Official 2011 New York Mets Thread

['7']

god damn the braves never go easily. they always come back against us meanwhile aside from that 10 run miracle a decade ago we never come back on them

Not sure I would've used KRod tonight after his long outing last night

Don't know what to think about Maine anymore, he just can't stay on the field. Congrats to Ike on his first home run. Barajas and Francoeur also hit some bombs that were eaten up by Citi Field. I can't believe the Barajas shot to left stayed in the park.

Edited April 24, 2010 by '7'

[nmigliore]

god damn the braves never go easily. they always come back against us meanwhile aside from that 10 run miracle a decade ago we never come back on them

Not sure I would've used KRod tonight after his long outing last night

Don't know what to think about Maine anymore, he just can't stay on the field. Congrats to Ike on his first home run. Barajas and Francoeur also hit some bombs that were eaten up by Citi Field. I can't believe the Barajas shot to left stayed in the park.

K-Rod drives me nuts. He'll have at bats where he'll look lost in terms of trying to find the strikezone, and then he'll have at bats where he just makes hitters look silly on 3 pitches, like he did to Prado. And when Nate McLouth hit that almost-HR-foul ball, my heart stopped. That would have sucked so badly.

The SNY camera angles and Gary Cohen call on that Barajas fly ball were really botched; it looked like a sure-fire HR all the way until the camera suddenly dropped to show Cabrera catching it. They did the same thing a couple weeks ago on a David Wright fly ball too.

The unsung hero tonight: Hisanori Takahashi. 3 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 BB, and 7.. yes.. 7 strikeouts. Wow.

Almost forgot about Ike.. congrats to him on his first big league HR! That ball was crushed... Adam Dunn-esque.

Edited April 24, 2010 by nmigliore

['7']

I thought off the bat(watching from the broadcast TV view) that McClouth foul shot would've gone further foul, but it only missed being a HR by like 6-7 feet.

I like the lineup with Reyes batting 3rd. Adds a little more meat too it.

Edited April 24, 2010 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

John Maine just left the game, I'm not sure why. It looked as if its something with his left arm. The guy can't catch a break, can he? I'm hoping Dillon Gee takes his place in the rotation if he goes to the DL.

edit: Per Burkhardt, "John Maine listed as day to day with muscle spasms and pain in his left elbow."

I'm sorry, but it's enough with this guy. As of right now he shouldn't figure into the Mets' plans.

8-9...for this team that might as well be 17-0. Hard not to be happy with that.

['7']

Jerry left Niese in one batter too long. But was also kind of shocked Wright didn't come up with that...ball was hit ok but it wasn't a wicked line drive by any stretch.

it's a big run considering it looks like one of those games where the Mets won't score a run against the Braves starting pitcher

Edited April 24, 2010 by '7'

[nmigliore]

Jerry going to Nieve over Mejia for this 8th inning is such a stupid move.

Edit: Game over now, nice win. Niese was pretty decent again, I know he walked like 5 batters, but the umpire's strikezone was ridiculously tight. Bay had a nice 3-hit game. Gotta love Manny Acosta and Frenchy sticking it to their former team with good performances too.

Edited April 24, 2010 by nmigliore

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Wow...the Mets are officially a .500 team. Who knows how long it will last, but at least there's a little something going on for the moment. Might as well enjoy this.

['7']

Braves really got Pelfreys pitch count up...looks like another long night for the pen. Let's score some more runs boys!

[Devils Dose]

It may be a night off for the pen. C'mon RAIN!

['7']

it's 11:32 and pouring! just end it already and give us the W!

[nmigliore]

Game over, per ESPN. Mets win!

Its sad how even the rain has been more useful than Gary Matthews Jr. this year.

Edited April 26, 2010 by nmigliore

[nmigliore]

Apparently Jason Bay's defense was not so terrible after all last year, by UZR standards (TotalZone had him at +4 last year)...

The upshot of these changes is that most players were relatively unaffected. However — and this is a big however — one player had his UZR significantly altered by the fixes, which were retroactively applied to old data: Jason Bay.

The former Red Sox outfielder, who was killed all winter for his horrendous defense (which was part of the justification for letting him sign a free agent deal with the Mets) saw his UZR shift from -13.8 runs to +1.9. Bay’s play in 2009 obviously didn’t change. Only the numbers did. And the new numbers say Bay was not horribly below average last year, but in fact saved the Red Sox a couple of runs in left.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/red_sox/index.php/2010/04/27/uzr-owes-jason-bay-an-apology/

That's a huge swing; his value from last year goes from being worth +3 wins above replacement to +5 wins, which was only half a win less than what Matt Holliday was worth.

