Tag Archives: Reds

A great win by the Mets who finally managed to get the big hit when it counted.  Important to note that Fernando Nieve making his umpteenth appearance gave up the lead but Rod Barajas came in to clean it all up.  We’ll get into that and yet another managerial blunder that’s beginning to take me to the other side of the Fire Jerry Manuel debate.

– First off, that’s two very impressive outings by John Maine.  6 IP, 6 K’s, 2 BB’s, 1 ER (2 R), on 4 hits and 102 pitches (62 for strikes- 60.8%).  The good thing about it was that by the 5th inning he only had 79 pitches.  If he had one quick inning he could’ve gone 7.  His new strategy is working, by using primarily fastballs in different spots and trying to throw people off and using the offspeed stuff as a complementary pitch instead of the one he throws all the time.  He’s getting more swings and misses because he has good movement on his fastball.  It tails away from lefties and comes in on righties which makes it a very tough pitch for sluggers to extend on.  There will be moments like the Brandon Phillips homerun where he’ll put it where people can extend but for the most part he kept it out of the zone.  So that makes it two consecutive nights where the unknown quantities of the Met rotation gave excellent efforts.  That’s also two straight nights where the Mets almost lost because the Reds were able to come back.

– The Mets offense seemed to show signs of life last night scoring 5 runs, 3 XBH, 2 home runs and a double by Reyes.  Barajas took the first pitch from closer Francisco Cordero and smashed it.  I love watching his home runs because right off the bat, it looks like its going to leave the stadium, bounce on the freeway and go right into the ocean.  I mean he crushes balls when he gets it.  As the old saying goes, he never gets cheated.  The first inning was especially sweet since it started off with 3 consecutive hits against Met killer Bronson Arroyo.  The top three guys got basehits and got Angel Pagan home which is the way it should be.  The first three guys get on, a single can score two, a double clears the bases and that’s the beauty having all that speed on the bases.*

*= The guys made a very good point about the Mets offense.  Right now, they aren’t getting the big hit, they need to rely on forcing the situation and that’s the formula to the Mets success even in 2006.  I remember it like it was yesterday. Reyes gets on, dances on first threatens to steal, hit and run, Castillo busts one through the hole and Reyes ends up on 3rd.   Beltran comes up and singles and Reyes scores.  Now, just replace Reyes with Pagan and Beltran with Reyes and you have the formula to the Mets first run of the game.  Its important that the Mets get back to their identity which is speed and forcing the issue with the guys that get on base.  We have good speed 1-5 (have you seen Bay on ground balls? The throws are barely beating him to the bag.  One day a fielder is going to get lackadaisical and he’s going to make it in a big spot, I’m calling it already) and it can come in handy when you need to score runs on singles with men on 2nd.  All five of those guys can score with their speed which doesn’t put much pressure on guys to get extra base hits to get them to score which is good.

– Ok, so I understand why Jerry brings in Fernando Nieve.  I do.  He’s been good for him this entire season whenever called up on and even up until 2 outs, Jerry looked like a genius.  But, he did give up the two back to back home runs which could’ve ended in disaster given the Mets recent history in being unable to get the big hit.  They were fortunate that Barajas got the home run but again, it could’ve ended badly.  My point is this: you have unofficially given the 8th inning role to Pedro Feliciano who’s done a terrific job.  Yes, he pitched the last two nights but if that’s his role then that’s his role.  Nieve needs to be rested.  Manuel brings him in for long duty, for an inning, and then in the 8th.  My point is, he doesn’t have a clue as to what Nieve’s role is except as his favorite button to push whenever he needs a lead kept safe.  Meanwhile, you have Jenrry Mejia coming in the 7th getting what kind of experience exactly?  IF he’s going to be the ace of the future he serves no purpose right now as a 7th inning reliever.  You either give him high leverage situations OR you get his butt back to the minors to stretch him out.  But back to defining roles.  You’ve seen these guys over a month now and you’ve given Feliciano the 8th on more than one occasion and he’s come through and now you’re giving Nieve the role?  Clearly Jerry has no clue and is now just bringing in Nieve just for the heck of it and actively ruining what is a bright spot on our bullpen.  I’m not suggesting bringing in Manny Acosta, but what I’m saying is you have to be smart in the way you use these guys this early in the season.  By July, Nieve’s arm is going to be in a sling and we’ll be shouting for Manuel’s neck for ruining what was one of the more dependable arms in the bullpen for overuse in April and May.  These are the kind of decisions that come back to haunt you.  Don’t you think the papers are going to suggest that Nieve is running out of gas (even though that pitch that Votto hit was 95 on the gun) in May and going to say that Manuel is ruining him?  Come on Jerry.  THINK!

– The Mets close out the series with Niese going against Johnny Cueto today in a day game.  The Mets are attempting to win the 4th of 5 series and hoping that the Niese from Friday shows up again.

THE SEASON: 15-12

MY PREDICTION: 15-12