What Was Willie Thinking?
Click here for a recap of yesterday’s game 1.
Click here for a recap of yesterday’s game 2.
I didn’t get to see much of either of the games yesterday but what I did see disgusted me. Needless to say that the little I saw was in the 6-3 opening loss and not the 12-1 nightcap. There was one spot in the 8th inning that just left me scratching my head. The Mets had finally gotten to Giants starter Brett Tomko and had the bases loaded with 2 outs. Giants manager Felipe Alou called for lefty reliever Scott Eyre. With the batter coming to the plate potentially being able to bring the Mets within one run of their opponents Willie Randolph called on Kazuo Matsui to pinch hit.
This move mystified me. It was by the book based on Matsui, a switch hitter, being one of two players left on the bench able to bat righty against the lefty reliever (the other being Ramon Castro). However, sometimes the lefty/righty matchup isn’t the most imprtant part when selecting a pinch hitter. Take, for example, the third available hitter on the Mets bench, Cliff Floyd. Though Floyd bats lefty (conventional wisdom says this is a liability when batting against a left pitcher) and Matsui bats 24 points higher against lefties than Floyd (.294 – .270) you need to go with your strongest hitter in this situation. That hitter is obviously Floyd. Think of it this way: Given that thes etwo players were already in the game, if either of them were to have their spot in the order come up in this situation which one would be more likely to stay in the game? Floyd. Which one would be more likely to be lifter for a pinch hitter? Matsui. Randolph sent a hitter to the plate that he would ordinariliy not send to the plate in the same situation. More succinctly put, Randolph gave up on the game.
This also brings up something that has been bothering me all season long but haven’t had a chance to write about. Why are the Mets carrying so many pitchers? If I’m counting correctly there are 12 picthers on the roster. There’s a 5 man starting rotation and 7 men in the bullpen. Why so many? Granted, the bullpen is the biggest weakness on this team but putting more men there doesn’t make them any better. The bullpen should consist of only 5 pitchers, maybe 6. Definitely not 7. Take one or two arms out of the pen and you have another couple of hitters on the bench and a better selection of pinch hitters to bat with the bases loaded in the 8th inning with a chance to get back in the game.
But that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.
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Koo Goes On The DL
Dae-Sung Koo has been placed on the DL with a contusion on his left rotator cuff. The injury occurred when he jammed his pitching shoulder sliding headfirst into homeplate against the Yankees May 21. Despite a report in yesterday’s Daily News Steve Colyer was not recalled to replace Koo on the major league roster. Royce Ring, who the Daily News reported would get snubbed in favor of Colyer, got the call.
Other new on the injury front: Ramon Castro was activated off the DL and Mike DiFelice was designated for assignment.
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Pedro & Carlos Sitting in a Tree
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
Pedro Martinez mowed them down (8 IP, 9 K) and Carlos Beltran knocked them out (HR) to lead the Mets to victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. Not much else to say about last night’s game.
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Steve Colyer Shea Bound?
According to a story in today’s Daily News Steve Colyer could be the next lefty called up to take a spot in the Mets bullpen and not Royce Ring. Colyer was acquired from the Detroit Tigers in the Matt Ginter trade on April 2.
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Quote of the Day
He creates a lot of havoc. The more we can distract the pitcher, the better it is for us as hitters.
– Mets left fielder Cliff Floyd on teammate Jose Reyes after the Mets shorstop stole 3 bases against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night.
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Victor-y Is Mine!
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
VÃctor Zambrano had another good outing last night. I think he may finally be coming into his own. Of course now that I wrote that he’s going to stink in his next start. Braden Looper, however, doesn’t need me to jinx him in order to stink up the joint. He does that already. In one inning last night he gave up 3 hits. He managed to get the save but it was scary. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Looper is not the closer for a championship team. Not that the Mets are a championship team but they will never get to that level with Looper as the closer. Something must be done but I have a feeling it won’t be done during this season. If Omar Minaya is going to make a move with Looper it probably won’t be until the off-season.
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No Post Day
Sorry for no post today. Very busy at work. I hope to have a post tomorrow.
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Meet The Mets Song?
Does anyone know where I can download the original (or 80’s version) of the Mets old theme song? If so then please let me know.
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MLB Takes a Holiday
Sorry for the absentee long weekend. I figured if MLB can schedule days off on Memorial Day then why can’t I? But seriously, how can they schedule only 6 games on Memorial Day? What ever happened to the days of holiday doubleheaders? I can understand if they don’t play two but at least play 1! I realize it’s got to do with collective bargaining and giving the players extra days off when they can but still. You can call me a purist but Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day are about BBQ and watching baseball. I guess I’ll have to find something else to take the place of baseball.
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Mets’ Reyes on Record Triples Tear
The AP is running a story on Jose Reyes and his recent collection of triples. Here’s a link to the story via Yahoo Sports.
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