213 Miles From Shea

It's that time of year again where Baseball continues their experiment with Interleague play. Over the past several years, Interleague play has been criticized as the novelty has worn off of the idea. One my main complaints about Interleague play is how it is not fair for some teams to have harder schedules than other teams. Last year, the Mets and Braves had much harder Interleague schedules than the Phillies did. This is my current position about Interleague Play:
I still like it. I think its a good celebration of baseball as teams within the same region get to play each other. For example, the Orioles and the Nationals are starting to finally take off as a rivalry. Its far from being at the same level as the Mets with any of their current rivals but for teams like the Orioles, its important. Living around Baltimore, I know that its hard for Oriole fans to find positive moments with their team (even though they are still playing at a much better level than people expected, everyone feels this will not last) Playing the Nationals gives a break to the daunting task of always playing teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees.
I also feel that even though it gives some teams harder schedules than others, over a period of 162 games, the good teams will stand out no matter who they play on their schedule.
Here are some of the games to look forward to tonight:
    New York vs New York (Santana vs Rasner)
    Washington vs Baltimore (Hill vs Olson)
    Houston vs Texas (Chacon vs Ponson)
    LA vs LA (Kuroda vs Saunders)
    Cleveland vs Cinncy (Sowers vs Cueto)
Notable Interleague Matchups not happening this weekend:
    Chicago vs Chicago
    Tampa Bay vs Florida (Crazy to think that if they play soon, they could both be first place teams playing each other)

Do you ever come across things on the Internet that you feel you have to share? Well this is one of those things. Sport's Illustrated released their All-Scandal team for Baseball, and out of the 30 people on team (that includes position players, starters, bench players, managers, etc) there are several prominent Mets listed.
First up, at the catcher position is Paul LoDuca. His marriage issues, affairs and steroid related problems have landed him on this list.
Starting in Right is none other than Darryl Strawberry.
Starting pitching is a no-brainier here. Listed after more dubious starting pitchers (Here's looking at you Clemens) Dr. K appears in his 80's Mets racing stripes.
If you want a pinch hitter, you can call on Lenny Dykstra to take an AB.
And if you want some poor trades (and intra-office issues) please, feel free to contact the GM, Steve Phillips.

Check out the rest of the list, its a pretty good summary. I usually really do not like this sort of thing, but they did it well. They also include a mascot, but I won't ruin that surprise for you.

The Mets try to get the split today as they end their four game set with the Nationals. The Nationals have Bergman today who has not been effective yet this season. In three games, two started, he has pitched 12.1 innings and has an ERA of 11.68 (bringing him to an 0-1 record). Last year, he was very effective against the Mets. He went 1-1 in two games pitching 12.2 innings, striking out 9, walking 4 and posting a 2.84 ERA. Some Mets vs Bergrman:
    Beltran 5-11, 2B, 3B, HR
    Wright 1-11
    Reyes 3-9, HR, 3B
The Mets have Pelfrey taking the mound today. Pelfrey has had some issues lately, but hopefully he will bring back his good stuff today. He has pitched against the Nationals once already this year and it was a fantastic start. In 7 innings he walked 2, struck out 4 and did not allow any runs. Thats the Pelfrey we want to see today. Some Nationals vs Pelfrey:
    Belliard 3-15
    Kearns 5-14, HR
    Zimmerman 4-14
    Lopez 2-5
If the Mets offense is awake today, and if the bullpen is strong today, no problem getting the win. Those are both things that are easier said than done though.
Lets Go Mets!

Tonight the Mets and Nats continue their four game set with a duel between Redding and Vargas. Redding has already pitched against the Mets this year while this will be the first start for Vargas this year. In the last game Redding pitched against the Mets, he lasted 5 innings, gave up 3 runs, walked 3 and struck out 4 on his way to a loss. In 2007, he pitched against the Mets twice, getting two ND's over 10 innings pitched, 5 earned runs, 5 walks and 10 strikeouts. Here are some Mets vs Redding stats:
    Alou 5 -20, 2B
    Anderson 1-12, HR
    Reyes 4-11, 3B
    Wright 2-7, HR
    Beltran 4-6, HR
    Delgado 0-4
Needless to say, if for some reason, the Mets need a pinch hitter tonight against Redding, it is very unlikely that Anderson by these numbers will get the nod. When you look at these numbers as a whole, they do not seem particularly great, but they don't seem horrible. Generally, thats a good sign.
Vargas pitched for the Brewers last year where he started 23 of his 29 games. During that span he went 11-6, 134.1 innings, and posted a 5.09 ERA. He pitched a game against the Nationals last year and he did very well. He picked up a no decision over 6 innings, allowed one run, walked two and struck out 4. He has pitched three games and 16 innings in the minors so far this season posting a 3.94 ERA, one walk and 17 strikeouts. Here are some National stats vs Vargas:
    Kearns 1-10
    Lopez 4-8, 3 HR
    Zimmerman 0-6
In 9 seasons, Lopez has only hit 66 homeruns. 3 of those homers have come off of Vargas, or 5% of the homeruns Lopez has hit have come from Vargas pitches. Be careful with him tonight.
Lets Go Mets!

