I got home from work last night around 6:30 and, after going for a walk with my girlfriend and our dog, sat down to watch this week's episode of Six Feet Under (aside: It's a really great show, in case you've never happened to catch it. We started watching it during the first season, as HBO showed it right after The Sopranos, back when that particular show wasn't so old and tired. It's actually a better show overall than the Sopranos, in my opinion).
Satan must be a Mets fan too, as the Mets game was delayed exactly to the point that Six Feet Under finished. Satan also has a vendetta against me, as he made me sit through another Kaz Ishii batting practice session. As I was witness to Ishii crippling any chance the Mets might have to bring home a victory last night, I found myself hoping to see more and more runs scored against him. This way, I figured, the Mets would realize, as I have, that Ishii has no business in any starting rotation, and would cut their losses and release him. At the very least Ishii himself could do us all a favor and just commit harikari already. I would say that the Mets got hosed on the trade that brought him here, but Jason Phillips currently has the lowest OPS among starting catchers in the National League. I guess we're all losers in that one.
Meanwhile, as Ishii increasingly drives me to invent curse words my TV has never heard, Jae Seo is quietly laying waste to AAA batters. Here is Seo's pitching line this year at Norfolk:
IP H SO BB HR ERA
90.1 85 90 23 6 2.99
He has put up great strikeout numbers, he is keeping the walks down, and the homeruns are very low, as well. Here's a look behind door number two:
IP H SO BB HR ERA
63.1 58 37 32 10 5.68
That's Ishii's line with the Mets this season. His fastball tops out around 86 MPH, which is slower than Tom Glavine, and Ishii doesn't have a pitch that compares to Glavine's changeup. The Mets need to cut their losses with Ishii. They were smart enough to dump Mike DeJean on the scrap heap where he clearly deserved to be, and they need to do the same thing with Ishii. Jae Seo should be called up immediately to take Ishii's spot in the rotation. He will represent an immediate improvement in performance, and will serve to increase his trade value should the Mets choose to be buyers at the end of July.I can't bear to watch Ishii throw another pitch for this team.
Amazin' Avenue Daily Web Links
- MetsGeek.com: All-Stars in Queens (Michael Oliver)
- MetsGeek.com: Minor Talk (OFF)
- FlushingsFuture.com: Minor League Notebook: June 30, 2005
- The Hardball Times: Ten Things About One Run Games (Dave Studeman)
- Mets.com: GM dismissed Cameron rumors