Monday Applesauce
by Joe Budd on Apr 27, 2009 9:51 AM EDT
in Applesauce
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PrintI've seen this episode before. Oliver Perez gets roughed up. Daniel Murphy has a misplay in left field. Carlos Beltran makes a mistake on the basepaths. Casey Fossum lets inherited runners score. Oh well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad and oh, Johan Santana is awesome. And, by the way, for those of you living in DC like me, I hope that you will agree that the National TV broadcast team of Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble is as bad as it gets.
Meet the Mets
As alluded to in my lede, some common themes keep reappearing. Murphy is embarrassed. Ollie sucks. And Beltran doesn't slide. But, there is hope. SamT argues that Murphy is actually a defensive asset for the Mets. And, Perez's spot in the rotation is far from solid. Could Paul Byrd be the solution?
In good news, however, the Mets did take 2 of 3 from the Nationals. The two wins came from Santana, who is awesome, and Pelfrey, who appeared to regain some of last year's form.
Welcome back Figgy. Nelson Figueroa has re-signed with the Mets. That did not take long.
Good bye Casey Fossum. The Mets designated Fossum for assignment and promoted left handed specialist Ken Takahashi. Takahashi had a 0.77 ERA at AAA Buffalo.
Some more good news: Baseball America picked Reese Havens at #7 on their Hot Sheet.
Here's an update on the notorious Dwight Gooden autograph.
Keith Olbermann has some complaints about the obstructed views at Citi Field's PRESS BOX.
Around the NL East
This weekend looked like a return to normalcy in the NL East. The Marlins are in the midst of a 6 game losing streak, capped off by the 3 game sweep by the Phillies. The series included a grand slam by Shane Victorino, 7 earned runs by the Marlin closer Matt Lindstrom on Friday, and a sore back for Hanley Ramirez.
The Braves took two of three from the Reds in Cincinnati over the weekend, but placed catcher Brian McCann on the DL due to the continued blurriness in his eyes.
I can never tell if it's the Mets or if a prospect is actually good. Well, Federal Baseball thinks that Jordan Zimmerman is the man.
Around MLB
Jacoby Ellsbury stole home this weekend as the Yankees get swept by the Red Sox.
Arizona pitcher Brandon Webb is out for another six weeks as he is still recovering from his strained right shoulder.
Wait, what???? Carlos Zambrano has been a source for some strange stories this year. Here's the latest: he wants to be considered an emergency backup infielder.
Tuffy Rhodes update: Rhodes hit his 450th home run on Sunday.
And finally, Brewer closer Trevor Hoffman was activated Sunday.
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dibble and carpenter are pretty crappy
they are blatent homers which would be ok if the nats werent so bad. but crying over every check swing that didnt get called a strike got really annoying after the first few thousand times they brought it up.
HELLO HELLO MR WILPON. WE WANT THE MANSION NOT THE CONDO.
they are so bad ...
but what might be worse is the production quality. they have a real close shot on the battery and every hit, foul, broad shot is only shown on replay, never live. it hurt my eyes.
the early June series at National Park can’t come soon enough. Anyone going to Philly next weekend?
by MordecaiBrown3 on Apr 27, 2009 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions
horrible horrible
Dibble was just so negative when talking about Mets players, and after they had harped on the check swings for half the game I had to put it on mute. But hey those nats are a really good team that’s just playing bad right now. F*** you Rob Dibble!
All this gloom and doom about the contract...
to lighten the mood:
What’s Perez’ favorite candy?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ollie Ranchers!
Heh
Obstructed views in the press box. Awesome.
The dude in the Reyes jersey’s head is blocking the plate. (Obviously.) I can totally imagine them evaluating the view without failing to consider the fact that a filled seat will block more space than an empty seat.
BTW, I tend to think Olbermann is a sanctimonious douche when it comes to politics (and that’s coming from someone who generally agrees with his opinions), but his sports writing is usually pretty good.
