Uncrowding Of The Ledge

by Eric Simon on Jul 24, 2008 8:35 AM EDT

If you want to know what a difference a day makes, go read the tail ends of the comments from the last two game threads. Baseball is an emotional game and Mets fans are likewise emotional, and vocal, and dramatic. A day ago the season was terminal and inoperable, the bullpen a wreck and the division slipping away. Now, after a tidy 6-3 win over those same Phillies, the Mets are again tied for first place and things are looking, if not up, at least not down. Everyone's back where they were before Duaner Sanchez showed us all why the Mets really *do* need Billy Wagner, despite his seeming propensity to give it up in big spots.

Carlos Delgado earned a move up to the cleanup spot and responded by going 1-for-2 with a couple of walks. With his smoking hot July tear Delgado has worked his batting line up to .262/.347/.477, unspectacular for a first baseman but so much better than what he had done in the prior twelve months that it's fun to believe he's actually returned to form. One month does not a rebound make, but maybe injuries were bothering him more than he let on. It's only been 67 at-bats, but in case you haven't checked his monthly splits in a while, Delgado is hitting .403/.481/.731 in July after OPS-ing .632, .772 and .784 for the first three months of the season.

Big winners: Jose Reyes, +21.2% WPA, Damion Easley, +11.4% WPA
Big losers: Marlon Anderson, -9.0% WPA, John Maine, -5.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Reyes woot!, +27.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Rollins RBI double, -13.6% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +16.0%
Total batter WPA: +34.0%

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by BobbyV_Incognito; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Name	# of Posts
BobbyV_Incognito	62
Endys Game	45
JE	33
JoshNY	23
pingel	21
itsmetsforme	19
Rod Gaspar Fan Club	8
DoctorK16	7
gogomets	2
ZaBlanc	2
goth brooks	2
Shomov	1

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Clean Up

With Marlon Anderson hitting as well as he has been I’m not sure why Manuel elected to go with Delgado in the 4 spot.

by Shomov on Jul 24, 2008 10:03 AM EDT reply actions

I didn't watch last night

I was still furious about the previous game, and thus the Mets moved to 3-0 since the break in games I haven’t watched. In the games I have watched, they’re 0-3.

Simple solution: never watch the Mets again.

Vote change: DePodesta/Acta in 2009!!!

by Greenpoint Ian on Jul 24, 2008 10:04 AM EDT reply actions

Thanks for taking one for the team

by ams258 on Jul 24, 2008 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions

BTW

I didn’t comment on it in the other thread, so here goes: I don’t think there was anything necessarily wrong with taking Santana out of the game after 8. I just question the sequence of pitchers used. I really think Heilman should be the backup closer (I’m not joking).

Anyway, shit happens in baseball and I’m not about to demand Manuel’s head over it. This isn’t exactly a certain manager using Mota again and again last September.

Vote change: DePodesta/Acta in 2009!!!

by Greenpoint Ian on Jul 24, 2008 10:09 AM EDT reply actions

how to kill a rally

man on first and second, no outs, carlos beltran up. sweet right? nah, who needs run. 1st, have the best hitter on you team sac bunt. great, 2nd and 3rd 1 out. sweet, now becaue marlon anderson is up and is total dog shit, pinch hit for him. swell idea, how about ramon castro? nope, we’ll bring up the other catcher who is probably the shitty hitter on the team. then on cue, automatic ground out to short, no runs, 2 outs. next up, damian easley. i dont have anything against easley, hes fine for a back up, its not his fault he has to start. anywho, damian grounds out to end the inning. nice job guys. the run expectancy for man on 1st and second and no outs is like 1.5 runs. thats pretty much the worst thing ive ever seen.

actually, while watching the game i actually said, that is the single worst thing ive ever seen in my life, to which my room mate replied, ah, i dunno, i think tubgirl is a little worse.

by kendynamo on Jul 24, 2008 12:00 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah

No idea what he was saving Castro for. The whole POINT of carrying Cancel is so that they can use whichever of Castro and Schneider isn’t starting as a pinch hitter if need be.

by JoshNY on Jul 24, 2008 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions