There are 98 games left to this season. History says there is time to turn it around. But, what we’ve been watching so far says that is doubtful.
Have you seen any sign, any glimpse that they are capable of turning it around and making a run for the playoffs? Or, have you given up on the season?
159 Comments
I’m delighted Wright is hitting .424 against lefties. The problem, though, is that 75% of his ABs are against righties, against whom he’s hitting .225. Did you catch his AB against Pena last night? He’s getting overwhelmed by righties this year, largely because he appears to be trying to pull everything.
The last time Wright’s BA was over .300 was on April 23.
And, finally, you shouldn’t be comparing 25-yr-olds with their career averages: They’re still in the process of establishing themselves, still on that upward career arc. If anything, they should be looking to surpass career averages until about age 30.
Oh, the Mets won yesterday? I told you guys to wake me up when they win at least 8 or 9 in a row!!!! You know, I am so sick and tired of turning points of the season, and hearing that this is what you got Santana for. The way this team has been playing, they’ll win 5 in a row then go out on the road and lose every game. Sheesh.
Tiff, I did not compare Reyes or DW to their career #s. I only did that for Beltran. I compared Reyes to his 06 season.
Despite DWs issues with RH he is 10th in RBI and is on pace to match his #s from the past 2 yrs accept BA.
He is struggling w/the slider. he should hit a few first pitch FB. That will keep the picthers more honest about throwing one down the middle on the first pitch.
Joel Sherman notes that if Jose Reyes were on the AAA New Orleans team he would be the youngest player at age 25.
Kudos to the Florida Marlins. It looks like they are going to stick around it the race for the entire year. To bounce back like they did these last two games against the Phillies after their cold spell is pretty impressive. That is the blueprint that the Mets should follow..i’ll take a World Series championship every 6 years in exchange for enduring some losing seasons in between.
I cant wait to read JD’s comments on last night.
Last night killed me…
I’m still emotionally drained from last night. I feel so bad for Mike Pelfrey who came within a heartbeat of Mets immortality. I guess you could say I just wrote an ode to “what could have been” this morning on my own blog.
Dan: He’d also be the youngest on the Yankees AAA roster too and the second youngest on the Braves AAA roster. AAA is no longer the last stop for most top prospects, so it’s not surprising. By the way, some guy Luis Alen on New Orleans is younger than Reyes and Mike Nickeas is the same age as Jose.
Despite my issues with Randolph, and they have been detailed on this board ad nauseum, to hold a guy accountable for not pulling a pitcher after 110 pitches and not substituting a closer at the beginning of an inning is beyond ridiculous. A starter who is 24 years old and who had been lights out all night and a reliever who is making 10.5 million dollars a year. You’re telling me he can’t come in during an inning he must start the inning? I like Wagner but give me a fucking break here people. To question Randolph’s acumen based on those examples is insane.
There was also a report that Tony Bernazard is talking Minaya out of getting Kevin Millar because Millar was a replacement player 14 YEARS AGO! Are we serious here? I am beginning to believe that the real problem with the Mets lies with Fred and his special boy Jeffy. Both seem to be clueless on how to run an organization.
Continued gaffes not helping Randolph’s cause
By Ken Rosenthal
Updated: June 12, 2008, 10:25 AM EST
Even on a night when the Mets won, manager Willie Randolph lost.
Randolph made two more decisions Wednesday night that drew scrutiny from Mets management, according to major-league sources.
The decision on whether to fire Randolph rests with general manager Omar Minaya, and his status has become almost day-to-day, sources say.
The Mets chose to retain Randolph during a meeting on May 26 in which he met with Minaya, owner Fred Wilpon and his son, Jeff, the team’s chief operating officer.
Since then, the team is 8-8, and it had lost five straight games before defeating the Diamondbacks 5-3 on Carlos Beltran’s two-run walk-off homer in the 13th inning Wednesday night.
The Mets had taken a 3-0 lead into the ninth, but the Diamondbacks tied the score on a three-run homer by Mark Reynolds off closer Billy Wagner on a 3-2 count with two outs.
For Randolph, that was the fateful inning.
First, he allowed second-year right-hander Mike Pelfrey to start the ninth after Pelfrey had thrown 110 pitches.
Then, after a leadoff single by Stephen Drew, Randolph summoned Wagner, even though statistics suggest that Wagner is far better starting an inning than when summoned in the middle.
Since the start of 2007, Wagner has entered games 84 times at the start of an inning, but only seven times in the middle.
He is 44-for-50 in save opportunities when starting an inning, according to STATS, Inc. His ERA in those situations is 2.05 ERA, and he has allowed six homers in 88 innings.
When entering in the middle of an inning, Wagner is 3-for-6 in save chances. His ERA is 7.11, and he has allowed three homers in 6 1/3 innings.
Those statistics do not excuse Wagner for allowing the three-run homer by Reynolds. But Randolph’s choice of Wagner in the middle of an inning — combined with his decision to start Pelfrey in the ninth — left him open to second-guessing.
According to the New York Daily News, Randolph apparently was prepared to pull Pelfrey for a pinch-hitter in the eighth, but the pitcher talked him out of it.
“I started to go up there to hit, and they told me I was done,” Pelfrey said. “I was kind of mad at the time because I wanted to stay in the game and I wanted to keep pitching. He came up to me and said, ‘You want this?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I want it.’”
Pelfrey had not pitched into the ninth in any of his 28 previous career starts, and had worked at least seven innings only three times. Randolph could have lifted him after the eighth, or even the seventh, and Pelfrey still would have had reason to be happy with his outing.
Instead, Pelfrey allowed the leadoff single to Drew, and the inning crumbled. The Mets rebounded, but Randolph remains an issue, as does management’s indecisiveness on his status.
“The players have the look of, ‘Hurry up, let’s get this over with. If you’re going to fire him, fire him,’” says one rival scout who saw the Mets this week.
“There’s not the desire to save the guy’s job. They realize the guy is going to go. It’s like, ‘Hurry up, let’s turn the page.”
Agony, oh agony. I see so much mysery here!! The official suicide watch is on!!!