Jul

24

Bounce back

July 24, 2008 | 1 Comment

The Mets got up off the mat after the gut wrenching loss on Tuesday to beat the Phillies 6-3 and move back into a tie for first place in the NL East. John Maine pitched 7 strong innings, allowing 3 runs while walking only 2 and striking out 5. Jose Reyes hit a 3 run HR in the bottom of the 6th to give the Mets the 3 run lead they ended the game with. The bullpen did the job this time, as Joe Smith and Scott Schoenweiss combined to throw a scoreless 8th, and Billy Wagner was back in the 9th, needing only 12 pitches to retire the side in order.

The Mets missed some opportunities today, leaving 13 on base, but 6 runs was enough for the win. The Mets had 10 hits and 7 walks in only 8 innings, but only scored 6 runs. (Mets are really scoring now, 1 run behind Pitt for 3rd in the league, and playing in Shea moves them ahead of Pitt.)

Rubber game today, weather permitting. Oliver Perez vs Jamie Moyer. Sole possession of first place awaits the winner.

Posted by Conor Lyons


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Jul

23

Thoughts of the Mets Season

July 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment

One thought on the Mets situation… They are one game back from a Philly team that has been struggling to score runs, they will be getting back their starting right fielder (.307 BA, 10 HR), Pedro is coming back (even at 70% I would take him over Blanton), and they are becoming more consistent game by game. Team BA is up from .234 to .291 since the All-Star Break

Their collective BA w RISP has jumped up nearly 50 points, oh and not to mention Delgado is just heating up… when you see him taking pitches up and in and driving the ball the opposite field you know he is getting hot.

Do I fear the Sillies? No. I have not reason to. Do I think the Mets can take over the division? Yes, they are the best team.

The Mets have the tools to win the division. Knowing Omar track record, I would be very surprised if he didn’t make a move to improve the team even more before the trade deadline.

There is one stat that makes me fear the Phillies… Ryan Howard has struck out 129 times before the All-Star break and since then has only stuck out 3 times. It looks like he is really heating up!! In one game he ONLY struck out THREE TIMES!!!

Posted by ramble7321


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Jul

23

Coaching Mistakes Hurt Mets

July 23, 2008 | 16 Comments

Jerry Manuel took over for Willie Randolph last month and proceeded to bring the Mets back into the NL East race. With a 10 game win streak under his belt, his confidence began to grow. It seemed that everything Manuel touched turned to gold, but now we find that he is still just a rookie head coach running a team that is still trying to find consistency.

In last night’s heart breaker of a game Manuel made a key coaching error. With the Mets up 5-2 and Johan Santana cruising through the Philly lineup, Manuel took his ace out to let the bullpen finish the game. This was a critical mistake.

The Phillies scored six runs in the top of the ninth by the time the Mets could record the final out of the inning. In this time the Mets sent four different pitchers to the mound. Billy Wagner was out due to an injury so the closing duty was put upon Duaner Sanchez, who gave up three hits, three earned runs, and did not record an out. With the game now tied Joe Smith faced one batter and gave up a run. Pedro Feliciano recorded two outs, but walked one, gave up two hits and two more runs. Aaron Heilman finished the inning with a walk and finally got Greg Dobbs to pop out to end the inning and the comeback.

Jerry Manuel will be scrutinized for his decision of taking Santana out of the game and rightfully so. There was no need to pull Santana, who had just thrown 105 pitches and seemed to be giving the Philly hitters fits. Santana was scheduled to hit second in the bottom of the eighth inning so he was pulled for Argenis Reyes.

Manuel should have kept Santana in, if the first batter of the inning (Castro) would have gotten on then Santana could have sacrificed and moved the runner into scoring position, if Castro makes an out then there is little chance of building a larger lead so let Santana hit away.

This mistake cost the Mets the momentum of the game and possibly the momentum of the entire team as they make a run towards the playoffs.

The Mets are currently one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies and are now tied for second place with the Florida Marlins. This was only game one of this series held in New York, here’s to hoping they can pick up the pieces and at least win the series.

Posted by ramble7321


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Jul

23

Bullpen Implodes, Mets blow 3-Run Lead in 9th

July 23, 2008 | 1 Comment

I would be lying if I came on this site this morning and said I was disappointed. I’m pissed, and any Met fan that acts like this is no big deal is full of shit. Nobody should take this loss lightly. The Mets may only be a game behind now, but there was NO reason for them to lose that game last night, and instead of the Mets setting the tone - the Phils have.

