" For every question there is an answer !"
I have a quick question for you before I head out to work. Here we are almost a month into the season. We have seen both great, exciting games and we have seen some quite lousy losses as well. We have see seen comebacks ( Young Isringhausen, Capuano) and we have seen some players whose skill may not have been quite ready for the big time ( Emaus). So who or what has surprised you about this years team thus far ? Is it the fact that Carlos Beltran seems to be playing healthy , even though it looks like he has lost a step in the outfield ? Is it the the fact that David Wright appears to be hitting better in clutch situations ? Is it the fact that rule five draftee, Pedro Beato looks like he is a real steal ? Maybe it is the fact that Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson are the 180 degree opposite of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel ?
For me the biggest surprise has been Daniel Murphy. Yes I know Murph hasn’t been the second coming of Wally Backman with his glove at second base, but for a guy who had very little to no experience there, I think he is transitioning there like a pro. He may not make every play look pretty or routine for that matter – but he is getting the job done. He is also impressing with the bat. It doesn’t seem like he is obsessed with the long ball, and is just looking to put the ball in play, which is one of his strengths. At the end of this season, I predict that Murph should hit about .275 -.280 with 15 homers and 60 RBI’s. Not bad for a guy who was supposed to be the utility infielder on this Mets team.
So who or what has surprised you the most about the Mets ? Is it one of the players that I have mentioned above – or is it someone or something different ? Let us know in the comment section.
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today includes:
Today would have marked the 115th birthday of baseball legend – and original Mets hitting instructor, Rogers Hornsby (1896) .
All glove- but no bat second baseman from ’81-’83, Brian Giles is 51 (1960) .
Middle reliever from the ’93 season, Rob MacDonald is 46 (1965) .
Forgotten starting pitcher from the ’92-’94 seasons, Eric Hillman is 45 (1966).I guess when your career record is 4-14 with a ERA of 4.85, you would be forgotten also !
Mets reserve outfielder/pinch hitter from last season, Frank Catalanotto is 37 (1974). I still think the Mets should had waited a bit longer before releasing him. I think he could have been a good go to guy off the bench in the latter innings of games.
Middle reliever from Orber Moreno ’03-’04, is 34 (1977) .
New York Mets signed free agent catcher, Yogi Berra on April 27, 1965. Yogi would appear in eight games for the Mets. He would collect the last hits of his career during that span before settling in as a coach for the Mets.
The New York Mets sold the contract of third baseman, Luis Alvarado to the Detroit Tigers on April 27, 1977. The Mets had purchased his c0ontract from the Tigers that offseason, and itis obvious that after one game and two at bats the Mets had seen enough of him.
Mo Vaughn was arrested last night when he ran on the field to attack the Teddy Roosevelt character during the presidential race. He said that he was extremely hungry anf that Roosevelt looked alot like the bratwurst that appears at the Miller Park sausage race !!!
16 comments
metsfan4decades
4/27/2011-8:13am at 8:13 am (UTC -4)
I don’t know that I’m surprise by much yet.
-We all knew Murphy could hit and I would have bet he could play a passable 2nd.
-I would have bet the ranch that if healthy, we’d see the Reyes of old.
-No matter how many games Beltran manages to play, I didn’t believe he would have lost his skills with the bat overnight so his contributions aren’t all that surprising.
-Same with Bay. If healthy, I would assume we’d so more of a return to career numbers. Don’t think we’ll see any 40 HRs, but certainly better than the start last year until he hit the DL.
I thought we had a pretty good BP going in so no surprises there.
If I had to pick one, I’d go with SP. I thought going in this would be the question mark and it still is. However, I would not have predicted the awful start they all seemed to have gotten off to. To a man, none of them looked ready, with hardly a start seeing any of them getting out of the 5th.
It’s been a bit better the past turn through the rotation but I’m still wondering if Pelf and Niese will ever get it together and would really like to see the Dickey from last year.
It’s early yet though…..
ajgmets
4/27/2011-11:17am at 11:17 am (UTC -4)
Surprise , Surprise , Surprise…
To date I’m most surprised by Angel Pagan’s lack of production and consistency both offensively and defensively prior to his oblique injury.
If the team is to succeed over the long haul they’ll need a quick and productive return (highly doubtful due to history of this type of injury)
from Pagan.
The early “success” of the starting pitching has been pleasant enough and Murph’s emergence as the full time 2nd baseman is still in its infancy though I expect him to hit around .260 with a dozen HRs and maybe 50 RBI.
I expected marked and continued improvement from Ike Davis and he’s lived up to and exceeded those expectations to this point. I also was convinced that a healthy Jason Bay would contribute at a level he’s historically shown.
Ducky Wright, with more consistent line up protection should and must produce .285/37/115/25 numbers and hopefully we’ll not hear or see Beltran become weary or gimpier than he already has shown to be before he’s traded on June 26..
The shortstop will need to stay happy and healthy if he’s to produce numbers worthy of the $$ he’s reportedly asking for in free agency. He absolutely must be reined in from his continually ridiculous free swinging ways and work harder to get on base for this team to have any shot at winning 80 games in 2011.
All in all I can not point to any great surprises thus far shown from the Mets but am hoping to be able to change that viewpoint especially regarding Carlos Beltran’s consistent lineup presence and a continued advance toward the stability of this mix and match pitching staff.
Again, in my opinion a return to last season’s performance from Angel Pagan will be the long term key to the Mets 2011 fortunes or Failure. I don’t see any of the Mets current options as long term solutions should Pagan’s absence be very extended.
kingman 26
4/27/2011-8:33am at 8:33 am (UTC -4)
Ike, hands down.
1/7 of the way into the season, he’s putting up MVP-caliber numbers.
stickguy
4/27/2011-9:12am at 9:12 am (UTC -4)
I expected Ike to be very good. Maybe not quite this good, but I felt all along he was going to better than most peoples modest expectations (.265/20/75 or so seemed to be common to see).
stickguy
4/27/2011-9:11am at 9:11 am (UTC -4)
let’s see, like MF said, surprised would mean something I was not expecting.
Murphy being functional at 2B I hoped for, but am a tad surprised anyway he looks like he might just pull it off.
But the SP being horrid for the first couple times through the rotation (overall) was a surprise. But Young was a surprise in a good way.
I will pick Beato, since he was a total crapshoot and looks like a serious keeper.
njstuckintx
4/27/2011-9:17am at 9:17 am (UTC -4)
Good Surprise: Young pitching as well as he has (when healthy)
Bad Surprise: Pagan reverting to a complete shell of 2010
Good Surprise: Wright’s power.
Bad Surprise: Wright’s continued K rate
Good Surprise: Ike taking the league by the short ones and saying “Albert who? Prince who?”
Bad Surprise: Collins decision making
Good Surprise: Beato.
Bad Surprise: Well, sort of a surprise. Pelf. Figured he would regress, but not to this level.
Total Non-Surprise: Go Big Murph!
tkfj2
4/27/2011-9:19am at 9:19 am (UTC -4)
-Ike’s development fast development into a feared hitter and one of the better 1st baseman in the NL.
-Murph’s semi-competent defense
-Beltran’s start to the season. Very solid.
-Izzy!
metsfan4decades
4/27/2011-9:59am at 9:59 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, I kind of forgot about Izzy.
Truthfully, I didn’t think his body would hold up to get out of ST, let alone be our 8th inning guy right now. I don’t know how long it will last but we’ll ride it as long as we can.
I just read an article with quotes from Izzy saying more or less the same thing. After detailing his surgeries (which…wow…way more than I knew about), he’s just taking it one day at a time. Said he’ll keep pitching until he hears that ‘pop’.
kistics
4/27/2011-9:39am at 9:39 am (UTC -4)
I say Beato is the most surprising guy so far. His stuff is very good and his demeanor on the mound is great as well. Now he needs to start making adjustments as the league is making adjustments to him.
Also Murphy’s defense is surprising too. He’s no Roberto Alomar (in a good way), but his defense has been good so far. He’s making the plays he’s supposed to make and that’s all we can ask out of him.
Prismo
4/27/2011-11:37am at 11:37 am (UTC -4)
Most of mine have been taken…but I’ll go anyway
-Murphy not being atrocious at second (not that he’s a GG or anything)
-Beltran staying healthy even this long
-Pelf being as awful as he’s been (except most recent start)
-Jerry Collins bunting way too often (I thought this would change with Sandy)
-The quickness of roster turnovers
-Beato being soooo good
-Nickeas hitting a HR
njstuckintx
4/27/2011-11:53am at 11:53 am (UTC -4)
Jerry Collins… Nice.
metsfan4decades
4/27/2011-12:05pm at 12:05 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t think it’s just TC with this sacrifice bunting. It must be in that invisible manager’s book somewhere they all have.
I’m reading about Gerardi sacrifice bunting in the 9th last night down by one run with no outs – and most fans jumping all over him b/c of it. I think it was Gardner at the plate doing the bunting. Not like it was a subpar hitter up there.
As it turned out, pinch runner Lillaibridge inserted out there in RF, made 2 outstanding catches to end the game and strand 2 runners. Yankee fans were not happy about losing that automatic out to the bunt.
metsfan4decades
4/27/2011-12:07pm at 12:07 pm (UTC -4)
oops, it was Granderson doing the bunting.
Prismo
4/27/2011-12:15pm at 12:15 pm (UTC -4)
Ugh!!
I HATE giving up free outs, unless it’s the pitcher batting.
njstuckintx
4/27/2011-12:16pm at 12:16 pm (UTC -4)
playing not to lose instead of playing to win.
Prismo
4/27/2011-12:28pm at 12:28 pm (UTC -4)
I did one of my statistical analyses a couple months ago on this…I don’t remember the exact numbers.
It was something like: when you sac bunt with a hitter (not a pitcher) you increase you generally increase your chance to score at least once, but only marginally (like 2% increase).
But you sacrifice a lot of potential you had for having a big inning.
I don’t think it’s worth the tradeoff.