Kevin here, giving you a postgame update on tonight’s 8-1 win over the Cubs at Shea.
 First and foremost, Jose Reyes says he’s fine. He left the game in the eighth inning after strugging to get out of the box on a single.
It was announced that he had “tightness in the left hamstring,” which isn’t a good thing to hear about a guy with a history of hamstring problems. But Reyes and Randolph both said it was actually a cramp.
Reyes was batting lefty for the first time all night and felt a little awkward on one of his swings. Randolph removed him immediately. Reyes said he was play tomorrow, although I don’t see why he should. It’s a day game after a night game delayed three hours by rain. Plus, the Yankees are coming to this side of town on Friday and the Mets are traveling to Atlanta for as big a series as you can have in May. Reyes should sit.
 Moises Alou was placed on the DL, retroactive to Saturday, with a pulled quad. This was obviously going to happen given Alou’s history. It’s a great thing if you ask me. The Mets need Alou healthy in the later months of the season, not May. And we get to watch Carlos Gomez play a little more.
Gomez is the real deal. I covered Milledge’s first few games with the Mets last season and he didn’t have nearly the presence and confidence that Gomez has. He carries himself like a big leaguer even though he’s played only three games (he’s 4 for 9). Tonight he had two hits and two RBI. He should have had three hits but Aramis Ramirez made a ridiculous diving catch at third to rob him.
 Jason Vargas will start today against the Cubs. With Alou going on the DL, the Mets didn’t have to make room on the roster. Vargas hasn’t pitched all that well in New Orleans. But he’s got good stuff and decent command when he’s on. It’s a matter of getting into a rhythym with him and throwing his breaking pitches for strikes.
 Jorge Sosa could potentially reshape the Mets rotation. If you watched him tonight, you’ll understand why. He’s a veteran who throws hard but has finally learned not to depend solely on his fastball to get outs.
That was the problem with Sosa in the past. He gave up a million homers (actually, it was 30 last year, which is an obscene number) because he wanted to blow fastballs by everyone. You can do that… if you throw 98. Sosa tops out at 94. But when he spots his slider the way he did tonight, that fastball sneaks up on batters.
Sosa seems like he finally understands what he has to do. Remember, he went 13-3 two years ago for Atlanta, which was the best winning percentage by a pitcher in the National League. He’s a proven pitcher who, I believe, got overconfident last year and had a meltdown (5.42 ERA between 45 appearances with the Braves and Cardinals).
Give Rick Peterson credit, he believed he could fix Sosa and he has. The Braves and Cardinals cast him aside. He probably won’t remain undefeated or keep his WHIP around 1.00 the whole year. But he could be a major difference maker.
 Don’t look now, but Damion Easley is on fire. He’s got eight RBI in his last five starts and is hitting .423 (11-26) in his last seven starts. Plus, he’s got 6 HRs, second only to Carlos Beltran’s 8.
12 Comments
i caught the first inning just to say ok i got an inning of watch time..
Gomez can move. i think him and endy on the corners would be unstoppable. Greene needs too much of a head start .. :-\
i was a big valentin fan, but i gave easley a chance… i like what i see… :-)
Gotay is another story.. i dont think second is good for him…
Back in March I posted a thought about getting milledge out of the franchise and getting something, hopefully a pitcher, for him. All of my fellow Mets fans who frequent this blog disagreed with me.
Now that he has proven to be a walking injury, and he’s going the route of Ron Artest in the music industry, plus the incredible potential I’m sure we all see in Carlos Gomez, how many people are still going to disagree?
If Omar wants to continue to make the right moves, LM should be gone by the break and there should be another young arm ready to work under Mullet Peterson’s instruction.
Jason, if you had said that last year i would have agreed with you.
during spring training Milledge had appeared to grow up a little and i said lets give him an even break. I still think that way… but with gomez and endy. i think the corners are sewn up, so maybe losing milledge wouldnt be a negative impact. but, i wont say he needs to go because i said i would give him a fair chance. If Omar and willie have given up then so be it. I wont lose sleep over the decision.
;-]
Last night I looked up Sosa. I had thought he was a rookie or close to it. The fact that he has been up before gives me more confidence in him.
As for Easley, I like what I see so far. I remember reading in the spring he had power. Wow.
Dave
I think we can all agree Milledge made a big mistake with the record thing. Perhaps it is as innocent as the timing of the release. But as others mentioned it is very similar to Artest’s foolishness.
Milledge needs to realize his job is a baseball player. Since he does not seem to fully grasp this fact and there are others who do not seem as distracted and have at least as much talent I would not mind if he is used to get something we need.
I am not saying run him out of town, but if his head is not in the game that will limit whatever development he may make. As we know from all sports endeavors it is not always the talent you have but your will and focus.
Dave
I am very pleased with Easley’s power and the way he has hit filling in for Stach. I wish his glove work were more secure.
Jim
I like gomez, and it’s impressive that he’s done what he’s done while hitting eighth.
that said, it’s no surprise that he seems to have gotten down 0-2 in all of his PAs. at this point, though, we don’t know if it’s just 1) pitchers throwing him strikes, or 2) him having to learn to work the count.
Right now, I’m inclined to believe it’s more of the former, just from what I’ve seen (no pitcher respects him yet, so they’re pounding the zone), and reports of his ever-improving plate discipline last year at AA and this year at AAA. but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to learn how to work a count better as time goes on here.
whatever happens, he’s very exciting.
My kids, husband and I sat through the deluge last night and hung on for 4 innings. We would have stayed longer but wanted to catch the last Metro-North express.
I love what I see from Carlos Gomez. Not swinging for the fences with 2 outs in the 2nd, just dunking an RBI single. Very disciplined for a young player.
Constrasting that….I actually feel sorry for Lastings Milledge because he seems sorely in need of a father figure. I hope his hip-hop career suits him well because I think he’s done with baseball, at least in New York.
Singles win the game more often than the homerun. specially when the homeruns are few and far between.
RE: Sosa
The opinion I expressed in the offseason when many individuals pleaded for a trade for “a starter”, is that when you employ a pitching “guru” you make use of the money and power you’ve given him. Omar has done just that, thankfully. Like Atlanta did with Mazzone, it is good business to give these guys projects to work with to fit a need. That need could be long term, intermediate, or short/transitory (fill in/reclamation, then trade).
If Minaya eventually trades a bundle for a starter, it had better be an ace type. The method he’s employed to date is intuitive, not only is he using one of his greatest assets in Peterson, by following this plan, he also protects himself against the NY pressurized meltdown that signing a non-NY tested free agent potentially presents.
What if Minaya traded Lastings for our future closer rather than packaging him for a starter? (Granted I have no clue who this would be since the only young closer I can think of that is on par talent wise is Pabelbon in Boston and he isn’t going anywhere).
JB –
Lastings Milledge does have an intact family in Florida, and a father who is a Florida State Trooper. From all accounts Lastings has been a problem for several years, and was expelled from at least one school for bad behaviour. Someone ‘dropped the ball’ somewhere, or else he is just too spoiled to listen to authority. Too bad, because he does have athletic talent, but without discipline it is wasted.