The French Connection: Mets 4, Reds 0

by Eric Simon on Jul 11, 2009 11:12 PM EDT

The Jeff Francoeur Era at Citi Field began tonight with a bloop opposite-field single to right that drove in the first two runs of the game and ended with a 4-0 Mets victory. Francoeur added an infield single in the seventh before being erased on an awkward caught-stealing. All told he saw 17 pitches in four plate appearances and handled two flyballs without incident. An auspicious beginning for Frenchy, who was personable enough in pregame interviews and seems happy to be out of Atlanta.

Johan Santana was very good tonight, striking out five over seven innings while walking just one and allowing five hits. His fastball averaged 90.4 MPH and topped out at 92.9 MPH. His average fastball speed this season has been 90.8, down from 91.0 last year and 91.8 in 2006. For this game, his pitches were about a half-tick slower than they were in his last outing against the Phillies, but his max speed was a little faster this time around and he did have a bit more velocity on his fastball early on than he did at the start of the Philly game. Here are the velocity trend graphs from those two outings:

7/5/2009 vs Phillies

7/11/09 vs Reds

The top part of the graph represnts Santana's fastballs, and left-to-right is the progression of the game. In the Philly game his fastball velocity was pretty consistent through his seven innings. In tonight's game his fastball was up early on and then tailed off as the game wore on. Look at the left-most group of pitches in tonight's chart; it's a couple of notches higher overall than the rest of the game. Maybe he was just excited to pitch in front of Francoeur.

The Mets' lineup tonight was ridiculously top-heavy. The top four lineup spots' on-base percentages:

.404
.379
.410
.385

And the bottom four:

.284
.312
.301
.330

It could be a long second half, but it's a win for tonight and just one more game until the All-Star break.

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
* Red Reporter Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Johan Santana, +26.7% WPA< Jeff Francoeur, +8.9% WPA
Big losers: Gary Sheffield, -7.0% WPA, Alex Cora, -6.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francoeur two-run single in first, +11.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Sheffield popout with bases loaded in first, -6.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +30.8% WPA
Total batter WPA: +19.2% WPA
GWRBI!: Jeff Francoeur

Game Thread Roll Call

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

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	Michkin	42
2	itsmetsforme	22
3	Jadden Hopkins	21
4	The Glider	20
5	aparkermarshall	20
6	wrightHOF	20
7	Schmidtxc	18
8	Prince	17
9	Rigsay	15
10	firejerrynow	14

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Comments

at least I can root for Francoeur

Hey, what do we have to lose at this point? If the guy has a flukey hot streak in him, at least it won’t be like the Omir Santos situation where a superior player gets dumped because of said streak. The superior player already was dumped!

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 Jul 11, 2009 11:19 PM EDT reply actions

We gotta root for him to succeed.

He’s a Met now, for better or for worse.

"I got my pregnant wife (the Yankee fan) with me. Hoping my kid learns to kick her everytime the Mets score." -Schifftis-

by future on Jul 11, 2009 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions

I had this exact conversation tonight

RE: Santos. I rooted against him up until the point of the Castro trade. Since then, what choice do I have?

I hope Francoeur mashes the ball and throws out fifty runners at home. I’m not terribly sanguine about the chances, but I will be pulling for him nonetheless.

by Eric Simon on Jul 11, 2009 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

I want Francouer to turn into “the Natural.” It was still a stupid trade, even if it works out, but I’m rooting for the guy now.

by cjmulrain on Jul 12, 2009 1:13 AM EDT up reply actions

I'll be happy enough with the trade

if Francoeur just shows some discipline at the plate. It’s too late to take it back, so I hope for the best at this point. AB’s like tonight would be fine. He’s a much better natural athlete than Church, but he has always seemed to be way to stubborn to learn the mental side of hitting. Even if he improves his approach and there are no other results to show for it, at least it will be a slap in the face(albeit small) of Bobby Cox.

"If I ever decide to do a book, I've already got the title...The bases were loaded and so was I."

-Jim Fregosi

by Stephen Schmidt on Jul 11, 2009 11:27 PM EDT reply actions

He can learn to change though

Glavine was so stubborn in changing the way he pitched as he begun to tail off as a Met. But he did, and he became so much more effective as a result. With Francoeur, there has to be a point where he realizes that his approach just isn’t working. And yeah, maybe he’ll mash the ball, at the very least he appears to have more power than this year’s version of Church.

Trying to believe is my full-time occupation.

by Preach19 on Jul 11, 2009 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions

He was a local hero in Atlanta,

and the team wasn’t filled with established veteran hitters. He was one of the faces of the franchise in his first full season in the bigs. I hope being put in a clubhouse where he’s just another guy, and certainly not one of the best hitters helps him to realize he needs to adjust his approach.

"If I ever decide to do a book, I've already got the title...The bases were loaded and so was I."

-Jim Fregosi

by Stephen Schmidt on Jul 11, 2009 11:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Braves fan here. I agree with you. If FYF happens to turn it around in NY, it’s not because the Braves didn’t give him enough time to get his stuff together. The move to the Mets will be a huge mental jump for Francoeur and can lead to changes in his mental approach to the game.

Braves fans were like most of you guys, we saw how terrible he was but knew we had to root for him anyway. We still want him to do his best, but the hard part of a trade within the division is that you can’t root for him too much. Good luck with Frenchy, but I still hope we cream you this weekend.

by Gage23 on Jul 12, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions

And people say he sucks.

So far, he’s defensed a shut out and driven in the GWRBI! If no team scores on us the rest of the year, I will gladly let Jeff Francoeur’s Southern Style Rocket Launcher™ take credit for it.

by DonGately on Jul 12, 2009 12:17 AM EDT reply actions

I still say he sucks.

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

by squid92 on Jul 12, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Most Positive convo ive seen on here in a long time

by wrightnumber5 on Jul 12, 2009 12:18 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Castro is hitting .115 for the Chisox.

Get over it.

The 2009 Mets: Rollins hits a la-a-a-azy fly ball to left field. Murphy ready to put this one in the books as he ma-...HE DROPS THE BALL!! Ruiz rounds second, Murphy throws in to the backup shortstop Cora WHO LETS IT GET BY HIM. To third goes Ruiz! Reed, who took Tatis' spot for defensive reasons fires to thi-...THERE'S NOBODY THERE! Putz is running over to the ball. Picks it up and whirls to home, THROWS IT AWAY! PHLLIES WIN! Putz appears hurt and we're getting word Reyes was involved in another car accident.

by ZaBlanc on Jul 12, 2009 12:19 AM EDT reply actions

What's Lance Broadway been up to?

by Eric Simon on Jul 12, 2009 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions

in a super-meaningful 26 ABs

by jasondg on Jul 12, 2009 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Good lord, man

Did Ramon Castro run over your dog, too? Geez.

Anyway, I’m happy to see Frenchy contribute today and happy to see a win. I’ll keep hoping for an OBP of around .330 or more for the next few months but I won’t hold my breath.

Acutally, I will hold my breath until I get out of Los Angeles. After spending the last 10 days in the High Plains, Rockies and in the Northwest, it’s been a tough adjustment to all the smog here. Nasty stuff.

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

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jul 12, 2009 1:10 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions