The FREAK

Oh, Tim Lincecum. I hope the Cy Young award takes the sting out of that marijuana possession charge. Although I don't think anyone was shocked by that story - and interestingly enough, it has pretty much disappeared from the press. Probably because no one was surprised.. unlike the Michael Phelps incident. Anyway, I'm happy with this decision too. Lincecum is one of those pitchers who just always seems to put in a solid outing. I really enjoy watching him pitch because he looks freakishly out of control while actually being completely in control. He's always in THE ZONE. Out of the three pitchers in contention for the NL Cy Young, Lincecum is the one I want to face the least during the season.

And, not to take away from Lincecum's award but who knows why we should be excited today?? That's right - starting at midnight, free agents are up for grabs! I can't wait for the Mets to go shopping this year (the Holliday joke was there, but it was just too easy..). I'm looking forward to some aggression in this year's free agent market and I really, REALLY hope the Mets can deliver.

Congratulations, Zack Greinke

The only time I saw Zack Greinke pitch this year was at the All Star Game and on SportsCenter highlights (which I think is insane and hope will be fixed next year by having MLB Network pick up some more games). Greinke has a great story and, based on interviews I've read/seen, is incredibly humble and down to earth. It's nice to see someone like him win this award - not only did he deserve it, he was the one thing worth watching on the Kansas City Royals this year. A win/loss record shouldn't be everything in Cy Young voting, and this year the writers got it right.

Also, I know that the comments on espn.com are not representative or indicative of everyone in sports. But seriously - do people really think Zack Greinke will be going to the Yankees? This is a kid with a social anxiety disorder. New York would be the worst place for him to play. I would even argue that he needs to be on a team like the Royals in order to experience the level of success and dominance he had in 2009. Greinke is someone who is never going to be comfortable with attention and the spotlight. Leave him where he is, give the team a chance, and give KC fans someone they can look forward to watching.

Last thought - Mike Pelfrey needs to give this guy a call. Greinke says that he credits a new mental approach on the mound to his success this past year, and if there was ever someone who needed a new mental approach.. well, it's Mike Pelfrey.

Pitching and Defense

These are my baseball cornerstones because they go together. As a pitcher, there is nothing more frustrating than poor defense when you are doing well (unfortunately, I speak from experience) and good defense can put together quick innings and keep a pitcher on his game. This off season, I am far more concerned with the starting pitching than the "power outage" of 2009. Yes, the lack of home runs was shocking, disappointing, and cause for concern - but there are other ways to score in the MLB, especially when you play in a park the size of Citi Field. I also think that with a healthy line up, home runs will increase because I think that protection in the line up is very real. But I digress.

The Mets' starting rotation scares me in a bad way. We have Johan Santana coming off surgery, Mike Pelfrey who spends more time pacing the mound and yelling at himself/licking his hand than he does pitching, John Maine off another injury-riddled year, and Oliver Perez who just makes me want to cry. My guess at this point is that Nelson Figueroa will be our fifth starter. What kind of rotation is that?! We need to find a solid number 2 starter to eat some innings and take some of the pressure off of Santana, Pelfrey, and Maine. We know the Mets have been considering John Lackey, but I wouldn't be opposed to tossing Ervin Santana and Randy Wolf into the mix either.

Santana is coming off a mediocre season at 8-8 and his 5.03 ERA might scare the seemingly offensively challenged Mets - but I think he could be a good fit because from what I've seen he is a fly ball pitcher and Citi Field is the kind of place where fly balls become outs not home runs. I like Randy Wolf because he had a solid year and more importantly threw 214 innings, which is something the Mets desperately need with their question-mark filled rotation.

As for the defense... 2009 made me long for the infield of 10 years ago: John Olerud, Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordonez, and Robin Ventura. The best infield ever. They were so smooth, always seemed to be in sync with each other, and never made me nervous. In 1999, Ordonez made 4 errors at shortstop the entire season. This year, Jose Reyes made 5 errors in only 305 innings. Those stats are not only on the shortstop, because a good first basemen will save errors for his teammates but the difference there is staggering. The Mets need a return to fundamentally sound baseball. Good defense can pick up a struggling pitcher and breeds confidence.

When you're dealing with a starting rotation with this many question marks, you need to be able to count on the defense. Having the ability to score runs is essential - but defense keeps you in games. Just ask Johan Santana, who had a record of 0-1 and an ERA of 0.0 after Opening Day.

The Daniel Murphy Experiment

Daniel Murphy has put every Mets fan in an interesting spot. He is the player you want to root for – seems like a nice guy, everyone says he’s a hard worker, and he internalizes poor performances which gets him sympathy. The only problem is that 2009 has left us all with the question of whether or not Murphy can cut it as an every day player.

Now, I am a firm believer that mistakes on defense have a negative effect on your offensive performance. If that is actually true, then it’s really no surprise that Murphy hit .266 with 12 home runs this past season. I don’t know who had the brilliant idea of taking a career infielder and allowing him to learn how to play the outfield at the major league level – but it clearly did not work. I don’t remember how many games Murphy’s miscues in the outfield cost the Mets, but it was at least two Johan Santana starts (and with this rotation, those are games the Mets can not afford to lose).

I think the front office is divided on how to handle Murphy. Right now, he’s an adequate utility player but someone somewhere believes that Murphy has the potential to hit .300 with 20-30 home runs. That would be great – but I don’t know many people who agree. From what I’ve gathered, the Mets are high enough on Ike Davis that they don’t want to block his entrance to the majors with a big first baseman signing (Side note – I really hope Davis and Josh Thole are the real deal. Anyone else remember Alex Escobar?). In that case, I could live with Murphy at first if his defense continues to improve and his numbers increase slightly.

