The Mets once again got the short end of the stick thanks in large part to a stellar bullpen arm coming out and shutting them down for multiple innings. Here are a few more notes out of the game:
– Make that 0-2 for me at games. Don’t expect to see me there for a while Met fans so fear not.
– John Lannan, usually a Met killer struggled with his command going only 5, walking three and giving up 3 earned. Lannan usually has success against the Mets and has great stuff but was a little wild.*
*= Wasn’t until the end of the game that I figured that there were some of Lannan’s family members sitting a few rows behind us. At the end of the game, his family was waving and Lannan waved back. His dad then turned and said out loud that John didn’t pitch well. Even his dad couldn’t lie about that.
– I know people want to harp on Oliver Perez walking 4 but he went into the sixth and wouldve gotten out but his wildness cost him. Otherwise he was decent although Wily Taveras had some great hacks against him. He struck out six in 5 and 2/3 which was pretty decent. Had he not issued those walks, he would’ve went six which again, early in the season is what we want to see. Its an early indication that Met pitchers CAN go six and keep the team in games.*
*= Let’s be honest though, the Mets have faced teams (Marlins, and Nationals) that aren’t considered elite NL teams. Building arm strength as the season goes will be important, but for the sake of the bullpen, they need to go 7 in their second time in the rotation and moving forward.
– Once again the bullpen went 3.1 innings of 1 hit relief keeping the Metropolitans in the game to the end. Ryota Igarashi sported a plus fastball and used the split finger as his out pitch to get out of a sixth inning jam. Perpetual Pedro came in and got into a bases loaded jam but got a double play comebacker that saved the Mets.
– Mejia came into the ninth and got three groundballs in his first taste of ninth inning duty which I thought was particularly interesting, considering K-Rod usually comes in here. The two camps concerning the young fireballer are either he’s a frontline starter (which most scouts agree he has the tools to develop into), or the closer of the future.
My opinion is this, and it has nothing to do with Joel Sherman’s article this morning in the Post that deals with both NY baseball teams needing to develop front line starters. I think the Mets shouldve sent down Mejia and developed him there. The decision to bring him up was based purely on Jerry and Omar trying to save their jobs. He’s 20 and has a plus fastball and a developing cutter, but as I saw against the Marlins, raw pitchers will get eaten alive by major league bats. With those two pitches he can be an effective closer but if you have a chance at a great starter, why not take that shot? Jenrry Mejia should NOT be on the major league roster and it reeks of panic induced decision making.
– Wily Taveras had two hard hit balls off of Ollie and had all four RBI’s for the game but it was Willie Harris’ catch at the end of the game that was the deciding factor. With the bases loaded, the big bat from last night’s game Rod Barajas came up and hit a line drive that died in Willie Harris’ glove. This isn’t the first time Harris has done this to the Mets having decided two other games on great catches. Add him to the list of Met tormentors.
– Fernando Nieve and Hisanori Takahashi we missed you.
– Personally I think Ollie took a big step as he usually bungles these games against the Nats and lower rung teams. I’m still wondering how he’ll compete against the more patient teams in the NL like the Phillies who now have Placido Polanco and the Braves who have patient young Jason Heyward. Its going to be interesting moving forward how short a leash the mets give him and how they play him based on his inability to locate pitches. I thought at some points his fastball was riding too high.
– Tyler Clippard, former Yankee future phenom, came in and shut the Mets down with a devastating rising fastball that had great last minute movement. Thought he set that pitch up wonderfully by attacking in and low. Mets hitters looked foolish swinging at strike three when the pitch looked like it was at their eyes. He struck out 7 in 3 innings of relief work. He was the antithesis of the bad bullpen that showed up last night. This is the second time a bullpen has looked bad against the Mets only to see one player come in and save the day the next game by pitching multiple extremely effective innings. It happened in the Marlins series as well after the bullpen almost blew the previous game.
– The big story was the return of Jose Reyes who seemed antsy and very fidgety jumping early in pitch counts on some balls. He needs to relax and let the game come to him. He had a few putouts including a great double play in the 7th that preserved the lead. He finally settled in and got a hit in the ninth to finish 1-4. The major story however was in that inning as the team was rallying most fans, like myself, wanted to see Reyes steal a base* and the stadium finally came alive at that point trying to get Reyes to jump. But it never happened and i have to believe it came on instruction of Jerry Manuel. Though strategically it wouldn’t have made sense to do it with Wright up, I thought the best time to attempt a double steal would’ve been on the first pitch against Jason Bay but the Mets once again stuck to the gameplan of limiting Reyes’ movement. I hate that they are babying him as the season goes but its the right move. We’ve criticized the Mets for being lax on injuries and misjuding, now we’re over diagnosing it seems and its causing unrest among fans like myself who came to see Reyes be Reyes. You know, get on base, steal a base or two and then come home on a sacrifice fly. Something he used to ordinarily do a few years ago. We need that Reyes to produce runs.
*= Best part of that was as soon as Reyes got on base Pudge was in full attack mode as he was prepared to throw to second and Matt Capps couldn’t concentrate with Reyes on first and couldn’t find the strike zone against Wright. THAT is the value of Reyes right there. The ability to stop them from concentrating on the task at hand and causing worry among catchers who might not be prepared to handle a pitching staff and worry about Reyes one of the true base stealers of the game and a guy who loves to cause a commotion at whatever base he’s on. LOVE having Reyes back.
– Johan Santana going today against Livan Hernandez.
SEASON: 2-3
MY PREDICTION: 2-3
– By the way I have them winning today.
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