There were a couple of crucial coaching errors made by the third base coach that cost the Mets two runs, and we can argue Santana should have completed the game, especially because it would have been nice to send a message to the Phils and everyone that criticizes Santana, but the fact of the matter is they were up 5-2 in the ninth. The bullpen is supposed to hold that lead.

Getting back to Luis Aguayo, the third base coach. Gary, Keith, and Ron seemed to agree that Endy should have been sent home on Wright’s double in the third. That is completely the wrong decision. You never send a guy early in the game when there are no outs. NEVER. Know the situation. It would have been second and third with no outs, and Beltran up. All Beltran has to do is hit a ground ball to the right side and the runner scores. By the way that is exactly what Beltran did. I can’t figure out why he sent him, maybe I could understand if the ball was hit to RF, but it wasn’t. Too aggressive. The second time he sent Endy, in the seventh was just ridiculous. He had no chance.

On to the ninth. First off all, let Santana finish. That’s all I’m going to say about that. But, what was up with Reyes. The ball got hit to him and he completely gagged. He didn’t know what to do with the ball. At that point I said forget it - The Mets will be lucky to get out of this inning tied. The Mets bullpen can’t hold a lead in big games. Period.

Posted by Trey Coppola


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Jul

22

A Crucial Series Starts Tonight

July 22, 2008 | 3 Comments

The Mets and Phils start a three game series tonight at Shea. It doesn’t get much better than this. Both teams 53-46 are tied for first place, with the Marlins just a game behind. Baseball season is past the half way mark now, and although there are still plenty of games left, the Mets have the opportunity to gain ground on the Phils and prove they are here to stay. Santana will take the mound tonight, and recently acquired Joe Blanton will make his first start for the Phils. Blanton has had success in the past against the Mets so it should be a tough match up.

Santana, coming off his worst start of the season has to be on top of his game tonight. He’s the Mets #1, and when a team’s number one takes the mound to kick off a series against a team you are tied for first with he better get the win. It’s about setting the tone.

The Mets also need Reyes to stay hot. He had a couple bad games against Cincy, but he was 4-6 in the last game pushing his average up to .300. Delgado couldn’t be swinging the bat any better. His streak needs to continue in this series as well. If the Mets get solid starting pitching, and Reyes gets on base, along with Delgado hitting then they’ll win the series. They have to win the series!

Posted by Trey Coppola


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Jul

18

Double Digits

July 18, 2008 | 1 Comment

The game last night was different than most of the wins on this streak; the Mets got a poor performance from their starting pitcher (the worst of the season for Santana, probably), and gave up 8 runs, which was more than they had allowed on their entire last homestand. However, the offense was still in gear after the 3 day break and rolled up 10 runs, including a 4 spot in the ninth off Francisco Cordero and the Mets got their 10th win a row, drawing them into a tie for first with the Phillies.

30 games ago the Mets were a full 7 games behind Philly. Since then, the Mets have gone 20-10 and Philly 11-15, and with 66 games to go, we start all over again.

Posted by Conor Lyons


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Jul

16

Mets offense: The OF, and others

July 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I will pick up where I left off yesterday. We took a look at the infield on Tuesday, here is a look at the OF, as well as the pinch hitters and even pitcher hitting.

RF (293/351/475, about 10 runs above average)- This looked like it would be a position of strength for the Mets, but the concussions that have been bothering Ryan Church since basically the middle of May have really hurt the team. The Mets are down to 310/365/459 out of RF; this is the first position I have done so far that has declined since June 9. This was to be expected, as Church was likely playing above his head in the first place. The average RF is at 370/343/436; do despite the Mets going backward in RF, the rest of the league has as well. So all told, the Mets have about tread water here, still about 10 runs better than average. Obviously, the health of Church will determine how RF goes for the Mets. If Church comes back, the Mets will get solid RF production, and if he doesn’t, they are going to need to make a trade for that to happen. I have no idea what the end result is going to be, and I don’t even think a doctor could tell you that.
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Posted by Conor Lyons


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Jul

16

MLB Youth Movement: A Report

July 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment

MLB Youth Movement: A Report

Over the past several years teams have been looking more and more toward the future of the franchise instead of today. The “Win Now” mentality is waning and a youth movement has begun. Below we have several teams’ profiled and broken down to show the climate change in Major League Baseball.

Tampa Bay Rays:
Average Age: 27.9
Young: 22
Old: 38
Current Record: 55-39 (2nd in AL East)

The Tampa Bay Rays have been the surprise team of the year. Long ago this team was the laughing stock of MLB, rattling off sub .500 seasons like it was their job. Now a fresh crop of young players has revitalized this team and made them instant contenders in the AL East. Previous to the All-Star break they were in first place for nearly a month and stand only a half game back.

A closer look at this team’s depth chart shows a bevy of young players making a huge impact for this team. Even Longoria, 22 years old, might be the most notable as of late. This rookie third baseman is in the All Star Game after not making the cut out of Spring Training. We must not forget B.J. Upton, OF, 23, Jonny Gomes, OF, 27, Carl Crawford, OF, 26, Akinori Iwamura, 2B, 29, and Dioneo Navarro, C, 24. That is just the postion players. They are also trotting out the following starters to the mound Scot Kazmir, 24, Matt Garza, 24, James Shields, 26, Edwin Jackson, 24, and Andy Sonnanstine, 25.

This is a team that is bursting with young talent. They might not win the division this year, verses the Boston juggernaut, but they are definitely making an impact in the American League. They continue to give fits to the Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Angels.

Almost all of the young talent has been brought up through the farm or by trading for young prospects. This is a team built to win now and in the future.

Boston Red Sox:
Average Age: 30.3
Young: 23
Old: 42
Current Record: 57-40 (1st in AL East)

This is not the youngest team in baseball but they have some young impact players that have rocked the baseball world in the past year or two. You might remember the World Series heroics, a perfect game, a no-hitter, and the signing of the best pitcher in Japan.

Not only is this team loaded with proven veterans like Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Jason Veritek, and Mike Lowell, but they have loaded up on young players and prospects to keep this team humming into the future.

Dustin Pedroia, 2B, 24, Jed Lowrie, 3B, 24, Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, 24, Brandon Moss, OF, 24, Coco Crisp, OF, 28, and Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 29 are all players brought in with trades or drafted to keep this team young, fresh and in contention for a long time. They also have a few young pitchers that will fit into the rotation soon enough. Josh Beckett, 28, Clay Buchholz, 23, Jon Lester, 24, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, 27. Oh, we should not forget one of the best closers in the game, Jonathan Papelbon, 27.

As the vets such as Curt Shilling, Tim Wakefield, Mike Timlin, Sean Casey, Manny Ramirez, and Jason Veritek move on these young players will fill in nicely.

This team is currently leading the AL East and they are built to stay at the top for many, many years to come.

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Posted by ramble7321


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Jul

15

A look at the Mets Infield

July 15, 2008 | 2 Comments

About a month or so ago, I took a look at the production the Mets have gotten from each position on the field, and compared it to league average to how many runs the Mets were picking up or giving back at each position. Since we’re currently at the all star break, I figured now would be a good time to update these totals. I’ll do the infield today, and the outfield and pitchers tomorrow. Before I analyze each position, I will note in parenthesis how far above or below average the Mets were last time I did this. The numbers are just estimates using the base runs formula, and aren’t meant to be taken as 100% accurate, just an idea of where the Mets stand. Before I start, some numbers on the Mets as a whole. On June 9, when I first did this exercise, the Mets had hit 254/330/392 as a team, scoring an average of 4.7 runs per game and going 30-32. Since then, they have hit 282/351/425 and scored an average of 5.2 runs per game, going 21-12. Overall, the league has hit about the same in June and July as they did in April and May (not usual) so any improvement will be the result of the Mets improved play.
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Posted by Conor Lyons


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Jul

15

Josh Hamilton is a Bad Mother – SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!

July 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Ok, its story time. Josh Hamilton and I broke into Major League Baseball in the same year. There was just a small difference, he was drafted and given 4 millions dollars, I went undrafted and never made it past the third day of tryouts for any of the teams I worked out for. Other then that we are the exact same!!

I have been following Josh Hamilton from the time he was drafted in 2000 right out of high school. We are the same age and graduated high school at the same time. Even living in PA I knew of his and his “legend.” Having tracked his progress while I was stuck playing baseball in college I could only get small blurbs on the internet. His minor league career was a mess. One game he would be 4-5 the next he would be MIA, then he was out of MLB after his 4th drug charge.

Well a few years ago Josh popped up on one of my favorite TV shows, “Flip this House.”

Trademark Properties owner Richard Davis knew Josh Hamilton from his hometown.

Here is a link to the show description

Now I am sure you will all see about 1,000 articles about this guy, but this five toll player really has a good story and it needs to be spread.

Good luck to Josh Hamilton. I will continue to be inspired by you and your story.

Posted by ramble7321


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