Pelfrey might miss a lot of time and Davis slump is getting serious

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Pelfrey diagnosis still up in the air

What exactly is the cause of Mike Pelfrey’s elbow swelling? That question is still up for debate. In an interview with Mike Francesa on WFAN yesterday, Mets general manager Sandy Alderon said the following:

“We not sure what the final diagnosis will be, but there is certainly swelling in that elbow. We should know something more concrete in the next couple of days. This is not something will go away in the next couple of days, so we put him on the disabled list.”

However, in a post made just before the start of last night’s game versus Miami, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York issued a much more grim report.

Mets officials are aware that Mike Pelfrey has suffered a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and are bracing to lose the right-hander to season-ending surgery, a major league source told ESPNNewYork.com.

Well, that would be horrible. Not only is Pelf off to a wonderful start this season, but I am just not ready for multiple Chris Schwinden outings. Nothing is official yet, so we’ll just have to sit back and hope that Pelfrey has not actually torn his UCL.

If it does turn out that Pelfrey has to miss the rest of the season, I’m guessing that Matt Harvey will replace Schwinden once the hot prospect is deemed ready for major league duty. It’s possible that Schwinden does make more than a handful of starts, but he’d probably need to pitch really well in order to hold off Harvey. All this is still hypothetical, though, so keep your fingers crossed.

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Mets fans booing Reyes wasn’t a crime

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Here’s something I can’t stand: A journalist telling fans who they should cheer for. In the wake of last night’s booing of Jose Reyes, Bergen Record columnist Bob Klapisch decided to take Mets fans to task for disrespecting the star shortstop.

I know fans sometimes can act out of line. I’m not for any sort of violence or yelling of obscenities. I know I was frightened at some of the things I heard at Giants Stadium when I was a kid, and I’m in favor of keeping the stadium a family friendly environment. However, if fans want to boo a guy, they should boo a guy. Especially if he’s on the other team, and especially if he left the home team for a rival organization. It wouldn’t hurt if the player in question flat out quit in his last game with the home team.

I’m still not sure if Reyes deserved to get booed last night, but I do know that he didn’t deserve the sort of adoration he got when he played for the Mets. Klapisch says that Mets fans should be embarrassed by the reception they gave Reyes.

Reyes did nothing wrong signing with the Marlins, the only team to offer him a contract last winter. The idea that Reyes is a traitor — or “garbage” as he was taunted during batting practice — isn’t just bad revisionist history, it’s an insult to the legacy of the most complete player to ever wear a Mets uniform.

Yes, it’s true that Reyes is one of the best players in Mets history, and it’s true that the Mets did not make a significant offer to attempt to retain him. Here’s what’s also true:

  • Reyes never was part of a team that won a National League pennant
  • Reyes is playing for a division rival that knocked the Mets out of the playoffs on the last game of the season in 2007 and 2008
  • Reyes chose to sit down in the last game of the 2011 season. Instead of helping his team win the game and giving the loyal fans a proper send off, he sat in the hope that it would help him win a batting title.

Winning. Loyalty. Selflessness. These are the things that fans care about. They are also three things that are mostly absent from Reyes’ resume. A lot of fans don’t care about how many triples he hit or how exciting he was to watch because it didn’t result in even one NL pennant. A lot of fans don’t care that Reyes never got a real offer from the Mets because no matter what he was going to get oodles more money than the average fan can even think about.

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Santana, Mets beat Marlins 2-1

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The Mets came from behind to fry the fish last night in a 2-1 victory. Johan Santana and Miami’s Josh Johnson both put on incredible performances. In the top of the seventh, the Marlins broke a 0-0 tie when Gaby Sanchez doubled home Giancarlo Stanton. However, the Mets struck back in the bottom of the inning when they walked four times in a row against four different Miami pitchers.

In the eighth, Lucas Duda hit the game-winning RBI single to send the Citi Field fans home happy. You can read all about the game in the recap I wrote for The Daily Stache last night.

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Here comes the hurt: Pelfrey, Bay hit disabled list

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Update: It sounds like the Mets will promote Chris Schwinden to make Pelfrey’s start on Friday. Thank goodness. In four starts for Buffalo this season, Schwinden has pitched 22 innings with 13 strikeouts and nine walks and a 2.05 ERA. Those aren’t mind-blowing stats, but we’ll take them.

Original Post: It turns out that Ronny Cedeño was just the tip of the iceberg. Today, both Jason Bay and Mike Pelfrey have hit the disabled list. Bay has a broken rib that he apparently suffered when he dove for the Gregor Blanco double last night. Pelfrey is dealing with elbow swelling.

Both Pelfrey and Bay are players who fans are less than enthusiastic about, but both have been decent enough this season (Pelf maybe more than decent) that the Mets will miss their production. Pelfrey has made at least 30 starts in each of his past four seasons, so hopefully he only misses three or four starts. Also, the Mets have no starting pitching depth.

Bay is more replaceable because Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been surprisingly good and Andres Torres is on his way back (he was 3 for 4 in a rehab start in Port St. Lucie last night). Also with Jordany Valdespin recently called up, the Mets can now more easily get the youngster playing time. Scott Hairston is an option who can step in to play left field and more easily match Bay’s offensive production.

Robert Carson has been called up to replace Pelfrey, while Zach Lutz takes Bay’s spot. Back in March, Carson was in the mix to be the left-handed guy in the major league bullpen before Byrdak returned from injury. At AA Binghamton, Carson has six strikeouts, one walk and two runs allowed in 5.2 innings. That’s all in five relief appearances, so we are could be looking at the grim prospect of Miguel Batista making some more starts. Of course, he was so bad yesterday versus San Francisco that the Mets could make another roster move prior to Pelfrey’s next scheduled start on Friday.

Lutz has been tearing the cover off the ball at AAA Buffalo so far. He’s hitting .333/.425/.556 with three home runs. That makes him a great pinch-hitting option off the bench, but Lutz is a third baseman by trade, so it doesn’t look like he’ll get many starts unless the Mets want to cram him into left field. Spelling Ike Davis versus lefty starters is a possibility, though.

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Mets versus Marlins and the return of Reyes

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The Mets begin a three-game series with the Miami Marlins tonight at 7:10 PM in a game that the Mets need to win if they want to escape the doldrums that have followed a 7-3 start to the season. Of course, the big event tonight will be the return to Queens of Jose Reyes, who as a free agent signed a deal with Miami this off-season. Once viewed as a “franchise” player for the Mets, Reyes has more triples, stolen bases and runs scored than any player in the team’s history.

So how will he be received by the Citi Field crowd? That’s what I’m most interested in seeing. I’ve gone back and forth on whether Reyes deserves to be booed or cheered when he steps to the plate tonight. On one hand, he made the logical decision to take more money to play for a better club. On the other, he took himself out of what turned out to be his last game as a Met last season.

I guess if I was at the game, I would do the “right” thing and give Reyes a decent applause, but he still rubbed me the wrong way the way he left his last Mets game just to ensure he could win the batting title. Not only does the decision put into question his motivations for playing, but it makes me wonder if Reyes ever really understood how important on-base percentage is.

No matter how the crowd reacts, I’m not really sad to see Reyes in another uniform. Sandy Alderson was not about to buy into an injury prone player coming off of a career year. Even if the Mets had the money to offer Reyes a huge contract, that wouldn’t make it the right decision. The Mets may very well be better off without Reyes in two or three years.

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Mets trounced by Giants twice

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Aaron Yorke


It was not a great day to be a Mets fan yesterday. New York’s National League team lost not once, but twice to the San Francisco Giants, and neither game was particularly close. In the first game, the Mets lost 6-1, mainly because Miguel Batista imploded right at the start of the game.

It was nice that former Met Angel Pagan led off the game with a grounder to first, but then Melky Cabrera walked and stole second. Pablo Sandoval, the Kung Fu Panda, followed with an RBI hit into right-center field. It’s a good thing that Lucas Duda threw out the Panda as he tried for a double, because the next batter Buster Posey hit a home run. 2-0 Giants was the score after one.

For a second, it looked like the Mets would make a game out of the pitching mismatch that saw Tim Lincecum starting against the overwhelmed Batista. In the second inning Ruben Tejada walked with two outs, stole second base and was doubled home by Mike Baxter, who was in the lineup to give Jason Bay a breather.

However, the Giants would put the game out of reach in the top of the third. Batista got the first two men out, but Ike Davis misplayed a Panda groundball to extend the inning. Posey followed with a walk, which set the table for a Nate Schierholtz three-run bomb into the Mo’s Zone to make the score 5-1. Last season, that would have only scored a pair of runs, but it didn’t matter, because Tim Lincecum had the good stuff today.

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The Mets will play two games versus the Giants today

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Second Update: Adam Rubin of ESPN New York says that AAA starter Jeremy Hefner will be added to the 25-man roster for today’s doubleheader, as the Mets bullpen will be shortened by the presence of Batista in the starting lineup. After today, Valdespin will reportedly replace Hefner on the major league roster.

Update: The Mets have called up shortstop/center fielder Jordany Valdespin from AAA Buffalo. Word is that Ronny Cedeño is headed to the disabled list. No word yet on what kind of injury Cedeño is suffering from.

Original Post: Thanks to yesterday’s miserable weather and the postponement of the Mets vs. Giants game, there will be two National League ballgames played today between New York and San Francisco. The first will start at 4:10 PM and the next will being soon after the first one ends. For Game One, the Mets lineup will look like this:

Kirk Niewenhuis – CF, Daniel Murphy – 2B, David Wright – 3B, Lucas Duda – RF, Ike Davis – 1B, Josh Thole – C, Ruben Tejada – SS, Mike Baxter – LF, Miguel Batista – RHP

I’m not a huge fan of young Nieuwenhuis continuing to hit out of the lead-off spot. I know he’s off to a great start to his major league career (hitting .325/.400/.525), but he’s also struck out in 12 of 45 plate appearances. Kirk’s high batting average is mostly supported by an unsustainable .423 BABIP.

Ruben Tejada on the other hand, has really done nothing to lose his spot at the top of the order, other than being given a rest on the same day Nieuwenhuis went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles batting lead-off. Tejada has done a great job working deep into counts so far this season and has struck out nine times in 56 plate appearances. That’s not a particularly amazing figure, but Tejada (batting .265/.345/.408) has flashed some rare power with seven doubles and is also still two years younger than Kirk. If I had my way, Niewenhuis would be batting seventh or eighth in the order while he proves his hot start is more than just a flash in the pan.

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Elsewhere in the East: Lombardozzi lifts Nats, Phils jump on Lincecum

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Washington 6, Houston 3

Update: I almost forgot about the best play from this game, which was Rick Ankiel’s throw to home plate on a bases loaded fly ball by Carlos Lee. Even though Jordan Schafer had plenty of speed on third base, he didn’t dare try to make it home on the fly ball to Ankiel. Turned out to be a good decision, as Ankiel threw a strike and Chris Johnson was able to later hit a single to plate Schafer anyway.

Original post: Washington manager Davey Johhnson started reserve infielder Steve Lombardozzi at second base last night just to give his regular keystoner Danny Espinosa a breather. It seems like this happens way too often, but Lombardozzi turned out to be the hero for the Nationals in their 6-3 win over the Houston Astros.

Lombardozzi went 4 for 5 at the plate, including a bloop two-out double down the left field line that drove in two Nationals runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. That made the score 4-2, giving Washington the lead for good.

Stephen Strasburg was very effective in this one, especially before he allowed Houston to load the bases in the top of the sixth and eventually score two runs. Apparently, something is going wrong for him when his opponents get on base.

“When guys would get in scoring position I felt like they definitely were kind of seeing pitches a little differently,” Strasburg said. “I don’t think I was throwing any pitches worse or with different kind of movement, but they definitely seemed a little bit more comfortable with guys on second base. . . . I know what it is and I know how to fix it, so that’s the bottom line.”

He make it sound like he was lousy, but Strasburg was pretty good with five strikeouts, one walk and two earned runs in six innings. 61 of his 93 pitches went for strikes.

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Super Gee and Mets win over Braves 6-1

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Sure, I was glued to the Rangers game for most of the night (hockey!), but that didn’t stop the Metsies from rolling off another win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. This time, Atlanta was coming in hot — the Bravos had won five straight since starting the season 0-4 — but Dillon Gee was able to lead New York to a 6-1 victory anyway.

Gee allowed just four hits, one walk and one run in his seven innings. He also struck out five batters, including getting Juan Francisco swinging on a high fastball to end the 7th. That inning started off with a Dan Uggla single and a catcher’s interference call that allowed Jason Heyward to reach first, but Gee’s work to get out of the jam effectively extinguished Atlanta’s last real hope.

Mark Simon of ESPN New York does a great job examining how Gee had so much success versus the Braves, and in particular Chipper Jones. It turns out that Gee’s Game Score rating of 69 from last night is the best for any Mets starters this season. Yes, 69.

Meanwhile, Ike Davis had the biggest play of the night. In the top of the 6th with runners at the corners and two outs in a 1-1 game, the Mets first baseman ripped a home run to left field to blow the game open. Right before Davis stepped up to the plate, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez and pitcher Tommy Hanson made the very logical move to intentionally walk the red hot David Wright, but Davis made them pay.

“He’s thrown it every at-bat, every pitch, every time I’ve faced him,” Davis said, referring to curveballs from Hanson. “If you go back at the records, it’s probably maybe three or four fastballs in something like 30 at-bats. The Braves really throw me a lot of off-speed most of the time. So I think the first series I saw three fastballs to open the year off of them the whole series. So obviously they think I’m a fastball hitter. And I haven’t had great success against them, because they’ve thrown pitchers’ pitches with their off-speed pitches.”

It’s great to see Davis bust out of his first week slump with home runs in consecutive games. It’s even better that he’s adjusting to how pitchers deal with him. I’m pretty psyched to watch him continue to mash this season. Maybe later this week he’ll push that OPS over .600!

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Can Pelfrey please go deeper in games this season?

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Over at The Daily Stache today I wrote a piece on Mike Pelfrey and how he doesn’t go deep in games despite his low strikeout totals.

Pelfrey can be very frustrating to watch, but one thing he has gotten good at is being on the field every fifth day. In fact, Pelfrey has started at least 30 games in each of the past four seasons. He would be a really legitimate asset if he could just lower those walk numbers!

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