Yesterday was a disappointing day for the Mets because it felt like their offense was getting off on the right foot, but the pitching didn't catch up. Tonight, the Mets send Maine out to go toe to toe with Lannan, and if the game goes the way the stats suggest, we could be in for a pitcher duel tonight.
Maine has already pitched against the Nats this season picking up the win with 6.2 innings of work. He allowed 2 runs, walked 4 and struck out 4. Last year, he went 2-1 against the Nationals pitching 16.1 innings, posting a 4.41 ERA, walked 5 and struck out 19. The following Nationals have these stats against Maine:
    Zimmerman 3-22, 2 2B
    Lopez 2-13
    Belliard 9-13, HR
    Kearns 4-12, 2 HR
    Johnson 2-9, HR
From these stats, Maine has no problem with Zimmerman and Lopez but Belliard gives him problems. Kearns has hit a few bombs off of Maine and that will be Maine's big challenge tonight, keeping this crew that likes to tee off of him from hitting those bombs.
Lannan made mince meat out of the Mets the last time he faced us. In 2007 he lasted 5.2 innings, but allowed 5 runs, walked 1 and struck out 3. Last time out, this season, he pitched a no decision over 6 innings, allowed one run, walked none and struck out eleven. Eleven strikouts! That really should not happen! These are the stats of current Mets against Lannan:
    Reyes 4-6, 2B
    Wright 1-6, 2B
    Alou, Beltran, Delgado 0-8
    Easley 2-2
    Church 1-3, 2B
If the Mets can strike early and take advantage of situations, and the pitching goes as it should, the Mets will win tonight. Then again, thats the plan for every night. Lets Go Mets!

David Wright and Jose Reyes have both have had up and down years this year and their stat projections display this. They both have stats that if trends continue should significantly increase while other ones will drop. The projections are based off of both players reaching the same the AB totals as they did in 2007.
David Wright:
    2007: 604 AB, 196 H, 113 R, 42 2B, 30 HR, 107 RBI, 34 SB, 94 BB
    2008: 164 H, 98 R, 53 2B, 31 HR, 142 RBI, 22 SB, 128 BB
There is a big hit drop here because as of late, Wright has been in a mini slump that has him batting about 50 points lower than the previous season. Even with this, his stats show that some of his power numbers are due for an increase. His homer rate is about the same, but he is in line to get more doubles and way more RBI. The Mets as a team, as of late, have been stealing more bases, so I think his numbers will increase in SB. I think his hits and runs will increase but his RBI and doubles are probably a bit high.
Jose Reyes:
    2007: 681 AB, 194 H, 119 R, 38 2B, 12 3B, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 78 SB, 77 BB
    2008: 180 H, 104 R, 38 2B, 23 3B, 10 HR, 62 RBI, 57 SB, 76 BB
For the most part, it looks like Reyes will stay consistent to last year, especially in terms of walks, doubles and homers. He is on pace to drive in more runners than last year and to get more triples. For his stolen base totals, the same comment about Wright's still applies, he will be having an increase of SB as the season progresses.

The Mets continue their 7 game home stand tonight with the Washington Nationals. So far, the Mets have won 2 of the 3 games on this stand and actually, having a winning home record this year (Weird huh?). The Mets are 11-6 at home this year and 8-10 on the road (from the team that went 41-40 last year at home). Anyway, the Nationals are coming off of a three game sweep from the Marlins and would love to get back on the right track. To do that, they will have to get through Nelson Figueroa.
Figueroa has made one start against the Nationals already this year, pitching a no decision over 7 innings, allowing 2 runs, walking 2 and striking out 7. Overall this year, he has a 2-2 record, over 8 games, 33.2 innings pitched and has an ERA of 4.81. The following Nationals have these stats against Figueroa:
    Belliard 1-6
    Boone 3-7
    Kearns 0-5
    Guzman 0-4
Figueora's start against the Nationals last time was his second start of the year, and was his second excellent start in a row, even though he ended up with the ND (but the Mets still won that game).
Attempting to right the Nationals'  ship tonight will be Odalis Perez. He already has a start against the Mets this season pitching 6 innings and allowing 2 runs, walking 4 and striking out 3. So far this year, he has an 0-3 record pitching in 8 games, 44.2 IP, and a 3.43 ERA. The following Mets have done damage to Perez:
    Alou 6-16, 2B
    Beltran 3-8
    Delgado 0-6
    Wright 3-7, HR
    Reyes 3-3, 2B, 3B
Tonight should be a test for Delgado's recent surge. He has had no success against Perez in the past. He is hitting well now, and so is Beltran, so lets power thru another win. Lets Go Mets!

