The Mets begin a three-game set with the Cubs in Chicaco tonight at 8:05
The Cubs have been the worst team in baseball this season. Their .333 winning percentage is the worst in the MLB, and they are a team full of under-performing, overpaid veterans. This team’s so bad, it’s only a matter of time before the team is broken up by Theo Epstein.
The Cubs best player this season has clearly been Starlin Castro. Castro is having a breakout year at shortstop, hitting .308 with 38 RBI and 16 stolen bases. He has quickly cemented his status as a cornerstone of the Cubs franchise. He may be one of the few players not on the market for the Cubs as the trade deadline approaches
Here is a look at the pitching matchups:
Game 1- Tonight 8:05
Johan Santana (5-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Travis Wood (1-3, 4.14 ERA)
Game 2- Tuesday 8:05
Dillon Gee (5-5, 4.27 ERA) vs. Randy Wells (1-2, 4.91 ERA)
Game 3- Wednesday 2:20
Jonathon Niese (5-3, 3.75 ERA) vs. Jeff Samardzija (5-6, 4.34 ERA)
Notes:
- The Cubs will be without Ryan Dempster, who went on the DL last week with a tight right lat. He was 3-3 with a 2.11 ERA.
- If you missed the flurry of Mets roster moves last night, here they are.
- Johan Santana bounced back after two bad outings with six shutout innings against the Orioles in his last start. He seems to be back to normal.
- The Cubs are a very weak offensive team. Their 264 runs is 27th in baseball. They also have a .301 ob-base percentage, 28th in baseball. Their biggest power threat may be Bryan LaHair, who has 13 home runs this year, and hit 40 between Triple-A and the big league club last year.
- The pitching staff isn’t much better. As you can see in the pitching matchups, the rotation hasn’t been good this year, but the bullpen has been awful as well. Their bullpen’s ERA is much better than the Mets’ but it’s still 26th in baseball at 4.49.The 1.55 WHIP as a bullpen is 29th in baseball.
- Unless the Mets bullpen is heavily used in this series, the Mets should have an easy time taking care of the MLB-worst Cubs. But it’s baseball and this is the Mets so anything can happen.
15 comments
gategem
6/25/2012-10:23am at 10:23 am (UTC -4)
If the Mets have a letdown after the hoopla following the Yankees series they could easily fall into a trap here. They should remember the Houston series.
Stickguy
6/25/2012-10:27am at 10:27 am (UTC -4)
and don’t forget the Alamo either.
gategem
6/25/2012-10:36am at 10:36 am (UTC -4)
What are you talking about? Forget the Alamo? I was there when General Antonio López de Santa’s army attacked. If you watch the movie you can see me right next to John Wayne or is it Richard Widmark?
kingman 26
6/25/2012-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
“Antonio López de Santa”??
Was this right before he went down a procession of Mexican chimneys with gifts for los ninos?
gategem
6/25/2012-12:49pm at 12:49 pm (UTC -4)
That’s why there was such surprise inside the Alamo. They thought the General was the bearer of gifts and it was a Trojan Horse.
SaltyGary
6/25/2012-11:11am at 11:11 am (UTC -4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVnArp9ZE0
Stickguy
6/25/2012-10:29am at 10:29 am (UTC -4)
this would be a huge series to sweep to to put June in the black.
And a sweep here, dominating a crappy team, would make a huge statement that the Mets aren’t going away in the NL playoff race.
I would love to see the mets SP just dominate this series.
darknova306
6/25/2012-11:19am at 11:19 am (UTC -4)
Anything but a sweep will only feed the doubts that some of us have about the team’s ability. They really need to crush the Cubs.
oleosmirf
6/25/2012-11:24am at 11:24 am (UTC -4)
Key to the Series: Properly Managing the bullpen. The Mets have the better hitters and the better starters.
Batista
vs. LHB .300.388.471.859
vs. RHB .232.349.377.726
Rauch
vs. LHB .286.321.469.790
vs. RHB .222.242.381.623
R. Ramirez
vs. LHB .362.434.532.966
vs. RHB .226.279.321.599
Tim Byrdak
vs. LHB .125.213.200.413
vs. RHB .227 .346.227.573
Justin Hampson (career)
vs.LHB .242.286.342.627
vs. RHB .284 .352.412.763
This bullpen can be good so long as it properly managed. If Hampson can be successful as a loogy, it opens the door for Terry to specialize the bullpen. You might have to use 4+ relievers every game, but Terry needs to try an avoid the temptation of having guys go the full inning when the batters bat from different sides.
Stickguy
6/25/2012-12:43pm at 12:43 pm (UTC -4)
he liked to use at least 4 anyway., even when it made no sense.
the real key? If they SP can go at least 7 full, with some 8 IP mixed in, you can really deploy the BP like that.
The problem comes in when you start having a string of 6 IP and out, then you need to stretch guys more.
srt
6/25/2012-3:14pm at 3:14 pm (UTC -4)
I know the Mets need to show that ‘resiliency’ again in the upcoming series with the Cubs.
What bothers me is the Cubs might be the worst team in baseball right now but even so, they’re going to win some games. And after what happened in Houston, no telling how many of those games might be against the Mets, starting tonight.
Connor O'Brien
6/25/2012-6:11pm at 6:11 pm (UTC -4)
Anthony Rizzo will be called up for the Cubs tomorrow
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/8094561/source-chicago-cubs-recall-anthony-rizzo
Stickguy
6/25/2012-6:26pm at 6:26 pm (UTC -4)
hopefully he does nothing out of the gate, same way he was not very good last year when he came up with the Padres.
NJstuckinTX
6/26/2012-8:52am at 8:52 am (UTC -4)
Now that was one craptastic game. Cedeno, putird. Duda… well, it’s Duda on Defense. Much like Dorf on Golf. Wright… uff da. Two 3 base errors and a triple in one inning.
At least Ike crushed one.
srt
6/26/2012-9:17am at 9:17 am (UTC -4)
I’m trying to forget I even watched that game last night.