The Sunday Question

7 comments

1. 

   oleosmirf

   5/30/2010-9:33am at 9:33 am (UTC -4)

   Reply

   yes which is why I felt the game on Friday was so important. If we would have came back with a winning record on the road trip, it would have done wonders for the team…

2. 

   rustyjr

   5/30/2010-9:44am at 9:44 am (UTC -4)

   Reply

   I think it will work itself out – but i don’t think jerry was playing to win last night by having Neive starting, and Ollie relieveing him with a 3 run lead – but hey I am not the manager.

   1. 

      metsfan4decades

      5/30/2010-11:15am at 11:15 am (UTC -4)

      Reply

      I agree with Rusty here. I don’t know anyone – Bobby O included – who thought it was an O.K. idea, or even good, having Nieve start last night.

      I’m going to say this road record will get better – if only because it can’t get much worse.

3. 

   Mr North Jersey

   5/30/2010-10:36am at 10:36 am (UTC -4)

   Reply

   OK Gonzo here is my take on it.

   The Friday start with Santana vs Gallardo happened to be a Great Pitchers duel that was well played by both teams for 9 innings with the home team that happens to have an offense that is ranked 2nd winning in walk off fashion with a homerun. Hat tip to Gallardo and move on.

   The Saturday start with Nieve was a start that many felt would require the Mets to score runs to win the game. Others felt that Ollie or Valdes should of started but whichever of the 3 started the results would most likely still had been that the Mets would have to score some runs to win the game. So it’s not like there was a clear cut favorite at least not to me. The Mets scored 6 runs. Nieve gave up 5 runs in 2 innings alone followed by Ollie’s 3 runs and well oin a day that the Mets were scrambling for a starter they lost.

   So the Mets get off to an 0-2 start on the road trip. If they truly are changing things around then the next 4 games will be will be what you want to watch because right now what you are looking for is to see if the Mets can rebound and finish road trip at worse 3-3 with Dickey, Takahashi, Pelfrey, and Santana.

4. 

   steveo

   5/30/2010-10:38am at 10:38 am (UTC -4)

   Reply

   They better win ill be at all three in sandiego starting tommorow.

5. 

   stickguy

   5/30/2010-10:57am at 10:57 am (UTC -4)

   Reply

   Yes, I think it is a problem, and yes, I think they will work it out. Somewhat.

   I actually think a decent chunk of blame can go onto Jerry for the road record. The nuances of being the away team seem to confuse him even more. And he has a very fine line to walk due to his general ineptitude anyway, so maybe managing on th eroad iss too much for him?

   I am being slightly facetious here. But only slightly.

6. 

   GravediggerHebner

   5/30/2010-12:34pm at 12:34 pm (UTC -4)

   Reply

   I am so clueless as to what is causing the difference in home and road records of this team that I am simply going to suggest that when on the road they ditch the black jerseys that say “Mets” across the front and start playing more in their road grays with “New York” across the front. Since I can’t think of anything else that seems worth a try.

   But in an attempt to take this huge disparity in record more seriously and look at it more closely I noticed a few things.

   The 1st road trip, 6 games in which they went 2-4:

   - they started John Maine who we have all seen be pretty horrible, he gave up 8 runs in 3 innings and they lost;
   - they started Jon Niese who is a rookie and thus inconsistency should be expected, he allegedly could not grip his curve in the thin Colorado air he gave up 5 runs in 5 innings and they lost;
   - they lost to Adam Wainwright & Chris Carpenter, no shame in that, and the 2 games they won were started by Johan Santana & Mike Pelfrey. That seems like a reasonable outcome from that trip.

   The 2nd road trip, 6 games in which they went 2-4:

   - the inconsistent rookie Niese spun a gem and they crushed Philly, then lost the next 2, 1 to Halladay & the other when they realized Santana was tipping his pitches;
   - I can offer no explanation why they lost 2 of 3 to Cincinnati, especially considering that Maine & Perez put forth some of their best starts of the season there, perhaps the team truly just hates those 2 guys.

   The 3rd road trip, 8 games in which they went 2-6:

   - they lost 4 of 4 to Florida when Josh Johnson dueled Santana to a draw, then an overworked Nieve gave it up, followed by Perez & Maine sucking and Niese getting hurt;
   - they split with Atlanta & Washington, in Atlanta they won Pelfrey’s start then Feliciano lost after Santana dueled Medlen to a draw in which the offense didn’t score enough, and in Washington the overworked bullpen gave up R.A. Dickey’s good start & they won precisely because Maine was removed from the game without recording an out and they were so happy he was gone.

   So far they are 0-2 in Milwaukee:

   - I can’t call Igarashi overworked but it was yet another good Santana start that the offense didn’t score enough and the bullpen lost, then last night IMO they had no chance starting Nieve which was ridiculous.

   If there are any trends I see it’s that the team has/had virtually no chance with Maine & Perez pitching, Niese was reasonably inconsistent then got injured and they can’t seem to score when Santana starts.

   So I think the road record will improve because Maine & Perez are no longer starters, and I will hope that Niese when he returns is no worse than he was previously (thus they will be around .500 when he starts) and I will hope that the offense figures out how to score when Santana starts so the team stops wasting his good efforts. But IMO the easiest solution is the absence of Maine & Perez should make the team better almost by default.