What is everyone talking about today? Bets are that everyone is talking about the recent surge of power from the New York Mets. This is true though when you look at the stats for the their last ten games.
Beltran in his last 10 games is 10 for 33, with a homer and 8 RBI's, batting .303. A not here is that his 8 RBI's have come in his last three games. So in the last three games, Beltran has hit 35% of his season total of RBI's.
Delgado has also had a similar situation over his last 10 games. In his last 10, he is 12 for 39 with 2 homers and 5 RBI's. More importantly, he is batting .308 and raising his current BA. Could he be shaking off the slump?
Ryan Church has been amazing for the team so far, and his last 10 games agrees. In his last 10 games he has .333 (12-36) driving in 8 batters, and hitting 4 home runs.
These two surges are important, because other key Mets players are in slumps, especially David Wright. In his last 10, he is hitting .231 (9 for 39). The only good thing about his slump is that even though he is slumping, he is still producing RBIs (8) and hitting for power (2 homers). Wright should break out of this soon.

Between Beltran, Delgado, Church and Wright, they have driven in 29 runs in the last 10 games. If Wright raises his batting average, and gets out of this slump, his RBI total will rise as well and it can be scary how much damage these four players can do down the road if they are all hitting consistently at the same time. This is the offense that people expect of the Mets, especially if they predicted them to win the division.

On the topic of Recent Surges, has anyone checked out the Marlins recently? They are on a 7 game winning streak right now. Now I am not worried about this, but the Marlins now have the best winning percentage in all of baseball. Their .622 (23-14), record is followed by the 23-15 Arizona Diamondbacks. It was just very surprising yesterday to look at the standings and see the Marlins with the best record. On their seven game streak, they beat the Padres once, the Brewers three times and the Nationals three times.

Yesterday was a good example of the season. Literally, a good team showed up, and then the bad team showed up. I am not referring to an A team vs a B team, this is more of an attack that in the second game, the momentum disappeared. We had momentum, and then it was gone. So which team will show up today? It is really hard to tell. Generally when a team is going to play against a rookie who has been struggling for most of the season, then the game looks like a lock on paper. However, the Mets struggle against pitchers who are not known/who they should beat.
Anyway on the mound for the Reds today is Johnny Cueto who has electric stuff but struggles. In 7 games and 41 innings pitched this year, he has a 2-3 record with a 5.27 ERA. In his four games at home, his ERA is 3.67 but in his three games away, his ERA is 8.36. He is a right handed pitcher.
The struggling Perez will be taking the mound for the Mets today. Perez has really bright spots followed by really bad spots and unfortunately for Perez, he has not recently strung together his success innings in one game. Actually, one of his problems is a lot like Pelfrey's last year. When the game starts to get out of control, he has lost his ability to get the game back in control. In two games against the Reds last year, he posted a 2-0 record over 11 innings pitched, 4.09 ERA with 8 walks and 8 strikeouts. The following Reds have these stats against Perez:
    Freel 9-26, 2B, HR
    Dunn 6-21, 2 2B, 3 HR
    Griffey 2-16
    Patterson 3-13
    Phillips 3-8
The Mets can easily win this game. Like all rubber games, this game is important because when you win series, you start to separate yourself from the .500 line and clearly move into a playoff spot. So, lets get this win, take this series, and build momentrum.
Lets Go Mets!

Due to the rain-out last night, the previews for todays games are a little mixed up. In the first game at 1:10, Belisle, who was the pitcher for the Reds last night will be pitching, however, the Mets are staying with Santana in the 1:10 slot. Then in the second game, Arroyo, who was supposed to in the early afternoon game, will be pitching the night cap. Pelfrey was supposed to take the mound last night, and instead he will go Saturday night.
That being said, if you want to read about the Reds vs Pelfrey and the Mets vs Belisle, please refer to yesterday's post. This post will deal with Arroyo vs the Mets and Santana vs the Reds.
Arroyo has had a pretty tough year for the Reds. He has pitched in 7 games, 32.1 innings, to the tune of a 1-4 record and an 8.63 ERA. Last year he pitched against the Mets once, taking the loss in 7 innings allowing 3 runs, a walk and striking out three. The following Mets have these stats against him. They are not that pretty:
    Delgado 3-16, HR
    Alou 2-14, HR
    Reyes 4-11, 2 2B, HR
    Beltran 1-11
    Wright 2-10
Since Arroyo is pitching in the night cap, I would expect that if wants to put in a B-squad, that will be the game. The starters do not have great numbers against Arroyo, and this way, the team will be ready for Sunday's game vs Cueto.
Santana has not pitched against the Reds since 2001. Because of the time difference, his stats in that game do not really apply here. Anyway, the past two starts, he has been denied wins thanks to the bullpen. Hopefully the offense in the 1:10 game can get Santana a victory. Current Reds have these stats against Santana:
    Keppinger 0-6
    Phillips 1-6
    Patterson 3-6, 2B, HR
    Griffey 0-3
I have always like Keppinger when he was with the Mets, and I do not know why. I doubt many in the crowd will remeber his short Mets days. I was at a game in 2003 where he hit either his 2nd or 3rd homer of the game. It was in the ninth inning, and it made the score 10-2 Dodgers (Ventura on the Dodgers had a Grand Slam in that game).