On Tap Today
-
- June
- 2
Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch could be an option. Need to get to the park early today. West Coast trips have me writing an extra story (called earlies) because of the deadlines.
Will check out the Giants clubhouse to see who moved in Bonds’ locker. Morbid curiousity.
Coin Flip goes tonight for the Mets. The Giants are a team the Mets need to put away. No excuses.
Talk to you from the park.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm by John Delcos.
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Time to bench Brian Schneider. Dude has a .323 SLG. That is absolute garbage. And what’s this talk about his defense? What is he doing behing the plate that supposedly is saving the Mets so many runs? Game calling? Is the Mets ERA lower when Schneider catches. Don’t know because I don’t know where to look it up but even if he does its almost certainly due to chance :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catcher’s_ERA
I mean really!!!! What is he doing back there that is so great? I watch just about every game on TV from start to finish and I can’t tell what it is. Willie said ‘we need his defense’. Would you please elaborate, Willie? .323 SLG. Wow thats bad. .326 OBP. Also not good.
Do you really mean to suggest that Schneider is doing something behind the plate that makes up for the offensive difference between him and Castro but its so subtle that I can’t tell what it is after playing baseball through high school and watching thousands of major league games? This silliness should stop here. Schneider was a mistake. Ok, we had to take Schneider to get Church. But that doesn’t mean he has to play more than once a week.
Another thing about Willie citing Schneider’s defense as the reason for playing Schneider is that it implies that Castro is terrible defensively. That’s just not true. Castro is totally decent defensively. That’s about how Schneider looks to me. If I didn’t know about Schneider’s reputation as a supposedly excellent defensive catcher I’d rate him and Castro equally.
Taylor – he is the 8th place hitter on this team. THe offense was not built on having Brian Schneider as a key-contributer. His value lies in not just his defense, but also his pitch calling ability, as well as his handling of pitchers. His catchers ERA is 3.94, compared to the Mets team ERA of 4.05, so although the difference is small, he certainly is doing something right. It should be noted, that its the first time since 2004 where Schenider’s cERA outperformed team ERA however.
Taylor – The problem with Castro is that his body has proven to be unable to withstand the rigors of a 162 game season. Already this year he has suffered injuries. In addition, they are worried that even if Castro was physically able to start for the bulk of the season, that his offensive numbers wouldn’t hold up.
Based on your info Ravi and not knowing the #s for Castro/Casanova but based on the statement that Schneider’s numbers are worse every year behind the plate than the other catcher I think Taylor makes an excellent case. Even with the Ravi numbers they are so small as to be irrelevant. Schneider does not call a better game than Castro and is certainly not his equal at the plate. Castro also balances the lefty domination especially when Alou is out. I am very jealous of someone on the wharf. Havern’t been there for many a year. Probably wouldn’t recognize the place. Enjoy your short visit JD.
this is the first year in a long long time the Mets do not have a strong hitting catcher. He is there for his defense. He can hit 8th and be fine. Our offense when clicking doesn’t need Brian Schneider’s bat
Ravi, you make a good point about Castro’s durability. With that in mind I’d like to see them split time about 50/50. The argument about the 8th place hitter is wrong however. Wherever a guy bats, if he hits, or gets on base, it helps the team score more runs which helps win games. You seem to be saying that it doesn’t matter what he contributes offensively because he is batting 8th. That isn’t true. All contributions help regardless of the rationale for acquiring a player. And all lack of contributions hurt, again regardless of a players’s so-called ‘role’.
Taylor: His blocking of the plate has saved big runs this year. However, i’m sure as time goes on, Castro is going to get his share of playing time.
Expanding on Franco’s point, not only is this the first year in a while without a strong hitting catcher, its also the first time in a while the Mets had a strong armed catcher….Schneider has a .440 CS%, which would be good for number 2 in the NL, had Schneider have the required minimum in games played.
A question worth asking, and I think I will ask it, is if Willie thinks of trying Castro with Coin Flip to see if there’s any chemistry there.-JD
I was hoping when Willie sat Scheinder for a couple of games against lefties it would become a platoon of more than just day game after night.
Not that I am enamored w/Castro. But since neither he nor Scheinder is a great offensive weapon (albiet in small doses Castro is better) and both tend to run out of gas if they play too much, they should at least be given a fighting chance by facing a pitcher from the opposite side.
Plus, it was suggested that Scheinder’s numbers at the plate the last couple yrs faltered as the season’s grind caught up to him (although stats say otherwise).
Bottom line is that both are ok offensively and defensively and as such should play primarliy against lefties (Castro) or righties (Scheinder).
you should really understand the game of baseball before you make comments about defense. -The game’s played on the field, defense wins. The team isn’t built to build your fantasy stats. -Have you noticed that like 3 times already Brian has blocked the plate and tagged the runner out? -Piazza and loduca never did that in their career. -The dude also calls a great game, the catcher anchors the pitching staff. Think Pelfrey’s recent success has to do with losing the mouthpiece, or listening to veterans and having them call the game? Don’t knock Schneider, the dude’s a godsend. Castro is good, but has totally prived he can’t play a full season (even with regular off days) so we have a great platoon. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the game instead of trying to nit pick everything that’s wrong with the team. -How about this? Support your team….I feel like us old schoolers now not only have to deal with yankee fans, but all the newbies and their lost attitude.
Newbie?
just to clarify, I’m not calling you guys newbies, I don’t know you, but I’m talking about these new die hard fans I run into who know nothing of this team as little as 3 years ago…
No sweat. I do recall a play recently where the runner slid into Schneider’s shin guard and was tagged out but I can’t recall the game. That was nicely done. I actually hate the rule that allows catchers to do that, it just seems nonsensical to me that you can block a runners path to the base, whether you have the ball or not, but that was very nicely done by Schneider and saved a big run.
I don’t get why Schneider has no power at all. He doesn’t look like he’s weak but he does not hit the ball hard. He only has 4 extra-base hits all year so far. He’s listed at 6’1” 195lbs. That’s not small.
Schneider’s placement of his feet are a success because of the gentlemanly way the game is played today. If he did that in the 70’s he would be knocked out of the game just like Ray Fosse. It protecting the platye against a weak slide. Its not really blocking the plate. I give him credit tho. He does do that. But how can you givehim credit for calling a game when his c-era is higher every year than the other catcher? I think that is an illusion about his game calling. And I don’t see an arm any batter than Castro’s.
Everybody has excellent points on both sides which is why they should probably be platooned.
As for 8 spot don’t disregard its importance. Valentin in 2006 made that lineup so much more powerful with a strong threat in the 8 hole.
I’d try the Boudin Bakery – the Sourdough Bread Place at the Wharf. It’s a Museum and an eatery. Very interesting and very tasty.
From what I remember from that ballpark is the pressbox looks like it has a really good view of the action.
gosh, no self respecting person would go to the west coast and NOT go to In N Outs first thing…Heck, i’m a vegetarian now but I would be hard pressed to n ot go there (even just for fries and shakes!)
Guv, Schneider wasnt exactly dealing with the 1970 Oriole staff in DC and Montreal was he? Its a pleasure to watch a catcher shut down the opponents running game. Its been way too long. Castro was lazy on a pitch the other day, didnt even move his body and the pitcher got charged with a WP. One or two games a week is all he will be playing.
I don’t understand yur point Ray. Earlier it was posted that Schneider’s Catcher ERA was higher than the other catcher on his team for the last several years. Who the staff was is irrelevant. Based on that stat he did not do a good job calling the game compared to other catchers. How else can you measure calling a game?
Who got Barry Bonds’ chair and 52” television?
On the other side of the spectrum, RIP Bo Diddley. The coolest guy ever. No Rolling Stones today (yesterday was “12 by 5”). Look up the machine with the original “shave and a haircut two bits”.
GUv, you can’t really compare cERA and say one catcher on the team is better. What you don’t know is what pitchers they are catching.
Say Castro always caught Santana, and Schneider always got Pelfrey. Logically, Castro would have a lower CERA, although it certainly doesn’t mean that he is “better”
Even last year in DC, it was Schnedier and Flores (a raw rookie). I would guess that Schneider got the tougher assignments, maybe the rooks that needed more help, at times, which could certainly account for the difference.
In any case, he is better overall than Loduca was last year, the pitchers seem to like him, and he is only signed through 20098. Given the weak state of catching overall in both leagues, and the dearth of prospects in the Mets system, I say we are lucky to have someone this good!
Oh, I do agree that Castro should start at least 2x a week, and I expect he will, which should probably help both of them have better years..
I’ll take your point stick. Its too much research for anyone other than Elias to handle. I’ve never seen the stat by pitcher. I’m not saying he isn’t better than LoDuca. LoDuca wasn’t a catcher. He positioned himself there, that’s all. But I have no problem with Castro offensively or defensively. If Willie goes platoon I’ll be very satisfied, and you should too because there are more righties for Schnieder to start.
Guv, the post of yours that I answered you said Schnieder had a higher cera than all other catchers. You didnt say it was all other catchers on the team. My point being His pct. would naturally be higher if it was against other catchers in the league. All I have heard is great things about how he works with the staff and spends time on gameplans that others who have been here didnt.
I do not understand the love for Castro. The past two years he doesn’t get into 50 games. He is always hurt and when he does get in for extended periods his bat is weak.
He is good for short spurts, but I guess you always love the sub.
I agree that Schneider’s D is not what we were led to expect, but in the spring I remember reading how he was always called away to speak with the coach’s to get on the pitching program rather than batting practice. I have also read how both Santana and BigPelf have called him out for helping them. In the last game he got more agressive in getting the pitcher to go after the opposition when they got the lead.
I have never heard anyone call out any previous catcher in recent memory for helping out the pitchers.
Ok Sadecki; I meant catchers on his team. Now I understand your comment!
Perez and Castro sure look like a winning combination. 6-0 so far
But Vargas and Castro were an excellent combo.