Mets Chat Room: The Best Pitcher on the Planet is going tonight
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- April
- 23
When the Mets traded for Johan Santana they said there wouldn’t be any long losing streaks. They’ve dropped three so far.
Carlos Delgado is dropped to sixth in the batting order. Today is Game #20 and already there have been three significant line-up changes: Ryan Church from sixth to second; Church dropped down to sixth again (after a five-game losing streak) and now Delgado from fifth to sixth. I think that’s a lot of movement early.
We’ll see how it plays out tonight.
But, here we are in early April and again wondering what’s up with Carlos Delgado. Is he done? Will he have a bounce back year? Can he give the Mets something?
Let us know and vote in the poll.
IN-GAME ANALYSIS
3rd INNING: Delgado’s groundout put the Mets on the board first. Santana doing his job. Frozen yogurt machine is empty. Mets 1, Washington 0.
4th INNING: Tim Redding doubles home two off Santana. Washington 2, Mets 1.
6th INNING: Sometimes your best offense is the other team’s defense. Mets take advantage of bad throw to score three. Mets 5, Washington 2.
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on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 6:29 pm by John Delcos.
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I’d have to say that a lot of other teams have had at least that much movement in their line ups, its not that rare. Either way, I think lineups get a bit overrated, do they matter? Sure, but its not the be all end all people make it out to be.
Oh my, I agree…..
Bring back Bobby V. He’ll show you what line up changes are really about.
Ah yes Bobby V I think he averaged 100 different line ups every year. Those were the good old days.
And just for clarification, Church was dropped back to 6 after a 5 game WINNING streak, not a 5 game losing streak.
To JM: He sure was. To me, that’s significant. But, Willie knows his players better than anybody.-JD
Bobby V treated Leiter exactly the way Willie Treats Delgado. as if he was being serviced by him. I was at that game when Leiter in the first inning gave up 5 runs. i was livid.
Delgado is just like Leiter. done. but the managers are in love with them. yet give away ventura and he blossoms. give away nady and he blossoms. and we are stuck with.. delgaddago
ok time to watch the game. have fun..
Lets Go mets!!!
Hey John, MetsBlog is reporting that Jimmy Rolins has broken his ankle. You know anything about that? I cant find that info anywhere else and I dont want to post it on my site unless I see it on a real news site.
-JD.. i too agree however Bobby V knew what to do with the lineup. and willie does know his players. he also respects them hence why he doesnt just drop delgado. unfortunately delgado isnt proving willie’s loyalty. willie will have to make a decision soon. thats my guess.
Oh – I see by the headline here that we’ve had a pitching change since 5PM. Who’s on the mound? And what happened to Santana? Is he ill?
nevermind… he took the page down. Thanks anyway…
Good one Annie. I think he meant the Nat pitcher Redding railroad or whomever he is…..
Scott from Pelham: I thought Bobby V had a hundred lineups a game. One thing though, everybody got to play and had to be on their toes because they could be anywhere anytime.
Steve C. what are you ranting about Ventura was done when the Mets traded him. Nady has not blossemed he just has played every day for a bad team. Yes Nady is a perfect fit for this team because he actually can play 1st base, and I bet Omar calls the Pirates every week about him.
On Leiter I don’t recall Al really even liking Bobby V.
Leiter, Franco and most of the veterans never understood most of what he did.
Scott, my point was that .. delgado was on the decline last year. as far as leiter liking Bobby V. bobby V stuck up for his players like an iron man. remember the mustache incident? ;-)
sloppy: Bobby V and Davey were my two favorite Mets managers.
I was really too young for Gil. I learned more about baseball from listening to Davey when he did his pregame show with Howie Rose than from anyone else.
Yet both those guys rubbed management the wrong way which is why the both are not managing in the majors today.
santana pitched a great inning. if he keeps this up. maybe he’ll pitch all 9.
:-p
hey Joe torre didnt do a bad job managing. it just interfered with his play time ;-]
yeah davey was good. i liked him a bit more than bobby. but bobby stood by his players and i loved that about him.
go out there arguing up a storm getting kicked out then the players would turn it around.
willie is a very different manager. but he’s right for this team. i think.
Sloppy – I survived the Bobby Valentine days at Shea – he was, shall we say, interesting.
That was an encouraging hit by Beltran, but the way he scored wasn’t too encouraging, two ground outs, but it got the job done.
What an awful pun by Gary going into break as the Washington Monument is shown on screen, “The Mets hope that first run will be monumental for Santana.” ICK!
I should remember to change my handle when I come over from the Rangers blog!
yeah i ignored that too spider pig. ;-)
gonna logoff and concentrate on the game. blog too distracting. have a good one everyone!
It’s Delgado time!! (That’s like Lima-time only on offense).
Question : If Delgado really is washed up and this is as good as he’s gonna be all year, How good are the Mets?
Take it easy Steve C… If you find us a 1st baseman call Minaya. I’m gonna go too and make some coffee. Hard to make it thru the Met offense!
The way this offense is playing this game is over
What can you say, this team blows big time. The great ace gives up a double to the wall by the opposing pitcher to score two runs. I have to say that with the mets offense that should be enough runs for the nationals to win.
Santana doubled last time up. He has two extra-base hits this season. Carlos Delgado has four. Just thought you’d might like to know.-JD
Oh, I forgot to mention with two outs this all happened, 7,8 and ninth hitter with two singles and a double. This team couldn’t get any worse.
Willie needs to do something to try and get the best out of his players. It just looks like there is no desire to beat up on teams and play hard. If this team starts to fall behind before the all star break or sooner, Willie needs to go. Lets go Mets!
big deal, did he score?, no. Can somebody pull reyes’s head out of his a@@!!!. I can’t take him anymore. The same player we saw at the end of the season last year. Talk about over rated hype with this guy.
Hey John I hate Carlos Delgado as much as the next guy, but I’m pretty sure Ryan Church only has 4-5 EBH too.
By the way, I’m not happy with the way Santana is pitching. I know it’s only two runs, but come on this is the Nationals. Santana knew he had to give the Mets at least 7 innings tonight, and he’s getting into long at bats with Will Nieves?
he throws 70% changeups to batters, then the pitcher gets up and he throws a BP fastball.
Flmetfan,
I’ve said it on this blog a few times already. Willie will not make the season. Willie will get axed.
Roger: I know. Church does have four, in fact. Just an illustration on how much Delgado is slumping. Castillo really hauled down that line.-JD
Wow, our offense has come down to the health of Castillo’s legs.
lol jm
JM: Sad, isn’t it?-JD
Bobby V had a lot of good points but he also Mel Rojas Jr pitch to Paul O’Neill. And brought Kenny Rogers to pitch in 1999 when the season on the line. But he is a genius. Just ask him. Goose Gossase says that everytime he came upon of group of Texas Rangers talking he would say “So you guys talking about me again?” He would tell peoplw how much smarter he was than Bobby Cox after Cox gave him yet another ass-whomping. Randolph can at least beat the Braves.
Ok that tears it, man on third no out and Delgado fouls out with a popup over third base? The guy is DONE, buy him out and send him packing. He was a great player for a long time, but that’s over.
That Rogers comment is totally ignorant. If you would like to remember, the game before was the night of the grand slam single and went 14 innings and Velentine had to use 9 pitchers including Dotel for the last 3. In the last game that you so unfairly complain about, Leiter couldn’t get an out and Valentine had nobody left by the time Rogers was brought in. Who would you have had pitching?? Mahomes he was done, Cook done, Wendell, done, Franco done Benitez done…. Dotel couldn’t lift his arm….. Hershiser even done…
Can’t wait till Pagan is benched for 89 year old Alou… Then we can be even more listless…
Wow, could the mets score two of the softness two runs you have ever seen. At least the nationals have proven my post above as one of the worse teams in the national league. I now can understand why that DC guy comes on a met sight and bashes the Mets, because his team stinks so bad he has to take out his frustration.
