The Mets went down to .500 after Oliver Perez’ latest meltdown which feautured 4 home runs given up to a Marlins team that coming in was scoring 3 runs a game. More on that as we go on.
– Oliver Perez’ line: 3.1 IP, 7 ER on 9 H, 5 K’s, 3 BB, on 88 pitches (54 for strikes- 61%). The big hit is what killed him today. He gave up a 3 run home run in the 3rd. Then in the fourth came three more home runs which just seemed like over kill. I think Jerry Manuel kept him in the game to try and extend him just a tad but it was clear that he had melted down. His head was out of the game and into the post game spread and the shower that was awaiting him. The problem today other than his mental mechanics were the fact that he again kept getting down in counts. Too many 3 ball counts forced him to throw the ball over the middle of the plate and for a straight fastball hitting team like the Marlins, that’s like playing into their hands. The best part of the game was seeing him leave. He jumped over the 3rd base line and if you were Jerry Manuel you probably almost wanted to ring his neck. It seems as though he just never cares either way and it hurts to see him act like that. He has the talent, how else to explain the days where he can be great, but those days are few and far between and now its becoming perfectly clear that those days are not coming back. He’s completely regressed, both mentally and physically. People may think that its too much money to eat, but he’s a waste of space. Its time to DFA him and eat the loss. The Mets can’t continue to have this guy on the roster, making starts. In fact, I’m even opposed to seeing the bullpen door open and seeing him skip on to the mound. Its not that he’s sucking, its that it seems like he doesn’t care and I know, from an outsiders perspective like mine, I don’t know but his inability to keep himself together on the mound is just annoying now.
Will the Mets DFA him? No. They will demote him to the bullpen at the worst, or skip his turn in the rotation and put him on the DL with some fictitious injury so that he can make some minor league starts before coming back up. But yes, he will come back up. That’s the worst part, the fact that I know for certain that at some point this season he will be back to make a start, barring injury, and we’ll be right back to where we started. Of course the Mets have no one but themselves to blame here with the 12 million a year contract they gave to him. There’s no easy way to just eat 12 mil but the Mets need to do what’s in the best interest of the organization and not what’s in the best interest of the bottom line which again would go a long way towards convincing Met fans that maybe the Wilpons didn’t stash all their pennies and lose all their coin with Madoff. But again, the point is, Ollie will be back Met fans. We’ll have to live with it in some form through 2011.
– What more to say about the Met offense? Well, in their defense when they scored those two runs in the top of the 5th, I got excited and it goes back to what I’ve been saying. As bad as this team has been recently, they’ve been fun to watch. I know Met fans won’t see any solace in this, but its clear the team has a different mindset and they’re fighters. Its these days where they show some fight that convince me that when they get hot, its up to their coach to convince this team that they can overcome any deficit. As an eternal optimist it is my duty to inform you that the Mets will not completely be in this kind of funk for long. There’s too much talent for this to go on and I have some ideas. I realize that alot of Met fans have been longing for a line up change and I put a few together a few weeks ago when the Mets were facing similiar questions. Yesterday I suggested that the number three hole be a rotating group of players of Wright, Bay, and Davis. But now, let’s see some other line ups that could make sense:
1. Reyes
2. Wright
3. Bay
4. Davis
5. Barajas
6. Pagan
7. Castillo
8. Francouer
This is the line up that I like the most. You put Wright in a situation where his OBP will actually help. What’s interested me the most is that his defense hasn’t suffered while he’s looked like a mess up at the plate. If someone can convince him to take those outside breaking ball pitches, then he will cut down on his strikeouts and force the pitcher to throw it down the middle. The two hole is the on base guy. Ladies and gentleman: one of only 24 guys in the bigs with a .400+ oBP: Mr. David Wright. I know it doesn’t sound as sexy but seriously it counts.
Another version of the line up could be as follows:
1. Reyes
2. Castillo
3. Davis
4. Pagan
5. Bay
6. Wright
7. Barajas
8. Francouer
I’d rather not bunch up three right handed hitters but at this point, you have to separate Wright and French who’ve been striking out almost every time up and Barajas will give those two guys some pitches to hit. Either way, both need to start producing. Also, you may be wondering why Pagan is batting clean up. Ladies and gentleman, the Mets leader in average with RISP: Mr. Angel Pagan who came into tonight’s game with a .381 BA. The numbers don’t lie, Pagan can rake and if given the opportunity I believe he could do it.
With both of these line ups as you can see, my vote is for Reyes to be moved back to his spot in the line up which is at the top of the order. He doesn’t remember how to put a bunt down. Mentally this, hitting in the 3 spot, has messed with his psyche and his beliefs. He’s a lead off hitter, and as much in favor as I was with the move (I remember talking something about the Mets needing to be unconventional and having speed at the top of the line up), I must admit that this is not working out. With as much a sample as we’ve had, its clear that the Mets must make the switch and move Reyes back to where he belongs: at the top of the line up as the table setter. Packing even Reyes, Wright and Davis might not be such a bad idea either. If we sink, we’ll do so with our homegrown talent.
– What more can be said about our bullpen who seem to have a new guy going 3+ innings a night it seems. Raul Valdes came in and pithed 2.2 innings of perfect ball striking out 4 on 34 pitches. Acosta and Mejia came in and shut down the Marlins the rest of the way. By the way, the Met pitching staff recorded 13 K’s, 9 after Ollie left. Its unfortunate these guys are seeing so much daylight but hey, when they come in, the opposing team doesn’t seem to have much success the rest of the way. Imagine they put together a pitching staff that went 7 innings a night, this team would actually be, dare I say it, respectable.
– Mets losers of 5 of their last 6 face Nate Robertson in their next game. He threw against the Mets at Citi Field on April 8th and struck out 4 in taking the win against them in 5 innings of work. The Mets counter with the rejuvenated John Maine looking to get the Mets on the board in this series.
SEASON: 18-18
MY PREDICTION: 22-14
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The Lazy Eye of Sports 