Comments on: Mets Chat Room: The Best Pitcher on the Planet is going tonight

By: mojito

mojito — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:21:30 +0000

VALENTINE STOP HIDING JAPAN FINISH THE DREAM GET THE RING! REMEMBER COMMITTMENT PASSION ! METS ARE WAITING !

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:56:39 +0000

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.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:49:08 +0000

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.

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:37:38 +0000

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…

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:35:24 +0000

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.

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:28:57 +0000

rebel: exactly.
thanx for seeing the point :-)

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:28:12 +0000

rebel: exactly.
Thanx

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:27:36 +0000

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. :-)

By: runnin rebel

runnin rebel — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:26:59 +0000

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)

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:35:22 +0000

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.

By: Eric R

Eric R — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:54:46 +0000

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.

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:04:46 +0000

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. :-(

By: clm

clm — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:57:00 +0000

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.

By: Steve C.

Steve C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:28:40 +0000

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. :-(

By: sloppy

sloppy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:41:16 +0000

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?

By: Eric R

Eric R — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:27:50 +0000

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.

By: Spiderpig

Spiderpig — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:26:29 +0000

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?

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:25:26 +0000

wheres the crazy dc guy? did he slam his head into a door yet?

By: Eric R

Eric R — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:15:31 +0000

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.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:25:16 +0000

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.