“Nobody ever had too many of them (pitchers).” Casey Stengel
Here’s what you missed on Wednesday, July 1, 2009:
- This Day In Mets Infamy With Rusty 7/1/09 by rustyjr
- Morning Open Thread by CaseStreet
- Wright Calls Out Manuel by trs86
- NL East Daily Recap from 6-30-09 by mrose
- Draft And Follow 7-1-09by GravediggerHebner
- Conundrum Contest – Winners Announced! by prismo
- Game Thread: Mets (37-39) vs Brewers (42-35) by dirtysanchez
- NLEC News: Phillies Phandom is on board! by mrose
- Post Game: Shake Your Rump by GravediggerHebner
- Nick Evans, Trade Bait? by GravediggerHebner
36 comments
sabermetrician
7/2/2009-7:41am at 7:41 am (UTC -4)
Let’s go get this boy Omar.
From MLBTR:
Aroldis Chapman is a 21 year-old lefty who’s touched 100 mph with his fastball. Interested? According to CubaenCuentro.com, Chapman defected from the Cuban national team while the club was stationed in the Netherlands (English version here). Chapman is currently in an undisclosed location, and he told the paper he plans to sign with a Major League club.
charlies
7/2/2009-8:40am at 8:40 am (UTC -4)
$ $
^
(_)
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-9:12am at 9:12 am (UTC -4)
What is this supposed to be?
charlies
7/2/2009-9:19am at 9:19 am (UTC -4)
well, if it had posted the same as i had typed it, it might look like an awful attempt at me portraying the dollar signs in Mr. Chapman’s eyes…
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
LOL
GravediggerHebner
7/2/2009-11:38am at 11:38 am (UTC -4)
Oh, OK. I was trying to figure out how $2 was greater than a flabby butt.
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-9:37am at 9:37 am (UTC -4)
According to Jon Heyman, Chapman is supposed to be one of the best in the world. Wow. Let’s go after him!!
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-10:13am at 10:13 am (UTC -4)
He’s 21 yrs old? El Duque’s son?
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-10:23am at 10:23 am (UTC -4)
LMAO!
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-10:35am at 10:35 am (UTC -4)
We’d have an inside track, because that would make him Livan’s nephew.
metsfan4decades
7/2/2009-9:00am at 9:00 am (UTC -4)
Almost mid way through the season and so far, the prediction that no one in the NL east was running away with this is panning out..
Pre season I said I didn’t think Philly had the pitching to repeat, thought the Braves talent was a year or two away and thought the Marlins would be our biggest threat. Of course, that was before the mass exodus of the Mets to the DL.
So coming up on the ASB these are my thoughts:
- Philly does not appear to have the pitching right now to keep them in first. Two starters on the DL and their closer just back. None of those left standing are coming close right now to the year they had last year, Hamels glaringly included. In order for Philly to do anything, they need pitching or they need to consistently out hit the opposition b/c of their lack of pitching.
- Marlins are right where I thought they’d be half way through. More or less same place they were last year. Time will tell if they can sustain.
- Braves are right in this too, and I see them being competitive (baring injuries) right down the stretch.
- No surprise Nats.
- Mets: With 9 guys on the DL, 3/4 of the ‘core’, it’s a wonder we’re still in it. I believe we are for two reasons: (1) the rest of the division isn’t any better (2) we’ve been getting quality pitching for the most part.
In order to stay in this until the troops come back, our pitching has to be dominant as we’re not going to score any runs. If we’re lucky to get a couple of runs, our pitching has to hold the lead.
The fact that we’re still in this with more injuries than most, leans in our favor for a better record second half when they do start coming back. Just need to hold on and need to do it with our pitching…
charlies
7/2/2009-9:09am at 9:09 am (UTC -4)
If the Injured Six (Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, Maine, Perez, and Putz) can come back after the ASB and play to their norms, the team will compete for the division. Six guys is just under 25% of the team! If the division is close when everyone starts getting back, the Mets will have already won a psychological battle against its divisional foes.
Of course, I started off with the word “if” and we all know things can go wrong.
***And, yes, “Injured Six” was a reference to Lost.
CaseStreet
7/2/2009-9:21am at 9:21 am (UTC -4)
Nice analysis Metsfan. And ur correct, about the Mets pitching. They have 42 Quality Starts (8th in MLB). Hopefully they can keep on pitching well.
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-9:23am at 9:23 am (UTC -4)
Some funny stuff I found on David Murphy’s (Phillies beat writer for the Daily News) Twitter (yes Twitter has got to me too).
.512 – The combined batting average of the three batters due up for Phils in 4th. Bako (.200), Hamels (.105), Rollins (.207)
about 13 hours ago from web
Maybe all he needs is Red Bull: Rollins to endorse energy drink. Will arrive at game Sat. in Red Bull truck. Can’t make this stuff up.
about 18 hours ago from web
With Rollins at the plate, Braves fans chanting “2-0-8!, 2-0-8!” in reference to his average, which has dropped with an 0/4 night
6:50 PM Jun 30th from web
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-9:59am at 9:59 am (UTC -4)
Jimmy Rollins had the world believing he was the best shortstop in the game. If you look at the numbers, they should be somewhere between what he was in 2007 and what he is this year.
stickguy
7/2/2009-10:18am at 10:18 am (UTC -4)
phillies are a mess right now. ANd it isn’t the injuries doing it, it is lousy performances by active guys. Happ has been better than Myeres so far.
Guess they sold their soul to the devil for the magical season, and now the baseball gods are coming for payback!
ALthough it is a tad early to count them out. They still have talent, and have been streaky in the past.
But the big thing missing lately? The incesent late game miracle comebacks (and of course, the lock down pen).
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-10:30am at 10:30 am (UTC -4)
Let’s not forget the best shortstop in baseball having a rough season. He is so much better than this though.
For all that is made of Wright’s power outage, what about Rollins’ outages in Avg/OBP/Slg/HR/RBI/OPS?
metsfan4decades
7/2/2009-10:13am at 10:13 am (UTC -4)
Interesting….per MLBTR:
The Mets signed Juan Urbina, a Venezuelan lefty, to a bonus worth more than $1MM, according to Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus. Urbina is the son of longtime major leaguer Ugueth Urbina.
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-10:28am at 10:28 am (UTC -4)
Wonder if he is as crafty with a machete as his pop.
stickguy
7/2/2009-10:39am at 10:39 am (UTC -4)
I guess it would be tacky to insert a “gives the team a killer instinct” joke here?
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-10:50am at 10:50 am (UTC -4)
too late. beat you to it
stickguy
7/2/2009-10:15am at 10:15 am (UTC -4)
who thinks the Mets need to make a few roster shuffles now (internal, even if no trades), and if so, what?
Mets Fever had a post about what he thought they should do. IIRC, it was demote F Mart and Murphy for Sullivan and Lamb, then swap A Reyes and Valdez.
Basically trying to weed out the glut of overmatched rookies for Vets that might hadnle things better.
I do see the Sullivan move, and have no idea why they didn’t do that in the first place (or at least 2nd when Beltran went onthe DL). He had a good spring, and has been hitting well in AAA. And certainly won’t have to worry about learning the majors OTJ.
Not sure about Lamb sinc ehe isn’t that much of a hitter. Might be a wash.
ALthough I wouldn’t mind seeing Evans as the regular 1B, and if they did that, Murphy should go down for PT.
Frankly, with this group of available players, this might just be the best combo of O and D they can roll out on a regular basis:
Castillo
Cora
Wright
Sheffield
Church
Evans
Sullivan
Santos/Schnieder
With Reed subbing in for Sheffield when he needs rest.
Make the rest of the bench Valdez/A Reyes (you pick), and 3 more guys: Tatis, Murphy, ?, ?
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-10:38am at 10:38 am (UTC -4)
I think I’d rather see Reed out there everyday rather than Corey Sullivan. He may have had a good spring, but he is still Corey Sullivan. Jeremy Reed at least played regularly at the major league level for some time and he is a very much above average defensive CF.
I think we’ll be in a much better place when Pagan comes back for the obligatory 2 weeks of .350/.423/.450 before breaking his arm.
I agree about Evans. He should be the regular everyday 1B until he proves he can’t handle it.
metsfan4decades
7/2/2009-11:13am at 11:13 am (UTC -4)
I see no upside at all right now for keeping FMart up here. Let him go back down to AAA and work on his hitting.