Edited April 27, 2010 by nmigliore

[NJDevs4978]

Wow, the Mets are actually...watchable now?! And not a moment too soon after the Devil disaster.

I so wanted to go today too, single-admission doubleheaders are such a rarity anymore - especially in nice weather - but I had to work until about the time the first game started, going from NJ isn't a picnic and I'd already told my friend I'd go see a movie (Date Night), which was kinda funny but almost had too much of a danger element in other places to really laugh at the humor.

[Devils Dose]

Check out this little roll that our Mets have gotten on. Hey-hey!

Maybe we even have a shot at taking this weekend's series from the Phillies (I just want to be able to go to work and say one of my teams took a series from Philadelphia).

Still can't realistically think that we can hang with that team for the division, but this early-season hot streak has me starting to believe that we can be players in this NL Wild Card race.

Edited April 28, 2010 by Devils Dose

[NJDevs4978]

Well the NL is so crappy it's given every team hope for the Wild-Card at least...I'd feel a lot better about this team if we still weren't scared to death two out of every five days (with Maine and Ollie) though it's at least better than what I feared to this point. Not to mention Beltran's become a ghost.

But even with the issues, you gotta smile at an 8-1 homestand.

[nmigliore]

Great stuff...

Santana did not have his best stuff -- his fastball velocity was in the 86-88 mph range and his command was spotty -- but he still gave 6 scoreless innings. Now that's an ace.

Great to see Bay finally put one in the seats. All of the other bats did pretty well too, except like, Gary Matthews, of course.

Perez was awful; you could tell right away his stuff/command was just not there, at all. I thought Jerry pulled the hook a bit too late, but it ended up working out fine despite Takahashi walking in the tieing run. But other than that walk, that was another tremendous relief effort from Takahashi.

I'm not a fan of this Mejia mop-up duty. Jerry pleaded to have him so he could use him as a late-inning, high-leverage reliever, and that hasn't exactly happened yet. The only high-leverage games hes been in: the extra-inning game vs the Rockies, the 20-inning marathon vs the Cardinals, and the 1-batter-and-out appearance vs the Cubs last week. That's only 1 non-extra-inning, high leverage relief appearance, and Jerry certainly didn't give him much of a chance in that 1 game vs the Cubs. If you want him up here, please use him in better situations. He'd be so much better off honing his craft as a starter in AA rather than have him do what hes doing now.

Edited April 28, 2010 by nmigliore

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The Mets have done a hell of a job making themselves relevant again. As great as it's been, let's face it...right now it seems like the Mets are getting every bounce and every break to go their way. Eventually there's going to be a streak where things go the other way, with all the baserunners the Mets give up, and with the bullpen working so many innings. I have no idea if this team really is any good, but I remain thankful that the Mets didn't fvck around with whether or not to bring up Ike Davis, and gave him a real shot...even if he had struggled, it was worth giving him a chance. At any rate, it's fun to see the Mets atop the standings, and to go into Philly with the series actually meaning something, as far as April series matchups go.

I hope Perez's time with the Mets comes to an end sooner rather than later. This is what he is, and he will never, ever be any better than he is right now. If this team is going to start taking steps forward more quickly than we all thought, then it's time to start weeding out guys like Ollie.

And as bad as David Wright has looked, he has driven in a respectable 14 runs (though I'm sure his average with RISP can't be good...don't have it in front of me).

[nmigliore]

The Mets have done a hell of a job making themselves relevant again. As great as it's been, let's face it...right now it seems like the Mets are getting every bounce and every break to go their way. Eventually there's going to be a streak where things go the other way, with all the baserunners the Mets give up, and with the bullpen working so many innings. I have no idea if this team really is any good, but I remain thankful that the Mets didn't fvck around with whether or not to bring up Ike Davis, and gave him a real shot...even if he had struggled, it was worth giving him a chance. At any rate, it's fun to see the Mets atop the standings, and to go into Philly with the series actually meaning something, as far as April series matchups go.

I hope Perez's time with the Mets comes to an end sooner rather than later. This is what he is, and he will never, ever be any better than he is right now. If this team is going to start taking steps forward more quickly than we all thought, then it's time to start weeding out guys like Ollie.

And as bad as David Wright has looked, he has driven in a respectable 14 runs (though I'm sure his average with RISP can't be good...don't have it in front of me).

Maine should be on his way out too. I'm not convinced hes going to be successful throwing his best pitch -- his fastball -- in the 86-89 mph range. I'm not necessarily ready to shut the door on him yet, but another few mediocre starts and underwhelming velocity will be enough for me to say 'enough is enough' of Maine. Dillon Gee, although his upside is limited, seems like a decent fallback option; he pounds the strikezone which could be quite an asset for a team that's using their bullpen so damn much (Mets are 2nd in MLB in relief innings).

I'm not sure who can replace Perez, but Takahashi seems like the best bet. Manuel already hinted at the possibility of moving him into the rotation if they continue to get poor performances from Maine/Perez. He's also being quietly stretched out -- he threw 50 pitches vs Atlanta last Friday and he threw 75 pitches last night.

If you don't like either of those options, I guess you could give the Reds a call; they might look to move one of their overpaid starters -- Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo -- to make room for Aroldis Chapman soon. Both of them have been terrible so far this year, but its early, and Arroyo is typically a pitcher who blooms in the 2nd half of the season. I like Harang a little more than Arroyo; I think he'd be a decent fit for Citi Field (hes been a flyball pitcher the past few years), and hes another pitcher who pounds the strikezone. Andy Sonnanstine of the Rays interests me a bit; his strikeout numbers have always been weak, and he had a rough season last year, but he was effective for the Rays in 2007 (+2.1 WAR) and 2008 (+3.6 WAR). Coming over to the NL and pitching in a more spacious park would certainly help.

Of course none of these starters would put this team 'over the hump', but they would create a little more stability in the rotation and help give the bullpen a breather. Sonnanstine is working low-leverage relief innings out of the Rays' bullpen right now and I'm sure the Reds will soon become more urgent to dump of 1 of Arroyo or Harang to make room for Chapman, so I wouldn't expect the prices for any of them to be outrageous.

Edited April 28, 2010 by nmigliore

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Evan on the WFAN had a good point: part of what makes Takahashi so valuable right now is that he can work multiple innings and throw a lot of pitches when Ollie and Maine go their typical 5-or-less innings. Like Evan, I wonder what will happen if Takahashi starts having to face the same lineup three times in a game, but I'll go for binary logic here: one of Takahashi's best attributes is that he's Not-Ollie and Not-Maine.

I hate to get on a guy for an injury, but that situation with Maine the other day was a joke to me...whatever little patience I had with him disappeared that day. I'm with you nmig, in that I hope Ollie's and Maine's days are numbered here...they don't give you much, and they're impossible to watch. I'm glad that Ollie's contract no longer seems to ensure his spot in the rotation.

RE: Arroyo, you know he's a name I've brought up before, and I think CitiField could help him a lot, but supposedly the Reds owner loves the guy. But if he becomes available I'd be interested.

Edited April 28, 2010 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[nmigliore]

John Maine is such an oddity. 95 of his 102 pitches this afternoon were fastballs... Yes, 95! And his velocity still sat in the 87-89 mph range, yet he yielded only 2 ER on 4 hits while striking out 9 over 6 innings. Go figure.

[SatansDevils]

Maybe something to look forward towards now that the Devils will have a long summer. That is a HEALTHY (minus Beltran) Mets team right now that is playing red hot baseball and has gone from last place to 1st place in less than a week.

METS WIN!!! 7-3 over the Dodgers to complete the 3-game sweep & a 9-1 homestand! Mets 7th win in a row in 1st place with the Phillies up next! First sweep of the Dodgers in 15 years! One of the best homestands in Mets history. 2nd sweep in a row. Maine pitched very well and Mets starters over the last 14-games have not allowed more than 3-runs in a start. Mets hopefully can continue this roll on the road in Philadelphia on Friday night and get some room in 1st place. LETS GO METS!!!

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

John Maine is such an oddity. 95 of his 102 pitches this afternoon were fastballs... Yes, 95! And his velocity still sat in the 87-89 mph range, yet he yielded only 2 ER on 4 hits while striking out 9 over 6 innings. Go figure.

Always nice when a guy like Maine has a start like this, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he went right back to being the John Maine we all dread next start. I still don't see Ollie or him figuring into the Mets' plans long-term.

13-9?! This team is currently on pace for a 96-66 record! That won't happen, and I'm sticking to my 80-win prediction for now...Ike Davis is the real wild-card here...if he keeps it up, maybe this team has a shot at 85 wins or so, especially if the NL continues to look as week as it has so far.

Just hope the Phils don't sweep 'em and send them tumbling back to reality...

[Devils Pride 26]

Alright, this streak has been awesome. Now it gets serious. Lets go into Philly and smack them around a little. Send them a messege early that this isn't the same mets as the last few years. I want Niese to go out there and throw at Rollins head first pitch. We're gonna find out real soon if big Pelf is for real this year too.

"This is your time. Their time is done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great ball club the Phillies have. Screw 'em. This is your time! Now go out there and take it!"

[Devils731]

Defense got it done that inning

['7']

Not the easiest of plays but Cora has to come up with that. It was in his glove. He really is a useless sack of sh!t. If you're gonna bat .170, at least catch everything.