Ok, so there’s another loss and another shaky outing by a Met starting pitcher and yet another experience of ineptitude of Met hitters with runners in scoring position. Its becoming repetitive at this point.
– I’m not going to be hard on Niese. He made a few mistakes in today’s outing and for a guy throwing a cutter in that thin air (which I found out from listening to the broadcast negatively affects it), it can be tough. His line wasn’t good but there remains an air of confidence surrounding Niese as he’s only now getting his feet under him as a pitcher in the majors. The same can’t be said for the other 3 in the pitching staff. Niese gave up 5 runs (all earned) on 9 hits. Struck out two and walked only one. Its not his control or command but its just the effectiveness of his location. Which of course brings us to my next point:
-My only complaint is this, why is he NOT throwing his curveball? That’s his money pitch. Why is he throwing fastballs and change ups? Again, to me, I believe this comes back to philosophy and how flawed Dan Warthen’s is. I haven’t campaigned as much for Jerry Manuel’s firing as some fans as I’ve campaigned for the removal of Dan Warthen and Howard Johnson. Yesterday as the guys were talking about John Maine’s recent struggles, it came back to him not throwing his fastball as much and him focusing more on his secondary pitches which, if I’m Warthen, I don’t let happen. The most important thing for Maine is to get back his arm strength and he’s not going to do that by throwing sliders and off speed stuff. Why isn’t he telling him to let it rip? Throw as hard as he can? Build up his arm strength and THEN from there go to the secondary stuff? I just don’t understand.*
*= and by understand I mean, how he still has a job? He’s been terrible. This pitching staff has talent but under the wrong instruction they’ve been terrible. Warthen has done NOTHING to improve it. I go back to something I heard last year where Mike Pelfrey’s coach from Wichita St. said he used to throw from mid 90’s to high 90’s regularly. This is in college. Why isn’t he throwing that hard now? With his build, he can definitely take the brunt of the force on his arm. They are basically guiding these guys away from their strengths. This should have been done in the minor league level NOT on the major league level. I’m sorry but that’s unacceptable. The college coach basically asked what happened to the hard hitting Pelfrey he used to coach? Even he was unsure. Sometimes coaches can get too cute and too experimental and that’s exactly what’s ailing these Mets.
– At what point is Jeff Francouer going to be moved up? When I made the suggestion for the newer batting line up, it was more to imply that nobody’s spot is safe at this point. No one. Nobody’s producing and thus no one deserves the benefit of the doubt. I like the idea of bringing up Francouer as he’s the only guy hitting. Yesterday’s homerun was purely a guy in the zone swinging at dirt and coming up with gold. The pitch was inside and in the dirt and he literally stepped back and dug out that ball and I swear he used a sand wedge and that ball raced out of here. Now it could be just luck right now but you have to ride the hot hand. Rod Barajas has sent a few missiles that have died out in deep center. Yesterday in the 10th, Mike Jacobs sent a shot* that hit off the top of the scoreboard. It seems that guys have been taking huge rips but literally have missed the barrel of the bat by just a little. Its unfortunate but that’s just how small the margin of error can be and it seems that the other team just gets a better rip which again brings me to the point: what is it that other teams are doing that the Mets aren’t? That’s the question that needs to be asked of Howard Johnson. Why haven’t the Mets produced? The Mets need a better approach than they’ve been showing. Forget OBP right now (the Mets lead the league), its about getting guys who will drive those runners in. Things like situational hitting aren’t really clicking with this team and that has to be wondered about while assessing the team.
*= That shot was by far the most impressive hit I’ve seen. The guy broke his bat, seemed like it came inside and yet he ALMOST sent it over the right field wall. For a team that suffers from bad luck or bad fundamentals, I would’ve liked to see that ball travel just a few more inches back. Who knows what that hit could’ve done for the Mets as the season goes on. I mean it can happen in today’s game and moving forward but it sucks that it isn’t sooner.
– I read Newsday and they did a big feature about defensive mechanics making a major return and its true. The Mariners were the best fielding team last year and they made an honest effort to improve their defense and speed according to the park just like the Rockies who have made it a point to have speedy outfielders and then you look at Citi Field and the Mets entire team and see no real strategy. I wonder aloud sometimes about Minaya’s real brilliance. Perhaps the Mets with their young guys will improve.
– Jose Reyes finally stole a base but it shouldn’t have counted. The Rockies basically gave him the base as Jose alertly stole 3rd after seeing that it was going unattended. Keith Hernandez made an interesting note when he said he felt the Mets were still babying him and its true. Why are the Mets holding these guys back? How will he ever return to normalcy if he’s getting his body used to a certain speed? A guy like him needs to be pedal to the metal and its not happening because the Mets are holding these guys back. Maybe its just my anger here but still.
– Mets need to take this final game but need Pelfrey to keep the sinker down and hope to get a victory off Jorge De La Rosa who since the mid point of last season has gone 17-3. Yeah. The Mets are supposed to go against Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter this weekend as well so it will only get tougher for the Mets. Wonderful.
THE SEASON: 2-6
MY PREDICTION: 5-3
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