Firstly, sorry for such a late post. The next few days should be slow on the posting front but I will try my best. Bear with me. Here are some of the notes I took on the game:
– That’s two consecutive series losses for the Mets both homestands which don’t bode well for our beloved Metropolitans. Both against NL East foes. The most sobering reality of this is yesterday’s start was by our only “sure”* thing Johan Santana. That should tell you how desperate the situation could get. We will get into Johan’s start in a minute but let’s consider that in 2007 and 2008 when they blew their division leads it was due to games they blew against the lower rung divisional opponents. Now the Mets have become that lower rung divisional opponent:
2007: out of a possible 28 games in the month of September the Mets played 21 against divisional foes (that’s 75%). Their record was 9-12. (.428) (Against division all year: 35-37)
2008: out of a possible 25 games in the month of September they played 18 against divisional foes (that’s 72%). Their record was 8-10. (.444) (Against division all year: 40-32)
Let’s forget 2009 as a statistical anomaly for which the mets shouldn’t be judged by,** and let’s go straight to see how many games the Mets have heading down the stretch given the Mets are still in it by that point in 2010:
2010: Out of a possible 30 games in the month of September and October they play 19 games against divisional opponents. That is 63.3% of the final games. Statistically that is much lower but over the final 25 games they play divisional foes 17 times which isn’t far off the last few season’s worth.
Which means that if the Mets have any hopes of being relevant this season, they had better start winning some of these games.
*= By putting sure in ” “, I’m not trying to say that Johan isn’t a sure thing but with the Mets it shouldn’t be implied or understood. Simply put these days there is no sure thing. Anything that can go wrong, WILL with this team.
**= I’m a nice guy but c’mon, I don’t care who you are, nobody could go through what the Mets had last season and win with that roster. Maybe Bobby V. Whoa, did I just start a hire Bobby V chant in my head? You bet your bottom dollar I did.
– I’m not stating anything Mets fans haven’t already heard with the divisional teams being the key. I don’t care what people say, the Mets are better than the Nationals. They may not be better than the Marlins but its darn close. Right now they are around the third best team in the division and they are missing that one ingredient. That one thing is what I haven’t figured out.
– The one question I’ve been asking myself is, is it too early to hit the panic button as a Met fan? My head is telling me yes, its way too early, its 6 GAMES IN for crying out loud but my heart is telling me that I’ve seen this movie before. Its eerily reminiscent of the putrid play we saw out of this team last year. Not only are the line ups not hitting the pitching is no where to be found even from our best.
– Johan was flat out awful. His fastball was high 80’s which is unacceptable from a guy who throws low 90’s. Johan’s never been a power pitcher, but his money pitch is a change up. The key ingredient in a change up is the high velocity dip between the two pitches which come out of his hand the exact same way in the exact same arm angle with the exact same grip with the exact same arm speed. If both are just 5 MPH off each other hitters can time it beautifully and sit on either and that’s what the Nationals did. Johan’s movement and placement were terrible. After the game he said he couldn’t locate his cutter but a cutter’s not in his repertoire of pitches which is kind of upsetting to hear considering he has really good control over his pitches. I’m willing, as I’m sure are more Met fans, to give Johan the benefit of the doubt on this start, but this is definitely troubling. I never made a big fuss over his Spring Training ERA since most aces don’t care about Spring ERA’s because they are usually trying out new pitches and whatever so they may hit some training bumps, but after only going 6 in his first outing, he went 5 and the Nats hit his pitches very well.
– Livan Hernandez, Oh Livan. I’ve never had a problem with Livan. He has moments when he’s as hittable as a softball tosser and as unhittable as a wily veteran. Unfortunately yesterday was one of those days. Mets hitters were swinging at his pitches like they were going 90+ on the gun. They were running in on right handers and he pitched around the line up very well scattering 5 hits over 7 innings, something the Mets havent’ had by the way. Did I tell you that Livan had the one and ONLY Met complete game last year?
– This of course brings us to this point: You need to get Jacobs/Gary Mathews out of the 5 hole. Jeff Francouer is not being rewarded for his incredible start he’s been having. He’s had a hit in every single game and he drew another walk. That would be his 4th walk in 6 games. If he were to keep going at this pace, which I realize is highly unlikely, he would have 108 walks for the year. That would be more than the last 3 seasons. Combined. Yeah. I may be high on him because I think he brings intangibles to this ball club that can’t be measured by statistics. He’s clearly a bunch of fun to be around and he’s even become close to Jason Bay who seems like a very shy guy as I notice them conversing alot. Even Wright has admitted how much of a relief it is to have a guy like Francouer around as he enjoys the press attention and is, and I am very hesitant* to say this, more media savvy than Wright. Manuel’s job is clearly on the line and yet he refuses to let Frenchy bat as the number 5 hitter. I understand the disadvantage of having your 3-4-5 as all righty but right now you have to put your best line up forward. You have to get Gary Mathews and Mike Jacobs out of that spot. They are killing you right now. French is the best you’ve got. Either that OR a radical idea for a line up:
Pagan
Castillo
Wright
Bay
Reyes
Francouer
Barajas
Jacobs
Pitcher
Now let me explain before you guys ridicule me for putting Reyes so low in the batting order. Reyes needs to get his feet under him. This is a temporary fix until Beltran gets back. The Mets need to break up a 3-4-5 righty line up and Reyes with his ability to switch hit would do that. He would get up in some RBI situations and while he’s getting his legs under him can give the bottom of the line up some ability to see some pitches. It still protects French who needs to continue to see garbage pitches so he can crush them. If Francouer starts becoming more patient at the plate, he could be a huge offensive addition to this team. The Mets need crazy right now, because conventional is not working for them.
When Beltran returns consider this line up:
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Bay
Beltran
French
Barajas
Jacobs/Tatis
Pitcher
– One thing that really struck me was Jerry Manuel saying how the team was unprepared. That’s not what Met fans are trying to hear. That certainly didn’t sit well with me or any Met fan that I know and its becoming harder and harder for me to rationalize Jerry still being manager. He seems adequate for a team full of pros and to be honest, the Mets are NOT right now there. The hard part is he’s still managing this team. The Mets need a coach who will come in and immediately grab the team by the horns and lead it. They are obviously not fundamentally there and they need a voice that gets them motivated and pumped up. When the Mets get down and need to come up in a clutch situation there’s no real rallying around one another. When the going gets good they seem to be clowning around and having fun but when things go bad no one talks to each other and they aren’t figuring it out as a unit. The Mets need someone to come in and remind them that they are pros. Someone who has a voice and can get them fired up. I realize I’m describing two guys right now and that’s Bobby V who will always hold a place in my heart as a Met fan and Wally Backman.
-Backman is an interesting choice because in Spring training* I heard him get interviewed once and from what I have read and heard about him he seems like a guy you would NOT want to mess with. He’s a no-nonsense guy that can bring that fire and brimstone kind of ideal to a Mets team that looks like its lacking more than an offensive punch in critical situations but its lacking fight. I think even if Bobby V isn’t lured back as Met manager we have a guy in Single A that can do the job.
*= That interview was the best because all he needed was a cigarette hanging off his bottom lip to complete the look of bad-ass.
– It goes without reason that the Mets in scoring position has been dreadful and it can be alleviated with a little switch in the line-up. It seems as if Jerry is still playing it safe even though he needs to pull out all the stops. He needs to pull a Knute Rockne speech out of his butt to get this team fired up in April which is disturbing. The Mets could easily be 4-2, or better yet 3-3 thanks to Willie Harris, they aren’t, but more than that, thanks to their lack of clutchness they aren’t. They left 58 men on base in this weekend series against the Nats which makes me sick to think of. Just a few base hits and the Mets sweep this series. It doesn’t take much but the line up is not conducive to producing those hits with Francouer hitting down in the line up.
– Speaking of fight, in the ninth inning an interesting situation happened. K-Rod finally saw some action and plunked Willie Harris who set off K-Rod when he decided to mouth off. K-Rod was effusive in declaring the strike zone as his domain and left it with the classic Drago line “if he gets hit he gets hit.”* I love that from K-Rod and it comes from him being trained by a winning organization like the Anaheim Angels and Mike Scoscia who’s a former catcher, to not take anything from anybody and being tough. We make a big fuss about baseball code and how its stupid but I see the validitiy of the arguments made for it. My friend James, brought up this weekend about how soft the Mets appear sometimes when their guys get pitched high and tight. The Mets never seem to retaliate although its baseball code to do so. Last year when Wright got hit in the head by Matt Cain, the Giants understood that one of them would get plunked the next inning by Johan Santana. And it happened. No big thing, just something high and inside that wasn’t close to head hunting. This season pitchers have constantly pitched inside to Wright because they figure why not take the chance of seeing how he is mentally after last season’s scare. The Mets have rarely if ever responded and that just can’t be. Is it that Manuel is telling them NOT to?
If he is, he needs to stop. Manuel needs the Mets to show toughness and if he’s not going to instill that in them with simple baseball code, then he needs to move over and let someone else do so. If the Mets are unwilling to go that route** then they need to find players who will show a bit more attitude and toughness.
*= If you’re complaining that I didn’t quote the line verbatim then you’re a loser. If you don’t know who Drago is and what line i’m referring to and from what movie then you’re a loser too. Either way do NOT disagree with me when i’m throwing a hissy fit over the Mets.
**= I realize that I’m preaching violence in baseball but let’s be honest its something kids will be taught as they get older. No need to preach it now but make no mistake, the first day they don’t honor baseball code as a pitcher, they will get taken aside and reprimanded. Its about team work and looking after your teammate. Don’t tell me I’m wrong, because if you do, you’re a loser!
– Looking ahead their next 5 series to close out the month are: @ Colorado, @ St Louis, vs. Chicago, vs. Atlanta, vs. L.A. Dodgers. That means they will face 3 teams that made the playoffs last year. Colorado and St Louis are unanimous picks to win their divisions and the Braves have improved dramatically. Who knows what you’ll get against the Cubs and then after the Braves they face the Phillies which should be interesting.* Basically by the end of April we’ll know if this Met team has any fight and if Jerry Manuel will still have a job.
*= By interesting I mean painfully excruciating.
– I’m still willing to be an optimist but there needs a lot to go right for the Mets and until they begin to on a regular basis, I’ll believe it when I see it. Make no mistake, I still believe, I just think changes need to be made now.
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