The big stories of yesterday’s Opening Day victory over the Marlins were David Wright’s first at-bat dinger, Johan Santana’s solid start, and just the win in general. However, we shouldn’t sell the new Mets short.
GMJ was my favorite surprise of the afternoon.
Jason Bay had his moment in the sun when he hit a leadoff triple in the 6th inning, starting a four-run rally. Certainly Bay’s expected to put up power numbers, but triples? He hit exactly three triples last season, and the most he’s ever hit in a season was 6 in 2005 for the Pirates. Maybe Citi Field will hold a couple of Bay’s deep shots from making it out of the park, but if they end up as triples instead, you won’t see me complaining.
Gary Matthews Jr was a nice surprise in yesterday’s affair, going 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. I don’t think anyone would have guessed that the guy with the 2009 OPS of .697 would get off to such a hot start, but maybe Matthews has something left in the tank. His defense was questionable, as he seemingly chased his tail on a number of fly balls, but he reeled them all in, which is much more than Cameron Maybin can say.
Rod Barajas wasn’t too shabby either, yanking two hits in the game, one a deep double to center field. The two base-runners who stole second while Santana was on the mount (rare to even see one) makes me question Barajas’ defensive ability, but I’ll reserve judgment until some more games are played.
Mike Jacobs was the only new Met to stink up the barn. His OH-fer at the plate with 2 strikeouts was about what intelligent fans expected, and hopefully Jerry soon realizes that this guy is no clean-up hitter. I do have to give the man props for his defense though. There were no spectacular plays to be made, but he also made no flubs, unlike his defensive replacement Fernando Tatis (though the error was given to Wright).
22 comments
stickguy
4/6/2010-8:24am at 8:24 am (UTC -4)
Tatis as a defensive replacement. Truly an oxymoron.
hard to believe that one game can make me miss Murphy that much!
njstuckintx
4/6/2010-8:50am at 8:50 am (UTC -4)
He cost Wright that error, I have to say. Like Keith mentioned, at the point the runner already hit the bag, you have to come off and smother the throw.
metsfan4decades
4/6/2010-8:32am at 8:32 am (UTC -4)
Batting Jacobs cleanup is almost as bad as batting Murphy or Tatis cleanup, which Jerry did last year. Only difference was there weren’t many options left last year. There certainly are this year.
GKR commented not only was it windy yesterday at the part, but there are some wind tunnels out there in the OF that take some getting used to. This was GMJ’s first time taking the field out there so I guess we should cut him some slack for that. I don’t care how awkward he looked catching the ball – as long as he gets it, that’s all that matters. It’s not like he’s our regular CF, or our CF of the future.
ceetar
4/6/2010-8:48am at 8:48 am (UTC -4)
i didn’t think he looked that awkward, and I guess it was trial by fire as he had a lot of plays. He definitely looked like he was playing hard, throwing the ball back in hard to the cutoff man. He got to everything though, even balls hit hard and you saw the outfielders scramble..and then he raises his arm and makes the catch.
njstuckintx
4/6/2010-8:51am at 8:51 am (UTC -4)
If he gains any of the form that he was playing in that got him his big ol’ fat contract, the Mets are going to have one nice trade chip on their hands.
QnsNative718
4/6/2010-9:50am at 9:50 am (UTC -4)
GMJ definately made it look interesting out there..
Kingman 26
4/6/2010-10:08am at 10:08 am (UTC -4)
Working with the evil forces in CF at Citi is confusing.
prismo
4/6/2010-8:59am at 8:59 am (UTC -4)
Wright on the fan at 9:30
metsfan4decades
4/6/2010-9:26am at 9:26 am (UTC -4)
Thanks! Just brought up the stream….
QnsNative718
4/6/2010-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
Loved what I saw yesterday,and the cream jerseys with the blue stripes look freakin sexy.. The boys played great small ball. How bout Bay with that triple? Didnt know he had wheels like that. Lets keep the good vibes rollin…
trs86
4/6/2010-9:56am at 9:56 am (UTC -4)
UH, gotta jersey fetish?
gipperpdx
4/6/2010-12:50pm at 12:50 pm (UTC -4)
Oh, man, the cream 670s style original-style ACTUAL Mets pinstripe unis looked great!!!!! That should be the only home uni,. and the road greys….end of story. No black unis, no snow whites, and for sure no bruise caps.
Kingman 26
4/6/2010-9:57am at 9:57 am (UTC -4)
Chest!
Bay is the man, and as I bleated all winter, he is a good baserunner, and a far better fielder than the misleading and selective stats show.
Bay knows what state he is, the state of New York! HE is the boss of him. It’s his big glove, and HE says when he triples!
stickguy
4/6/2010-10:01am at 10:01 am (UTC -4)
Wait, what happened to mr. dark side negativity from the last week or so?
Bipolar much?
Kingman 26
4/6/2010-10:06am at 10:06 am (UTC -4)
Not at all!
We win on Opening Day every year. How could any rational human being be negative after a win on a beautiful day? The Mets won, the Mariners won, and the Yanks blew a lead. That’s a good start to the season. A great NCAA title game for a guy who did not care who won and had no money on the game, and the Nets have even won 4 of 7.
Now let’s see how Maine and the rest of the staff does; I might not disappoint you.
Kingman 26
4/6/2010-10:11am at 10:11 am (UTC -4)
And Stick, my negativity was entirely focused on pitchers not named Johan, KRod, and Feliciano. I repeatedly said the hitting would be very good to excellent, and the fielding and baserunning would be somewhere between good and really good.
So I was right on the money for one game.
Nieve pitched well. Other than that, my dark side negativity issues were irrelevant yesterday.
njstuckintx
4/6/2010-10:02am at 10:02 am (UTC -4)
Bay is a horrible fielder! And then he almost guns down a Marlin trying to stretch a corner shot into a double.
I hope he proves the nay-sayers wrong in quick and deliberate fashion.
Kingman 26
4/6/2010-10:09am at 10:09 am (UTC -4)
I risk reprimands for repeating myself, but there is just no way a guy who played 199 games in LF in Fenway and had 1 error and 19 assists can be that bad.
Bay is a pro’s pro.
CaseStreet
4/6/2010-10:13am at 10:13 am (UTC -4)
Glad GMJ got off to a good strart. Would be a nice luxury to have him and Pagan on the bench. Hopefully Jacobs fairs better tomorrow.
GravediggerHebner
4/6/2010-11:21am at 11:21 am (UTC -4)
Bay’s quotes afterward about the triple were very funny. Q: “What would that have been at Fenway?” A: “A double, if I didn’t get thrown out at second.”
Regarding Barajas and his double, during the off season I spent a lot of time visiting hittrackeronline and they link to mlb.com highlight videos so I watched a ton of Barajas stuff after the Mets signed him. Last season, he didn’t hit what I would describe as a lot of doubles, but many of the ones he hit were significant in their RBI contribution to his team. I’m excited to see many clutch XBH from OurRod this year.
darknova306
4/6/2010-12:09pm at 12:09 pm (UTC -4)
We were going nuts when Bay’s hit went to the wall and he rounded second. Great to have a LF that we don’t have to seriously question (Sheffield, Murphy, etc).
When Jacobs was officially announced as the cleanup hitter, I just hung my head. Talk about a rally-killer.
gategem
4/6/2010-7:19pm at 7:19 pm (UTC -4)
Good or bad it’s only one bleeping game. Let’s not lionize or run anyone out of town just yet.