Notorious F.I.G.: Mets 9, Cardinals 0

by Eric Simon on Aug 5, 2009 5:16 PM EDT

Jon Niese started this afternoon's game and, after being staked to an early lead on a David Wright two-run homer in the bottom of the first, left after straining his right hamstring chasing a grounder in the second inning. He was replaced by Nelson Figueroa, who just two days ago turned in one of the worst pitching performances in recent memory, allowing six runs on ten hits in just 1.2 innings. Suffice it to say that things were looking bad early today. Figueroa's first batter was opposing pitcher Kyle Lohse, who was disposed of with little trouble. Figueroa came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning with two runners on and rocked a triple to center, scoring Brian Schneider and Angel Berroa to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

Figueroa allowed just four hits and struck out five in 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, which is good for the Mets because he might be seeing a bit more action if Niese is going to miss any considerable amount of time. Bobby Parnell replaced Figueroa and tossed three scoreless innings for the "save", allowing just one hit and striking out three.

Wright's homerun was his eighth of the season, which might be more like 14 or 16 were Citi Field's dimensions a tad more forgiving. He went 3-for-4 on the day with a walk and has his on-base percentage up to .420 and his slugging up to .477. Angel Pagan picked up three more hits, including his seventh triple of the season. In the biggest news of the day, Jeff Francoeur went 2-for-3 and drew his first unintentional walk as a Met, which means the counter starts over at 0.

The Mets head for PETCO Park to begin a four-game series with the Padres tomorrow night.

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
* Viva El Birdos Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: David Wright, +17.4% WPA, Nelson Figueroa, +15.1% WPA
Big losers: Alex Cora, -4.3% WPA, Angel Berroa, -3.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Wright two-run homerun in first, +16.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Lugo double in fifth, -4.5% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +21.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: +29.0% WPA
GWRBI!: David Wright

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by blueandorange4life; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	blueandorange4life	80
2	Jadden Hopkins	54
3	Abstract NYC	40
4	fxcarden	37
5	Michkin	36
6	Pat Andriola	33
7	Prince	32
8	itsmetsforme	25
9	Steeeve	23
10	twon8	15

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Comments

I bet the offense will be excited to go to a nice hitter friendly environment like Petco

"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 Aug 5, 2009 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

GAH

I knew Figueroa’s name looked wrong on the box score, but I couldn’t figure out why. ANOTHER injury. Great.

by JoshNY on Aug 5, 2009 5:22 PM EDT reply actions

I have a hypothesis

Jimmy Hoffa is buried under CitiField

President of the Ramses Barden Fan Club

Fact on Villanova Sports

by Hoyadestroya85 on Aug 5, 2009 5:31 PM EDT reply actions

Jeff Wilpon's stadium design team

"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 Aug 5, 2009 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

"I reject your reality and substitute my own"
-Adam Savage

by blueandorange4life on Aug 5, 2009 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions

I find your hypothesis intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

by RetireNumber17 on Aug 5, 2009 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions

nice to know

i might blow my brains out before i have an opportunity to publish it

President of the Ramses Barden Fan Club

Fact on Villanova Sports

by Hoyadestroya85 on Aug 5, 2009 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Ed Price from AOL Fanhouse on Reyes:

MRI shows signif scar tissue and inflammation behind R knee. Now phys therapy to break up scar tissue and reduce inflam.

Give me a freakin’ break already.

by Pat Andriola on Aug 5, 2009 6:54 PM EDT reply actions

they are just getting around to physical therapy now?

what the hell has he been doing for the past forever and a day?

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Aug 6, 2009 3:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Pagan .295 .340 .462 with .351 wOBA

He has around 150 PA, so taking this as a guideline:

50 PA: Swing % = 38.7 % (less than the 45.1 % average)
100 PA: Contact Rate = 80.0 % (more than the 62.3 % average).
150 PA:
Strikeout Rate = 15.9 % (around the same as Shef or Omir)
Pitches/PA = 3.8
Line Drive Rate = 17.1 % (BABIP = .345)

His BABIP is concerning (compared to his LD%).
He’ll regress sooner or later. His ZiPS (update) is .286 .332 .433 with .336 wOBA.

by Michkin on Aug 5, 2009 6:57 PM EDT reply actions

he's a good fourth outfielder

but he’s not a starter
same as Endy Chavez

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on Aug 5, 2009 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

"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 Aug 5, 2009 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions

yup

if he gave you 200 – 250 PAs at .286/.332/.433 .336 wOBA – as 4th OF, wouldn’t be too bad.

by mets81 on Aug 5, 2009 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions

but lets face it

if he is the starting LF next year, Omar should be fired. If he hasn’t already

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on Aug 5, 2009 7:08 PM EDT up reply actions

yes, absolutely

F! should be starting over him.

by mets81 on Aug 5, 2009 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Well Holliday/Crawford should be starting in LF

with F! in AAA. When he tears up triple A for a few months, then he can replace Francoeur in right.

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Aug 5, 2009 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions

That would be the ideal situation

As I’ve mentioned before, I think Francoeur as a pinch hitter could have value. Francoeur as a regular has none.

"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 Aug 5, 2009 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions

of course

I meant when Omar fails to address this in the offseason.

by mets81 on Aug 5, 2009 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions

If they sign a LF, but don't sign another RF

Starting Frenchy in RF over Pagan solely on his arm?

ZiPS (update)
Frenchy .256 .291 .379
Pagan .286 .332 .433

Pagan UZR/150 in CF is 7.0 and 39.5 in RF. Frenchy is 0.6 in RF. (all samples for def are too small, but that gives an idea)

by Michkin on Aug 5, 2009 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions

To clarify, who is playing RF until F! is healthy/ready to play everyday?

All this under the assumption that Voltron will be healthy to play.

by Michkin on Aug 5, 2009 9:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd DFA Francoeur, but you know Omar is planning on him starting.

Any stat you could use to prove your point is irrelevant, as you’d likely use modern statistics. Omar can’t even spell sabermetrics, much less use them to evaluate performance. Any realistic proposal about next year’s lineup has to take into account Omar’s failed logic, and the best case scenarios to come from that logic.

"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 Aug 5, 2009 9:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Meant to Non-tender, not DFA

"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 Aug 5, 2009 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not trying to predict what Omar/Jerry will do, but what would make sense (if it were another GM)

If you are going to start with “any stat you could use to prove your point is irrelevant, since it is Omar”, then there is no way to evaluate how they are doing their jobs.

It’s like saying, since they don’t use “stats”, the fans shouldn’t either. Or to prove a point, you can’t use stats, only Omar failed logic.

by Michkin on Aug 5, 2009 10:12 PM EDT up reply actions