The Mets finally got a decent performance out of their bullpen and held on to win 3-2 in Washington on Tuesday night.  With Johan Santana on the mound you almost automatically think the bullpen will blow it.  However, Santana did get his 10th win of the season, he pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on eight hits; he walked two and struck out six.  

Jerry Manual elected to pinch hit for Johan Santana in the top of the eighth inning.  Santana was visibly unhappy about leaving the game at that point.  Listen, considering how the bullpen has pitched as of late, and particularly how they seem to pitch in relief for Santana, I can imagine that he was not too happy about leaving the game in the hands of the bullpen.  Also, now he’ll have to hear that he only gave the Mets seveninnings, he hadn’t even thrown 100 pitches.  Listen, Santana wasn’t exactly stellar last night, he relinquished the lead on two occasions.  In the bottom of the first with a two run lead, Santana gave up two in the bottom of the inning.  Then, with the Mets winning 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, he gave up a solo pinch hit homer to Ryan Langerhans-it was Langerhans’ first homer of the season.  However, Santana pitched well enough to get the win and after what he has been through with this bullpen, it was good to see that he finally got one. 

If someone had told you in March that Santana wouldn’t get his 10th winuntil the middle of August, you would think that something ridiculous had happened, and the truth is, the bullpen has been ridiculous.  If the bullpen had been able to hold leads in the games that Santana started he would be a 15 game winner right now.  Since the all star break, the Mets bullpen has a 6.82 era, the worst in the majors.  After the latest debacle against the Pirates in Monday’s make up game, Jerry Manual vowed to shake things up.  Scott Schoeneweis called a bullpen only meeting challenging guys to step up and go out and do what has to be done.  Apparently, it must have worked because both Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano threw scoreless innings to finish out the game last night.  Smith worked the eighth, he allowed on hit and stuck out two.  Feliciano worked the ninth, he did not allow a hit or a walk and stuck out two, Feliciano also earned his first save of the season. 

The Mets scored two in the top of the first, Nick Evans singled with one out, and scored on a two out double by Carlos Beltran.  Beltran would score on a single to center by Carlos Delgado.  The Mets scored one in the third to go ahead 3-2 on a RBI double by Carlos Beltran.  Beltran had a better night at the plate last night, he was 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.  He left two guys in scoring position when he stuck out with two outs in the top of the fifth inning.  However, hitting in the cleanup spot seems to agree with him, and given that winning these games against Washington and Pittsburgh are so important, hopefully, Beltran can really get it going.  The Mets left the bases loaded againin the top of the eighth inning. 

Good thing Damion Easley got hit in the head by a pitch in the top of the eighth ( he wasn’t actually “hit”more like the ball just grazed his helmet), otherwise the Mets would not have gotten a run home from third withless than two outs at all in the game.  What a terrible job by the Met’s hitters in that spot.  Dan Murphy pinch hit for Ramon Castro and struck out.  Then Brian Schneider pinch hit in the pitcher’s spot and struck out also, for that Santana could have batted and stayed in the game. 

A win is a win, and because the Phillies lost to the Dodgers on Tuesday night, the Mets sit in second place just one game out.  This is really a make or break road trip for the Mets.  The bullpen has got to get straightened out because the Mets are in a situation where a couple of losses in a row could be very hard to overcome.  Yes, the Mets do have five games left with the Phillies, so there is that to keep in the back of your mind, but the Marlins are not going away just yet.  The Mets meet the Marlins six more times, three of those games are the last three games of the regular season.  While we are discussing the last week of the season, the Mets are at home but play three with the Chicago Cubs and three with the Marlins; at that same time the Phillies will be at home for three against Atlanta and Washington.  So, really, the time to make up ground is getting short so the Mets must take advantage of the next two series and win some games. 

Ryan Church had a good work out down in Florida and is feeling good.  The Mets have still not set a time frame for his rehab assignment.  Carlos Muniz was sent down to Triple A New Orleans and Brian Stokes will stay with the team.  Luis Castillo’s return from the DL has been delayed “indefinitely” because he has been away from workouts attending to a personal family matter.  That or he realizes that when he returns he will be sitting on the bench.  Either way, let him stay down in Florida. 

The Mets and the Nats meet up again Wednesday night.  John Maine, fresh off his stint on the 15 day DL will start for the Mets and the Nationals will have Jason Bergmann on the mound.  Maine is 9-7 with a 4.13 Bergmannis 2-8 with a 4.13 era.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog           

Powered by the bat of Fernando Tatis, the Mets survived Aaron Heilman’s ninth inning outing to take the first of three from the Padres 5-4.  Tatishad a great night at the plate, going 2-4 with two homers and four RBI.  The crowd was so excited that Tatis was actually called from the dugout for a curtain call (as seen in the picture above).  Not only was Tatis really the main source of offense last night, but he continues to swing a hot bat, extending his hit streak to 11 games.  The Mets got a little a little help from the rookies as Daniel Murphy hit an RBI double in the seventh to record his first major league RBI and Nick Evans hit an RBI double in the eighth inning-that run ended up being really important.  The other guys in the line up really struggled Jose Reyes, David Wright, Brian Schneider, Damion Easley and Carlos Delgado all were hitless in last nights game.  However,  Carlos Beltran; who has been moved back down in the order had a good night at the plate as well going 2-4 with two runs scored-if this guy would ever get hot the Mets could really put a nice win streak together (again). 

Mike Pelfrey pitched a decent game.  He gave up two runs, both solo homers.  He worked just six and two thirds innings, walked one and stuck out three to earn his 10th win of the season.  I know the Mets hoped that Pelfrey would have worked deeper into the game, espeically considering that the bullpen was without Wagner, but Pedro Feliciano worked an inning and a third without giving up anything.  Because Billy Wagner was placed on the 15 day DL prior to last nights game, manager Jerry Manual said that the bullpen would be a closer by committee.  I thought maybe because the Mets had a four run lead that we might see Eddie Kunz, guess not.  And really, would he have been worse than Heilman?  This whole bullpen by committee thing, never works but if this is the way they are going to have to do it, I hope Heilman has been thrown off the committee.  What a terrible outing!  He left the game giving up three runs retiring only one batter that he faced.  Granted, there was a ball that was misplayed by Argenis Reyes, but Heilman walked the lead off hitter which was an indication that the things were not going to go well and I had a sinking feeling they were about to get worse after he gave up the three run homer.  But, Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis each faced one batter to close out the game,  Schoeneweis actually got credit for his first save of the season. 

This was a win the Mets needed, and because the Marlins beat the Phillies 8-2 last night, the Metswho are still in third place are now just two games out.  With the Marlins and Phillies playing each other, it is a win-win for the Mets, if they play well.  They might not be in first when that series is over, but if they play well against San Diego, they may make the race just a little tighter. 

I know that the Mets are going to have to fill roles in the bullpen without Wagner there-but I just don’t see Aaron Heilman filling that role.  He has been a disaster recently, and I know you have to tip toe around and not hurt any one’s feelings, but this guy is a freakin’ headcase.  I am so sick of him out there. What is frustrating is, he can be good, and we’ve seen him pitch well, but I think deep down he is still pouting about not being a starter.  Geez Aaron, get over it.  As for the rest of the guys, I feel a little about relief pitching like Bill Parcells feels about kickers, you have one job to do-go out and do it! 

 Wednesday’s Starters: Pedro Martinez 3-2 6.16 era and Cha Seung Baek 3-6 5.22 era.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.  

Mets Blog 

What are the Mets doing?  I realized that they were 18-8 in July, but if it doesn’t carry over into August, then July isn’t going to matter much.  I know, I know not exactly time to panic just yet.  Even though the Mets lost, the Phillies and Marlins did too; the Mets remain one game out of first with the Marlins trailing close behind. 

Pedro Martinez was making his first start in nearly three weeks.  He threw 87 pitches in five innings, giving up three runs (all of which were homers) on five hits, he walked two and stuck out five.  Knowing that Pedro would not be in it for the long haul tonight, the bullpen had to know that the team would be counting on them to keep them in the game. 

The trade deadline has passed so we pretty much know that this team is our team and this is the bullpen we are going to have to count on.  There might be some additions, but it will be of guys who made us better by subtraction-think Luis Castillo.  But the Mets bullpen right now has been atrocious.  I have heard talk this week from guys on SNY and on WFAN trying to tell us that the Mets bullpen isn’t that bad.  These guys then must not watch them night after night like the fans do, because I can tell you, and I’m sure you know it-this pen is horrible right now. 

“Right now” are the key words.  These are the same guys we’ve seen be really good.  And in fairness, the guys who have said that the Mets pen isn’t that bad, preface it by saying that if the pen actually pitched the way it is capable of, then they are actually pretty good.  But, they haven’t pitched like they are capable of anything, and in order to be in the thick of it, the Met have to have all parts working.  Again, the problem is that it isn’t just one guy who is struggling.  From night to night you don’t know who will blow it.  Last night it just happend to be Aaron Heilman.  He gave up a grand slam to Mark Loretta in the bottom of the eighth that really put the game out of reach for the Mets, but why was Heilman ptiching a second inning?  Can no one else pitch in relief and get an out?  Joe Smith finally got someone out, he pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and Pedro Felicano, who came into the game after the Astros had blown it wide open retired both batters that he faced. 

Clearly part of the problem last night was that Pedro Marinez only pitched five innings and the Mets bullpen was going to have to pick up the slack.  But, isn’t that their job?  Seriously, Damion Easley, Endy Chavez, and Fernando Tatis have (for the most part) done their jobs and continue to go out and do them night after night.  Tatis is probably one of the biggest reasons that the Mets played so well in July.  The point is, the bench guys picked up the slack when other guys went down, it is a little concept known as “team.”  And, no, I do believe that the bull pen is stinking up the joint because they want to, but it just seems more often than not they are the problem rather than the solution. 

Pitching wasn’t the Mets only problem.  They had plenty of scoring chances against Brandon Backe on Friday night and didn’t make the most of them.  They left seven guys on base and with no one out in the top of the seventh the Mets loaded the bases but failed to score-Endy Chavez struck out, David Wright grounded into a force play, and Carlos Delgado hit a fly ball to left.  I realize that the Mets have no other option, but Endy Chavez is not a good two hitter.  He struck out in a bad spot last night, and was 0-3.  I know the they are thinking that when Ryan Church comes back that he will hit in the five spot with Carlos Beltran will hit in the two hole.  And really, I am not bagging on Chavez because I believe that he has done a good job stepping in and when he is in the game the Mets have two of the best defensive outfielders in the game.  He isn’t the worst thing out there, he is hitting .268 and has had some big games, but I think that the Mets need a little more consistency, espeically at the top of the lineup. 

John Maine will not start on Sunday instead we will see Oliver Perez.  The Mets a hoping that the rest will work for Maine, he is scheduled to pitch at home on August 8th against the Marlins.  Meanwhile, in his first Triple-A start Jon Niese allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings of work on Wednesday.  Niese could make his major league debut with the Mets on August 11th in a rainout make up game against the Pirates, he will make one more start at Tripple-A before possibly pitching for the Mets.  Daniel Murphy’s promotion lasted just one day in Triple-A as newspapers here in New York are reporting that he will join the Mets tonight against the Astros.  He was hitting .308 with 13 homers and 67 RBI at Double-A-Binghamton and just one day ago was promoted to Triple-A.  I’m not sure what moves the Mets are making to place Murphy on the active roster, the transaction pages have yet to be updated. 

Tonight’s starters: Johan Santana is coming off his first complete game as a Met.  He is 9-8 with a 2.93 era.  Roy Oswalt is 8-8 with a 4.67 era.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Mets Blog    

Well, it appears that the Marlins are bad luck for Mike Pelfrey.  The last time Pelfrey “lost” a game was against the Marlins in late May.  He didn’t fare to well in this start either.  In four innigs of work he allowed five runs on eight hits, he struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

For whatever reason, Pelfrey just lost it in the fourth inning.  He didn’t really give up much to the Marlins in the first three; but in the fourth, Jeremey Hermdia tripled to lead of the inning and scored on a single by Jorge Cantu.  Cantu would advance to second on a single by Josh Willingham.  After Dan Warthen visited the mound, Pelfrey then got Dan Uggla to strike out swinging and Mike Jacobs flied out to center.  With two out, the Marlins put together three straight extra base hits.  Cody Ross tripled, scoring both Cantu and Willingham.  John Baker hit a double to center, scoring Ross; the the pitcher Josh Johnson hit a RBI double.  In all the Marlins would score five in the inning and take a 5-1 lead. 

The Mets had plenty of scoring chances but they hit into double plays in the first, second and third innings.  The heart of the order, David Wright, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran were a combined 0-11.   Damion Easley hit a three run pinch hit homer in the top of the seventh.  The Mets tacked on one more run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Ramon Castro, but with two on and two out Jose Reyes flied out to left to end the inning. 

Wednesday nights loss  was a combination of things, the Mets didn’t hit, they didn’t get great starting pitching and Joe Smith didn’t help matters.  So, the Mets are now a half game out of first place and we knew that the lead would change hands a bunch of times before all is said and done.  This is the first series the Mets lost in the month of July.  No need to panic, but just a little reason to be disapointed.  We all know that the Mets were bound to lose a series at some point, I was just hoping they would lose the game on the night that the Phillies lost. 

While the Mets play three in Houston, the Marlins will play four with the Rockies and the Phillies will wrap up a four game series with the Nationals on Thursday and then play three in St. Louis. 

Friday’s pitching match up Pedro Martinez will take the mound for the first time in two weeks he is 3-2 with a 6.25 era.  Brandon Backe 6-10 with a 4.73 era.  Game time is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. 

Mets Blog 

The Mets 10 game win streak came to an end last night with a 5-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.  The Mets looked more like the team of old rather than the team that has been so good in the prior 10 games.   

We all knew the Mets were going to lose eventually, but I guess we were hoping it would happen on a night when the Phillies lost too.  Instead, the Phillies beat the Marlins 4-2, and the Mets find themselves back in second place.   

John Maine was horrible last night.  He has really not been good all year.  In his last four starts he is 0-2 with a 6.63 era.  He has not won a game since the 20^th of June.  Look, last night he didn’t exactly get anyhelp.  With two on, Jeff Keppinger hit a ball to third that David Wright could not make the play on; it was ruled an infield hit, but it was an error.  The game changed there, if Wright makes that play, Maine gets out of the inning.  Instead, Maine fell apart, he walked Ken Griffey Jr. with the bases loade, gave up a single to Brandon Phillips that scored two; he intentionally walked Adam Dunn but then hit Edwin Encarnacion with a pitch to walk in another run.  Jerry Manual finally took him out of the game at that point.  Scott Schoeneweis entered the game and got Joey Votto to ground out finally ending the inning.   

Bronson Arroyo shut the Mets offense down; he allowed just two runs on four hits.  The Mets did put up a two spot in the fourth inning but couldn’t do anything there after.  It looked like maybe they would have a scoring chance in the top of the 7^th.  Carlos Beltran hit a triple to lead of the inning, Damion Easley struck out swinging, Carlos Delgado was hit by a pitch, and with runners on the corners, Fernando Tatis grounded into a double play to end the inning.  Beltran had a good game last night offensively, but for the most part the bats were dead.  Jose Reyes has an 0-fer going, having yet to record a hit since the all star break, it was so frustrating watching him pop the ball up all last night.  Again too, it was a terrible job to have a runner on third with no outs and not get him home.    

