Mets Chat Room: Team still reeling; Church situtation mishandled.
-
- May
- 27
A week ago tonight Ryan Church sustained a concussion. The Mets have only gotten a handful of at-bats from his since, and consequently lost the ability to retroactive him a week.
I know they were hoping he’d only be a few days, but by definition “hope’’ means uncertainty. When the DL was a topic discussed before the team left Atlanta, there is no mistaking they blew this decision.
Carlos Delgado is benched tonight. That’s a good decision. However, the guy they should bench for a game or two is Jose Reyes.
The argument not to doing so is because of a fear “of losing him.’’ Huh? Benching him might be the only thing that gets Reyes’ attention. If they are afraid of “losing’’ him, then maybe he’s not worth keeping.
Drastic times take drastic measures.
I also have a new poll: Who is more responsible, Omar Minaya or Willie Randolph?
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 5:54 pm by John Delcos.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Why bench Reyes when he is one of the only people producing over the past month?
Franco: Producing? He’s been more in a fog than anything.-JD
He has made some mental erros in teh field and on teh basepaths, but benching him is not going to do anything. At the plate he has been doing his thing. He is waking up. He has also reached base in 26 straight games. They have much bigger problems then Reyes
The Church situation was absolutely mishandled. It was his second concussion in a short time span. That should have been an automatic DL stint.
As for Reyes, I don’t know, I’m on the fence with benching him. He has been hot offensively, but terrible defensively.
Franco: Yes and no. Reyes has all the physical skills, but something is missing. He’s not playing the way he’s capable of, or has shown in the past. He needs a wake-up call. Like I said, drastic times.-JD
JD, playing devil’s advocate here. Wright and Beltran aren’t exactly performing up to standards either and both have made some head scratching plays in the field.
Keith: True. And both should get a night off from time to time. However, Reyes is the one they keep saying ``is the catalyst’’ of this team. And, Reyes cost the Mets one game for sure, and maybe two, in Colorado because his head was elsewhere.-JD
John if you bench Reyes who should play SS.
Maybe they need to bring up Anderson Hernandez so at least
they have an option at the position who could play defense.
I do realize Hernandez can’t hit but I bet he knows how to get a bunt down.
Scott: Nothing long term. Just for a couple of days to get his attention. Not one, because he needs to know this isn’t just a rest. Give him two. And do it after his next screw-up. If you do it now, he doesn’t get the message. Next time, pull him from the game and tell him at the time he sits for two and tell him why. His replacement? For two days, Damion Easley.-JD
Well that would be great seeing the absolutely finished, can’t even play second base anymore, Damion Easley at SS and at 1B. This Reyes stuff is crap. The old farts don’t care what the press writes so go and try to totally destroy the kid. Reyes I believe has no friends on this team. He seemed so happy playing when Gomez was called up and I think when Valentin was around. Now he has Mr perfect who is not doing any better than him except he hits solo HRs when the game is a romp but talks to all the press endlessly saying nothing, and old grumpy team mates.
By the way, I have no problem with Carlos Delgado’s comment that he’s not paid to think. Sure, as a reporter it would be great for him to open up and say something juicy. It sells papers. Everyone knows that. And, who buys them? You guys. So don’t go ripping the press on this one.
Delgado is smart enough to know that an honest answer, if it were against Randolph, would get him in trouble.-JD
Man I wish you had Willie’s ear. Easley would be so good in the lead off spot. what’s he hitting?
People still buy papers? wow? how antiquated some folks still are.
hate feeling that they are not going to score.. hope i am wrong
Guv: They do buy papers. Unfortunately, they don’t buy enough.-JD
Castro should be the first string catcher. He also should bat 5th. Schneider can’t hit, and this theory of how good he is with starters has been shot to hell.
Could Castro play 1st?
Sorry Guv: There might be other catchers better than Schneider, but Castro isn’t one of them. He’s a career back-up for a reason.-JD
Sorry guy, I bought my last paper the day I found the internet!
I hear you. But, there will always be newspapers in conventional form. Can you take a laptop in the bathroom? And, it’s hard on the trains? And, on planes.-JD
The Mets are saying June 3 as a possible return date for Pedro Martinez. He has a rehab start tomorrow. My thoughts: We’ll see. Martinez is more a promise than anything these days. He’s a stripper pitcher: Such a tease.-JD
I’m still getting two newspapers every morning – mainly because I like to do the crosswords in ink, and not on the computer. (I also read about a dozen on the computer).
What’s the weather like at Shea? We’ve had bands of thunderstorms since about 2PM.
Plus newspapers serve a duel purpose in the bathroom….I am just saying….
http://www.myteamrivals.typepad.com/mr_mets_daily
John – are you saying that Pedro is a Chippendale pitcher?
“Delgado is smart enough to know that an honest answer, if it were against Randolph, would get him in trouble.”
He’s also smart enough, or should be, to realize how monumentally hypocritical it would sound for a guy making $16 million a year, who the team depended on to produce, who is hitting just north of .200 and butchering plays in the field, to even remotely hint that he feels THE MANAGER is to blame for the team’s woes.
John – where is Ryan Church now – he didn’t look very healthy in Colorado.
Train or plane books are better. I hate people on a plane spreading out a paper. And in the bathrooom I thik I can survive 5 minutes. and if I’m desperate for news I can always blast CNN. But I know there’ll always be paper.
Annie: A CT scan on Church was negative. He’s still dizzy and the team told him to stay home. I repeat, they blew this one. They should have sent him to NY the next day. This was just bad all the way around.-JD
PS: Reyes made two plays so far tonight Easley couldn’t possibly make.
Guv: Nobody disputes the guy has talent. I want him to focus, so the next time he doesn’t sit him for a couple of games to get his attention.-JD
I think that’s a good idea for Ryan, if a bit late.
John – what was your reaction to the meeting yesterday?
I agree with you about Church. With all the research that’s been done with head injuries, the Mets acted like it was 1980 and no big deal. Do you remember when the DL was 21 days? Then it was tough to decide to DL a guy. 15 days hould be a no brainer.
I think if yu want to sit Reyes/ Wright you need somebody who won’t be a disaster out there. This team doesn’t even have adequate subs.
Guv – Seems like there are a lot of concussions in all the pro sports nowadays even with helmets.
Delcos, I’ve been reading your site for a while and lately I’ve been amazed at how poor your content has become. You’re negative about everything, a win even seems to be a negative. Santana could throw a no-no tonight and you’d write an article about how even that type of performance every fifth day couldn’t save this team. Your writing is garbage, the oly thing that makes this site readable is educated fans.
John: I read that Delgado may sit out tomorrow too. Do they really think that two nites off is gonna make some sort of difference for him?
BTW…what are the odds on Pelfrey getting demoted to make room for Pedro?
Something that’s not gotten as much as attention as it might have (if Willie had kept his mouth shut last week)...but what’s the deal with Johann and his velocity? There’s been reports over the last two weeks that he’s lost at least 3-4 MPH off his fastball…any thoughts?
Seeing that catch Beltran just made reminded me of how some people aren’t big fans of him or have unrealistic expectations of the type of player he is.
And many are guilty of this and I can’t understand why. He makes very difficult plays look routine. And think about the other centerfielders in the major leagues, not many are as good as Beltran offensively.
I mean who’s better?
Josh Hamilton?Chris Young? Those guys are good but they’re not better, even the BEST centerfielders like Ichiro and Grady Sizemore are on par with him and not better.
I just had to get that off my chest because alot of people don’t like Beltran and don’t think he’s “worth it”.
Some people seem to think he’s the type of guy to hit .350 with 50 HR’s and 120+ RBI’s or something.
Annie: I suspect the way they diagnose them now is different.
RMKMets: If the Mets play Delgado, people bitch, if they sit him, people bitch. Which way do you want it?
Bolton: You aren’t Metsfan with a new alias are you? Delcos tells it like it is and his content on this site is awesome. I love reading about the players and their pregame rituals, etc. Besides, there is not much positive about this team of late and I think he’s been fair in terms of his content.
Guv: My point is that I don’t think sitting him will make any difference. He is what he is. I think they should just cut him and eat the money at this point. The only problem is that they don’t have a viable replacement (way to go Omar!)...sitting him to let him “clear his head” is a desperate move if I’ve ever seen one
Delcos—don’t take that abuse from Ski Bolton. Hit ‘em with the line about hiding in his basement in his blue-and-orange underwear…
Regarding Church: The real mistake was playing him as a pinch-hitter this past week. If he had simply sat on the bench, they could have retroactively DL’d him.
Benny – about Beltran. We’ve just been discussing concussions and I personally think that Carlos was changed forever as a player when he and Mike Cameron collided in the outfield in San Diego in August of 05.
Guv – Are you taking a poll about Delgado? If so, I say Goodbye Carlos.
RMKMets: what else can the manager do? He doesn’t make the decision to cut Delgado. In ‘06 he benched Floyd for a 3 game series in milwaukee. It didn’t help Floyd but it made Valentin. So you never know what might happen somewhere with a move like that. I’d rather him bench Delgado than Reyes.
Benny: good for you. You are right on about Bltran.
Gotta give some credit where it’s due…Fernando Tatis has hit pretty well so far since being called up, so Omar appears smart for keeping him around in the organization. I guess we’ll see how long it lasts though…
After a nice debut Evans has come back down to earth fast…
Yes, a poll is good. Take down the Omar/Willie poll and lets have a poll about Delgado. Thumbs up or down. I vote with you and RMK, eat the dough and go young.
Benny: The problem with Beltran is that he can’t carry this team. When he was on the market, Boras tried to market him as the next coming of Bonds….he’s not been good, but not close to that.
The other problem with Beltran is when he makes dumb moves like last nite when he tried to bunt with men in scoring position. That’s indefensible and stupid and it’s something he’s been doing since he’s been here. If he’s gonna do that kind of crap he should NOT be batting cleanup
Its nice to see some 2 out hits today. Tatis is looking pretty good. Nice find by Omar.
With regards to my last post, I’ll admit that Beltran batting cleanup has a lot to do with Willie’s stubborness too…still you do what you’re told. If Beltran is batting in that spot then he has to not be a bonehead and play with some intelligence there
Ski Bolton: Considering your spelling and grammar that excludes you as being educated. I’ll tell you what I tell everybody. If you want to learn something, hang around. If you’re content with looking at the Mets as being flawless, then I refer you to Tiffany’s comment and wish you happiness on your planet.
As far as being negative, we are talking about a sub-.500 team, aren’t we? Why don’t you check out http://www.get-a-clue.com? Cheers.-JD
To Benny Blanco: Welcome back. Nice to see you again.-JD
I disagree about the bunt. he was bunting for a hit not a sacrifice. Bases loaded nobody out is good. He may be batting fourth but he has 4 homeruns. He’s not a clean up guy. I’ll take bases loaded nobody out all the time, even with this hideous in the clutch team.
Did I just hear Howie say that Santana threw a wild pitch???
Three straight games with an error by Reyes. He’s just careless.-JD
Annie: That’s a passed ball in my book.-JD
I knew the error would get a comment. He saved two runs with great plays but this play was definitely sloppy. Note to big Pelf. When a guy makes an error, you don’t have to lay down and get bombed immediately afterwards.
RMKMets, that’s exactly the point!
Because Boras who is his AGENT does his job and sells him high, all of a sudden the expectations have to increase? All of a sudden he has to become a player he’s NEVER been in his career?
Boras had a job to do and he suceeded in it.
By the way, Beltran CAN carry a team but he’s certainly not the center piece of the team, nor should he.
Beltran should not be to blame for his performance but rather its the unfair expectations that are put on him.
Should Torii Hunter be expected to change as a hitter and do things he’s never done before? He got a HUGE payday and he’s been batting cleanup and he’s a year older than Beltran.
John – OK
Guv: It isn’t fair that he gets a negative comment after two great plays, but it illustrates the problem. He has the athletic ability to make great plays, but gets sloppy on an easier play. That’s the problem. The play in Colorado was easy, too. But, it’s a play he has to make.-JD
Willie’s juggled line-up has come up big tonight. Castro, Easley and Tatis all deserve to start tomorrow.-JD
Note – Howie and Wayne are getting along very well these days – the banter in the booth is really entertaining and enlightening. They are discussing Tootsie Pops.
This is the first time I have seen this kid Evans. What I’ve seen tonight is that he looks completely over matched and clueless at the plate. If this is the mets blue chip prospect than the Mets are in trouble.
I’m not disagreeing with you. I just don’t like the punishment gig because he isn’t loafing. He’s vanishing. If you are going to sit him you have to do it like Cox did with Francoer last week. Not a punishment, but a your really strugglig and I want you to sit and have fun and be a fan today. Delgado is different. He needs to be embarrassed. He needs Cleon Jones treatment.
It’s a shame Sanchez’s has lost his fastball. Sanchez use to throw 96-97 consistently, now he throws 86-91. Because he has a great change up he he still effective but he use to be unhittable.
John – Who pitches tomorrow – Perez?
tomg: He’s not a blue chip prospect (at least not from what I’ve read). And besides, they called him up out of AA…Albert Pujols types who make that jump and adjust right away come around only once in a blue moon…
RMKMets,
I see, my mistake.
JD,
Why doesn’t Castro get more starts against lefties? Schneider played over his head offensively for the first month, but now the Mets could use Castro’s bat against the southpaws.
It’s amazing how snake bit this club is, nothing seems to go right. Wright smokes one in to a double play and they don’t even score a run. It looks like it’s just going to be one of those years when it’s not your year.
Excellent base running by Endy. Did he think the squeezse was on? I guess big mouth can get a cheap two run lead save tonight.
Howie has put this game in the books – good for everyone.
Is it asking too much to hope tonight’s victory leads to some kind of a run???
http://www.myteamrivals.typepad.com/mr_mets_daily
With another lefty tomorrow, I’d put the exact same line-up for tomorrow.
Azy: Agreed. You have to reward those players who came through.-JD
I just figured that they don’t want to DL Church because… calling SOMEBODY up to fill his spot would show even more how embarrassingly lacking the Mets organization is for positional depth and…
To avoid the embarrassment, they avoid doing the right thing.
Sort of like… you know.
How Castillo and Delgado are still starting players and all.
John, I think no matter what Reyes says he has the weight of the world on his shoulders right now with the “as Jose goes, so goes the Mets” I don’t think he is careless, as much as I don’t think Wright was careless when he has gone through his fielding slumps every year, Reyes just is not letting the game “happen” he is trying to make it happen, a bad strategy.
Church: they should have DL’d him knowing that a 2nd concusion takes as long or longer to recover from then the first. But as someone mentioned, if they DL him, who do they bring up (Mets luck can’t be any worse-they could have seen what FMart could do but he is hurt too).
Reyes: His numbers project to 06 except for BA and runs scored. Give him a break. But if he is in a fog or is ticked off, that could still be b/c of a poor relationship w/Randolph. Heyman on the FAN said they never resolved their issues w/the benching last yr b/c Reyes was miffed that he was singled out. So if true, either Randolph goes or Delgado goes (see below).
Delgado: I think the benching against lefties has started. And as far as his not talking to the press about Willie, I think it is clear that he does not like Willie from his non-answer to the questions posed to him. Plus, if you notice he is always the one that encourages Reyes to do the dances outside the dugout. I don’t care if they dance, but Delgado appears to be influencing Reyes to piss off Willlie (my conspiracy hat on here). So, either Delgado goes to get rid of that issue or Willie goes.
The bench: might as well play Easly, Castro and Tatis at this point b/c Delgado, Endy and Schenider are not hitting lefties.
Evans: put him back on a plane that will land in NYC a half hr before the game (like in Col), so that he stops thinking and just goes out and plays.
Concerning Church: do baseball teams ever communicate with other sports (hockey, football) about how to handle concussions (where they are more frequent)? I won’t say I knew Church was in trouble when he had a second concussion but the thought crossed what passes for my mind.
Let’s go Mets!!!
John: You are right on about Church; I am a Neuropsychologist and can tell you that rest was what he needed. There are protocols to follow in sports medicine re: concussion evaluation. He should have been screened for cognitive and physical symptoms daily. There are simple rating scales that would monitor his progress that trainers in most sports are routinely taught to do. Their mistakes are unbelievable! Say what you will about NFL and NHL, they seem to routinely do these screenings and err on the side of caution. He should have been DLed and seen the Neurologist and a Neuropsych for screening immediately. I’d be glad to help the Mets get the training—it’s really not that hard to get. UNbelievable!
Howard in NJ
PS Hope Church gets better soon.
Heyman, is more interested in “creating” drama than writing about facts.
John –
That was a real professional response to Ski Bolton. You lost the high ground there.
Let’s take a look at some stats shall we? Name the player:
For the month of May
95 at-bats
14 runs
29 hits
5 doubles
2 triples
4 home runs
13 RBI
10 walks
305 AVG
364 OBP
526 SLG
890 OPS
Those are pretty good numbers.
Ed, John is more than fair, he gives an honest assessment, and is just wondering aloud about things, someone comes on his site under a completely goofy name and basically craps on him?
He handled it exactly as he should, if you have something to say, you say it with some sense of a spine, just as you did, but John was plenty within bounds.
My honest assessment is…........Reyes is far from the problem of this ballclub.
I just think its kinda silly to point to him when Delgado is batting near .200, beltran isnt hitting for power, and Aaron Heilman cant get anyone out.
