The losses against the Dodgers may not have been so bad if the Mets had not played so bad. The Mets looked like buffoons; in game one alone the Mets committed five errors. It was also in that game that we got some insight into the true relationship between Ryan Church and Jerry Manual. Church made the biggest base running blunder of the season when he completely missed third base the Mets would have taken the lead in the top of the 11^th and would have handed the ball off to Frankie Rodriguez, but instead the Dodgers appealed at third and Church was called out. Manual totally threw Church under the bus, he didn’t bother to even argue the call, instead he literally turned his back on him. I for one like Church, but now I feel he probably has to move on considering the relationship between he and the manager.

Lets be honest though, the Mets didn’t just lose that game and the series because Church missed third, the Mets committed a ton of errors and have failed to hit a home run in 60 innings. In the Dodger series the Mets left 26 men on base and were 3-27 with RISP. Suddenly the bats are dead. Not only did the Mets not hit, they also didn’t play defense well either-the committed seven errors in the series, five in one game.

The Mets are in trouble. Manya has said that they will not go out to trade for a first baseman and feels that that position can be filled by who they have on the team right now, but after watching Jeremy Reed there, it is nearly impossible to believe that Omar is watching the same team we are because as FANS we can see that this little experiment isn’t going to work. Daniel Murphy had the opportunity to play first and actually didn’t look as bad there as he does in the outfield, but suddenly this guy’s bat has been very cold.

Not only is first base a concern but so is Sean Green and JJ Putz. Putz gave up the winning run in the last game of the Dodger series. I really don’t want to hear about adrenaline or lack thereof, you are being paid to do a job and if you are asked to pitch in the second or the eighth you better do what you are supposed to do, short of the fact that you arm is falling off, I don’t want to hear excuses. On that note, Sean Green stinks and I think the Mets need to chuck him, he is a nightmare out there, he can’t get anyone out. Look, I love the Putz and Green deal, for nothing more than it got Aaron Heilman out of town but if they can’t get anyone out, they’ll get the Heilman reception from the crowd.

If the Mets are going to throw in the towel, then do so. Let Murphy play first, bring up Fernando Martinez, add one of the young pitchers from Triple A, and play out the season, but don’t feed us a line of bull and try to make us believe that the Mets can win now with what they’ve got, because they can’t. Now…not only is Delgado on the DL, Jose Reyes seems headed there too with a calf injury. Also, I’m not making excuses for the Mets because of injuries, every team has injuries; I’m just questioning who is going to step it up. I do think it is interesting that with Delgado departing, David Wright heated up…

The Mets will wrap up their road trip with three in Boston over the weekend. Interestingly, this weekend the Mets and Yankees have the opportunity to help each other out this weekend as the Yankees will host the Phillies for three…wow, I might have to root for the Yankees (ugh!)

Mets Blog

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

Armas made his first start in the bigs since September 10^th of last year when he was with the Pirates.  In his six innings of work he allowed four runs on eight hits, while walking just one and striking out three.  He was no where near dominant but did pitch well enough to keep the Mets in the game.  He struggled a bit in the first, giving up a double to Aaron Miles and then a long homerun to Rick Ankiel.  In the second inning, Yadier Molina lead off the inning with a single to center, he would advance to second on a sac bunt by the pitcher, and score on a double by Skip Schumaker.  Armas also struggled some in the sixth inning; Troy Glaus doubled to lead off the inning, and would take third a single to right by Chris Duncan.  Glaus would score on a sac fly by Molina that was caught by Ryan Church in foul territory. 

The Mets finally found some offense last night; Jerry Manual made some changes to the line up, putting Ryan Church in the fifth spot, and dropping Delgado to the sixth hole.  Brian Schneider got a night off as Ramon Castro did the catching.  Damion Easley took Luis Castillo’s spot at second, hitting behind Delgado.  The changes seemed to benefit everyone as Church and Delgado were a combined 5-8.  Church also had an RBI and scored two runs.  David Wright had a great night at the plate too; he was 3-4 with an RBI, a homer and a walk.  Carlos Beltran continues to struggle; he is now in a 3 for 29 slump dating back to the Seattle series. 

Who can figure these guys out?  One thing is for sure though, when you sit down and turn the game on, you never know what you are going to get.  The Mets fell behind early, which usually means they are mentally out of the game and just go through the motions until their nine innings of torture are over.  Last night, that wasn’t the case.  They fought back, and actually chased Todd Wellemeyer out of the game after five, taking advantage of the fact that he wasn’t pitching well.  The Mets still left seven guys on base last night, but they did get two two out RBI hits by both Castro and Wright, and that is something that the Mets have not done with any consistency.  Not that they have done anything with any consistency. 