Ok, am I being a little critical?  Maybe so.  I knew they were going to lose a game eventually, but I hate when they play like they played last night.  It is just sloppy and uninspired.  I guess too I worry because you wonder if they will slip back into the mode.  We’ve seen so much of that this season, and in the past 10 games it was gone, I don’t want them to become complacent.  They need to keep playing with the same firing and driving force they had prior to the all star break.   

If you get a chance, make sure you watch the month’s “Costas Now” on HBO.  The show is a town hall setting with MLB players from different eras.  It appears that it was taped the day after the all star game. Really great stuff.  

The Mets will have Oliver Perez on the mound; he will be opposed by Josh Fogg.  Game time is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. 

Mets Blog

If it isn’t Billy Wagner who blows games for the Mets, it is Billy Joel.  Yep you read that right.  If you caught Johan Santana’s four innings of work you know he was awful.  He allowed five runs on six hits, two of those hits were homeruns, he walked three and struck out two.  But, no worries, because it wasn’t his fault!  Nope, the culprit is Billy Joel.  Because Joel was performing the last concerts ever at Shea Stadium, Santana could not get in to do his side work.  So, I guess that means he should be right on track before his next start. 

The Mets scored four runs in the top of the ninth to win 10-8.  This win extends their streak to 10.  The last time the Mets won 10 in a row was 1991, they are now just one shy of the Mets all time team record.  They also accomplished something they had yet to do this season.  They came back from three runs down to win the game.  They are the last team in the bigs to accomplish that this season.  

The pitching was terrible last night.  Not only did Santana stink, but Aaron Heilman was worse.  Heilman entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and in just 2/3 of an inning of work, he gave up three runs.  After retiring the first two hitters he faced, he allowed a double to Edwin Encarnacion, he then intentionally walked Joey Votto, and (unintentionally) walked David Ross.  At that juncture, Heilman would leave the game, and Scott Schoeneweis (who also stunk) would enter and gave up a double to Javier Valentin, giving the Reds an 8-6 lead.   

The offense was terrific last night.  It took them a few innings to get going.  The Mets scored first on a Carlos Delgado monster shot to right field that went out of the park, and looks like it was just shy of landing in the river.  In the fifth inning the Mets added two on an RBI single from David Wright.  In the sixth inning, Fernando Tatis hit a two run homer to give the Mets the lead.  The bats were quiet until the ninth inning; Argenis Reyes singled with one out, Wright hit his 18^th homer of the season, a two run blast that just cleared the glove of Ken Griffey Jr., tying the game at 8.  But, the Mets were not done.  Carlos Beltran singled and took third on a single by Damion Easley,  Easley would advance to third and Beltran would score on a single by Carlos Delgado, and Fernando Tatis, came up big again, he hit a RBI double to left that scored Easley.   

David Wright had a big game last night, and had four RBI.  David’s two out RBI single in the top of the 5^th cut the lead 5-4 after the Mets had gone down 5-2 in the bottom of the 4^th, and then of course his 2 run homer in the top of the 9^th tied the game for the Mets.  It was a great job by Wright who had struggled some in that area.  Not only does Wright deserve credit but so does Fernando Tatis, his two run blast gave the Mets the lead in the top of the 6^th, and his RBI double game the Mets an insurance run in the top of the 9^th.  Carlos Delgado continues to swing a hot bat, as he was 3-4 with three RBI.  Jose Reyes who is usually in the thick of it was 0-5 last night that ended his 9 game hit streak.   

So, for the first time since April 20^th when you opened the paper this morning, the Mets were sitting in first place.  Ok-technically they are tied for first, but their name was listed first!  This is an exciting time, especially given how the Mets played last night.  I really didn’t know what to expect from them after the break.  After they went down like that last night, I wasn’t sure they would bounce back, but more and more this team is rebounding and finding ways to win games.  I just have to say though, that it was a terrible job by Santana.  The Mets won the game, so it is what it is, but for him to come back and pitch like that is just a bad job by him.  I don’t want to hear the excuses; I don’t want anything but for him but to win games.  It is infuriating when your team gives your guy a lead and you turn around and give it (and then some) back.  

Ok, so here is something else that will come as a shock to you.  Pedro Martinez will not make his next start.  He had a cortisone shot over the weekend and will not be available to pitch.  Pelfrey will make the start from him on Sunday.  Also, El Duque, left after one inning of work in a rehab start for the B-Mets due to discomfort in his foot.   

The Mets play the second of four against the Reds tonight.  Game time is 7:10 p.m.  The Mets will have John Maine on the mound and he will be opposed by Bronson Arroyo. 

Mets Blog

 If you watched the All Star game, you realized that Billy Wagner hasn’t just let the Mets down this year, but he has now let the whole National League down, as he blew a save opportunity to close out the game for the National League.  This performance got me to thinking, and with a suggestion from a reader, I have decided to write my own midseason report card for the Mets.   

Position Players: 

First Base: Carlos Delgado-Delgado’s performance is really the tale of two halves in its own right, the early part of the season (April-Mid June) and the late part of the first half (late June-break).  Early on, I’d have given Delgado an F, not just because he wasn’t hitting, but because he didn’t hustle on the field, he wasn’t helping the Mets out with his fielding.  But, since late June and right on through the All Star break Delgado has almost looked like a different player.  He has raised his average to .248 with 17 homeruns and 52 RBI.  But it isn’t just his hitting that has been better.  He has started to do the little things, like making an effort to field the ball, and taking the extra base when he can.  It is an all around hustle that this team has not had and it is good to see it out of a veteran guy.  So over all I think Delgado deserves a B-/C+.   