Hey, JD, everybody! Just got back last night from Belize on a 10-day assignment. I kept up well with Los Mets. Tonight, as I have on WFAN audio and the Nats’ TV feed on mute (I can’t stand Bob Carpenter’s announcing), I detect Howie and Wayne are being severely—and perhaps unfairly—critical of Luis Castillo taking pitches for strikes. When he was rung up in the third, the pitch looked low. I thought in his next at-bat he wisely took pitches to work the count to 3-2, then drove home a run with an infeld hit. Meanwhile, D-Wright took pitches, including one for strike three, but no complaints from Wayne and Howie.
By the way, Angel Pagan is a PLAYER.
I LOVE the way he makes things happen.
What a barrage, save some for the next game boys!
And Santana is officially our most dangerous hitter.
Let me get this straight, the hardest hits the mets have had tonight are from Santana, the pitcher, ouch, that’s just unacceptable.
The Best Pitcher on the Planet sure can hit.-JD
Can Alou play first? I like the way Pagan plays the game and I think he should play everyday. Maybe a platoon of Delgado and Alou?
WILL JOSE REYES PLEASE STOP SWINGING AT THE FIRST #@$%$#@ PITCH IN EVERY AT-BAT????!!!!!!! SOMEONE TALK TO HIM!!!!!!
tomg – I can’t take your points seriously when you spell almost every word with a homonym the wrong way.
And now Santana has three extra-base hits!
Flmetfan – Mike and Mad Dog were talking about that today, and Mad Dog’s biggest reason that it wouldn’t work is because Alou and Delgado are probably friends, so I can’t take them seriously. Personally, I would rather try Pagan there because Alou is a better outfielder, as he takes better routes, even though Pagan is faster.
Gil – Gary Cohen on SNY was criticizing Castillo for taking so many 3-1 fastballs for strikes, as he did in his most recent at-bat.
Maybe Santana can play first when he’s not pitching. Guys do it in high school all the time.-JD
Sloppy,
Do you really think the Mets are a better team w/o Alou? Pagan is a nice guy to hold down the fort, but Alou is a machine at the plate. They need his power. This team is being outslugged by almost everyone in the league, save for the Pirates, Nats, Pads, and Giants. They are atrocious. It may only come for a week until Alou hits the DL again, but they need him.
spiderpig,
sorry man, didn’t realize this was a spelling lesson. I will make sure i do a better job so you can take my points seriously.
The Best Pitcher on the Planet sure can hit.-JD
Can he play first?
That is what an ace does: after you take the lead, he slams the door the next inning. Take notes John Maine, OP, et al.
Bobby V had one of his best pitchers available: Rick Reed. But no, he was “saving Rick Reed for game 7” just like Charley Dressen was saving Preacher 22-3 Roe in 1951 and brought in Bobby V’s father-in-law- Ralph Branca..another guy who failed in the clutch a lot. Rogers had proved in Game 2 and especially in 1996 that he was lousy and Bobby V was determined to prove he was smarter than Torre. What do you do for Game 7? Do what Larry MacPhail did before game 7 in 1947: gather the pitchers, hold up $1,00 and say first one to raise his arm and take the ball gets the money. But there were plenty of other goats: Leiter’s start, both Franco and Benitez blew leads (what a shock). By the way, Bobby V gets major kudos for turning a fringe guy like Reed into a dependable starter.
This Gnats team is horrible. Worst in the majors. How long before they lose a third team?
Spiderpig: I respect the broadcasters’ opinions, but covering Castillo as they have now for the last half-season plus, they should know Castillo’s game isn’t hacking at 3-1 fastballs.
They can’t change his game any more than I can influence Jose Reyes not to drive me up a wall by wasting at-bats by hacking away at the first pitch.