Reyes has not been sharp defensively, but he has picked it up offensively in May as Ed pointed out…..its silly to sit him now. You’d be taking a bat out of a lineup thats already missing two key guys in alou and church.
Patrick
I chuckle because most “mainstream media” types like to belittle “bloggers” for being unprofessional. What john did was no better. He pointed the guy to a comment from a poster who used the old “in their basement in their underwear” joke. Then posted a fake website as a link. How is that within bounds?
A professional columnist who gets upset when a player does not like something they write shuold be able to take the heat when someone comes onto his blog and posts a negative comment and not stoop down to a low level with a retort.
Frankly, I think John is overly critical of certain players (Reyes this year, Milledge last year) and not critical of other players (Wright, Beltran).
Players can go into fielding funks just like they can go into hitting funks. Wright does it with his throws. Reyes is having it with his glove lately.
Fielding is as much about mechanics as hitting is. You need to get in the proper position, and watch the ball into your glove. If your mechanics are off, you are not getting your body in the right position, or the glove is not in the right spot. Your arm slot could be off on throws. There are many moving pieces to making a play.
Maybe the right idea is having him take some extra fielding practice with Sandy Alomar Sr. Back to basics.
Benching Reyes…eh…they can give him a day off and just call it that..but to say that they are benching him would be stupid. No need to do that especially since he has been on base,what..28 games in a row or something like that? Did anyone else notice the great Jeter getting picked off at 2nd last night in a very important situation? And of course they botched the Ryan Church situation…what else is new with this organization when it comes to obvious injuries.
It was also very nice to see Santana hit 94/95 on the radar gun a few times last night. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come with him being a great 2nd half pitcher.
Getting Reyes back on the coca should help his focus.
Sadly the gun was off. Either that or the Gameday data is incorrect cause it has him topping out at 93.3
I agree about Church – he should have been DL’d immediately. Reminds me of Beltran’s phantom injuries that automatically show up as soon as he slumps but the management refuses to DL him, causing strain on the bench. I know CHurch has been the hottest Met so far this year, but is he more important to attempt to win games the rest of the team seems to cash in on during the 4th inning – or have him healthy for the division push in the fall? If it comes to that of course, but I still have hope.
I think we are all too hard on Reyes – he does seem to be in a fog, but who ever calls DW out on the mental gaffes he makes. I remember a game last year that was a cluster bomb from the word go – it was against the Marlins, one of the last series of the year in Miami – Wagner had back spasms and couldn’t come in to close out – when the Mets had been down most of the game and came back to score 3 runs in the 9th. Sosa comes in and did OK – but DW has a throwing error and the Marlins come back to tie and then subsequently win. I think we can argue that had more damage than Reyes having brain farts in the field against a non-division rival. He’ll come around. Could it be he has the Carlos Delgado syndrome where he starts messing his defensive game when his offense goes down? As someone else said (and the broadcast said last night) he has reached base 26 straight games. Remember – D-dubs had a hitting streak from the end of 2006 till April 2007 and no one really noticed because his power numbers declines. Reyes will come around – believe it.
Well I think SNY’s gun has been pretty true this year as it really has shown from what I recall, Santana being consistent at 90/91. So i’m going to take the 94/95 he hit a few times and put it in the bank.
Looking at all his starts….only broke 94 three times. There’s really not a whole lot of difference between 94 or 92 tho lol. For what its worth fangraphs has him averaging around 91 mph with the FB, two years ago it was around 93.
The gun last night did have Wags up to 98 at times and gameday is 96…..again not a huge difference. Seems to be off 2 mph. Ill go with Gameday for accuracy.
I will be concerned with Santana if it is August and he is still pitching like Al Leiter circa 1999 through 2001, not that this is specifically terrible, but not what the Mets are paying for.
Oh more concern was the enormous wrap on his arm last night, good grief.
Yeah, there’s no WAY Reyes is the problem on this club.
Is he distracted a bit in the field? Yeah.
But he’s hitting and… not a lot of this team is doing that.
A lot of guys get that way when the club is tanking it and the manager is running around blaming the in-house television coverage and playing fake race cards.
No offense, Mr. Delcos, but your bias against young enthusiastic players is showing again. You inexplicably… if you weren’t driving the “Run Milledge Out of Town” Bandwagon, you were certainly the first guy on board.
Now Reyes boots a couple in the field, while more than making up for it with his bat, and you’re railing on him instead of… Delgado and Castillo who should both be forced into retirement by some kind of arcane legal argument?
I don’t get your bias.
Is it some sort of “wanting to be old-school” thing?
Patrick: It’s alot of ice. No cause for concern
Johan isnt pitching poorly at all. Im not sure what people are expecting here.
Unfortunately there is a whole lot of difference between 92 and 94.
Not really. Pedro (when healthy) was getting by with alot less then that. 92 mph isnt bad.
John: Who said he was pitching poorly? Is he pitching up to our expectations? No. But he certainly isn’t pitching poorly. The best is yet to come for him IMO.
Santana is the least of the Mets problem. If the Mets are going to depend on Castro and Tatis to drive in runs especially with two outs than the Mets are even in worse shape than I thought a few weeks ago.
To chime in on why it appears met fans don’t like Beltran is because he never comes through in the big spot. If you watched last nights game he comes up with bases loaded and nobody out
and what does he do, pops out and nobody scored. If it wasn’t for castro and tatis the mets would have only scored 1 run. That is Beltran. Yes, he may drive in 30 HR 100+rbi’s but they are usually add on runs, never in the clutch. I still have that vision of him taking a ball down the middle for strike three and the final out of games 7 in 2006.
Thats just perception because he failed in Game 7 of last year.
Beltran has a career OPS of .920 with RISP. Thats not too bad :)
couple of things…A. I know it was a lot of ice, but good grief I have never seen an arm wrapped like that.
As for Beltran, I am not going to consider a first inning pop up the big spot, especially when he has hit into some of the hardest outs I have seen, all year long.
A shortstop gets picked off second, costing his team a chance at a run.
Later, he got thrown out at third making the third out in an inning.
The player is Captain Intangibles himself, Derek Jeter.
Strangely, nobody in Yankeeland is saying he lacks focus or needs to be benched.
Seem like the whole team has.
You see that line drive by Wright in the 8th?
They say typically line drives are hits 75% of the time. With the mets id imagine that number is alot lower lol. Bad luck.
To Mike C.: I did not run Lastings Milledge out of town. He ran himself out of town. However, if you’re pinning that on me, you should be thanking me.-JD
I can’t understand why people would place the blame on Omar Minaya for the team’s dismal play. Omar Minaya’s job is to bring in the best available players and Willy’s job is to place those players in the best position to succeed.
Admit it, Delcos—You were the author of the infamous “Know Your Place, Rook” sign in Lastings’ locker last year.
Tiffany – I think that John was on the grassy knoll also, truth be told. That guy sure gets around. = )
Camilo – Omar gets blame because Omar failed to bring in:
1. Backup for Delgado
2. Depth in the outfield. Alou is injury prone. Angel Pagan and Endy Chavez are not legitimate 4th outfielders. Endy is defense. Angel is a decent bat, but not great with the glove.
3. A legitimate back-up 2nd baseman. Damion Easley is not the answer. Valentin was coming off a major injury. Cutting Gotay (who I grant is not a savior) was a mistake.
He simply did not give Willie all the pieces he needed.
Oh, john did like to post little snarky comments about Milledge. Just like most writers in NY.
If anyone doesn’t think the media coverage of every last little “wrong” move by Lastings didn’t play a part in the trade, they haven’t been following the Wilpon’s.
I’m not saying Lastings was perfect. But to ignore the media’s role in the decision is to ignore common sense.
And if Lastings does meet his potential, many of those same writers (and fans) who supported the trade, will forget that part and bash the trade.
Delcos stuck around St. Petersburg when he saw it was time for a change…
There most definitely is a big difference between 92 and 94. Yes, Pedro is still a good pitcher when he is only throwing 89. But he is not as good as he was when he used to throw 95. The same is true of Johan. They have other attributes that will allow them to continue to be effective and well above average even with reduced velocity. That is not the same as saying that it doesn’t matter. Johan has been good so far but if he had been throwing 94-95 instead of 91-92 he would have been even more effective. Some of those HR’s likely would have been high fly balls or pop-ups. It matters. Johan and Pedro are still very good with reduced velocity but not as good as they would be with the old velocity. And that matters to the Mets. That difference could easily be an extra 2 or 3 wins between the 2 of them over the course of the year. And as we know 2 or 3 wins could be the differnce between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. I can’t find the study right now (I just looked all over the internet for it but I can’t find it) but it showed pretty convincingly that losing 2mph on your fastball makes you a less effective pitcher by a significant margin.
Tiffany: ``Killed the czar and his ministers … Anastasia screamed in vain.’’-JD