Second Base: Luis Castillo-Oh, where do I begin?  I think this guy stinks.  I do not like his body language or his attitude.  I think this signing was a huge waste of money and time.  And, let me tell you this, It does not bother me a bit that he will not have his starting job waiting for him.  He is a terrible fielder, and maybe that has to do with the fact that he can hardly walk, I think he is a nightmare at the plate, that slap crap hitting annoys me.  Also, I just don’t think that he is a good guy.  There was a lot of chatter about his relationship with Jose Reyes last year claming that he really isn’t a great influence on him-especially when you consider the mentoring relationship that Reyes had with Jose Valentin.  I think this guy is a problem in the club house and an all around lazy guy.  Someone also said that part of the reason Castillo is a Met this year is because he and Santana a great friends from their time together in Minnesota, but if that is true, I would say to Santana-you need new friends.  Overall grade-F 

Third Base: David Wright- David is a hard guy to grade.  We all know that this has not been his best season at the plate, yet he leads the team in almost every offensive category hitting .282 with 17 homeruns, 70 RBI and 11 stolen bases.  David has struggled this year, and he has not been himself at the plate.  He has shown glimpses of coming out of it but has been unable to sustain that for any extended period of time.  His fielding has been pretty good, he does have 12 errors, the majority being throwing errors, but they have also been costly errors, especially early on when the Mets were struggling to win games.  David is such a likeable guy, even when he is not performing up to the standards he set for himself by what he has done in past years.  He says the right thing, does the right thing, answers questions the right way, and an all around good guy.  I would take a team full of David Wrights any day.  That being said, he is a huge part of this team, and if the Mets are really going to make a run at this, he is going to have to continue to do his part, and work on getting runners home from third with less than two out and work on his strikeouts.  Overall grade B+ 

Short Stop: Jose Reyes-Reyes went into a slump last September and didn’t come out of it until the end of May.  But, the good news is he did eventually come out of the slump.  He has gotten his average up to .302 with 43 RBI.  He has fourth most hits in major league baseball with 119, having hit 10 homeruns, 10 triples, and 23 doubles.  He is tied for fifth in the majors with 32 stolen bases.  His offensive production is probably one of the factors why the Mets are sitting where they are now.  However, Reyes has  uncharacteristically struggled with his defense at times.  He has already made 12 errors-as a measuring point, he made only 12 errors all last season.  He does also still make some mental mistakes but I do think that it is all a process, and when he came up with the Mets we knew he was going to be good, and every year he continues to get better.  I think Jose will continue to swing a hot bat and will have a better second half defensively.  Over allgrade-B+/A- 

Left Field: Obviously this is one position you can’t give a grade to.  If you were going to say Endy Chavez, then he scores off the charts solely because of his defense, however, as a whole the position gets an INCOMPLETE because they really are in trouble out there, and what’s to come remains to be seen.   

Center Field: Carlos Beltran-Beltran has quietly had a good season.  He is hitting .268 with 15 homeruns and 66 RBI, he has suddenly become more aggressive on the base paths and has 15 stolen bases.  He started the season out slowly, and I think it had a lot to do with some trepidation coming back after having knee surgery in the off season.  His fielding is probably superior to most of the outfielders in the game.  While I do think a lot of balls fall in front of him because he plays too deep, rarely do they go over his head, and more often then not he tracks down balls in the gap that almost nobody gets to.  Early in the season, I really felt that he and the other Carlos were not doing what they should, and I also thought they were causing a division in the clubhouse.  With the departure of Willie Randolph, I think we’ve seen a new Beltran.  I loved the fact that he go thrown out of the game against Seattle, I know that he is not typically a demonstrative guy, but it was great to see him stand up for himself and Jerry Manual.  Overall grade: B+ 

Right Field: Again, if Ryan Church were playing out there, he would get an A+, his defense has been superb and his offensive production is something, until just recently, the Mets lineup was really missing.  I can’t believe how the Mets front offices screwed this situation up, but I do know they remain optimistic that he may be able to rejoin the team after the all star break.  If the Mets can get Church back, and he is able to pick up where he left off, then they might be in good shape out in right field.  Overall grade: INCOMPLETE 

Catchers: Ramon Castro/Brian Schneider the grade here actually goes to Jerry Manual.  I like the way he has played Castro and Schneider.  I don’t know if it is the rest that Schneider is getting or the reps that Castro is getting but this quasi platoon seems to be working in the Mets favor.  Overall grade B+

Starting Pitching:

Johan Santana he is 8-7 with a 2.84 era, with 114 strikeouts, and has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched.  The only concern is that he does give up the long ball, and has given up 14 so far this season.   However, Santana has shown that he has the guts to pitch out of trouble, and to pitch in big spots.  If Santana actually got some run support, or a good job by the bull pen, Santana could easily be 11-4.  However, things haven’t quite worked out that way for Santana.  Some fans get on him, suggesting that he isn’t any good, and as I’ve said before I believe that is because they have unreasonable expectations about his performance.  For me, has he been as good and I “thought” he was going to be, no-but he has been good.  And if you can believe what people say, that he is a second half pitcher, then we have a lot to look forward to.  Overall Grade B+/A-  

Pedro Martinez-Having Pedro back on the bench is a big plus.  I think he brings something to the clubhouse that no other player on the Mets does.  That being said, he has been unimpressive since his return.  Can Pedro be affective?  Can he stay healthy?  In his last start he pitched only four innings because of a sore groin and a stiff shoulder.  Overall Grade D 

Mike Pelfrey- Pelfrey is 8-6 with a 3.64 era.  Again, if you were just grading him on his last three starts then the guys deserves an A, but early on he was less than stellar, and was a big contributing factor to the Mets early season woes.  However, he never shied away or played the blame game, he kept going out there and working, he has had three good starts and has shown that he can in fact pitch with the big boys.  Overall Grade C 

John Maine-after hearing about how Maine was dominating spring training, I thought for sure he was in for a big season.  Maine is 8-6 with a 3.99 era.  He has failed to go deep into the game because he continuously has terribly high pitch counts.  We’ve seen more players foul pitches off with Maine on the mound, then I think I’ve ever seen before.  He seems to be lacking a real put away pitch and has yet to find that.  I think that all of us, Maine included, are disappointed in his season thus far.  Overall Grade C- 

Oliver Perez-With the addition of new pitching coach Dan Warthen, Oliver has had a chance to reinvent himself.  Oliver has an overall record of 6-5 with a 4.44 era, but in the two games he pitched in July he has allowed just one earned run.  He has pitched much better in his last three or four starts and seems to have tinkered with his windup and delivery.  If Perez keeps this up, he might just get the money he was looking for next year.  Perez seems to be either “Good Ollie” and or the “Bad Ollie”, there really isn’t any in between with this guy.  Clearly, he too, is a big reason why the Mets’ found themselves in such a hole early on.  But, as of late he has been in the middle of the Mets’ resurgence.  In the beginning of the season, I would have given him an F, and in his last four starts he deserves an A-.  Overall Grade: C+/B- 

Bull Pen:

The bullpen has had its fair share of issues so far this season.  Since Manual has taken over, I think we’ve seem a mostly better job out of the bullpen.   

Scott Schoeneweis- 2-1 with a 2.65 era.  In the month of June, this guy was terrible he had a 7.20 era in his 14 appearances and it didn’t seem like he could get anyone out.  However, early in the season, he was practically lights out, and he has rebounded stellarly in July, he has allowed no runs in his five appearances. Individual Grade C  

Pedro Feliciano- 2-2 with a 2.86 era.  Pedro too has struggled; he has given up 34 hits in his 34 2/3 innings of work.  Lefties are hitting just 1.72 against Feliciano, but righties are hitting a whopping 3.79 against him.  After getting off to a great start, he has really had a rough go of it.   Individual Grade C

Duaner Sanchez-I think everyone was happy to have Sanchez back, but he has yet to show that he has returned to his pre-injury self.  He is 3-1 with a 3.57 era.  He has really struggled, he was pitching to a 6.00 era in May, but was somewhat better in June appearing 13 games and pitching to a 3.60 era.  However, in July he has pitched in 7 games, and has only allowed only 1 run. Individual Grade  C 

Joe Smith-has a 2.97 era.  He has had 44 relief appearances so far this season, and has allowed 14 runs on 29 hits in 39 innings of work.  He struggled in the early part of the season, and again in June when pretty much the whole bull pen stunk.  Again, pretty much like everyone else, he has been much better as of late.  Individual Grade B-/C+ 

I saved my two favorite bull pen guys for last! 

Aaron Heilman-Heilman is a head case; I think that every time he goes out to pitch, he keeps thinking to himself, “I’m a starter!”  And, maybe he is inside, but not with the Mets.  Anyway, he has appeared in 48 games this season and has allowed 29 runs in 50 innings of work. He has a 4.50 era and a 0-3 record.  Early on he was getting killed with the long ball, and it seemed like he couldn’t get anyone out.  However, when everyone else struggled in June, he was great.  I just looked at his numbers and realized that although I think he has been better recently-like since the winning streak, he is still pitching to a 3.52 era in July.  From what I understand he has added a third pitch, a slider, that seems to help make his fastball and change up more affective, he has been able to keep the ball down in the zone which has kept the ball in the park.  He is a big part of that bullpen whether he realizes it or not.  The Mets need for him to get his head on straight if they are going to over take the Phillies.  Individual Grade C-

 Billy Wagner-has 22 saves in 28 opportunities, his era is 2.31.  He has allowed 15 runs (only 10 earned) in 39 innings.  What I think about Billy is he is the guy who passes all of his quizzes and then bombs the midterm.  What I mean to say is, that Billy got some saves for the Mets when they were easy to get.  But, put Billy in a big spot, and he is going to blow it.  That has become his reputation, and he has done little to dispel that.  I think Mets fans thought he was going to finally get the job done, after  years of watching Franco, Benitez, and Looper blow games, Wagner was the missing key.  Turns out he took over where the other guys left off.  I don’t trust Wagner in a big spot, can’t imagine anyone else does either.  Individual Grade F 

Bullpen Overall Grade: C 

Bench: I am not going to break it down player by player, but I do think the Mets have gotten more out of Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis, and Damion Easley than anyone thought they might.  It is great that they’ve stepped in to be productive. 

So, overall I think the Mets get a C, there is no question that they have underperformed.  But I do think they have to get some credit for where they are today.  The Mets have lucked out and got hot at the right time to pull within a ½ game of the Phillies.  I hesitate to get too excited, while the Mets have won 9 in a row, I also know they are capable of playing as terrible as they did in the early first half.  I do have more hope for the Mets going into the second half because they have shown that the can and want to win.

Mets Blog

The Mets extended their win streak to 9 with a 7-0 win over the Rockies.  The Phillies won yesterday so the Mets knew going in to play last night that they would not be in first place at the all star break, but the Marlins lost and so the Mets take sole possession of second place.   

Mike Pelfrey was amazing last night.  I can’t believe it is the same guy.  For a second consecutive start he did not allow any walks.  He worked eight scoreless innings allowing just six hits and striking out five.  Pelfrey also got some help from his defense last night as the Rockies grounded into three double plays.   

The Mets took an early lead on a Carlos Beltran three run homer in the bottom of the first.  That was Beltran’s second three run homer in six games.  The Mets scored again the second inning on an RBI single by Jose Reyes.  In the fourth inning, Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro got aboard with singles and would advance into scoring position by a Mike Pelfrey sac bunt, Tatis would score on a sac fly by Nick Evans.  In the bottom of the fifth, Carlos Delgado hit his 17^th homer of the season, a two run blast that almost hit the scoreboard in right center field.  

Carlos Delgado is in a good grove right now.  Given how he stared the season, I would not have thought that the Mets would have been able to get as much out of him as they have thus far.  Delgado now has his average up to .248.  In the month of July in his 49 at bats he is hitting .376 with 3 homers and 7 RBI. 

There has been a lot of talk about the Mets acquiring Raul Ibanez from the Seattle Mariners.  Ibanez is a 35 year old left fielder, whom I believe is in his last year of his contract with Seattle; because of this the Mets think they can get him for little in return.  Ibanez is a career .284 hitter and has spent his time American League having played for both the Mariners and the Royals.  This year in 95 games he is hitting .273 with 11 homeruns, 55 RBI and 1 stolen base.    

The Mets are close to having Angel Pagan back, he is currently completing his rehab stint with the Brooklyn Cyclones.  Ryan Church played catch and did some work in the cages at Shea yesterday, it is thought that he is making progress and if things stay that way he could begin a rehab assignment as early as this week.  Jerry Manual did say in his post game remarks that he would like to get Church some at bats (in a rehab start) before making a decision about his return to the Mets.  Church is eligible to return from the DL on July 21^st. 

One last note on injuries, Jerry Manual insisted that when Luis Castillo returns from the DL next week he will not have the starting second base job waiting for him.  Manual who has a penchant for staying with the hot hand says that he feels they are getting good production out of Argenis Reyes and Damion Easley.  According to the New York Post, when Manual was asked about the status of Castillo when he returns from the DL he replied, “When the time comes, we’ll make a decision on that and see how it fits…We’re really playing well at that position - I mean, very well. It’s going to be a tough one.” 

If anyone caught the futures game yesterday, they would have had a glimpse of what is to come for the Mets.  Fernando Martinez played great and created a lot of buzz.  He was 1-2 with a single in yesterday’s game.  This season Martinez is with Double A Binghamton and is hitting .294 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 52 games.  Martinez, who turns 20 in October, was the fourth youngest player in yesterday’s contest.  The comments about him were that he is a gifted athlete with a beautiful swing.  Martinez says he believe he will play with the Mets sometime this season.  I for one would love to see it!   

The Mets are playing so well that I hate that the all star break is here, you hate to break up a good thing.  The positive to this is that they open up in Cincinnati knowing that they really have a chance to be at the top of the division with the Marlins and Phillies playing each other.  More than ever after seeing what the Mets have done this far, that saying, that is why they play the games, comes to mind.  If you would have asked me two weeks ago, I was fairly certain that the Mets would finish either 3^rd or 4^th in the division with a record somewhere around .500.  But, after seeing what they have done these past few weeks we’ve finally seen the team we’ve been looking for since last year after the all star break.  I don’t know what will happen, but I do know there is a lot to look forward to in the second half!   

LET’S GO METS! 

Mets Blog

On the day that David Wright was name as an all star, the Mets took the opening game of the series against the Rockies with a 2-1 win.  New York now has a seven game win streak.  The last time the Mets were able to win seven in a row was August of 2006.   

Oliver Perez wasn’t exactly the “good” Ollie; he was more like walk a lot and then try and pitch out of trouble Ollie.  Perez did start the seventh inning but after the first two hitters got on base he was pulled from the game.  He walked six in six innings and struck out seven.  The only run Perez gave up was a homer to Brad Hawpe.  As a staff the Mets pitchers walked a total of 9 Rockies.  Luckily for the Mets, the Rockies left the bases loaded in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. 

Pedro Feliciano got the win and Billy Wagner got the save.  But the credit really goes to Aaron Heilman.  Heilman entered the game in the sixth inning with no out, Jeff Baker was on second and Brad Hawpe was on first, Jayson Nix advanced the runner with a sac bunt, and then Heilman walked pinch hitter Seth Smith before getting Willie Taveras and Clint Barmes to strike out and end the Rockies threat.  Heilman has really come around and has been very successful in his recent outings; it seems that he has added a third pitch, a slider, which has made his change up more effective.  He has been able to keep the ball down and by doing that it has kept the ball in play.   