Dan, if we’re reminiscing about 2000, I never understood why Bobby V didn’t go with the hot hand and start Mike Hampton in Game 1 of the World Series instead of Al Leiter. Hampton had plenty of rest and starting him in Game 2 didn’t match him up well against Steroid Rat Bastard Clemens.
IMOP, Alou is just not an everyday outfielder anymore. I do think he beats up on left handed pitching and can still hit any pitchers fastball. But we need him to stay healthy for the long haul. This team needs his bat and not his glove. Platoon him with Delgado and it may keep both of them fresh. By the way I am sure Castillo would love a platoon role…look forward to seeing him for the next four years.
Hope the rest of the Mets pitching staff has been paying attention to Santana both on the mound and at the plate.
Annie, if it were that easy to succeed by watching and learning, everyone would do it. Santana is a natural, a one-of-a-kind prodigy.
What the hell has happened to Marlon Anderson?
John, do you agree with taking Santana out there? Your bullpen is being heavily overused, you finally have a guy who’s giving you innings, and you take him out after 7 with a 3 run lead. Santana could of at least given the Mets 8, and saved Duaner for tomorrow so Heilman could of gotten 2 extra days rest. But I guess Willie doesn’t think that far ahead.
This is my beef with modern baseball: WHY THE HELL IS SANTANA BEING PINCH-HIT FOR? He’s in complete command on the mound and with two doubles couldn’t do any worse than any other hitter the Mets could put up.
All this stuff about pitch counts is ridiculous crap. Back in the day, Seaver, Gooden, Darling, Fernandez, Koosman, etc., they’d all stay in to finish what they started.
Did anyone stop and think maybe Johan said – I’m done!?
right dan; then you would have bitched because he started Rogers in game 7…... good to know you can complain about any way the scenario went….. He did more than make Reed a serviceable pitcher… he made a horrible outfield serviceable and did something Randolph won’t do.. He took Mets to WS. He also made games interesting and fun to watch. Where did that Willie ball go?
JM I’ve said since the re-signed him that having a guy who plays half the season as a critical part of your offense is a recipe for failure. Is Alou a better hitter than Pagan…of course… can he field no…. can he make a run happen like Pagan can no…. With all the station to station guys we don’t need another….. Will he hit 340 this year….. no…...
clm: Johan has the reputation of being ultra-competitive. I doubt seriously he’d say, “I’m done,” though he did that once after throwing a million pitches in a 17-strikeout performance.
He hadn’t even thrown 100 pitches, and was standing up the entire 8th inning. I really, really doubt he said “I’m done”.
Duaner Sanchez is a way better set up man than Homerun Heilman…
Sloppy,
The issue isn’t whether Alou should have been resigned. It’s whether he is better than Pagan when healthy. And yes, he can’t run or catch like Pagan, but his bat makes up for it. And you’ve only seen the best of Angel. His bubble will burst. Bottom line, if you actually think Pagan should start over Alou, you don’t know this game. Pagan comes in for defense, spells Alou a couple times a week, that’s it. If Moses is healthy.
Jose Reyes has officially re-entered the funk.
He needs help up there.
Josh, I’m laughing out loud at your nickname for Heilman.
So what’s your one for Jorge Sosa?
Roger: No, I don’t. Santana threw only 97 pitches. He could have gone another inning. I don’t see why he couldn’t have stayed in. Good point.-JD
Gil: I couldn’t agree with you more on the pitch count argument. Funny thing, Willie says he’s old school. It’s not the same game.-JD
while i’d love to see Santana go further in the game, its a decent enough reason to take him out right there, with a 3 run lead, more runs is something you should be looking for. Sanchez got the job done, thats who we want to do that, and he did it. Hopefully he can keep doing it and be counted on to do it.
Gil – I agree with you about taking pitchers out – in the day, the old time pitchers wouldn’t stand for it – I saw Gibson and he never would come out. Used to tell McCarver to leave him alone.
JD: I wonder if any of the managers and so-called pitching gurus today stopped to think about the number of pitches guys like Seaver, Warren Spahn, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro or others back in the day totaled in their long careers. Funny how high pitch counts didn’t blow out any of their arms.
Why would high pitch counts ruin any of today’s aces?
Not only are today’s pitchers babied physcially, but mentally, too. Why not let a pitcher finish what he starts and see if he’s got the mental toughness to go the distance?
Don Sutton just said, “It’s an easy choice, you go after Ryan Church right here.” Uh, Don, where have ya been?
I guess Willie was lying on Mike and the Mad Dog today when he said he wanted to give Santana 110 pitches. Jeeeeez!!
I also guess that Gary Cohen jinxed Marlon when he called him the best pinch hitter in the world after his first hit, and Marlon is now 0 for his last 15 with a walk.
Can’t hit a ball much harder than that. Good call Sutton.
I’m giving Marlon a pass until he has a chance to play a few full games…pinch hitting is tough enough without at least a game here and there, especially early.
I’m convinced; Manny Acta is an idiot. Why in the world would you pitch to Ryan Church there??
Well I see that no one believes that he asked out. However, he ran the bases hard twice and went after a foul ball hard so maybe just maybe … But maybe not. JD can ask?
Still I like watching Sanchez – he’s gonna be a big help. And how about Senor Delgado, a hit!!!
Annie, do you have that old record or re-issued CD, “The Miracle Mets,” the Lindsey Nelson-narrated history lesson from 1962 to 1969? One line he utters about a Tommie Agee walkoff home run off Hall of Fame starter Juan Marichal says it all about pitching then vs. now: “Agee’s 14th inning shot brought down Marichal.”
To even fathom a starter still being in that late in a game would surely get laughs nowadays. That’s a shame. Starting a game used to be an art, when aces strived to paint masterpieces. Now, it’s a function by which starters hope to go six.
Before I head downstairs to the clubhouse, I want to make sure everybody is in off the ledge.-JD
He’s no longer a rook, but Wags just put Lasto back in his place again.
This game goes in the Santana chapter of “The Book”.
Good night everybody.
You have to admire the cunning and subtle ways the Wilpons have operated in recent years. They get the Expos to hire Omar Minaya to gut the farm system trading Sizemore, Lee and Phillips for a year of Bartolo Colon. They get the Orioles to hire Leo Mazzone to be with his old buddy and forer Mets coach Sam Pellozo so the Braves can replace him with Roger McDowell, whose only talent was giving players hot feet (does anyone profession have this barbaric ritual? Do sports writers light match stuck in other writers shoes during games?). They get the Marlins to gut their team because they can make even more money under baseball’s revenue sharing plan. They even lose down 2006 to get the Phillies to give Charlie Manuel an extension (taking one step back to take two steps forward). They get the Yankees to spend money on a 41 year old pitcher with a bad back like Randy Johnson so they can sign a Carlos Beltran. They then get the Yankees to keep two young pitching prospects so the Mets can get the best pitcher in the universe at his prime.
Baseball domination is now in our grasp. Today the Gnats, October the World! (series) Metsland, Metsland, uber alles.
This game highlights the need to be patient and not to panic just yet. The attached link highlights this point.
http://www.metsmonkeys.blogspot.com
let me take a guess on Delcos’ intro to his piece about this game…something about how the Mets played well, but that’s what you’re supposed to do against the bad teams…etc. etc.
JD,
It was the Nats. I’m still on the ledge. Will be all season I predict.
Metsfan: You would be wrong. You are so negative.-JD
Santana had 95+ pitches after 7 against the Phils, came out for the 8th, gave up 2 singles, and left, Sanchez needs to get some work as the 8th inning guy if we want him to step up and take that spot.
Cole Hamels just showed why you don’t leave in pitchers after they’ve thrown over 100 pitches. 107 pitches in 7, begins the 8th by giving up a double to Braun, and then a monster shot to Fielder..
I’m thrilled that old-school Manuel left Hamels in to pitch the 8th.
Dusty Baker is another example of why you don’t stress pitchers arms. Most of his pitchers came up with lame arms.
I agree with the conservative pitch counts today. It’s not fair to compare today’s pitchers with those of the past as the mound was higher then.
JK, did you catch Dusty’s comments on Volquez last night? I almost fell down. He said something about Volquez having to lower his pitch count before he can go deeper into games. I was glad I was sitting down. Maybe he reads FJM?
Keith—how ironic Baker said that. I gather FJM makes fun of the way he’s used starters? I don’t read FJM for various reasons. Do they mock him for other things as well?
Girardi also overused some of the young arms in Florida when he was their manager. And a few of those pitchers came up with bad arms.
I read all the posts late, so chalk me up under the “hindsight is 20/20” column, but wow, the panic on this board is extraordinary.I saw a bunch of people ask why take Santana out of a 5-2 game with 2 innings to play? Because you don’t need to waste him against an impotent Nats lineup in April. You’ll be thanking Willy for taking him out when he’s throwing 8 innings when it counts, in SEPTEMBER! As for Alou, has everybody forgotten that the man had a 30 game hitting streak at the tender age of 41 last year? We need him in the 5 hole in the worst way. Then we can drop Church to 6 and Delgado to 7 and his deficiencies won’t be so glaring. Does anybody REALLY think Kevin Millar is the answer like Metsblog suggests? And to correct Mr. Grammar, he was using the wrong HomoPHONE not homonym.
wheres the crazy dc guy? did he slam his head into a door yet?
Eric R – Unfortunately, as the SNY announcers highlighted tonight, that would mean three lefties in a row. Maybe then Willie could move Castillo back to the 8th (or 7th) spot to break it up. I think I would like him better in the 7th since he is as light of a hitter as the pitcher, with a higher average. I’m not sure of the point of putting him 8th. Could someone tell me the reasoning behind that?
Spiderpig- good point, I must have missed that on SNY. It really is a hard choice. I like Church in an RBI spot like 6 or 7, but the few games he did bat 2nd, he did an exemplary job of making sure Reyes either advanced or scored. You have to think that Castillo will start to do better and be the 2 hitter we know he can be. Afeterall, we’re only 21 games into a 162 game season. And as we’ve seen so far, the Braves and Phils aren’t exactly swimming in quality LHPs out of the pen.
So I don’t know baseballlike you do JM? , but you can’t read. I agreed that Alou is a better hitter than Pagan. That better hitter doesn’t help you when he can’t play half the time. And at his age you me or John Delcos himself, doesn’t know what he has left in the tank. His power ’s decreased a lot betw 06/07 in similar # of ABs. How do you know ahead of time when he’s done?
I see delgado at bat and i see a hole in the lineup. I watch him at first base and i cringe. notice how stuck to the plate he was last night. all because of the game before when he thought he was the second baseman.
you know i see write and a reyes in their slumps but at least they have a redeeming quality. I dont see any redemption in delgado. as far as first base: briung back shawn green when he played first he did a damned good job. better than his waning outfielding. 1st base if i remember was his original position in the day. the time delgado was out he played better .. I said during that time he should be there. But all these players have gotten so old. :-(
Eric R – I agree with you on taking Santana out. Plus getting Sanchez some more work (he is really starting to look good out there – Welcome back Duaner!!!)
Panic? Yes! Negativity? Yes as well. It seems that no one is satisfied with a win. My only concern is that they didn’t win by hitting the ball hard except the pitcher. But it is early. I can only guess that because of last year the benefit of the doubt is non-existent.
hey small ball is good ball. singles win a game. HR’s are nice but they can be rally killers. Just like smelgado, the biggest rally killer on the team. and with his stats mets cant even give him away. :-(
Was last night the most encouraging win? no. But when you expect to win 90+ games, you need to bounces to go your way some games. They needed to jump on the Nats who are prone to mistake-laden baseball.
Here’s hoping that Ollie has his rhythm going tonight. Delgado got some good contact on the ball last night, but when you’re commending your power first baseman on good contact on infield outs, you know you’re in for a long season with him.
Steve, homers can be a rally killer? I think that may be taking your point to an absurd extreme.
But I do agree with you that it is not necessary to play home run derby to put up runs. The Tigers scored 19 last night and only hit 2 home runs.
I can see what Steve might be saying.. Home run clears the on base threat.
Guys on base brings pressure
this keeps the pitcher distracted
distracted pitchers get behind on the count
behind the count pitchers throw wild, walk and put balls over the plate.
(Unfortunately, this reminds me of how the Mets bullpen behaves with guys on base)
Keith:
the way my dad explained it to me. when someone is on base the guy up at bat has one thing on his mind. moving the runner.
when there’s no one on base the guy at bat is trying to get on base but also trying to maybe score the only run. which may not help in the long run. some of the best met wins is when they do the merry go round and everyone hits a single scoring 7 or more runs…
If someone clears the bases then pressure is off and the next pitch will be something funky. Yes HR have thier place and they do help win, but a conga line going around the bases can really screw with a pitcher. :-)
rebel: exactly.
Thanx
rebel: exactly.
thanx for seeing the point :-)
It’s not that I didn’t understand the point, but I just think it’s taking your point to the extreme. If you have runners on first and second, sure a single is nice, but a 3 run homer is the best possible outcome. Those 7 run conga line innings don’t exactly happen everyday.
If anything, this has been the Mets problem this season. They’ve had guys on base. They just haven’t been able to drive them in.
because of the hole in the lineup: Delgado. listen every player can have a slump. But this is ridiculous.
yes a 3 run homer will definietly be helpful when the players coming up arent hitting. but that puts pressuree on the batter to clear the bases. instead of just move the runners without producing an out.
so we both agree just at diff levels ;-]
which is perfectly fine…
I see your point now… I was looking at this from a macro, general philosophy perspective. Yes, focusing on the micro, our Mets, they definitely need to just focus on not trying to do to much and get some hits with men on base before they worry about the homers.
This is where I agree with you on Pagan. Do you remember the game where he came up with a man on and took a nasty slider to make the count go to 1-2? He understood that he didn’t have to swing at that pitch since he had a strike to work with. Then, he took a fastball and didn’t try to do too much with it, and stroked a single to bring in a run. That’s just smart hitting. However, I still think Alou is what this lineup needs, because right now we have no power threat at all.
Like the game against Lily. I was sitting in class, monitoring the game on Gameday. Top 4, I see the following:
– J. Reyes struck out swinging – A. Pagan doubled to deep right center – D. Wright walked – C. Beltran walked, A. Pagan to third, D. Wright to second – C. Delgado popped out to shallow left – D. Easley popped out to center
Never mind the fact that Church wasn’t even in the lineup, because that was ridiculous, but it was obvious that Lily wanted nothing to do with Wright or Beltran. He didn’t give them anything they could drive (at least that’s how it looked on Gameday.) So Lily just pitches around Wright and Beltran and then Delgado and Easley come up and pop out.
I feel like Alou would help the lineup in two ways: 1) Give us someone who will drive the ball from the 5 hole. 2) Give Wright and Beltran some protection. Pitchers won’t be able to dance around those two with runners on if they know Alou is coming up.
yes, of course a power hitter coming up will definitely put pressure on the pitcher. agreed. hence putting delgado at 7 ,or replace,may help.
It’s a shame the only power prospect is 3 years younger than me. baseball/football young man sports.
VALENTINE STOP HIDING JAPAN FINISH THE DREAM GET THE RING! REMEMBER COMMITTMENT PASSION ! METS ARE WAITING !