Can't Watch: Brewers 10, Mets 6

by Eric Simon on Jun 30, 2009 12:38 AM EDT Comment 16 comments

Re-grission to the mean finally caught up and took a nasty swing -- along with basically everyone on the Brewers -- at Fernando Nieve tonight in Milwaukee. After allowing just eleven hits in his first 20.2 innings -- leading to three victories -- Nieve was lit up for another eleven hits, this time in just 3.1 innings. He only allowed three runs, though, so some imbecile might have you believe that he "gutted" his way through the jams, or that he "dug deep", "bore down" or "pitched to his defense". In reality, he "was just plain awful", he "sucked big time" and "embarrassed himself and his whole family". He had the good fortune of pitching in front of Daniel Murphy's glove and had the good sense to be relieved by Elmer Dessens, who was likewise grateful for Ryan Church's arm and Brewers' third base coach Brad Fischer, who sent Braden Looper scampering for home on an ill-advised sacrifice fly attempt with one out and Prince Fielder on deck.

Nieve's terrible performance was beside the point, because neither Brian Stokes, Pat Misch nor Bobby Parnell fared any better. ERA is a stupid, flawed stat, but how can you expect to win when the four relievers to use in a game have these ERAs:

4.50
4.15
5.87
5.22

And [cue Seinfeld impression] What's the deal with the Mets' lineup? Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one? Two of the Mets' three worst hitters were given more plate appearances than anyone else. Meanwhile, Luis Castillo and Brian Schneider were batting eighth and seventh, respectively. I realize everyone hates Castillo but the guy is getting on-base better than any starter not named Wright or Sheffield. If you want to bat him eighth when Jose Reyes is healthily batting leadoff, fine. But when you've got this skeleton crew out there every day how can you fill out a lineup card with Argenis Reyes's name at the top and Castillo's name at the bottom and not say to yourself, "Nah, dog, that's just retarded."

And what's with swapping out Castillo for Fernando Tatis when Dessens relieved Nieve? I get that you want a few innings from Dessens and the pitcher's spot is due up next, but Castillo is one of the more useful offensive players on this team right now. Why not sub Jeremy Reed in for Fernando Martinez? Sure, Reed is terrible, but so is Martinez right now, and certainly worse than Reed.

We've talked about this before and I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but when your team has this many deficiencies you really do have to squeeze as much juice as possible out of things like lineup construction and effective double-switching. Jerry Manuel failed on both counts tonight.

Swag Contest

Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Brew Crew Ball Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Brian Schneider, +14.0% WPA, Elmer Dessens, +9.0% WPA
Big losers: Brian Stokes, -22.8% WPA< Fernando Nieve, -18.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Schneider two-run double in sixth, +17.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: McGehee grand slam in sixth, -21.3% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -33.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: -16.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Casey McGehee

Game Thread Roll Call

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

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	MetsGeek	71
2	Jadden Hopkins	46
3	aparkermarshall	43
4	AnthonyR	40
5	wrightHOF	39
6	JoshNY	32
7	All Shook Down	29
8	EMSfan9	23
9	Michkin	23
10	JamesK	23

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Comments

I've been sick to my stomach today

so that picture is sort of an understatement of how I feel. Blah.
And I agree with all of this, though I’ll give him a pass with F!. I mean, I lobby in general for the young guys to continue to get playing time over retreads, and I definitely understand the rationale behind keeping F! in. Not that it was right, but again, it’s definitely forgivable.

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

by squid92 on Jun 30, 2009 12:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Better up and playing

than up and benched

"We have to find a way to play better, there's no doubt. Overall. I'm not pointing fingers at anybody. Offense, defense, pitching -- we have to find a way to play better. The reality of this is, coming here to Pittsburgh and being swept -- personally, I feel embarrassed." -- Carlos Beltran

by EMSfan9 on Jun 30, 2009 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the only solace i took from tonight's game:

1) Miller Park is awesome. What a great place to watch a game (we were in the right field bleachers). I highly recommend it if you get a chance. The fans were great.

2) Fried cheese curds and brats. Delicious and healthy Wisconsin treats!

3) Sheff hitting his homer into the middle of the fans that had been chanting “Gary, Gary, Gary. You suck!” all night. It was a small thing but pretty good to see.

