Tonight, the Mets begin a three-game set in Pittsburgh with the Pirates.
The Pirates, 19-22, are currently third in the NL Central.
The Pirates are led by Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen, the one and only star on the Pittsburgh roster, is leading the team in almost every major category, He is hitting .336 with seven home runs, 20 RBI, and 24 runs scored. The Pirate offense as a whole, is in the bottom three in baseball in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The pitching is the only thing keeping them from the bottom of the division.
The Pirates are led by ace (for the moment) James McDonald. McDonald, who had a 4.21 ERA in 31 starts last year, is currently 3-2, but has a 2.68 ERA. The back end of the bullpen has also been stellar. Jason Grilli, the setup man, has ten holds on the season and has a 2.25 ERA. The closer, Joel Hanrahan, has nine saves and a 3.07 ERA.
Here are the pitching matchups:
Game 1- Tonight 7:05
Johan Santana (1-2, 2.89 ERA) vs. Erik Bedard (2-5, 3.07 ERA)
Game 2- Tuesday 7:05
R.A. Dickey (5-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. James McDonald (3-2, 2.68 ERA)
Game 3- Thursday 7:05
Jonathon Niese (2-2, 4.85 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (2-4, 4.35 ERA)
More notes…
– The bullpen finally didn’t blow it yesterday! … but it sure gave us a scare, didn’t it? Bobby Parnell allowed two runs in his inning of work, but luckily, Frank Francisco held on for the win.
–David Wright once again had two hits and an RBI. He is now hitting .412 for the year.
– I think this past series was a snap back to reality about what this team can really be. Yes, they have a very bright future, but the expectations of .500 baseball seem to be coming true. The bullpen needs help. Also, this lineup isn’t going to carry us anywhere, especially without Ike Davis stepping up.
11 comments
srt
5/21/2012-11:46am at 11:46 am (UTC -4)
Just walk McCutchen in every at bat and we’ll sweep the series!
Agree about the team being a .500 team.
With a Little Bit O’Luck though, you never know.
Stickguy
5/21/2012-12:32pm at 12:32 pm (UTC -4)
the difference between .500 and in the playoffs is about 1 win every 4 weeks. So don’t make projecting to .500 sound like it is the ’62 Mets, or a team with no chance at all.
You sabergoon!
srt
5/21/2012-1:05pm at 1:05 pm (UTC -4)
Ha! Calling me a sabergoon would be a stretch.
Difference between .500 and the playoffs is about 1 win every 4 weeks? I didn’t know that. Should be no problem if this BP can get it’s act together…..
trs86
5/21/2012-1:19pm at 1:19 pm (UTC -4)
Would Sandy ball licker also be inappropriate?
Stickguy
5/21/2012-1:27pm at 1:27 pm (UTC -4)
depends on which model blow-up doll you have. That would only work on the deluxe one.
srt
5/21/2012-1:46pm at 1:46 pm (UTC -4)
hahahahaha
gategem
5/21/2012-6:12pm at 6:12 pm (UTC -4)
The same can be said for the vast majority of other teams in the NL. So like the NHL and NBA all the teams will make the playoffs.
NJstuckinTX
5/21/2012-12:13pm at 12:13 pm (UTC -4)
They need this series. Hope it doesn’t turn out to be a let down.
Stickguy
5/21/2012-12:38pm at 12:38 pm (UTC -4)
losing 3 starters certainly has not helped the lineup (though Bay is debatable!). And given how bad Ike is, consider it to be 4 starters (and he might be worth more than -1!)
The pen does need to shape up of course. But, we are already seeing some reinforcements. Plus, while they may not be the nasty boys, some of the key guys are not really this bad (meaning theer is a good chance they will have a strong stretch at some point). we are also going to see a few more replacements soon, for good or bad!
pick up a few more games this next week would be huge. Then if they really do get some guys back (and/or Ike remembers how to hit!) they can still hang around for the long haul. Make it through June still competitive, and the rest of the year will get to be quite interesting.
Though if Sandy does decide they are not legit competitors this year and does some house cleaning, it will have the side benefit of making the Core explode into even bigger raptures of studitude.
darknova306
5/21/2012-1:07pm at 1:07 pm (UTC -4)
This is a series they should win if they really are a good team. Gotta beat up on the bad teams, and the Pirates are only hanging around .500 by a thread. Though, considering that neither team can hit and both are riding their rotations so far, it could be a set of really interesting games.
Someone in this lineup needs to start hitting before Wright’s stupid good 221 OPS+ comes down to more reasonable levels, as he’s the only thing carrying the offense (with some help from Murphy). And for the love of all things, Ike has no business on the big club right now! How long does he get to “figure it out” before his suckitude is no longer just a small sample size and is too detrimental? Send him down already.
Fun tidbit: Rey Ordonez’s career OPS+ was 59, while Ike’s OPS+ in 2012 is 47. Yeah…
The bullpen is obviously garbage. We’re starting to see Stick’s “churn and burn”, as lots of bodies get cycled through the pen. I’m sure we’ll see that on a fairly constant basis, unless some combo of relief pitchers finally starts getting it together.
Stickguy
5/21/2012-1:33pm at 1:33 pm (UTC -4)
I’m thinking that Ike might already have been down, if they weren’t missing some many other guys, and they don’t have an obvious replacement. that would be either a 1B, or someone pushing hard for another position (2B or RF) where they happen to have a spare 1B already. So Bay coming back could trip a domino or 2.
If say Valdespin had come up and lit the world on fire, would that have made sliding Murphy over a bit easier?
For the pen, it is actually a good sign that they have some MiL dudes making a case for themselves. In past year, the pen sucked, melted down, and you got Luis ayala as the “savior”.
also, RPs (like any position) are going to have ups and downs. Logically (hopefully?) some of the ones that hit a rough stretch will have a hot one coming to offset.
long winded way of saying I expect to see adjustments in bodies and assignments out there, and that there will be some improvements. Might no become what the pen was for most of 2006, but can at least stabilize as respectable to OK?.