Brown Replaces Ramon Martinez
Emil Brown was recalled from AAA Buffalo to replace Ramon Martinez on the active roster. Martinez was placed on the DL after dislocating his pinky sliding into home last night. Brown was acquired from the San Diego Padres on May 29 for a player to be named later.
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Tonight’s Lineup vs. Pittsburgh 6/3/2009
This is the latest lineup for tonight’s game. Original lineup had Jeremy Reed in centerfield replacing Carlos Beltran but apparently beltran is feeling well enough to play so the order has been changed to accommodate.
| # | Name | Position | ||||
| 3 | Alex Cora | SS | ||||
| 1 | Luis Castillo | 2B | ||||
| 15 | Carlos Beltran | CF | ||||
| 10 | Gary Sheffield | RF | ||||
| 5 | David Wright | 3B | ||||
| 28 | Daniel Murphy | 1B | ||||
| 26 | Fernando Martinez | LF | ||||
| 9 | Omir Santos | C | ||||
| 34 | Mike Pelfrey | P | ||||
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McCartney To Play CitiField
The first concert at CitiField will be given by one of the people who performed in one of the most significant concerts given at Shea Stadium. Paul McCartney, who played She with The Beatles in 1965, will be the opening show at CitiField on July 17 and 18. Cool.
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Like Watching A Train Wreck
I can’t turn my back on this team for even a minute these days. On Monday I turned off the game to do some work when the Mets led 5-0 only to return in the 8th inning to see the tail end of J.J. Putz‘s meltdown. Then last night I had something to do during the 5th inning and when I came back in the 6th they were losing 3-1. I have said before that if the offense is going to go dormant it’s best to do it on a night like last night when Johan Santana is on the mound. But scoring 1 run is just not going to do it.
To top it off the Mets suffered another injury last night when Ramon Martinez dislocated his pinky sliding into home. He’ll be put on the DL and Javier Valentin will be recalled to take his roster spot. Thankfully the Mets were able to activate Alex Cora before the game but that came at the expense of Angel Pagan, who was placed on the DL with a hamstring injury. Carlos Beltran and John Maine remain sidelined with a stomach virus.
This team is like watching a train wreck. You want to look away but you feel compelled to keep watching.
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Tonight’s Lineup vs. Pittsburgh 6/2/2009
| # | Name | Position | ||||
| 1 | Luis Castillo | 2B | ||||
| 26 | Fernando Martinez | LF | ||||
| 5 | David Wright | 3B | ||||
| 10 | Gary Sheffield | RF | ||||
| 17 | Fernando Tatis | 1B | ||||
| 9 | Omir Santos | C | ||||
| 6 | Ramon Martinez | SS | ||||
| 18 | Jeremy Reed | CF | ||||
| 57 | Johan Santana | P | ||||
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St. Claire Bitter About Firing
Chico Harlan of the The Washington Post is reporting in his blog, Nationals Journal, that the Washington nationals have fire pitching coach Randy St. Claire. Harlan quoted St. Claire’s reaction to the firing as follows as follows:
The pitching isn’t performing up to where it needs to be to win, and I think a lot of factors go into it, but I guess I’m easier to replace than 12 guys. Easier to replace and cheaper to replace. But that’s the game. When the team doesn’t perform, they’re bound to make changes.
That’s right, randy. They fired you because it’s easier to replace a pitching coach than it is to replace the pitchers. Let’s forget that your staff has the worst ERA in baseball at 5.69. Your staffs also finished 24th last year at 4.66 and 28th in 2006 at 5.03.
I know it’s not easy getting let go from a job you love. Especially when there are others who should go first. I mean, let’s be real, they didn’t give you much to work with. But don’t make yourself a victim or a scapegoat. Your staffs have underperformed. I’m sorry to say but it’s the move that makes the most sense for the team.
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Stop Putz-ing Around
What a lousy way to lose a game and waste a good (but not great) start by Livan Hernandez. Hernandez followed up his complete game against Washington last week by holding the Pirates to 3 runs in 5.2 innings last night. It was not his best start of the year but it was enough to keep the team in the game (which is as much as you ask out of the guy at the bottom of your rotation).