I’ll also take Valdez over AReyes. Neither one can hit but I’m not impressed with AReyes as the backup to the backup SS.
GravediggerHebner
7/2/2009-11:42am at 11:42 am (UTC -4)
I would do almost exactly as you recall the suggestions, with one change. I would indeed demote FMart, Murphy and A. Reyes, and would recall Lamb and Valdez. But I would sign the recently released Craig Monroe to fill the other spot (unless he has signed elsewhere and I missed it).
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-11:13am at 11:13 am (UTC -4)
Today’s lineup
Castillo, Cora, Wright, Sheffield, Tatis, Church, Evans, Santos, Redding
Tatis batting 5th. What does Church have to do to move up in the lineup? Is Jerry trying to get some protection for Tatis? I’d much rather see Reed over Tatis now. Sure Tatis has more power, but he hasn’t done anything of late.
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-11:27am at 11:27 am (UTC -4)
Jerry was quoted as saying:
“i think we need to evaluate and rectify the situation that is popping up sometimes in the middle of the order. i think church has done a fine fine job in the cleanup hole. yea. he has done a great job out there. but until we get our guys back, you are going to see tatis there some days. you’ll see sheff there. heck, i may even bat cleanup one day. hehe.”
stickguy
7/2/2009-11:31am at 11:31 am (UTC -4)
the scary thing is, I have no idea if you made this up to be snarky, or he actually said it!
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-11:48am at 11:48 am (UTC -4)
i totally made it up. someone on here complimented me on my written expression of jerry’s verbalization. <— that was all me. i’m beghinning to sound alot like jerry even in my normal state.
stickguy
7/2/2009-11:35am at 11:35 am (UTC -4)
The line up just needs 2 improvments:
Take F Mart out and take Tatis out. Other than that, it is about as good as it is going to get right now.
ALthough if Tatis would adjust his swing and recapture what he had last season, that would be a giant lift to the team.
Rios starting instead of F Mart would also look nice!
The Mets were surviving without Delgado and Reyes, It was the Beltran DL sting that really pushed things bad (leading to F Mart every day, too much Tatis, etc.)
CaseStreet
7/2/2009-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
I don’t understand all the F-mart hate. I think he’s been doing fine, but not great.
stickguy
7/2/2009-12:09pm at 12:09 pm (UTC -4)
If the rest of the lineup was intact, and he was just covering for an absent Beltran, it would be easier to carry him as basically a defensive replacement.
But with all the other black holes in the line up, they really can’t afford to carry a guy just trying to find his way.
Now, if he starts getting into a groove and driving the ball with some power (this weekend would be a good time for that!), he can stay. At least against RH pitcher.
At least the mets will miss Happ in Philly. He is pitching the best out of their rotation. And they get Lopez, just out of the minors. He has nothing (think Redding at best).
So it looks like the Mets get Lopez fresh from AAA, Blanton and Moyer. If they can’t score some runs in CBP against these 3 stiffs, they never will.
I am still amazaded that with so many guys out, and after a horrible June, they are only 2 games out, and could pass the Phils this weekend. And still be in 2nd place, but it’s a start!
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-12:17pm at 12:17 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah he’s doing fine. Hitting .180 with OBP .247 and swings at every first pitch he sees.
Sure he has 1 HR in a very meaningful inning.
CaseStreet
7/2/2009-12:38pm at 12:38 pm (UTC -4)
lol. you and ur facts.
guess I haven’t been paying attention.
my comment was from seeing F-Mart play this past week or so.
His swing looks pretty good to me.
DNDJohan aka kistics
7/2/2009-1:36pm at 1:36 pm (UTC -4)
I’ll be honest that he does look like he has talent. His swing looks good and he has the body to hit for power. But I think he is still 1 or 2 seasons away. He’s only 20. Ryan Howard didn’t make the ML debut till he was 24 (granted Phillies had Thome). FMart seems to jumpy and tries to prove that he belongs here with the diving catches and HRs. But we can clearly see he’s over matched. I’m sure (and hope) that he’ll develop into a very good player, but I think he’s too young for now.
There's Always '09
7/2/2009-1:45pm at 1:45 pm (UTC -4)
I love his swing. It’s a compact, but powerful one. Once he learns the concept of pitch selection and workin ga hitter’s count, he will be very good.