It is great to have Ryan Church back in the line up.  I think it is a boost that the Mets really need.  He has picked up right where he left off, in the three games since his return, he is 5 for 12.  The Mets have really missed his bat.  I am getting giddy thinking about the return of Moises Alou though.  If the Mets heat up and play well the rest of this series and play well in Philly, they could come home in first place.  Gee-I sound almost optimistic.  I know, I’ll probably have to eat my words tomorrow. 

Pedro Martinez is scheduled to pitch for the Mets.  We are hopping to see a better Pedro tonight as he has determined that the problem in his last two starts (or there about) is that he has been tipping his pitches.  The Cardinals will have Joel Pineiro on the hill; Pineiro is 2-4 with a 4.33 era.  First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m.

Mets Blog

John Maine never got in a groove; he gave up a run before he got an out.  In his four innings of work he gave up five runs-three earned, three walks (one intentional), and one strikeout, that strikeout was to the pitcher who fouled out on a bunt attempt.  Of course, it wasn’t just that Maine didn’t have his good stuff, the Mets made three errors.  The first error came on a groundball that took a bad hop and went through Luis Castillo’s legs, that would have ended the inning; instead, on the next play John Maine threw the ball away on a pickoff move, allowing the runner on third to score and the runner on first to advance to third.  The final error was by David Wright who made a good play on a ball hit to third, he no chance to get the runner at first, his throw sailed way over the head of Carlos Delgado, and the runner to advance to second; that runner would score.

The Cardinals scored in each of the first five innings, the Mets scored once, in the fifth inning.  Andy Phillips, pinch hitting for Maine hit a single to left; he would come around to score on a single by Luis Castillo.  As a team the Mets left 9 guys on base last night.  Ryan Church (1-3) and Carlos Delgado both grounded into double plays.  Delgado, David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Brian Schneider all had 0-for’s last night. 

You knew right away that it was going to be a long night.  In the first inning, when John Maine could not get an out, I knew the Mets were not going to bounce back, because they never do.  Their demeanor says it all.  They fall behind, you might as well call the game there.  They just don’t have the intestinal fortitude to keep going.  They are at their statistical half way point, and they are still under .500.  This is where the team is going to be.  How many times have we heard-or worse yet-said, this win could be just what the Mets need, only to watch them follow it up with a garbage performance like last night.

There is something missing from this team, and I’m not talking about Moises Alou, although I do think that has been a part of it.  The Mets have had a weak line up because they are relying on bench players and it has showed.  Everyone is pressing and no one has been able to step it up and be the guy for the team.  I know there is a lot of pressure to win; you want to stop the booing, the losing, and the embarrassment!  These guys need to suck it up and play, show some fight, show some desire.  Show us something!

What the Mets are really missing is leadership.  Jerry Manual said as much last night when he was talking about Luis Castillo and Jose Reyes.  Much has been said about Reyes and how he was really learning the game and understanding how to conduct himself when Jose Valentin was with the team, and Manual said that the Mets were hoping they would get Castillo to kind of take a more active role with Reyes, but have yet to see it.  They had to know that going in though, there was a lot of talk last year at the end of the season about the negative affect that Castillo had on Reyes, but the Mets signed Castillo anyway.  What is even more telling to me, when the Mets had that players only meeting before Randolph was fired sometime in May, the one guy who tried to rally them, was Marlon Anderson.  I give props to Anderson, but how is it he is the only guy trying to take on leadership role?  It is kind of hard to take that responsibility when you are a bench player.  And while I am on the subject, I sincerely think that Carlos Delgado is a problem.  Listen, I am not a beat writer, I don’t spend time around the clubhouse, but just watching these guys together on the bench, it certainly seems like there is discord in the clubhouse. 

The Mets and the Cardinals play the second of four tonight.  Tony Armas will start for the Mets, he has been recalled from Triple-A New Orleans, to make room for him on the roster, they designated Andy Phillips for assignment.  The Cardinals will have Todd Wellemeyer on the hill.  Game time is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. 

Mets Blog

The Mets scored their two runs on homers by Ramon Castro and David Wright.  They left five guys on base and both Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran were 0-4 on the day.  Beltran stuck out four times today, it was only the second time in his carreer that he struck out four times in one game.  The last time that happened to him was when he was with the Royals and it was in a game against the Yankees.   

The Mets have got to play better!  Wright was very nonchalant as he fielded a ball that Alex Rodriquez hit in the top of the eighth; Wright’s throw pulled Delgado off the bag, as a result he was charged with an error.  However, looking at the replay it looked like ARod was actually out.  It wasn’t just that, Jose Reyes got picked off by Andy Pettitte just before the rain delay.  I know that Jerry Manual wants the guys to play more aggressive, but Reyes should have done a better job there. 

Johan Santana pitched well, if it wasn’t for the rain delay, maybe he would have gone deeper in the game, in his six innings of work he gave up three runs on four hits, allowing four walks, one intentional, while recording 8 strikeouts.  Two of those walks came in the top of the fourth, and both of those runners would score.  I do think it is worth mentioning that Santana was squeezed by the home plate umpire in that inning, both Jerry Manual and Santana expressed displeasure with the umps strike zone that at times was minuscule. 

The Mets should have Ryan Church back tomorrow.  The Mets have been without him for a month and his bat has been sorely missed.  Church was arguably the MVP of the team when he went down in that game against Atlanta, he has missed an entire month of baseball and it is all because the Mets didn’t handle his situation well.  When Church got hurt, he was hitting .300 with 10 homeruns and 35 RBI.  The Mets have really missed his bat.  Speaking of guys on the DL, Manual said today in his pregame radio interview that Moises Alou just might be back for the Philadelphia series.  Of course, they are going to take it slow with Alou, they don’t want to push it. 

Sunday’s game is scheduled for a 1:10 start.  Mets fans might be in for a long day.  Oliver Perez is on the mound, he didn’t fare too well in his last outing against the Mariners when he gave up 5 earned runs in his 5 innings of work.  I have to say, I feel bad always picking on Oliver because he really doesn’t seem like a bad guy.  He is always really great in his postgame interviews.  He really has not handled the pressure of pitching for a contract.  Anyway, Perez seems to find a way to pitch well for the Mets when they face stellar opposition in big games so I guess we’ll see what happens. 

Mets Blog

After the poor offensive output on Tuesday, Jerry Manual said that lineup changes might be in store for his team.  However, Wednesday night’s line up looked pretty much the same, the only changes were Marlon Anderson in left field and Fernando Tatis in right field.  The Mets scored eight runs on five hits, and all of those coming in the first three innings.  Jose Reyes was 1-3 hitting a three run homer in the bottom of the third; he also walked once and stole a base.  David Wright had a big night as he was 2-3 hitting two homeruns, three RBI and two runs scored.  Wright sat out on Tuesday night, missing his first start of the season and it seems that the day off did him some good. 

 The Mets are 17-8 when John Maine starts after a loss and Maine has a 13-6 record in those games.  On Wednesday Maine earned his 8^th win of the season, pitching well for the Mets when, according to catcher Brian Schneider they were faced with a “Must win” situation.  Having an early lead had to help, and Maine admitted as much in the post game interview.  Over six innings of work he allowed two runs on two hits, walked two and recorded three strikeouts.  The bullpen looked good, Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith, and Duaner Sanchez all pitched scoreless innings in relief.   

Better game for the Mets on Wednesday night.  You had to figure they would play better than they did the night before, than again with the Mets you never know because it seems that the one knack this team does have, is finding ways to lose ballgames.  I know, this is going to sound like I am hard to please, but it is frustrating that the Mets always seem to coast.  For example, the Mets jumped out to an early lead, chased starter Miguel Bautista from the game after just 2 2/3 innings, and granted they scored 8 runs early, but they didn’t have another base runner past the third inning.  It seems like they get ahead and then just go through the motions for the rest of the game.  And forget it when they fall behind it is like the game stops there for them, they just can’t wait for it to be over; they don’t really fight their way back.  This season has been strange and unlike any other season I’ve seen from them before.  It is one thing when your team is just horrible, but this team doesn’t really have an identity other than underachieving. 

After the Mets fired Willie Randolph, I questioned why they would name Jerry Manual the “Interim Manager” thinking that if they were searching for a change of coaching philosophy, why would they go with Randolph’s right hand man?   But, Manual is growing on me a little bit.  However, I’d like it if his record as manager was a little better.  But  I guess what I like is that he is just a little more animated and fiery than Randolph.  No matter what the situation was, Randolph always put up the same face, and in some situations that is probably a really good thing, but I think when a team was struggling as much as the Mets were, it would have been nice to hear Willie say something that somehow made the fans feel like he was as frustrated as the fans were.  Manual, at least for right now, is saying the right things.

The Mets have an off day on Thursday and return Friday, playing a twilight doubleheader against the Yankees.  Game one is at Yankee Stadium scheduled to start at 2:05 p.m. with Mike Pelfrey will pitch game one for the Mets and Dan Giese for the Yankees.  Pedro Martinez and Sidney Ponson will start the night cap at Shea Stadium will begin at 8:05. 

Mets Blog