Re. Reese Havens:
The second of two Mets’ first-round picks last year (22nd overall), Havens has been one of the FSL’s most productive hitters thus far. A lefthanded batter with a grinder mentality, he leads the league with seven extra-base hits as part of a .320/.407/.600 start as St. Lucie’s shortstop.OK, that’s a relief. I’m much more concerned with whether he’s a grinder than whether he’s a good baseball player.
The two go hand in hand, obviously.
Also: Zimmerman*n*, for future reference
I prefer my players
to have a sissy mentality. Like if Havens were allergic to everything, wore a short-pants velvet suit and carried around a giant lollipop.
Today’s game can’t start soon enough. I had finals last week and company this weekend.
by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Apr 27, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm thinking a sailor costume would be more appropriate.
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
So they're saying he's like David Eckstein
Only talented. Then again, I guess that makes him not like David Eckstein at all.
by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 27, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Re: Ollie to the bullpen as a possibility
Like, don’t, like, relief pitchers need to know how to, like, throw strikes and stuff?
by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Apr 27, 2009 11:33 AM EDT reply actions
Well he usually starts well
Really with his nasty slider, and on the days when he has his velocity, he probably would be a good bullpen arm.
don't you risk messing him up even worse
by changing his routine?
by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Apr 27, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't think Ollie to the pen is a terrible idea
But its not really any kind of long term solution either. I could see him pitching effectively there, but with his contract, I feel like it makes more sense to send him down and hope he gets on track. Maybe it was the WBC, maybe it was Scott Boras having him hold out so long in the offseason, maybe it was that he spent all his energy on his honeymoon. Whatever you want to blame, I think its pretty clear he didn’t get his work in properly this spring and he’s paying for it now. Taking a couple of minor league starts where the focus is more on preparation than results might do him some good.
by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 27, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions
ellsbury
awesome steal of home, but incredibly stupid. 2 outs, base loaded, down by one run in the fifth, and JD Drew at the plate – that’s when you decide to steal home? would have loved to the see reaction if he was tagged out and the sox lost the game 2-1.
ah damn
ok, so it’s not as bad a decision if the sox are up a run. still, pretty risky move to make when drew had a chance to break open the game.
Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips loved it
if I recall correctly. Take that as you wish.
'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 27, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Aw, c'mon.
Everyone loved it, though. Even those two morons have to sometimes like something that was awesome.
Unless you’re saying they loved its smartness (as opposed to its awesomeness). Then that’s ridiculous.
My questions is: is there ever a time to attempt to steal home that is not stupid? Two outs would seem to be the only scenario you could argue in favor of. I guess you could argue you should only do it if the guy at bat sucks ass. I dunno.
Stupid or not, it was awesome.
batting helmets. batting titles. obp.
Yeah I should have been clearer
They loved it because it was executed at a proper time — lefty on the mound, lefty at the plate and the third baseman playing way off of the bag. Took pressure off of Drew or something to that effect.
However, yes, it absolutely was an awesome looking play.
'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 27, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
I loved seeing the slo-mo replay
where you can see Ellsbury kicking up dirt as he stumbles home. I wish he had touched home and toppled over Posada.
bullpen
i still feel good about putz and frankie, but are middle relief and starting is killing us. santana basically assures us a win, but ollie and maine make things much harder for our offense. if this guy from japan doesn’t work out, i think figgy would be good in the 5th, 6th, or 7th, as well as a possible long relief role.
Personally I'm partial to this guy in the 7th
by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 27, 2009 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions
yea parnell’s got good stuff, but he can’t do it all by himself. im saying figgy should come in if ollie or maine get into trouble early, and stay in for a couple innings.
Yeah IMO he's already gotten too many innings
Its his first year in the bigs even if he’s not in the rotation they need to be seriously monitoring his workload, remember how Joe Smith tired out at the end of 07?