Part of my frustration with Murphy also stems from the fact that it doesn’t seem like the Mets are finding him the right guys to work with in order to improve. I think Murphy’s defense at first base was much better than it was in the outfield, but there is still room for improvement. I know that Keith Hernandez and John Olerud were both lefties as fielders, but they were also both Gold Glovers. And they could both help Murphy out at the plate as well, particularly Olerud because his production was more similar to what the Mets are looking for out of Murphy. I hope it all comes together for Murphy he can at least make it through 2010 with some decent trade value if nothing else.

Today's Pet Peeve: Woodwork Fans

Also known as Bandwagon Jumpers. You know who you are - you're the ones with a loose, if any, affiliation with a given team until they have success. Then you all come crawling out of the woodwork proclaiming your "fanhood" loud and clear. This is not a shot at the Yankees, because every team has "fans" like this. It's just that the ones for the Yankees have more opportunities to make themselves known. Another Woodwork Fan characteristic is not being able to understand the emotions involved with wins and losses. I can say with pride that, although it is not healthy, the Mets affect my emotions on a daily basis. Woodwork Fans are the ones who try to talk to you about being eliminated from contention. Getting knocked out of the playoffs. Things that no fan wants to discuss immediately after (or in the case of 2006 for the rest of the year. I honestly blocked out that the Cardinals had won that World Series until recently). And they also feel the need to go out of their way to let you know about situations you'd rather not talk about or even acknowledge. I am close friends with/related to many true Yankees fans. You know how many of them contacted me last night? Zero. They don't want to waste their time rubbing my face in it, they want to celebrate. They know that anyone who isn't a Yankees fan either A) saw and is disgusted or B) is completely apathetic. And why ruin a Championship buzz with that?

On the bright side, at least this horrific season is finally over. Thanks to FOX and Bud Selig, it took until November 4th... but it's over. Time to move on to important things, like free agents, deadlines, and off season moves.

Game 6.. I already feel my blood pressure rising

I’ve realized that I almost never agree with the “Keys to the Game” presented by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (and Fox for that matter). So I’m writing my own this time around:

The Phillies need to get to Andy Pettite early and often. They have had moderate success against the Yankees bullpen, so it’s important for them to chase Pettite after 6 innings at the most (4 or 5 would be ideal.. but let's not get greedy here). They need to give themselves a chance during innings that aren’t the 9th because I’m pretty convinced that Mariano Rivera is actually a robot. In order to do that, I think they’re going to need big games from the following people:
Jimmy Rollins – He’s a catalyst for them and when he is on base, good things generally happen. The issue with Rollins is that he is not a typical lead off hitter, although he has been putting in quality at bats recently. Everyone in the line up should be working the pitcher, but with Rollins getting the first at bat of the game it’s even more important. Take a strike and let your teammates see some pitches.
Ryan Howard – I have to believe that the Yankees will start pitching around Chase Utley… which means they will start facing Howard with men on base. Howard is batting .158 in the series at this point. I personally thought he showed some signs of seeing the ball better during Game 5 but maybe that is just wishful thinking. During the regular season, strike outs accounted for nearly 30% of the outs Howard made at the plate. He has to put the ball in play tonight.
Pedro Feliz – The Phillies need to get some pop out of the bottom of their order. So far Feliz has 4 hits – one of them being a clutch home run. He knocked in 82 runs and batted .266 for the Phillies during the regular season, and he needs to play more of that kind of baseball and less of the kind that makes him bat .180.

The Yankees are in a similar situation – for them, the key lies in getting Pedro out of the game so they can take advantage of the patch-work bullpen the Phillies have going on right now. One way to do this is to freeze him during the time he is on the bench (also known as have 1,398,735,098,735 meetings on the mound) because this is the AL – no swings or base running to stay warm for the pitcher. For them, that means a couple of guys either need to keep their game at its current level or step up:
Johnny Damon – Damon is having an amazing series. He is just ALWAYS THERE. He never goes away. One of my friends told me last night that Damon is the guy he is most scared of in the Yankees line up and I believe it. Batting second puts Damon in a crucial spot – if Jeter is on base, he can hit and run and if not, he will find a way to get there himself and then he will wreak havoc.
Nick Swisher – Strangely enough, I don’t personally think that Swisher’s biggest contributions come on the playing field. He is the guy that keeps everyone else relaxed and ready to go. That being said… being that guy has to be difficult when you’re not producing. At all. The Yankees need Swisher to come up big even if it’s just for one at bat tonight.
Mark Teixeira – The fact that Teixeira is having a terrible World Series has somehow escaped the wrath of the New York media and fans. It's probably because they are still winning... more likely because his Gold Glove is saving his ass as well as errors and runs. If Teixeira suddenly starts hitting the cover off the ball, the Phillies could be in some real trouble.

One more reason to hate the Yankees

How in the world can this possibly be justifed:

[Jeter is] also a New York institution and Yankee legend with the likes of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth. Except there's one thing Jeter may end up with that none of those other Yankee heroes had. There are plans to have a bridge named after him in New York.

If you want to name something like a bridge after someone posthumously, I say go for it - it's a nice way to recognize accomplishments. But seriously, Jeter is still alive, and STILL PLAYING. For once coming from me, this is not a rip on Jeter, but on everyone else - get some perspective.

On another note, the World Series is at least staying interesting. Although part of me wishes it would just end so I could be put out of my misery this season and start focusing on important things like trade deadlines. If this thing has to keep going, it had better last 7 games so the Phillies can crush all the Yankee hearts, hopes and dreams simultaneously.