Other than that, blart. But Ian B and I had fun.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jun 30, 2009 1:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

good to hear

Like any team, there are the knuckleheads. Glad none of them spoiled your experience. Were you wearing Mets stuff?

by ol Pete on Jun 30, 2009 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah we were

the only doucher we ran into was a yankee fan, but that’s a story that merits more attention than I can give typing on the mobile phone.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jun 30, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Castillo thing just bugs the shit out of me

As a manager you just can’t outsmart yourself when 3 of your 4 most productive hitters are out. I want to cut Jerry some slack, because honestly, wtf are you going to do? But to be retarded on top of being injured will make for a long July.

by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Jun 30, 2009 1:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What bugs me about Castillo is

He can just never drive in a run or get an extra base hit. Even on a hit, he can’t drive in guys from second because the outfield is shallow. Is there a way to measure how damaging that is? And it seems like he’s been up with guys on base a ton of times lately. And the only hits I remember him getting was a hit down third vs. the Yanks, and a lucky double vs. the Cards.

That said, it’s a huge indictment of the organization that Argenis Reyes is on this roster to play some shortstop. This is a guy who wasn’t even invited to Spring training. A guy who went 0 for 25 last year and continued to get playing time (because Castillo was also so bad). The verdict is out on him. Not having anyone better than this guy is just atrocious.

Why not bring up Havens at this point? Is it a 40-man roster protection thing? There’s no way Havens can be worse than Heinous. So he’s a little rushed, big deal. He went to college, it’s not like he just graduated high school last year. Kevin Elster came up when he was about 21-22.

by David G on Jun 30, 2009 11:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"[Castillo] can just never drive in a run or get an extra base hit."

And Argenis Reyes can? In any case, that’s not his JOB if he’s at the top of the lineup. If anything, it’s MORE important to have some power in your bat if you’re hitting eighth because just getting on base in front of the pitcher and Argenis Reyes is worthless.

by JoshNY on Jun 30, 2009 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

See, that's where you're wrong

I’m not saying Argenis can at all either, read what I wrote. But, if you’re a major league starter, it’s your JOB to drive in runs on occasion, no matter where you are in the lineup. There are a lot of leadoff hitters and #2 hitters that do drive in runs. You cannot say it’s not his job, that sounds very silly.

by David G on Jun 30, 2009 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's a fair point

that his total lack of power prevents him from being an above-average hitter. And the stats do support the idea that Castillo can’t drive runners in (see BP’s RBI% stat, for example) because of his inability to get even two bases on a hit. However he remains one of the only healthy players on the team with a consistently high OBP. His contributions are singles and walks and, as Josh suggested, those can be very valuable in front of the club’s better hitters. On the other hand, they’re pretty worthless in the 8th spot in the lineup and it’s asinine that he’s been placed at the bottom of the order so frequently. The fact that Daniel Murphy (.315 OBP this yr) and Argenis Reyes (career .242 OBP) have been given starts at the top of the order in the last week is equally ridiculous. Castillo should be the leadoff man for the foreseeable future.

by Zwill on Jun 30, 2009 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ok, fair enough

it’s every MLB hitter’s job to drive in runs on occasion. but again, Castillo is A) not any worse at that than Argenis Reyes, and B) more valuable at the top of the lineup than the bottom based on his skill set, and C) better than the other options we have at the moment

by JoshNY on Jun 30, 2009 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's not losing the games for us, but Jerry is certainly not helping matters.

I know he has no players, but the lineups are just horrific and indefensible. How do you have your two weakest hitters (sans F!) hitting at the top of an already inept lineup?

Castillo hitting 8th in deference to Argenis Reyes of all people is just ridiculous. Can the guy just hit 1st? I mean he has a .375 OBP, what the hell are you looking for? And I won’t even get in to lifting him…moronic.

Between the lineups, the incessant bunting, the bullpen management and the general lack of a rational thought, he’s really done more than enough to warrant his dismissal.

Just hit Castillo, Church, Wright and Sheffield in the top 4. It’s pretty easy…

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

by AnthonyR on Jun 30, 2009 1:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

and Schneider 5th

by whiskybravo on Jun 30, 2009 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That is said. But, you're right.

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

by squid92 on Jun 30, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

*sad

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

by squid92 on Jun 30, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm about ready to concede this season

I’m afraid the front office is going to make a NY Post-inspired trade that will be disastrous in the long run. I’d rather they just conceded that they can’t win with half the opening day roster gone, and need to start over in 2010. Get Reyes, Beltran, and everyone else healthy, fire Minaya, fire Manuel, and get some decent role players to take the place of the Reeds and Santoses of the world.

I know it’s wishful thinking, but it’s what I’d do if I were in charge.

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Jun 30, 2009 10:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs