Coach, bring in the JV squad.

by dave the rave on Jun 3, 2009 12:33 AM EDT

After tonight’s game Mets fans are left scratching their heads thinking, "what else can happen?" As the game progressed tonight, yet another Mets player goes down with an injury during a head first slide. If you had Ramon Martinez in your NYM injured player fantasy league, you are a winner. I understand that sliding head first is always a risk, but for some reason the Mets have dumb luck with this kind of thing. There's no getting around it, the Mets are prone to freak accidents and injuries. We can look to the Ryan Church catastrophe of last year with his concussions or perhaps the Beltran/Cameron collision that pretty much disfigured Cameron's face. Over the past few years the Mets were never great when dealing with adversity. This year, I have seen signs of them turning the corner and fighting off their problems. Some may disagree but there is a little evidence. The team went 19-9 in the month of May. Plus when you think about it they did all this without Delgado for the whole month. They were without Reyes, Cora, and Church for the last two weeks and even Pagan has gone down in the past week. Their MVP of the year so far, Carlos Beltran, has a nasty virus and he's been out the past few games. Also, not to mention no Ollie, and JJ has been dreadful in the pen. Looking at what they do put on the field, it's for the most part a JV squad. They are getting little to no offensive production at first base, their shortstops if it wasn't for the injuries wouldn't even be on the roster, and they have a twenty year old, Fernando Martinez, starting everyday. Even Jeremy Reed whose getting a lot of playing time is a bench player at best. And for all of this the Mets are 28-23, two back of the Phillies. Imagine if they didn't have all these injuries where they would be. You look at the "core," Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Delgado. Reyes and Delgado have been injured and other than that road trip two weeks ago, Wright has been mediocre. Beltran has been the only one out of the four to bring his game everyday. It's only a matter of time before the Mets are really clicking on all cylinders. Reyes and Cora are expected back at the end of the week and hopefully Beltran's virus won't keep him out for any length of time. With just those three back that is a huge improvement. So yes, they have dropped the first two to the Pirates, but let's not panic just yet. So far the JV has shown they can play with the Varsity, for now.

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Comments

"Wright has been mediocre"

He’s been mediocre for a couple of games. He’s earned it with the way he has carried this team.

He was .328/.429/.475 going in to tonight’s game. I’ll take 8 off of those. He (and Beltran) have carried this team and the only reason we are 28-23 is because they have picked up everyone else.

We’re seeing now what type of team this is with all the injuries without 2 Superstars playing out of their minds.

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but Jerry abuses the privilege.

by AnthonyR on Jun 3, 2009 1:17 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah

Wright’s had a couple rough stretches this season, but he also had one of the hottest stretches that anyone in the game has had so far this year. He had like a 30 or 35 PA stretch where his OBP was like .800. If you’re doing a good job when you’re making an out 60% of the time, there just aren’t any words for how hot you are if you have an extended streak where you’re only making an out 20% of the time. That’s just ungodly.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 3, 2009 2:27 AM EDT up reply actions

i would agree

I agree with both of you, but i still think that his .328 is not a true .328 he’s an extremely streaky .300 hitter. But when he gets on a streak it’s crazy what he does.

by dave the rave on Jun 3, 2009 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Perhaps

But for a streaky hitter, he consistently has been at least .300 / .380 / .520 in every full year he’s spent in the big leagues. Not too many players can say that. His full season career low wOBA is .385. That’s about as consistent as you can ask for from a player in his age 22-25 seasons. The only negative thing you can say about that is its not quite Pujolsian.

Also, what do you mean by not a “true” .328? Are you saying he’s been lucky? Its hard to call a statistic “untrue”. If the statistic is accurate, isn’t it inherently “true”? Isn’t that just the nature of any statistic? It may be misleading, but its still true. That said, his BABIP is an absurd .438. He’s always been a high BABIP guy (.347 for his career) because he hits a ton of line drives, but even for Wright that number is unsustainable. It really just means he has to knock it off with the big strikeout streaks he’s had a few times this year. And even with all that, he’s still drawing tons of walks.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 3, 2009 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions

dont get me wrong

I am not taking anything away from what David has done over his career so far. He’s a career .310 hitter. Actively today, with a minimum 3000 at bats there’s only 20 players hitting over a lifetime .300. I think David is about 200 at bats shy of that mark but he will probably be the next on that list. So for that he has shown consistency. But his hot streaks and slumps don’t lie. He gets into a ton of 4/20 slumps than will turn it around and get OB 30/35 AB’s, it’s insane.
And your right, technically a statistic is ultimately “true” if it’s accurate. When you’re talking of a .300 hitter usually you’d see a bit more consistency no? And that’s why I said this year his .328 isn’t a true .328. Look at some other players who are .300 hitters with a lot more consistency ( Ichiro, Jeter, Manny steroids aside). Saying a hitter is a .300 hitter wouldn’t you think that meant they have some sort of consistency to their hitting? That’s all I meant. This year he has been a streaky .300 hitter, if you want to say a .300 hitter is a .300 hitter that’s understandable even though some are more consistent than others. Do you think there should be any difference between one who is consistent all season vs one who’s streaky?

by dave the rave on Jun 4, 2009 2:08 AM EDT up reply actions

Huh?

How is something not a “true” batting average? EVERYONE gets into slumps, and their batting averages count. Jeez.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 4, 2009 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Don't take it so literal

I didn’t mean it like it’s a false stat. And i understand people get into slumps. A typical .300 hitter is more consistent than what Wright has shown this year.

Another example of what i meant by the word “true”: if you have an average speed catcher steal 20 bases, is he a “true” base stealer? Might be a bad example but I hope you get the point.

by dave the rave on Jun 4, 2009 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions

I understand your point.

It just isn’t really all that valid, IMO.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 4, 2009 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Its a long season

Jeter’s had plenty of bad stretches already. David’s been a bit extreme so far this year, but you don’t become a .300 hitter by getting 3 hits in every 10 ABs, you do it with more ups than downs and with higher highs than lower lows. Its the nature of the beast.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 4, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions

I think at this point 3 out of 7 this week would be fine

Considering how well the starters have pitched up until this week…they are due to regress a little.

It’s only the beginning of June. Treading water for a week with a downgraded lineup is OK. Let’s hope the injury bug leaves for good once we get these guys back

by metsman07 on Jun 3, 2009 9:56 AM EDT reply actions

A plus to Beltran's virus

is that his knee is getting extra time to heal.

by SupT on Jun 3, 2009 10:43 AM EDT reply actions

Dropping game one

u said it, the team we have been putting out there lately would rival the pawtucket red sox in AAA, that is why dropping game one of this series was big. the team had a 5-0 lead, that should have been a W.
The very next night they scratch across a run, mean while the phillies took two in San Diego. But to be in second place is good knowing what the team has been through. Now if they could just take the next two in Pittsburgh that would be nice

by celtic20 on Jun 3, 2009 3:36 PM EDT reply actions

I know it’s tough to predict but at least tack on five to seven more wins without all the injuries they have had.

by dave the rave on Jun 3, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Really?

An extra 5 to 7 wins this early in the season? I think that’s way too optimistic. We’ve lost lots of man games to injuries, but Reyes, Delgado, and to a very lesser extent Church are the only important players we’ve lost.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jun 4, 2009 12:45 AM EDT up reply actions

And Cora. Cora definitely was missed.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 4, 2009 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions

What is the point of this post?

I’m sorry, but what are you trying to say here? What discussion is this meant to contribute to, and how? I’m scratching my head trying to read anything non-obvious, any insight or idea or discussable opinion, out of this collection of unconnected sentences.

Yes, the Mets have had a lot of injuries and have performed surprisingly well considering how few competent backups they’ve been able to put on the field. Your point?

by anonymous on Jun 3, 2009 7:09 PM EDT reply actions

its stated

Despite all the injuries they have played well with a B lineup out there. Many of which might not even be on the roster if it wasn’t for the injuries. A blog doesn’t always need to start a debate. I simply wanted to voice my opinion on the matter because many feel this team they are putting out there won’t be able to continue to get the job done. I stated my points and backed them up.
I’m sorry but if you don’t like what I have to say, just don’t read. You don’t seem to ever write anything positive anyways.

by dave the rave on Jun 3, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions