I know I'm late to the party on this one, but as they say, better late than never, right? I'd like to give a brief treatment to the potential realignment plan that was first reported by Buster Olney and debated as of late. I know that many others have written longer, and better, about this idea, but I'd like to give it the once-over myself.
The idea, for anyone who doesn't know, would be to have 15 teams in the American and National Leagues, to eliminate divisions, and to simply have the teams with the five best records make the playoffs. I for one think this would be a huge mistake.
First, it is important to note that aside from Buster Olney, several very well-respected baseball writers have come out in favor of the realignmnent plan. Dave Cameron and Jeff Passan, in particular, do excellent and thoughtful work, and are both strongly in favor of the plan. This means that, despite being originally brought to light by Olney, that this idea must have some credence.
Cameron, in particular, feels that the proposed plan makes for a fairer sport. He points out the disparity between the four-team AL West and the six-team NL Central, and also the fundamental disadvantage that the rest of the AL East has when faced with the Yankee and Red Sox behemoths. Essentially, Cameron concludes that "While I’ve been trained to believe that nearly every “improvement” MLB suggests is probably a bad idea, this actually seems like a pretty fantastic idea to me, in large part due to my desire to see increased fairness in the sport."
Fairness. Fairness? For those in favor of realignment, fairness really does seem to be the main sticking point. And who could disagree? I think we all should hope for a system where the best teams make the playoffs, where all fan bases can have the opportunity to root for a winner, and no team need be structurally disadvantaged. However, I don't think that this drastic realignment plan truly addresses these issues -- and if it did, the downsides far outweigh the advantages.
For the sake of brevity, I'll present the following reasons in list format:
1. If you're concerned about the AL West and NL Central being imbalanced -- which I have been for a decade -- why not just move a team?
Let the Astros, or whomever, go to the AL West. Then, you've got equal divisions everywhere. Will there be the "constant interleague" problem? Sure. But it's no more or less than with the other plan.
2. Getting rid of division races would be terrible for the regular season, and for the sport in general.
Watching division races down the stretch is the best thing about baseball. Would you rather watch the Mets and Phillies battle head to head down the stretch, or watch the Marlins and Padres jockey for the fifth and final playoff spot?
I think we've all seen what it's like when a sport has most of its field battling it out in a vague homogeneous mix. In hockey, the regular season is practically irrelevant. It's the same in basketball. In those sports, all the top teams get to coast to the finish while a few battle it out for the last few playoff spots.
Take, for instance, the National League in 2007. Down the stretch, we were treated to an incredible division race in the NL East ... I need not remind any of you what happened, but it was incredibly exciting and memorable for all of baseball. In the proposed realignment plan, that never happens. The Mets make the playoffs without any dramatics at all.
3. This doesn't solve the problem of competitive imbalance.
What baseball should be striving for is a good competitive balance, and an environment where every team can truly compete. They shouldn't be realigning the sport in order to provide a wimpy excuse where they can say "Hey, there were five playoff spots and you didn't make it! You have nobody to blame but yourself."
Would realignment in any season have helped the Pirates or Royals make the playoffs? Are we really so hung up on the Rays and Red Sox that the entire sport has to have a detrimental make-over? We've already got a wild card -- if the advantage that the Yankees and Red Sox have is, in fact, so steep to the point when it ruins the game, why not address it substantively rather than passive-aggressively?
This realignment plan sounds to me like MLB is conceding that the Yankees and Red Sox will make the playoffs every year, and they need to figure out a way to make it seem fair for the other teams to fight for the scraps. That, to me, is the real problem.
4. What is truly fair? And should the "best teams" making the playoffs even be a concern? And even if the teams with the five best balanced records made the playoffs, would that make them the best?
Ultimately, we all agree that there should be fairness in the sport. But I believe that should be as a result of policy and rule changes to the competition side, not the playoff method.
Was it fair for the Mets to miss the playoffs in 2007 while the Cubs made it with an inferior record? I think that it was. Chicago won it's division, and the Mets did not, even when they had the chance to. Was it fair for the Cardinals to make the playoffs in 2006 with 83 wins, while Philadelphia (85) and Los Angeles (88) went home? I submit to you that it was. We all know what the Cardinals went on to do that season in winning the World Series -- doesn't that make them the best?
Baseball is a game. It's not a scientific study to determine which team is "best" in a given year. I imagine that if there even were a way to determine the "best" team, that they probably don't win the World Series more than a third of the time.
I agree that there are issues in our sport that need addressing. However, radically reshaping the sport and creating a host of other issues (interleague, travel, DH, 15th place teams) is not the way I believe we should be addressing them.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Food for Thought
As Mark Simon of ESPN New York pointed out yesterday:
Obviously, I'm a fan of Gee. Around this time last year, I featured Gee in my "Don't Forget About" series on underrated players.
Now, here is your food for thought.
Regardless of what you think Gee's ceiling is -- is he better than Mike Pelfrey is right now? If you had a one game playoff to determine the winner of the NL East or Wildcard, who would you rather have starting for you: Mike Pelfrey, or Dillon Gee?
With Gee on the cusp of being bumped for the rotation for Chris Young, I can't escape the thought that if one of the Mets starters needs to get skipped, it should be Pelfrey. I'm a huge fan of Niese and Dickey, and Young and Capuano have both pitched well enough to deserve additional starts.
Just a thought.
In those seven starts, Gee has a 2.22 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He’s allowed three home runs in 44 2/3 innings. The one thing that would classify as shaky is his strikeout-to-walk rate -- 26 to 18. But in two starts this season, he’s walked only three in 11 2/3 innings.
In his seven starts, Gee’s xFIP is 3.99. His Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) is .234, abnormal for a pitcher, but partly explainable by Gee’s ability to avoid batters hitting line drives against him. (His rate is 10 to 12 percent, depending on which source you use, which would rank very high if maintained for a full season.) That figures to increase as big league hitters figure him out.
Obviously, I'm a fan of Gee. Around this time last year, I featured Gee in my "Don't Forget About" series on underrated players.
Gee might never have the ceiling of an ace or #2 starter, but if he keeps pitching like this, he is going to get himself on the radar really fast. According to Toby Hyde, Gee "tops out around 91 with strong control and mixes in his breaking ball for strikes."
With the great performance yesterday indicating that his injury woes are behind him, Gee has a tremendous opportunity to continue developing. If you can throw 91 and strike out two or three times as many guys as you walk, you can have a great career in the major leagues.
Now, here is your food for thought.
Regardless of what you think Gee's ceiling is -- is he better than Mike Pelfrey is right now? If you had a one game playoff to determine the winner of the NL East or Wildcard, who would you rather have starting for you: Mike Pelfrey, or Dillon Gee?
With Gee on the cusp of being bumped for the rotation for Chris Young, I can't escape the thought that if one of the Mets starters needs to get skipped, it should be Pelfrey. I'm a huge fan of Niese and Dickey, and Young and Capuano have both pitched well enough to deserve additional starts.
Just a thought.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
It Wasn't Pretty But More Importantly The Mets WON!
Game 2: Mets 8 Nats 4
Capuano's Metsies debut vs Gorzelanny
First night game at Citi field aka the battle of the Hairston bros at Citi Field! Both brothers shamed their family name because they just can't hit but Scott's team is victorious! Btw any "Mad Men" fans out there, does Terry Collins at all remind you of Roger Sterling?!
Ok enough of my celebrity doppelganger theories, let's get to the recap!
Bottom of the 1st, Reyes singled to lead off this ballgame (and now he has a 6 game hitting streak)! Pagan then popped up. Wright was then up with 1 out and Reyes stole 2nd! But ugh David Wright struck out and it was up to Beltran to bring Jose home with 2 outs and he homered! This was the first Citi Field homer this season and the Mets took a 2-0 lead over the Nats. But sadly Scott Hairston took the early I will shame my baseball family name lead by flying out to Jerry! Ugh why couldn't he at least fly out to an outfielder who doesn't share his surname!
3 run homer by Espinosa in top of 2nd, 3-2 boo, the Nats take the lead.
Bottom of the 4th Wright struck out and seriously that was his 10th K in 30 at bats, wtf. I thought this was a different David!? But hooray for Beltran who homered again and the game was tied at 3-3 and who doesn't love the Bel-ly 2 homer games! 28th career multiple homer game for Carlos, wahooo!
But ugh how soon the lead again disappeared in the top of the 5th! 4-3 after Desmond's lead off solo home. But then Capuano struck out Werth! 7th K of the game for Chris! Then Zimmerman singled to give the Nats their 6th hit of the game, boo. But phew, Morse then flew out and there were two outs, Zimm was on 1st for Wilson Ramos who doubled and thanks to a great play by Pagan in the outfield Zimm had to stay at 3rd and then Ankiel grounded out and the inning was over. Further danger averted!
Capuano's Metsies debut vs Gorzelanny
First night game at Citi field aka the battle of the Hairston bros at Citi Field! Both brothers shamed their family name because they just can't hit but Scott's team is victorious! Btw any "Mad Men" fans out there, does Terry Collins at all remind you of Roger Sterling?!
Ok enough of my celebrity doppelganger theories, let's get to the recap!
Bottom of the 1st, Reyes singled to lead off this ballgame (and now he has a 6 game hitting streak)! Pagan then popped up. Wright was then up with 1 out and Reyes stole 2nd! But ugh David Wright struck out and it was up to Beltran to bring Jose home with 2 outs and he homered! This was the first Citi Field homer this season and the Mets took a 2-0 lead over the Nats. But sadly Scott Hairston took the early I will shame my baseball family name lead by flying out to Jerry! Ugh why couldn't he at least fly out to an outfielder who doesn't share his surname!
3 run homer by Espinosa in top of 2nd, 3-2 boo, the Nats take the lead.
Bottom of the 4th Wright struck out and seriously that was his 10th K in 30 at bats, wtf. I thought this was a different David!? But hooray for Beltran who homered again and the game was tied at 3-3 and who doesn't love the Bel-ly 2 homer games! 28th career multiple homer game for Carlos, wahooo!
But ugh how soon the lead again disappeared in the top of the 5th! 4-3 after Desmond's lead off solo home. But then Capuano struck out Werth! 7th K of the game for Chris! Then Zimmerman singled to give the Nats their 6th hit of the game, boo. But phew, Morse then flew out and there were two outs, Zimm was on 1st for Wilson Ramos who doubled and thanks to a great play by Pagan in the outfield Zimm had to stay at 3rd and then Ankiel grounded out and the inning was over. Further danger averted!
Friday, April 08, 2011
Fernando Martinez will be starting for the Mets in June
You heard it here first.
And not because we're desperate. But because we won't be able to deny him.
4-for-5 with a double tonight against Syracuse. He hit .364 with more walks than strikeouts in limited time this spring. Sure, it's a gut call, but it's one I'm comfortable making.
He's 22 this year. I think this is his year.
And not because we're desperate. But because we won't be able to deny him.
4-for-5 with a double tonight against Syracuse. He hit .364 with more walks than strikeouts in limited time this spring. Sure, it's a gut call, but it's one I'm comfortable making.
He's 22 this year. I think this is his year.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
So far so good...
Game 3: Mets 9 Marlins 2
Dickey vs Vazquez
I'm not gonna give a recap of this game but let's instead take a look at what we've learned about Terry Collins' 2011 Mets before they head on over for some Philly Cheesesteaks:
K-Rod may be going to anger management but he's still rocking the goggles and he's still having an extreme difficult time saving games. Okay it was just one game so far but he looked awful against Florida. But again it was one game, and even that Mariano Rivera messes up from time to time so I'm not turning on Frankie just yet.
Isaac Benjamin Davis got off to a rocky start with a few hiccups at first base which was and is shocking since he was the man last year that would make incredible plays diving into the stands. But since that first not so hot game he appears to have his hitting and defensive prowess back. He definitely has the potential to hit 20 homers (perhaps 30), bat .300 and rack up 100 ribeye steaks.
RA Dickey probably is our ace with Johan on the DL. No matter how many times he gets into trouble, he's the one Metsies pitcher I can watch without half covering my eyes when the bases are loaded. He has no trouble keeping his cool and he gets out of jams. Plus his post game locker room interviews are always worth watching. This man is brilliant and it's always just nice to hear his take on a game.
Beltran is hitting. That is what counts. Plus he's Duda's Yoda. According to Burkhardt, Carlos keeps an eye on Lucas and gives him advice to improve his hitting. They also have had dinner dates!
Eamus or Murphy at second?! The biggest fear with Daniel Murphy at second is the fact that he won't be able to turn double plays. He really didn't get a chance to do that yet during his one start but he looked absolutely fine at second. Eamus got his first hit in game 2 and he's looked pretty great defensively. It's a tough call.
Reyes and Pagan are still fast as can be and defensive badasses.
David Wright is looking like pre-getting hit in the head Davey. He's hitting, okay his defense hasn't been perfect but his swing is looking marvelous. I am thinking this could be a season where Wright doesn't strike out in consecutive games, gasp.
Willie Harris is proving to be a great pickup. So far he's pinch hit successfully, he's homered, he's played great defense and he's proven he can actually help the Mets and not just rob them of victories like he did as a National.
Jonathan Niese has had the tendency in the past to pitch great but to start out a little rusty. He does give up first inning runs but he also can then bounce back and give the Mets 6 scoreless innings.
Big Pelf looks like he is just picking up where he left off last season and that's no good. If he can get himself centered and back into his early 2010 form we really could have a pretty good pitching staff that could give a lot of teams trouble.
The Mets as a team have proven so far that just like last year they can fight back. They don't give up and that's great to see. Even when K-Rod blew the save game 2 they bounced right back in that top of the 10th and regained the lead. Does that mean we might see another 20 inning game, perhaps?!
Run support has been an issue with the Metsies. So many games last year we saw great pitching outings but the squad couldn't hit. Dickey for some reason was the one pitcher who seemed to always get run support and that has continued thus far.
In general Florida just kicks the Mets asses. Last year it was no picnic playing the fish so taking a series on the road from them is a great start.
On the road the Mets just couldn't win and they already have one road series under their belts so that's pretty neat and promising.
SNY still is all about the Geico and Fiberama commercials....
Keith hasn't fallen asleep or made that many funny comments yet but he has said "Cheese" so I think there's no reason to fear he's lost his unpredictable/very entertaining booth mojo. Just for now he seems very professional and that's great but we need some random tangents about authors or musicians or Sag Harbor just in case this season gets really ugly.
I know we don't have big expectations for the Metsies but you know what maybe they'll surprise us. A 2-1 start is not that shabby at all and I guess the real test is coming up. Philadelphia and that ridiculous pitching staff will be quite hard to defeat but you know what anything is possible in the world of sports. So for now let's just take it game by game and hope Collins' Metsies surprise us this year!
Dickey vs Vazquez
I'm not gonna give a recap of this game but let's instead take a look at what we've learned about Terry Collins' 2011 Mets before they head on over for some Philly Cheesesteaks:
K-Rod may be going to anger management but he's still rocking the goggles and he's still having an extreme difficult time saving games. Okay it was just one game so far but he looked awful against Florida. But again it was one game, and even that Mariano Rivera messes up from time to time so I'm not turning on Frankie just yet.
Isaac Benjamin Davis got off to a rocky start with a few hiccups at first base which was and is shocking since he was the man last year that would make incredible plays diving into the stands. But since that first not so hot game he appears to have his hitting and defensive prowess back. He definitely has the potential to hit 20 homers (perhaps 30), bat .300 and rack up 100 ribeye steaks.
RA Dickey probably is our ace with Johan on the DL. No matter how many times he gets into trouble, he's the one Metsies pitcher I can watch without half covering my eyes when the bases are loaded. He has no trouble keeping his cool and he gets out of jams. Plus his post game locker room interviews are always worth watching. This man is brilliant and it's always just nice to hear his take on a game.
Beltran is hitting. That is what counts. Plus he's Duda's Yoda. According to Burkhardt, Carlos keeps an eye on Lucas and gives him advice to improve his hitting. They also have had dinner dates!
Eamus or Murphy at second?! The biggest fear with Daniel Murphy at second is the fact that he won't be able to turn double plays. He really didn't get a chance to do that yet during his one start but he looked absolutely fine at second. Eamus got his first hit in game 2 and he's looked pretty great defensively. It's a tough call.
Reyes and Pagan are still fast as can be and defensive badasses.
David Wright is looking like pre-getting hit in the head Davey. He's hitting, okay his defense hasn't been perfect but his swing is looking marvelous. I am thinking this could be a season where Wright doesn't strike out in consecutive games, gasp.
Willie Harris is proving to be a great pickup. So far he's pinch hit successfully, he's homered, he's played great defense and he's proven he can actually help the Mets and not just rob them of victories like he did as a National.
Jonathan Niese has had the tendency in the past to pitch great but to start out a little rusty. He does give up first inning runs but he also can then bounce back and give the Mets 6 scoreless innings.
Big Pelf looks like he is just picking up where he left off last season and that's no good. If he can get himself centered and back into his early 2010 form we really could have a pretty good pitching staff that could give a lot of teams trouble.
The Mets as a team have proven so far that just like last year they can fight back. They don't give up and that's great to see. Even when K-Rod blew the save game 2 they bounced right back in that top of the 10th and regained the lead. Does that mean we might see another 20 inning game, perhaps?!
Run support has been an issue with the Metsies. So many games last year we saw great pitching outings but the squad couldn't hit. Dickey for some reason was the one pitcher who seemed to always get run support and that has continued thus far.
In general Florida just kicks the Mets asses. Last year it was no picnic playing the fish so taking a series on the road from them is a great start.
On the road the Mets just couldn't win and they already have one road series under their belts so that's pretty neat and promising.
SNY still is all about the Geico and Fiberama commercials....
Keith hasn't fallen asleep or made that many funny comments yet but he has said "Cheese" so I think there's no reason to fear he's lost his unpredictable/very entertaining booth mojo. Just for now he seems very professional and that's great but we need some random tangents about authors or musicians or Sag Harbor just in case this season gets really ugly.
I know we don't have big expectations for the Metsies but you know what maybe they'll surprise us. A 2-1 start is not that shabby at all and I guess the real test is coming up. Philadelphia and that ridiculous pitching staff will be quite hard to defeat but you know what anything is possible in the world of sports. So for now let's just take it game by game and hope Collins' Metsies surprise us this year!
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Same old drama mama K-Rod...but the Mets are still triumphant!
Game 2: Mets6 Marlins4 (10 innings)
Niese vs Nolasco
Gary had a major hard on for the Florida sunset during this game..."Nice to see Niese settling in" was a phrase uttered by the booth quite often and K-Rod proved once again some things sadly never change. But let's not dwell on Frankie, let's get to the recap of the Metsies first victorino of the season!
Here we go! 123 top of the first for Nolasco. Sheesh who does Nolasco think he is, Josh Johnson? He needs to save this impersonation for the Phillies and the Braves. Yep.
To the bottom of the 1st, Niese right from the start was in trouble and bam before we could see 3434343 Fiberama commercials (because oh SNY is relentless with those buggers) 2 were in scoring position with 1 out for Gaby Sanchez. Sanchez was walked and the bases were loaded for Morrison, he singled and Infante and Ramirez scored. Yet again the Marlins got out to an early lead, 2-0 fish. Now the new Mets killer John Buck was up with men on 1st and 2nd and still just 1 out and this time he was human! Buck hit a fly ball to right way in foul territory and Beltran grabbed it! Wahoo! Then Donnie Murphy made the final out, phew.
Beltran led off the top of the 2nd by striking out. Terrible. Next up was Isaac Benjamin Davis! And Ike got an opposite field double, his first hit in 2011! Wahoo! Duda then flew out to left, gosh it's always zipadeeDUDA with Lucas. Now it was up to Eamus to get Ike home and put a run on the board and he struck out and stranded that awesomely bearded Davis on 2nd.
123 bottom of the 2nd for Niese! I love these Niese of cake innings!
Josh Thole singled to lead off the top of the 3rd! That was Joshy's first hit of the season, woot woot! Then Burkhardt does a segment on MLB-ers who cook and it turns out Johan Santana has very impressive skills with a knife and Davey Wright loves apple pie. I know the things Kevin teaches us sometimes are vital for our sports loving existence. Talk about hard hitting news! Oh and during this "Diamond Dishes" segment Niese sac bunted to move Josh on over to 2nd so maybe Reyes could like get an RBI. And Reyes hit a beauty to center but Coghlan was able to make the catch, bollocks. Now Thole was at 3rd with two outs for Crazy Horse Pagan. I really want to get to say it's back back back it's Pa-GONE a lot this season but sadly this was not one of those times for me to get to do that. It was a long fly ball but not long enough. Fly outs to right suck! Inning over.
123 bottom of the 3rd for Niese and that also meant he had retired 8 in a row!
In the top of the 4th Wright led off with a bombarino! Ron remarked "That was some serious pop Keith" and oh it was and now it was just a one run ballgame. 2-1! Then it looked like Beltran was homering too but nope it was a fakeout. And then that Coghlan made a great play in center to take a base hit away from Ike. So now it was 2 outs and nobody on for Mr. Duda and he duh is not winning and struck out.
After a slew of Geico commercials we were back for the bottom of the 4th and it was another 123 inning for Niese!
Eamus led off the top of the 5th with his first big league hit, wahoo! Other than that this was a pointless half of an inning.
Niese picked up his first K of the night in the bottom of the 5th or as Keith referred to it "He just ate up Coghlan." With 2 outs and a man on 2nd Infante grounded a ball hard to Davey, Wright bobbled it and he had no play to make (first error of the Metsies season) and men were now on first and third for Ramirez ugh. But phew danger averted and Hanley grounded out to Eamus!
In the top of the 6th Beltran got a 2 out single and it was time for some Ike magic! And Ike tied the game with a double! 2-2! Davis' bat and beard are real and spectacular but blah blah then Duda go figures did the whole grounding out to end the inning thang. He really likes to leave Ike stranded on 2nd. Not cool Duda.
"He's throwing inside aggressively, I love it" said the Hernandez. Niese struck out John Buck who is now all of a sudden pretending he can't hit to end the inning and that meant a 123 bottom of the 6th for Niese!
In the top of the 7th Thole hit a 1 out single but Bonifacio made a Frenchy type play and he caught Thole off the bag and Josh was out, that hit was wasted and then Niese struck out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 7th the go ahead run was on 2nd with 1 out for Helms and Jon struck him out! Then it was time for Coghlan with the pinch runner Cousins (Donnie Murphy left the game) still at 2nd and he grounded out and the inning was over! Only 86 pitches thrown!
In the top of the 8th Reyes grounded out and he's now 0-8 this season. Then Bonifacio had to go and show off the glove again (now at 3rd) to make a great defensive play that took an infield hit away from Crazy Horse Angel Pagan. So with 2 outs and nobody on it was Wright's turn to maybe homer again but nah he just singled and that was mighty fine. But ugh Beltran grounded out and the inning was over.
Bottom of the 8th Bobby P time! 123 inning for Parnell including two K's!
Could the hero be Josh Thole?! Thole rbi singled in the top of the 9th to give the Metsies a 3-2 lead!
And then it was K-Rod time, his first pitch of the year was a strike! He even struck out Logan Morrison for out numero uno but of course the shit hit the fan and K-Rod was up to his old I like to blow saves tricks. This part was very upsetting for me so I'm just gonna say the Marlins tied the ballgame 3-3 and somehow K-Rod didn't give up any more runs and we were headed to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th Reyes and Pagan both got on base with back to back singles (Pagan successful bunt single). Then David Wright did it again and he singled, Reyes scored and the Mets regained the lead 4-3 and phew they weren't done! Fast forward to 1st and 3rd 2 outs for Willie Harris and oh Harris is making us fans very happy (and oh we deserve that after all the Mets killing he did last season) and he doubled and the Mets had a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the 10th!
K-Rod was back to pitch again, I'm just playing, it was Blaine Boyer and he wasn't perfect at all but the Mets won so that's what counts! The Mets are 1-1 and the one and only RA Dickey takes the mound tomorrow! I can't wait. Last year I just looked forward to those Dickey starts.
So to tomorrow and some knuckleball fun!
Niese vs Nolasco
Gary had a major hard on for the Florida sunset during this game..."Nice to see Niese settling in" was a phrase uttered by the booth quite often and K-Rod proved once again some things sadly never change. But let's not dwell on Frankie, let's get to the recap of the Metsies first victorino of the season!
Here we go! 123 top of the first for Nolasco. Sheesh who does Nolasco think he is, Josh Johnson? He needs to save this impersonation for the Phillies and the Braves. Yep.
To the bottom of the 1st, Niese right from the start was in trouble and bam before we could see 3434343 Fiberama commercials (because oh SNY is relentless with those buggers) 2 were in scoring position with 1 out for Gaby Sanchez. Sanchez was walked and the bases were loaded for Morrison, he singled and Infante and Ramirez scored. Yet again the Marlins got out to an early lead, 2-0 fish. Now the new Mets killer John Buck was up with men on 1st and 2nd and still just 1 out and this time he was human! Buck hit a fly ball to right way in foul territory and Beltran grabbed it! Wahoo! Then Donnie Murphy made the final out, phew.
Beltran led off the top of the 2nd by striking out. Terrible. Next up was Isaac Benjamin Davis! And Ike got an opposite field double, his first hit in 2011! Wahoo! Duda then flew out to left, gosh it's always zipadeeDUDA with Lucas. Now it was up to Eamus to get Ike home and put a run on the board and he struck out and stranded that awesomely bearded Davis on 2nd.
123 bottom of the 2nd for Niese! I love these Niese of cake innings!
Josh Thole singled to lead off the top of the 3rd! That was Joshy's first hit of the season, woot woot! Then Burkhardt does a segment on MLB-ers who cook and it turns out Johan Santana has very impressive skills with a knife and Davey Wright loves apple pie. I know the things Kevin teaches us sometimes are vital for our sports loving existence. Talk about hard hitting news! Oh and during this "Diamond Dishes" segment Niese sac bunted to move Josh on over to 2nd so maybe Reyes could like get an RBI. And Reyes hit a beauty to center but Coghlan was able to make the catch, bollocks. Now Thole was at 3rd with two outs for Crazy Horse Pagan. I really want to get to say it's back back back it's Pa-GONE a lot this season but sadly this was not one of those times for me to get to do that. It was a long fly ball but not long enough. Fly outs to right suck! Inning over.
123 bottom of the 3rd for Niese and that also meant he had retired 8 in a row!
In the top of the 4th Wright led off with a bombarino! Ron remarked "That was some serious pop Keith" and oh it was and now it was just a one run ballgame. 2-1! Then it looked like Beltran was homering too but nope it was a fakeout. And then that Coghlan made a great play in center to take a base hit away from Ike. So now it was 2 outs and nobody on for Mr. Duda and he duh is not winning and struck out.
After a slew of Geico commercials we were back for the bottom of the 4th and it was another 123 inning for Niese!
Eamus led off the top of the 5th with his first big league hit, wahoo! Other than that this was a pointless half of an inning.
Niese picked up his first K of the night in the bottom of the 5th or as Keith referred to it "He just ate up Coghlan." With 2 outs and a man on 2nd Infante grounded a ball hard to Davey, Wright bobbled it and he had no play to make (first error of the Metsies season) and men were now on first and third for Ramirez ugh. But phew danger averted and Hanley grounded out to Eamus!
In the top of the 6th Beltran got a 2 out single and it was time for some Ike magic! And Ike tied the game with a double! 2-2! Davis' bat and beard are real and spectacular but blah blah then Duda go figures did the whole grounding out to end the inning thang. He really likes to leave Ike stranded on 2nd. Not cool Duda.
"He's throwing inside aggressively, I love it" said the Hernandez. Niese struck out John Buck who is now all of a sudden pretending he can't hit to end the inning and that meant a 123 bottom of the 6th for Niese!
In the top of the 7th Thole hit a 1 out single but Bonifacio made a Frenchy type play and he caught Thole off the bag and Josh was out, that hit was wasted and then Niese struck out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 7th the go ahead run was on 2nd with 1 out for Helms and Jon struck him out! Then it was time for Coghlan with the pinch runner Cousins (Donnie Murphy left the game) still at 2nd and he grounded out and the inning was over! Only 86 pitches thrown!
In the top of the 8th Reyes grounded out and he's now 0-8 this season. Then Bonifacio had to go and show off the glove again (now at 3rd) to make a great defensive play that took an infield hit away from Crazy Horse Angel Pagan. So with 2 outs and nobody on it was Wright's turn to maybe homer again but nah he just singled and that was mighty fine. But ugh Beltran grounded out and the inning was over.
Bottom of the 8th Bobby P time! 123 inning for Parnell including two K's!
Could the hero be Josh Thole?! Thole rbi singled in the top of the 9th to give the Metsies a 3-2 lead!
And then it was K-Rod time, his first pitch of the year was a strike! He even struck out Logan Morrison for out numero uno but of course the shit hit the fan and K-Rod was up to his old I like to blow saves tricks. This part was very upsetting for me so I'm just gonna say the Marlins tied the ballgame 3-3 and somehow K-Rod didn't give up any more runs and we were headed to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th Reyes and Pagan both got on base with back to back singles (Pagan successful bunt single). Then David Wright did it again and he singled, Reyes scored and the Mets regained the lead 4-3 and phew they weren't done! Fast forward to 1st and 3rd 2 outs for Willie Harris and oh Harris is making us fans very happy (and oh we deserve that after all the Mets killing he did last season) and he doubled and the Mets had a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the 10th!
K-Rod was back to pitch again, I'm just playing, it was Blaine Boyer and he wasn't perfect at all but the Mets won so that's what counts! The Mets are 1-1 and the one and only RA Dickey takes the mound tomorrow! I can't wait. Last year I just looked forward to those Dickey starts.
So to tomorrow and some knuckleball fun!
Friday, April 01, 2011
Forget that Josh Johnson who the eff is this John Buck?
Marlins 6 Mets 2
Josh Johnson vs Big Pelf
Why hello there my fellow Metsie obsessed fans. It's good to have our baseball back! I've missed the boys. Sure the Jets supplied me with a lot of fun and well heartbreaking times and then the Nets have attempted to play basketball but nothing rocks my world quite like Mets baseball. For some reason even though I know the Mets will always disappoint me I enter each season excited as can be. Yep I just love being a masochist and really the Mets supply the best opportunity for me to get my masochistic ways on.
Honestly this game was an enjoyable pitcher's duel. The operative word being "WAS." It felt like Pedro was pitching against Josh Johnson like last year's season opener but nope Big Pelf had to go and ruin any hopes of a possible 1-0 start to this season.
Let's get to how it all unfolded in such a no good very bad fashion. To the bottom of the 4th! This inning started out so innocently and then bam it was first and third (Stanton on 3rd, Sanchez on 1st) for Logan Morrison with one out. Morrison was walked and ugh the bases were loaded for John Buck (I think no relation to Joe Buck or Uncle Buck). He battled like no other with Pelfrey and he was victorious. On the 8th pitch Buck hit a grand slam in his national league debut. Come on doesn't he know it's overrated to have a great debut as a Marlin! Damn him. 4-0 fish and it didn't look good for the Amazins and Pelf looks like he is not gonna replicate his awesome start one year ago. "That was an impressive at bat" says the Hernandez. Damn right it was and ugh ugh ugh Pelf got out of the inning but at this point Johnson was on fire and pitching a no-hitter. 9 in a row had been retired by Johnson after 5. Blech I wanted to vomit.
And the misery continued in the bottom of the 5th, Sanchez singled and Ramirez who was on 2nd scored and the fish's lead was now 5-0. But phew Morrison popped up to end the inning.
In the top of the 6th the no hitter continued on. Thole grounded out for out numero one. Duda then got his pinch hit on and duh he did nothing and he flew out to left. And then the 12th man to be retired in a row by Johnson was Reyes who also flew out to Coghlan.
And then wtf John Buck did it again in the bottom of the 6th. Who is this dude? Beato making his debut for the Metsies "battling the butterflies" according to Gary gave up an off the wall double to John Buck. Okay day one and the new Mets killer is John Buck. I guess it's always good to figure out who our nemeses are as early as possible. What is it about these Marlins that always makes the Mets match up against them in the worst fashion ever? But phew after Buck, Beato retired the next three marlins in a row!
Willie Harris led off the 7th inning and he got the first hit of the night! A double for the former Met killer who is now a Met! Then with one out and Harris on third Beltran doubled and the Mets cut the lead back to 4. 5-1! Then Pagan infield singled and Isaac Benjamin Davis was up with men on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Ike grounded to Infante and Omar couldn't make the play to get Beltran out at home so he instead made the play at 1st, Ike was out but Carlos scored and the lead was just 5-2. Then with the bases loaded and 2 outs Collins had Scott Hairston pinch hit for Josh Thole against the Marlins reliever Mike Dunn. This was the big debut for Hairston and he struck out and shamed his Hairston MLB family name.
Beato didn't give up any runs in the bottom of the 7th and we were off to the top of the 8th with this game actually in reach for the Mets. Maybe Pelf could get a no decision after all and forget that grand slam ever happened. Or maybe the Mets would do nothing! Yep they did nothing and for some reason I still watch games with some optimism and assumed maybe they could make a comeback. Will I ever smarten up and learn?!
Yep optimism is for suckers. Then Morrison homered to lead off the bottom of the 8th and now the lead was 6-2 but phew that was all the damage that was done.
To the top of the 9th and the last hope for the Mets! 6-2 ball game. Beltran led off the 9th against the Marlins closer Leo Nunez and he flew out to Coghlan for out numero uno. Now it was time for Angel "Crazy Horse" Pagan and he popped up to third. And now the fate of a Metsies comeback fell into the lap of my fave Metsie Mr. Ike Davis. Sadly Davis struck out and Terry Collins is now 0-1 as the manager of the Amazins.
Tomorrow Niese takes the mound and ugh it has got to be better than this right??!!
And Keith needs to be funnier tomorrow. If I'm gonna survive this season he has to deliver me gems and for some reason he was super focused and professional sounding. Granted there was a lot of "cheese" talk but still I want some random tangent about Jack Kerouac or David Bowie from Keith. Yep I do...
Josh Johnson vs Big Pelf
Why hello there my fellow Metsie obsessed fans. It's good to have our baseball back! I've missed the boys. Sure the Jets supplied me with a lot of fun and well heartbreaking times and then the Nets have attempted to play basketball but nothing rocks my world quite like Mets baseball. For some reason even though I know the Mets will always disappoint me I enter each season excited as can be. Yep I just love being a masochist and really the Mets supply the best opportunity for me to get my masochistic ways on.
Honestly this game was an enjoyable pitcher's duel. The operative word being "WAS." It felt like Pedro was pitching against Josh Johnson like last year's season opener but nope Big Pelf had to go and ruin any hopes of a possible 1-0 start to this season.
Let's get to how it all unfolded in such a no good very bad fashion. To the bottom of the 4th! This inning started out so innocently and then bam it was first and third (Stanton on 3rd, Sanchez on 1st) for Logan Morrison with one out. Morrison was walked and ugh the bases were loaded for John Buck (I think no relation to Joe Buck or Uncle Buck). He battled like no other with Pelfrey and he was victorious. On the 8th pitch Buck hit a grand slam in his national league debut. Come on doesn't he know it's overrated to have a great debut as a Marlin! Damn him. 4-0 fish and it didn't look good for the Amazins and Pelf looks like he is not gonna replicate his awesome start one year ago. "That was an impressive at bat" says the Hernandez. Damn right it was and ugh ugh ugh Pelf got out of the inning but at this point Johnson was on fire and pitching a no-hitter. 9 in a row had been retired by Johnson after 5. Blech I wanted to vomit.
And the misery continued in the bottom of the 5th, Sanchez singled and Ramirez who was on 2nd scored and the fish's lead was now 5-0. But phew Morrison popped up to end the inning.
In the top of the 6th the no hitter continued on. Thole grounded out for out numero one. Duda then got his pinch hit on and duh he did nothing and he flew out to left. And then the 12th man to be retired in a row by Johnson was Reyes who also flew out to Coghlan.
And then wtf John Buck did it again in the bottom of the 6th. Who is this dude? Beato making his debut for the Metsies "battling the butterflies" according to Gary gave up an off the wall double to John Buck. Okay day one and the new Mets killer is John Buck. I guess it's always good to figure out who our nemeses are as early as possible. What is it about these Marlins that always makes the Mets match up against them in the worst fashion ever? But phew after Buck, Beato retired the next three marlins in a row!
Willie Harris led off the 7th inning and he got the first hit of the night! A double for the former Met killer who is now a Met! Then with one out and Harris on third Beltran doubled and the Mets cut the lead back to 4. 5-1! Then Pagan infield singled and Isaac Benjamin Davis was up with men on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Ike grounded to Infante and Omar couldn't make the play to get Beltran out at home so he instead made the play at 1st, Ike was out but Carlos scored and the lead was just 5-2. Then with the bases loaded and 2 outs Collins had Scott Hairston pinch hit for Josh Thole against the Marlins reliever Mike Dunn. This was the big debut for Hairston and he struck out and shamed his Hairston MLB family name.
Beato didn't give up any runs in the bottom of the 7th and we were off to the top of the 8th with this game actually in reach for the Mets. Maybe Pelf could get a no decision after all and forget that grand slam ever happened. Or maybe the Mets would do nothing! Yep they did nothing and for some reason I still watch games with some optimism and assumed maybe they could make a comeback. Will I ever smarten up and learn?!
Yep optimism is for suckers. Then Morrison homered to lead off the bottom of the 8th and now the lead was 6-2 but phew that was all the damage that was done.
To the top of the 9th and the last hope for the Mets! 6-2 ball game. Beltran led off the 9th against the Marlins closer Leo Nunez and he flew out to Coghlan for out numero uno. Now it was time for Angel "Crazy Horse" Pagan and he popped up to third. And now the fate of a Metsies comeback fell into the lap of my fave Metsie Mr. Ike Davis. Sadly Davis struck out and Terry Collins is now 0-1 as the manager of the Amazins.
Tomorrow Niese takes the mound and ugh it has got to be better than this right??!!
And Keith needs to be funnier tomorrow. If I'm gonna survive this season he has to deliver me gems and for some reason he was super focused and professional sounding. Granted there was a lot of "cheese" talk but still I want some random tangent about Jack Kerouac or David Bowie from Keith. Yep I do...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Who Is Brad Emaus, and Why I Hope He Didn't Unpack His Bags
According to the esteemed Andy McCullough over at the Star-Ledger, it appears to him that Brad Emaus has emerged as the favorite in the Mets' second base competition. McCullough explained, "He fits the “Moneyball” caricature: a better hitter than fielder, a player who draws walks and sees a lot of pitches, a player with deceptive power. One league executive called Emaus a “statistical-analysis kind of player” who fits what “those guys would be looking for.""
I'll admit, when I first heard the Mets had acquired Emaus, I had a similar reaction. All I knew at the time was that Emaus was 24, had put up a good season in Triple-A, and was a welcome addition to our second base competition. The fact that JP Ricciardi had some familiarity with him, and therefore must have endorsed his acquisition, made me optimistic about it.
Adding to Emaus' status as my early favorite for the job was the fact that the Mets had acquired him in the Rule 5 draft this winter - meaning that if he did not remain on the major league roster all season, the Mets would have to offer him back to the Blue Jays. Some of you may remember my take on this issue in the last two offseasons[1] ... I am inclined to keep as much talent in the organization as possible. Keep everybody! We'll sort it out later.
For those reasons, I was pulling for Emaus early. However, drilling a little deeper into Emaus' performance over the last few years draws out a few additional warning signs. So many, in fact, that I believe at this point that the starting job should go to Daniel Murphy or Justin Turner, and to do so SOON, while there is a lot of spring training remaining.
First of all, according to all scouting sources I've seen, Emaus is a capable but unimpressive defender at second base (here, and here because I am lazy right now). Not that he'd need to be a superlative defensive second baseman to impress me, but if the defense is unimpressive, it really makes this next flaw much, much more important.
Offense. This is really what it comes down to with Emaus. Since nobody expects him to light the world on fire defensively, he's going to have to hit to be a better option than Daniel Murphy or Justin Turner at the keystone. Unfortunately, Emaus' impressive minor league statistics are beginning to look more like the product of a favorable minor league environment than anything else.
Emaus played second at Toronto's Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas last season. While there, he posted a line of .298/.395/.495 with a 50-50 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also hit 10 home runs over 309 at-bats. Impressive numbers on the surface, but when viewed against the league as a whole, as well as his home-road splits, you see there is a high probability that Emaus may have been more than a little lucky.
MetsMinorLeagueBlog has done a great job at explaining why Emaus will probably struggle at the major league level, but here is the crux of it: if you translate his Triple-A performance from last year to a major league one at Citifield, you are looking at a batting line of .229/.311/.369. Let that sink in for a moment.
My favorite projection system, ZiPS, does not like Emaus either. ZiPS sees Emaus hitting .240/.315/.357 if given playing time in the majors this year.
Between that and his tepid spring training performance (.226/.333/.290 in 31 PA) it's beginning to look like Emaus is not going to hit enough to justify keeping him on the roster at the expense of another player simply because he was a Rule 5 acquisition.
With that in mind, it is probably better that the Mets offer Emaus back to Toronto sooner rather than later. Perhaps they simply get more innings in the field for Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner, or perhaps they can work out a trade with Toronto which would allow them to option Emaus to Triple-A. Either way, they did the right thing by cutting Castillo and should make the right move with Emaus soon.
------------------
[1] In 2009, I advocated keeping Darren O'Day on the major league roster over Elmer Dessens and Bobby Parnell. O'Day, as you know, has subsequently emerged as one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball, posting a 1.94 ERA in 2009 and a 2.03 ERA in 2010.
In 2010, I advocated the Mets demote Fonzie favorite Jon Niese so that they could keep Nelson Figueroa on the roster. Nelson, as you know, has a 3.84 ERA over his last 200 major league innings, including a 3.29 ERA in 93 innings last year along with a 1.27 WHIP.
I'll admit, when I first heard the Mets had acquired Emaus, I had a similar reaction. All I knew at the time was that Emaus was 24, had put up a good season in Triple-A, and was a welcome addition to our second base competition. The fact that JP Ricciardi had some familiarity with him, and therefore must have endorsed his acquisition, made me optimistic about it.
Adding to Emaus' status as my early favorite for the job was the fact that the Mets had acquired him in the Rule 5 draft this winter - meaning that if he did not remain on the major league roster all season, the Mets would have to offer him back to the Blue Jays. Some of you may remember my take on this issue in the last two offseasons[1] ... I am inclined to keep as much talent in the organization as possible. Keep everybody! We'll sort it out later.
For those reasons, I was pulling for Emaus early. However, drilling a little deeper into Emaus' performance over the last few years draws out a few additional warning signs. So many, in fact, that I believe at this point that the starting job should go to Daniel Murphy or Justin Turner, and to do so SOON, while there is a lot of spring training remaining.
First of all, according to all scouting sources I've seen, Emaus is a capable but unimpressive defender at second base (here, and here because I am lazy right now). Not that he'd need to be a superlative defensive second baseman to impress me, but if the defense is unimpressive, it really makes this next flaw much, much more important.
Offense. This is really what it comes down to with Emaus. Since nobody expects him to light the world on fire defensively, he's going to have to hit to be a better option than Daniel Murphy or Justin Turner at the keystone. Unfortunately, Emaus' impressive minor league statistics are beginning to look more like the product of a favorable minor league environment than anything else.
Emaus played second at Toronto's Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas last season. While there, he posted a line of .298/.395/.495 with a 50-50 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also hit 10 home runs over 309 at-bats. Impressive numbers on the surface, but when viewed against the league as a whole, as well as his home-road splits, you see there is a high probability that Emaus may have been more than a little lucky.
MetsMinorLeagueBlog has done a great job at explaining why Emaus will probably struggle at the major league level, but here is the crux of it: if you translate his Triple-A performance from last year to a major league one at Citifield, you are looking at a batting line of .229/.311/.369. Let that sink in for a moment.
My favorite projection system, ZiPS, does not like Emaus either. ZiPS sees Emaus hitting .240/.315/.357 if given playing time in the majors this year.
Between that and his tepid spring training performance (.226/.333/.290 in 31 PA) it's beginning to look like Emaus is not going to hit enough to justify keeping him on the roster at the expense of another player simply because he was a Rule 5 acquisition.
With that in mind, it is probably better that the Mets offer Emaus back to Toronto sooner rather than later. Perhaps they simply get more innings in the field for Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner, or perhaps they can work out a trade with Toronto which would allow them to option Emaus to Triple-A. Either way, they did the right thing by cutting Castillo and should make the right move with Emaus soon.
------------------
[1] In 2009, I advocated keeping Darren O'Day on the major league roster over Elmer Dessens and Bobby Parnell. O'Day, as you know, has subsequently emerged as one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball, posting a 1.94 ERA in 2009 and a 2.03 ERA in 2010.
In 2010, I advocated the Mets demote Fonzie favorite Jon Niese so that they could keep Nelson Figueroa on the roster. Nelson, as you know, has a 3.84 ERA over his last 200 major league innings, including a 3.29 ERA in 93 innings last year along with a 1.27 WHIP.
Program Notice
Hello everyone,
I know we've been sparse on the updates lately. That is probably going to be the case from now on. Fonzie Forever was a great project for me and I have had a lot of fun writing and trading ideas with the rest of the Mets bloggerati, but my career has forced me on what appears to be a permanent hiatus.
I'll continue to update from time to time, and I will try to keep the quality as high (or not-awful) as it has always been. I'd encourage you to continue to visit or to keep Fonzie on your RSS feeds as I anticipate, like on Sunday evenings such as this, that I will still be able to post ... hopefully contributing something meaningful to all the great discussion going on out there.
As always, thank you for visiting, and Let's Go Mets.
Brian
I know we've been sparse on the updates lately. That is probably going to be the case from now on. Fonzie Forever was a great project for me and I have had a lot of fun writing and trading ideas with the rest of the Mets bloggerati, but my career has forced me on what appears to be a permanent hiatus.
I'll continue to update from time to time, and I will try to keep the quality as high (or not-awful) as it has always been. I'd encourage you to continue to visit or to keep Fonzie on your RSS feeds as I anticipate, like on Sunday evenings such as this, that I will still be able to post ... hopefully contributing something meaningful to all the great discussion going on out there.
As always, thank you for visiting, and Let's Go Mets.
Brian
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Quick Spring Impression - Pat Misch
What does Pat Misch have to do to get some respect?!
I'm not out to suggest that the Mets shouldn't have signed Chris Young or Chris Capuano -- nor am I suggesting that the Mets should assume that Misch will definitely stick as a starter in the majors. However, despite the underwhelming fastball and underwhelming presence out there on the mound, he's performed exceedingly well over the last two years. Over the last two years, Misch has put up almost 200 minor league innings with an ERA of less than 3.25. In the major leagues, his xFIP with the Mets in 2009 was 5.19 and his xFIP last season was 3.78.
Once again, I wouldn't bet the house the Misch would win 15 games if starting all year, but all the projection systems have Misch posting a FIP/ERA of around 4.20-4.75. He's certainly ahead of Dillon Gee on my depth chart.
I'm not out to suggest that the Mets shouldn't have signed Chris Young or Chris Capuano -- nor am I suggesting that the Mets should assume that Misch will definitely stick as a starter in the majors. However, despite the underwhelming fastball and underwhelming presence out there on the mound, he's performed exceedingly well over the last two years. Over the last two years, Misch has put up almost 200 minor league innings with an ERA of less than 3.25. In the major leagues, his xFIP with the Mets in 2009 was 5.19 and his xFIP last season was 3.78.
Once again, I wouldn't bet the house the Misch would win 15 games if starting all year, but all the projection systems have Misch posting a FIP/ERA of around 4.20-4.75. He's certainly ahead of Dillon Gee on my depth chart.
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