Ugh
Well there is growing sentiment amongst Mets fans that Willie is losing his mind by not batting LoDuca second at this point. Green is back and that is certainly better than what he has been runner out there, but staunch Willie supporters that I know are suddenly getting exasperated with Willie. "What the hell is going on with Willie" they say. The answer is I'm not sure. Of course that is not the reason why the Mets are losing and neither is his insistence on using Julio Franco as the first option off of the bench. But a call into WFAN was touching on that this weekend and posed the question how could this be a World Series team when Julio Franco is the first option off of the bench? The bench is extremely important for obvious reasons and having big spots squandered a on guy who came into Sunday's game batting .182 against lefties and .185 against righties is mind blowing. He is also is a potential rally killing double play machine with 51.4% of his at-bats ending with groundballs and 32.4% ending in a strikeout. Scary.
What is even scarier is the bullpen. Schoeneweis should never face a righty until he figures out what the hell is going on with him and the Mets only have four relievers with an ERA under 3.99 and only three that that are actually in the bigs. Also, Mota was supposed to give the Mets some help and he has struggled and just has not looked good. The Mets might have to have to starting looking at how Johan Santana, Joel Zumaya, Adam Wainwright, Jon Papelbon, Andrew Miller, etc. broke into the big leagues and look at a minor league starter as a member of this bullpen. Simply said, the bullpen has not been too effective of late. In April, only one reliever had an ERA over four. For the months of May and June, there were four relievers each month over four. Not a good trend.
One other thing that has come up lately was the observation that Tom Glavine just cannot pitch with a lead. If he gets a few runs, he gives them right back and simply has a penchant for only pitching well when the Mets do not give him run support. Also, Tom Glavine's effectiveness seems to be tied into him getting calls from the umpire. You pretty much know in the first inning what type of day it will be for Tom Glavine. If the ump is going to squeeze him or just call and a true strike zone, he is going to be roughed up. He simply does not have the stuff to pitch without getting the gifts he get back in the 90's. He is going to be hit or miss depending more on the umpire than on him and that is not very encouraging.
This Met team is a in a lull right now and they will wake up, but some glaring weaknesses have shown themselves during this stretch.
I've never seen Yankee fans get so excited a team that is one game under .500.
Do the Yankees look great right now? Yes. Have they gone 10-2 in their last twelve and still not gotten over .500? Yes. It is a long season and while they have a chance to make the playoffs and are certainly better than they have showed early on, there are some other pretty good teams. The Yankees will hit a rough streak just like the Mets have and lose ground again. It will be a back and forth struggle for them and their success has alarmingly been tied to Alex Rodriguez's production. As good as he has been and is, he will hit a lull again also.
Can I just say how happy I am to not be a Yankee fan?
"It's up to the money," Guillen said. "Money talks. I don't blame Buehrle if he tests the market and gets his money. That's his job. He should make as much money as he can because when he's not playing baseball, he's just another guy on the street."
And Buehrle is going to get paaaaaiiiid.
Negotiations with top pick Casey Weathers will resume this week. There are indications the Rockies would like Weathers to sign for less than $1.8 million - his slot number - because he lacks leverage as a college senior.
Not a good way to build goodwill with a young player. Then you are going to turn around and ask him for a reasonable extension beyond his arbitration years like Crawford, Baldelli, Wright, Sizemore, etc. got? Please.
"Jason's the best you can get," Suzuki said Sunday at AT&T Park. "I'm going to follow him and how he prepares himself, be around him a lot doing as much as I can."
I'd make sure he was just being diplomatic and follows him around to do the exact opposite. Jason Kendall actually approached the Athletics to rework his contract so he can stay around. So many players have no self awareness and I bet he is gracious enough to take a bit of a pay cut.
Labels: mets
posted by michael o. at 12:24 AM
18 Comments:
The Mets just lost another game. A combination of injuries, slumps and playing good teams has reduced the Mets lead over the Braves to 2 games and to 4 over the Phillies. The Mets are now tied with SD for the best record percentage wise in the NL and Arizona now has the most wins in the NL. With many more tough games ahead the Mets could find themselves in 2nd or 3rd place by the time this is all over.
In tonight’s game with the go ahead run on 2nd and 2 outs Willie let El Dugue hit even though he had just struggled through 2 innings and had a high pitch count. Easley, in 12 at bats has 3 hrs off of Wolf, could have been used but it would probably be Franco who has hit .353 off of Wolf. Willie stuck with El Dugue who never made it out of the bottom half of the inning.
Willie made a major move tonight by dropping Degado to the 5th spot. That’s radical for Willie.
The Mets have shut down Burgos with a sore elbow. It just gets worse and worse.
Have a good night.
1:56 AM
'Also, Mota was supposed to give the Mets some help and he has struggled and just has not looked good.'
I smile and nod.
You wanted him. You got him.
I didn't want him. I'm pissed.
Emad
2:34 AM
I'm going to the Mets vs Yankee game on Saturday, uh oh.
I'm scared as hell as last time I went to Yankee Stadium as a 13 year old, I was cursed out, made fun of, yelled at and had things thrown at me.
Wish me luck...
2:55 AM
I still have confidence in Mota. His velocity has been good, it's just his location that has been off. He's elevating his pitches. It could just be a little phase (because he is overthrowing and trying to impress early and prove it was not the steroids?).
Franco is certainly a DP machine, but he has actually been effective as a pinch hitter this year, even with his horrible stats. My theory is he can only swing that heavy bat a couple of times a game before the bat really slows on him and he can't even catch up to offspeed pitches.
I need a decisive win for my sanity tonight.
8:33 AM
In tonight’s game with the go ahead run on 2nd and 2 outs Willie let El Dugue hit even though he had just struggled through 2 innings and had a high pitch count. Easley, in 12 at bats has 3 hrs off of Wolf, could have been used but it would probably be Franco who has hit .353 off of Wolf. Willie stuck with El Dugue who never made it out of the bottom half of the inning.
I didn’t watch the game. I actually cannot bring myself to even watch them at this point. I know…bad fan, but I can’t it’ll ruin my day. But your assessment of the situation is right on and why I think Willie is just a bad manager. He’ll save Easley for the later innings because of this pop and ability to win the game and he’ll use Franco first…no matter what…no alterations.
At this point, Delgado needs to be banished to sixth….even seventh. Horrible. Just horrible. He dropped him and brought him back up after a mild week? This team needs to bunch up their best hitters to given them a chance to score a few runs in bunches. Everyone is just horrifying right now.
Burgos shut down!!! Wow. Just wow. Humber to the pen. Do it.
Emad,
I did want him and struggling now doesn’t mean he’ll struggle all season. You could very well be right, but I think you’ll agree the jury is still out at this point.
I'm going to the Mets vs Yankee game on Saturday, uh oh.
Sorry to hear that Benny. Such a waste of time to go to Yankee stadium to watch them get lambasted. Just remember, even the Royals beat the Yanks…they have a shot, albeit a small one.
I still have confidence in Mota.
And he K rate is good. I’m not giving up on him, but right now, they need him to perform.
RE: Franco, I know. Pinch hitting he’s batting like .300. But really, I don’t see the hits. I just see horrible at-bats and him getting beat by 85 mph fastballs and no ability to pull. I know I’m being a little biased when it comes to Franco, but I don’t care what stats you who me. He’s unproductive in my mind and seeing him infuriates me. He should be the last one on the bench period. He simply doesn’t have productive at-bats. His LD% is digusting, his GB% is frightening, and his BA w/ RISP is bad. Throw on top of that one extra base hit. I am fixated.
8:51 AM
RE: Real Yankee. Hey, TM means unregistered trademark. It means someone intends to enforce it as being indicative of source....there's no source, it's not being used in commerce, therefore no TM.
11:55 AM
RE: Real Yankee. Hey, TM means unregistered trademark. It means someone intends to enforce it as being indicative of source....there's no source, it's not being used in commerce, therefore no TM.
Suck it.
12:28 PM
Kidding of course....well, sort of. I'll use the copyright symbol next time.
12:28 PM
I'm going Friday night (looking forward to many pre-game beers at Stan's and the Bowling Alley), and I'm not conceding anything to those douchebags in the Bronx. The Mets will break out of this funk sooner or later (hopefully sooner). We get Fat Roger Friday night, and based on everything I've read about his so-called comeback, he should be prime for the whoopin by a good offensive team (which the Mets are, notwithstanding the recent funk). Of course, look for Franco to be the DH, so the offense will suffer.
1:51 PM
Are you sitting on the field level? If so, I suggest the pulled pork sandwich. A solid offering when intoxicated but I think they only have it via the servers that come to your seats. Not 100% sure since I don’t go there often.
I like your gumption and hope you and Benny get to see a win so they can be silenced quickly.
Franco will undoubtedly be DHing two of the three games. Not that the options are limitless with a banged up team, but he should be the last one DHing. I’d prefer Castro starting with LoDuca catching, but that could be highly dangerous if Castro goes down and LoDuca not being able to slide behind the plate. Maybe call-up a third catcher for the series? Is that crazy talk? IS IT?
2:12 PM
Sorry, that was Castro catching with LoDuca DHing....
2:13 PM
I'm actually sitting on the Loge level near First Base (pretty good seats, actually). I will look for the pulled pork. I don't usually end up eating too much in the Stadium, because I fill up on souvlaki and other treats outside the bars.
2:34 PM
Oh, then you are probably making the right move. I'd bet that food is light years better than what's in either Shea or Yankee Stadium.
I do believe that will all change when the new stadiums get built, but I'm still unsure as to why neither place really overhauled their food offerings and mimic what they do in Philly, Baltimore, Denver, Pittsburgh, etc.
P.S...I'm not thrilled about the pitching match-ups. I think Perez beats Clemens....Glavine gets tuned up against a patient team, though if he gets a generous strike zone he might be able to gut it out...and I think he get shut down the red hot Wang.
2:54 PM
I feel like I have been quoted. It seems like I have been the only one calling for Humber and Vargas to join the pen..........
Hindsight is 20/20 but here are a few points in my critique:
a: Loduca DH'ing. Beltran or Delgado could DH with Gomez in CF, Ledee/Alou in LF and Green in RF, or franco sub for Delgado at 1st.
b. Willie keeps making the same mistakes. And when he eventually realizes it its ' a hunch'.
As pointed out Mota's peripherals are good, but willie insists on pitching him multiple innings in back to back games...Mota is not a long man. ditto wags. He was 13/13 in saves pitching him to start the 9th. So Willie gives him a 4 batter save oppurtunity....Granted his trust level in Aaron and Sho is low. I see a great oppurtunity for Pelfrey or Humber.
And again: EASLEY should be that super-sub/1st man off the bench.
4:13 PM
You might have been calling for Humber for a while, but I certainly have as well. I think it’s a good thing for have them get limited exposure to big league hitters and get a feel for how to pitch to them first. It also gives the coaches and extended look at their stuff and make a determination as to whether or not they think they could be an effective starter as they did with Heilman when they decided he couldn’t be.
Gomez in the OF makes sense for sure and resting Beltran would be nice, but I’d prefer Green comes to DH.
100% in regards to Easley. Love the marginal pop off the bench. He at least has a shot to hit something beside a single to the opposite field with is basically Franco’s best case scenario.
4:29 PM
um the yankees beat the pirates. took 3 of 4 from the white sox who are on espn's front story as a collapsing team. 2 of 3 from the bosox was impressive but couldve easily been 1 of 3.
this yankee team isnt good.
willie is showing his true colors here. a great motivator but never a great 'manager.' he should be batting loduca 2nd and utilizing hit and runs more in an effort to spark the slumping offense. beltran doesnt hit right when he's hurt and delgado is sometimes a waste. use small ball u idiot. u have the tools. now that green is back he can strengthen the bottom of the lineup
did i mention that im glad newhan is gone?
10:07 PM
I am about ready to turn off tonight’s game. First Willie puts out the same lineup as last night. I assume he was satisfied with the offensive output of that lineup. He may be a disciple of Torre but at least Torre will change the lineup around when things aren’t going well. BTW the Yankees beat Arizona and Webb tonight. Once again 1st and 2nd with one out and Green and Beltran fail to deliver. Right now Beltran looks like the 2005 version. I guess the problems with his quads puts him at 84.33333222221590456 % and diminishes his effectiveness.
Maine gave up back to back to back hrs to a poor hr hitting Dodger’s team on three consecutive pitches. Earlier we were crowing how the experts had misdiagnosed our pitching staff and how great it had been. The mistake we made was gauging the staff on 2 months of work. Well I won’t make the same mistake again. This staff is not as bad as it is pitching right now but not as good as we had thought. But in a week NL it should be adequate.
11:09 PM
-shawn green batting 2nd is ok. anyone batting behind reyes when he's on base is gonna see a lot of fastballs. with green coming back from injury, i'm sure willie wants him seeing more fastballs than breaking stuff.
-i was behind the plate last night for the mets/dodgers game. all 3 hr's the dodgers hit off maine were bombs. even kuo's. it was a frustrating game to watch in person . i wasnt alone in thinking this, about 20% of the crowd was mets fans. at least the beer selection at dodger stadium is better than shea.
-mota and blowenweis suck balls. blowenweis might be minaya's biggest mistake to date as the mets gm.
-hopefully broham is getting regular ab's at new orleans. i know a lot of mets fans don't think he'll help much, but the guy can hit and i think he needs to get into a rythm. he's a much better option off the bench than franco...
12:20 PM
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