J.J. Putz, however, could not keep the team in the game. The guy who was acquired to own the 8th inning actually gave it and the game away. This is the latest in a series of bad outings for Putz and the trend does not bode well. In his first 7 appearances (through April 18) Putz allowed 3 hits and 0 earned runs through 7 innings. It would have been foolish to think he could keep that kind of streak alive through the whole season but the fall since then has been tremendous. Through his last 20 appearances he’s allowed 23 hits and 14 earned runs in 21.1 innings for a 5.91 ERA.
He wasn’t helped last night by Gary Sheffield who made a lazy play in right field. But the play would not have changed the outcome since, even though it turned a single into a double, a subsequent hit would push the runner forward anyway.
The bottom line is something must be done about Putz. There was some talk that he was tipping his pitches so he came out for some early bullpen work yesterday so he could make some changes designed to hide his pitches better. It obviously didn’t help last night.
We know Putz is tough and will play through injuries. But if he is hurt the injury must be identified and dealt with before he blows any other games.
If he is not hurt then whatever mechanical issues he may be experiencing must be dealt with. Whether that means saving him for mop up duty (low pressure situations where he can try to work things out in games) or going to the minors the Mets owe it to themselves to move him out of the 8th inning role temporarily until he can work things out.
A couple of weeks ago Putz supposedly said that he was having trouble getting pumped up for the 8th inning. If this is the case then he needs to be traded before his market value drops any lower. Coming in with the game on the line in the 8th inning is no different than coming in for the 9th except that you don’t get credit for a save. This tells me that Putz may not care so much for his current job since he won’t be getting the coveted save very often hence putting his own numbers ahead of the team. I hope I’m wrong about that.
Another thing that annoys me about the alleged inability to get the adrenaline rush for the 8th inning is that this guy is supposed to be a professional ball player. As a professional you have to be up for every outing. It doesn’t matter if he’s called on in the 9th, 8th or even the 3rd. It’s his job to come in a get guys out and he’s got to get himself psyched for it regardless of the inning.
And one more thing. If anybody has any doubt as to what all the talk is about with Putz’s current situation, if there are any people out there who don’t think there is a problem with him, then just look at the intentional walk he issued to Nyjer Morgan last night. He almost threw two wild pitches while issuing the intentional pass. He just couldn’t hit Brian Schneider‘s target. This is definitely a problem and whether it’s medical or mechanical it needs to be addressed.
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KRod Celebrates A Save
Watch as Francisco Rodriguez celebrates today’s save. Note the bow he exchanges with pitching coach Dan Warthen at the 25 second mark.
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Goodbye Castro
The Mets pulled a minor trade on Friday night to accommodate Brian Schneider‘s return from the DL. They traded Ramon Castro to the Chicago White Sox for RHP Lance Broadway. The move means the catching tandem for the time being is Schneider and rookie Omir Santos.
In a recent MostlyMets poll 50% of respondents voted to get rid of Schneider and keep Castro and Santos. The Mets obviously thought otherwise. My opinion was different than the 50% and the Mets.
I would have liked to have kept Schneider and Castro for now and sent Santos back to the minors. I like Santos as much as most other Mets fans but would like to have sent him back down so he could play every day and continue to learn. He could have been brought up again in case of injury or as part of the late season roster expansion. Then the Mets could have chosen between Schneider and Castro to clear a spot for him on next year’s team.
I suppose this solution is just as well. They still have Robinson Cancel at Buffalo in case of emergency.
The real key is going to be Broadway. Will he be able to help Buffalo? Will he be of any help to the Mets down the stretch run?
I guess it doesn’t really matter. This is a trade of a backup for some small time bullpen help that enables the team to give a younger and, perhaps, more exciting player a chance to play at the major league level. And that’s about it.
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Rizzo Pulls a Manuel
Washington Nationals acting general manager Mike Rizzo did his best Jerry Manuel impression when he was asked why he designated starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera for assignment yesterday. Rizzo said:
“You have to put your best 25 players on the roster that are giving you a chance to win. I look beyond the contract and look at the execution and performance of the player, and it wasn’t up to par. I was tired of watching him.”
“I was tired of watching him.”?
It’s reminiscent of the remark Manuel made about Ryan Church after Church missed third base in a game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles last Tuesday. Manuel said:
“A guy missed third base. That’s unbelievable. I can’t explain why, or how, or anything.
“A guy missed third base.” He couldn’t even say Church’s name!
I think both of these “managers” need a lesson in managing people.
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