Damion Easley was Friday night’s hero, with two outs and the game tied at one in the bottom of the eighth, Easley hit a homerun to make the score 2-1, and the Mets would win by that score.  It was pretty funny though, if you were watching the Mets telecast here in NY right before Easley hit the homerun Gary Cohen was talking about how Easley has hit some big homeruns in big spots, and right after that Easley homered.  Cohen said, “I called it!”  When Taylor Buchholz entered the game, they also said, “Buchholz has only allowed two homers this season…”  This time it worked in the Mets favor, but I always hate it when the commentators give a stat like that because it seems that on the very next pitch the guy gives up a homer.  

The Mets remain 1.5 games out of first as the Phillies seem to be hot again winning three straight.  The Marlins have also continued their winning ways and are tied for second with the Mets.    

Pedro Martinez will start on Saturday afternoon and  he will be opposed by Rockies’  starter Ubaldo Jimenez.  Jimenez was the same pitcher that out dueled Martinez when the Mets visited Coors field in late June.  Actually, it wasn’t much of a contest that was the game where Pedro was cruising along and then just imploded giving up six runs in a inning.  Anyway, lets hope that isn’t the case on Saturday afternoon.  Game time is scheduled for 3:55 p.m.  Lets Go Mets!   

 Mets Blog

Can you actually give Billy Wagner credit for a save last night?  I guess when you see official scoring you realize how absurd some of this stuff really is.  The guy almost blew the game, yet got credit for his 20^th save of the season.  What are the Mets going to do about this guy?  No one fears him, as a fan I don’t trust him in a big spot; actually, I don’t trust him at all.  And, it wasn’t just his pitching that was bad last night, on the error by Carlos Beltran on the throw to David Wright in the bottom of the ninth-where was Billy Wagner?  I can tell you he wasn’t backing up third.  First, yes, Beltran should not have made that throw, and since he did, Wright needed to knock it down, but even still Wagner needed to back up the play.  All weekend long, Keith Hernandez has been been talking about fundamentals (fundies as Keith calls them)-I guess Billy forgot both of fielding and pitching “fundies” last night.

So, with really no thanks to Wagner the Mets did pull out a win and are now over .500 for the first time since June 5, and are just 2.5 games out of first place.  There are two things I must say about the game.  1-that was NOT a homerun by Ryan Howard-and how is it that we are seeing so many of these blown calls on homeruns, we’ve seen two in Mets games this year, are the Umps trying to get instant replay?  And 2-The Mets could learn a few things from the Phillies, the Mets pitching let the Phillies chip away at that lead.  The Phillies did something last night that we have not seen the Mets do, and that is they never considered themselves out of the game.  Pedro Martinez looked much better last night, in 5 1/3 innings of work, he allowed two runs, both of which were homeruns, one by Chase Utley and here’s a surprise, one by Pat Burrell.  Pedro also walked three and struck out six.  Also, that ball park is awful, I can’t believe how balls just fly out of there, you almost shouldn’t even count the homeruns that are hit in that park, especially the bullsh*t ones that are nothing more than fly balls.

The Mets bullpen did not help much last night, Tony Armas Jr.,yeah, I know he is a “starter”, anyway, he gave up three earned runs in and inning and a third, and Aaron Heilman who pitched well the night before, didn’t pitch so well last night, he did have four strikeouts though, the biggest one was the Pat Burrell strikeout in the bottom of the seventh.  However, he is also the guy who gave up the two run homer to a guy who is mired in a 2-40 (well now 3-41) slump.  And, we’ve already been through the Billy Wagner outing, so I’ll leave it at that. 

The Mets were facing Adam Eaton who in his career has never had a loss to the Mets, but the Mets took it to him pretty hard early on scoring 8 runs in the first three innings.  The Mets had 17 hits Brian Schneider is the only one Met without a hit.  Even Pedro Martinez had a hit last night. David Wright was 2-5 with four RBI, hitting a homerun and a double.  Jose Reyes 2-4 with two runs scored and a stole base.  The bench guys continued their hot streak last night, Fernando Tatis was 3-4 and Damion Easley was 3-5.   

When the Mets left on this road trip, I said I would have liked for them to go 6-2, and thought realistically they would end up 4-4, but after Friday night’s debacle, I was worried that they wouldn’t even finish there.  However, the Mets complete the road trip 5-3 taking 3-4 from the Phillies.  This road trip and the fact that the Mets are now just 2.5 our with six to go before the all star break is bring a little life and excitement back to watching the Mets. 

The Phillies and the Marlins are the two teams ahead of the Mets so, as of today, the schedules for the Marlins and Philles before the all star break are as follows: Marlins have two more games with the Padres, and then four against the Dodgers and the Phillies play three with St. Luis and three with Arizona.  I guess that means that at least for this week, I am a Mets fan and a fan of any team playing the Phillies and the Marlins!  (Oh no!  That means I am actually rooting for the Cardinals!)

The Mets open a three game series with the San Francisco Giants-so if you see Chris “Mad Dog” Russo out at Shea-make sure to give him a hard time.  Giants will have Tim Lincecum on the mound and the Mets will throw Mike Pelfrey.  Game time is set for 7:10 p.m.    

Mets Blog