing Oriole gear, let alone Oriole colors. At Shea, just about everyone has a hat, or a jersey or a T-shirt…that just doesn't happen everywhere else and it shows how deeply Mets fans care about baseball. The cheering as well is something thats hard to come by in a lot of other ball parks. If you go to small market or long time struggling MLB teams, you will see what I am saying here.
Anyway, back to the struggling Mets. The Mets have been a real story of when one thing goes right, other things fall apart so badly that the good gets so lost. The Mets have had very good starting pitching as of late. In the last two games, the Mets starters have gone 15 innings, allowed one run, and have struck out 18 batters. That one run, was an inherited runner that was allowed to score by Billy Wagner. Its also frustrating with how successful Wagner has been this season, to watch him explode right now. Something is going to have change, and lets hope its the Mets getting a spark to change the direction of this team.

The Mets will attempt to stop their second five game slide of the season today by sending out Pelfrey to face ace Brandon Webb. The Mets were able to hit Webb the last time they faced him, but the Diamondbacks were able to hit back harder. This really needs to stop today and if the Mets win today, they can still win this series.
Last time Webb faced the Mets he picked up the win in 6 innings of work allowing 4 runs, walking 2 and striking out 3. In 2007 he had a 1-1 record in as many games against the Mets pitching 14 innings, and had a 3.21 ERA, 5 walks and 11 K's. On the season he is 11-2 over 90.2 IP and has a 2.52 ERA. The following Mets have these numbers against Webb:
    Beltran 6-22, 2 2B, HR
    Reyes 7-26, HR
    Alou 11-23, 2B, 2 HR
    Wright 6-18
Well, good thing Alou is back. His numbers will be need against Webb. Its nice to see that the Mets have been able to hit Webb, they just need to beat Webb now. Pelfrey will need to help.
Pelfrey has taken a loss the Dbacks this year (when he was facing Webb), he worked 5 innings and gave up 5 runs, walked 4 and struck out 1. In 2007, he took a loss against the Dbacks tossing 5.1 innings, allowing 3 runs, 4 walks and striking out 1. That being said, Pelfrey has had few strong outings in recent memory, and he will try to do that again against the Diamondbacks today. The following Dbacks have these numbers against Pelfrey:
    Drew 1-5
    Jackson 3-4, 2B
    Young 1-5
    Ojeda 2-3, 2B
Good Pitching. Good Hitting. Leads to good results and happy Mets fans.
Lets Go Mets!