That's true
But I don’t think MR is the problem, they’ve pitched pretty well for the most part. Green’s had a rough game or two, but Parnell, Stokes, and Feliciano have all been more than adequate so far. Parnell has a lot of innings, but he hasn’t really had to pitch in any major jams or throw a ton of pitches in an inning either. But yeah, they do need to keep an eye on him. I’m more worried about Feliciano, who warms up every day, probably even when the Mets don’t play at this point. But the 10/2 K/BB is very encouraging for him, that’s as sharp as he was at any time last year.
I am worried about them getting overworked, but IMO, its on the SP at this point to change that. I don’t think they need to go and make a move right now to protect anyone. I also don’t think there’s much difference in value between having Figgy in Buffalo and ready to start vs. keeping him the bullpen for LR. Having both would be nice, but I doubt that’s really an option. If he’s in the pen, he probably wouldn’t be available for a start unless it was an absolute emergency or he went to Buffalo to stretch out anyway. There was no need to DFA him for Fossum in the first place, but they did, and got lucky to get him back in Triple-A. And if you question his value there, just think back to Jose Lima trying to pitch to Dontrelle Willis. Figgy’s the best 6th/spot starter the Mets have had in quite some time.
Also, don’t forget the Mets still have a wild card for the pen. In a few months, they may Billy Wagner back. If he’s even 80% of what he’s been, that should really ease the burden on Feliciano and Parnell, a turnover lefty and a bonafide power arm.
by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 27, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I can honestly tell you that currently, that is not what I'm concerned about.
We’re in the middle of an Oliver Perez crisis.
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
Yes indeed
That is the problem. I’m pulling for Maine to come out of his early season funk, he’s the one guy I feel is somewhat close to being on the right track. He says he’s making decent pitches and its matter of minor adjustments rather than large ones, and I agree. All three of his pitches look pretty sharp. The life on his fastball seems to be there, now he just has to make sure he’s getting ahead of hitters by commanding it so he can get into favorable counts and effectively expand the zone. If he can do that, he should be able to put together a few solid outings sooner or later.
Pelf I’m on the fence about. I think he showed just enough improvement in his last start. It was the Nats, and his command wasn’t great, but his pitches were definitely sharper. I don’t think he’s all the way there, at least not to the point where I’m confident in throwing him at CBP, but I wouldn’t skip his turnagain or anything.
Ollie, well he’s just a mess right now. He showed a bit of legit improvement after his opening week disaster, but just a bit, and it stopped there. He still doesn’t have his fastball, and that means he’s going to get hit, and when he gets hit, he loses his mechanics, and thus is the downward spiral of a bad Ollie performance. Until he starts throwing at least 90-91 with regularity, this is going to be the story more often than not. I can see giving him one more start, since he’s still probably the second best pitcher the Mets have to throw at the Phillies, but if he blows that, he’ll need to spend some time on the farm.
The good news, if you can call it that, is that Tim Redding’s getting close. I actually think Redding’s a bit better than he gets credit for, but also concede that’s really not saying much. I could see him being an upgrade over Livan, but that’s about it.
by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 27, 2009 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
wow u no ur mets
ollie needs 2 get back into the form he was in last summer. i love maine, and he needs a good start tonite. i think pelf is future ace, and we should be confident w/ his last start
Speak in English, please.
Let’s keep it legible there, bud.
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
A healthy heaping of Applesauce
Carpenter / Dibble – Dibble isn’t so bad. Carpenter talks just to hear himself talk. The two of them are like loud music at Starbucks. The music is supposed to be part of the experience, not THE experience. Same thing with those two. They are taking away from the baseball experience as opposed to accentuating it.
Marlins – Hahahaha
J. Zimmermann – I guess since he’s a starting pitcher who got called up late, has two of the teams four wins of the season and shut down the Mets at Citi Field, I guess why I would understand why Nats fans think he’s the man.
Ellsbury – Actually tripped prior to getting to home, so it wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world. But him actually tripping prior to getting home makes the Yankees look even worse. I’m assuming the defensive lapse on that play goes to Pettitte.
by OVERALLSPORTSFAN on Apr 27, 2009 2:48 PM EDT reply actions
But...but...
Wes Helms says they’re the team to beat!!! Wes Helms!
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
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