Catching up: K-Rod, Beltran, and Interleague Play

I find it fairly interesting that being unemployed has given me fewer opportunities to post over the past week or so. I guess there was something about being forced to sit at a computer all day long that enabled me to write more. Anyway, a few interesting scenarios have presented themselves concerning the Mets. Let's jump right in.

First, my dad wants the Mets to cut K-Rod (along with Jerry and Dan Warthen). His logic behind this is that he is tired of the attitude surrounding him and the bullpen by association. Dad used the weekend Yankees series to justify his point of view: up 4-0 on Friday night, the Mets started the ninth inning with Raul Valdes. I guess I understand trying to get K-Rod a day off if at all possible since he throws a ton of pitches every outing... but isn't it more important to secure the win in the first game of the series at Yankee Stadium? Then on Sunday, with the Yankees leading 4-0, was there ever even a question about who was pitching the 9th? The Yankees just want to close out the game, and that was my dad's point. Sadly, I could not really come up with a coherent argument - other than that Mariano is a robot and so it's unfair to compare other closers to him.

Next, we've actually got some positive news on the Carlos Beltran front. With Beltran set to start a rehab assignment, we're looking at having him back just after the All-Star Break. The thing I'm having the most trouble understanding is why this automatically means Angel Pagan will be relegated to a bench player. First of all, we have no idea if Beltran is even physically capable of playing center field at Citi on a regular basis. Secondly, has anyone been watching the games this season? I like Jeff Francouer and I respect/appreciate that his arm in right field has an effect on runners trying to tag up - but Pagan is absolutely blowing him away in terms of offensive numbers AND he plays solid defense. Jose Reyes and Pagan have been SO successful at the top of the order, I just can't wrap my head around breaking them up. This will definitely lead to some interesting debates in the upcoming weeks, and I never thought I'd say this, but I'm pulling for Pagan to remain in the lineup.

Finally, I am so tired of listening to people talk about how the American league is "superior" to the National League. Why can't we accept the fact that they are different, with teams constructed differently out of necessity - and that this does not necessarily make one league better than the other. And somehow, the fact that the AL has more completely inept teams than the NL always gets lost in these arguments. I'll admit to a bias here because I (obviously) follow the NL and I despise interleague play - I think it's an outdated post-strike fix - but the comparisons are just ridiculous. So far in interleague, the Mets have split the season series with the Yankees, swept the Orioles and Indians, and taken the first game of their series with the Tigers. I'm not seeing this superiority everyone keeps talking about.

WOW - 6 game winning streak with FIVE on the road?!

The Indians and Orioles might be playing beginning-of-a-Disney-movie brand of baseball right now, but they are good for something: getting struggling teams back on the right track. I think it's unfortunate that these teams are this terrible, but the Mets needed a road confidence boost, and I'll take that in any form I can get it.

The Mets haven't exactly been playing flawless baseball themselves, but the Orioles and Indians have just been dying to give games away with errors and poor all around fundamentals. The pitching for the Mets continues to be strong and they have been embracing small ball (have you ever seen 7 infield hits in one game?!) with the occasional home run to spice things up now and then. I like watching this team play baseball, and they are finally finding ways to win rather than finding ways to lose.

Also, Johan's last start has made me think it's time to stop using the phrase "Santana didn't have his best stuff but..." because I think at this point, this IS Santana's best stuff. He still has the ability to dominate a line up, but he is not the same pitcher he was a few years ago. Time for everyone - Santana included -to come to terms with that. He is a fighter and he will make in-game adjustments to get the most out of his pitches, but he's simply not the same pitcher as the one we traded for. There's nothing wrong with that, because he'll still get the job done extremely well, and I'm looking forward to see how he makes the changes at this point in his career.

Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey takes the mound against Cleveland tonight looking to go 5-0 on the season as the Mets try to finish off a sweep of the Indians. Let's go Mets!

Mets split DH with Padres, take series

The day and night segments of the Mets double header against the Padres yesterday could not have been more different.

On a day where Johan Santana actually got some run support (ok, it was only 2 runs, but that's more than he's gotten in his last two starts combined) he had no command. Santana struggled and gave back the lead and then some almost instantly. Mat Latos completely shut down the Mets, with the exception of Henry Blanco's two-run home run in the second inning. And of course, David Eckstein was right in the middle of everything the Padres put together. Once Latos was taken out, the Padres' bullpen took care of the rest. I'm not buying into the Padres for the entire season - but if their bullpen holds up, they might make me look foolish.

But last night, the story was Jon Niese. That kid was absolutely cruising, hurling a complete game one hitter. Niese did not walk a batter, retired the last 21 hitters he faced, and only a third-inning double by Chris Denorfia kept him from a perfect game (or no-hitter. Mets fans aren't picky there since we're still waiting for our first one). He was just completely locked in from the first inning and it was incredible to watch.

Games like that give me hope for the upcoming road trip. If there was ever a time to start winning on the road, it's against the Orioles and Indians. In order for the Mets to make the jump from a .500 team to serious contenders, they need to get a nice little streak going on the road to get their confidence levels up. At Citi Field, this team looks like they could win the World Series. It's every other major league ball park that's presenting a problem at the moment. R.A. Dickey takes the mound against the Orioles tonight (I think the logic there was that a knuckleballer can mess up a team for an entire series). The Orioles have just 17 wins on the season and it's time for the Mets to take advantage of their ineptitude.

Mike and Ike!

Anyone else remember that candy? That was the only thing I could think of following the Mets' 2-1 extra innings win over the Padres last night. Mike Pelfrey continued his brilliant 2010 campaign, throwing 103 pitches over 9 innings (78 of them for strikes!) and allowing 1 earned run. My favorite stat of the night: he didn't go to a 3-ball count once in 9 innings. I absolutely love watching him pitch right now. He doesn't get derailed by things that sent him off the deep end just one year ago. He works quickly, throws strikes, keeps the defenders in the game, and gives them a chance to win every single time he's on the mound.

It's really too bad Mets couldn't get more than a Jose Reyes home run off of the Padres' pitching staff during the game, because Big Pelf deserved the win last night. But at the same time, I'm happy Jose was able to hit one out, because a no decision is better than a loss - especially with a performance like the one Pelfrey had last night. AND of course the team won, so personal stats really shouldn't matter as much.

And then Ike Davis - man, I love this kid - gave the Mets the win with a no-doubter in the bottom of the 11th, erasing what had been a disappointing night at the plate with one swing. Davis has really impressed me with his maturity and poise so far. He says and does all the right things and just seems normal. He's the kind of guy I would buy a drink if I met him in a bar, regardless of the fact that he's a professional baseball player.

Johan Santana gets the start tonight - hopefully the Mets can have a break out game offensively and get him - and the team - a win. We're really cruising at Citi Field this year, which makes at least half of the games exciting and fun. Plus, it's Johan and his starts are always awesome. He's the original "gives the Mets a chance to win every time" guy... now we just need to show some spark and get him some run support!!

Odds and Ends

I don't really have a theme here but it's been a few days and there are some random things on my mind. Including the fact that the Mets swept the Fish over the weekend! I love beating the Marlins because 9 years out of 10 they are just ankle biters who screw up the standings in the NL East (particularly when it comes to the Mets). And then there's always that one year they randomly win the World Series, immediately followed by a panicked fire sale because they are a small market team with no fans and therefore can not afford to keep their players. But I'm sure a new stadium will fix that problem.

Next up, I owe someone on the Mets an apology.... Angel Pagan, please stand up. As I'm sure most of you remember, I was sippin' a TON of Pagan Hater-ade last year and during spring training. I have to give Angel credit though: his base-running instincts have improved by leaps and bounds, his defense is MUCH better (occasional bad fly ball route aside), and he has been one of the only offensive constants in the everyday line up. And I learned that he takes the young Hispanic guys under his wing and helps them learn English - which has nothing to do with his ability to play baseball, but sways my opinion of him nonetheless.

Also, seemingly overnight, the Mets made some rosters moves that fans have been screaming about for WEEKS. Gary Matthews, Jr. was designated for assignment and Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez were placed on the DL. Of course, since this is the Mets, there is an official inquiry regarding Perez - the timing was just too perfect with Jon Niese eligible to come off the DL, plus it's not exactly a secret that the Mets have been begging Perez to go to the minors. To be honest, I really don't care at this point because, as previously stated here, I'm done with Ollie P. All these roster moves and improvements by certain players add up to the Metsies having a little fight in them this year, which means it's actually fun to watch baseball again!

Finally, I realized that on the heels of Armando Galarraga's not-perfect game, I let something very, very important fall to the back burner: Ken Griffey, Jr. announced his retirement. That announcement hit me hard. Back in the day, I wasn't a huge Junior fan... something about his home run pimping act bothered me. But as I got older, I began to appreciate him more and more. Seeing highlights of his time in Seattle makes me realize now how much I missed out on by being indifferent for all those years. I was happy when Junior went back to Seattle for the 2010 season because I like to see things go full circle. I'm sad and disappointed that retirement was the right choice for him, in the midst of a bad season on an even worse team. Ken Griffey, Jr. was an icon, and this is truly the end of a baseball era.

The Mets host the Padres tonight at Citi Field - let's keep up the home hot streak and pay back the Pads for taking that series last week!

Dear Johan - I'm sorry.

I don't quite understand why the Mets are seemingly unable to shut the door on the opposition after Johan Santana leaves the game. In his past two starts, Santana has thrown a total of 15 scoreless innings - and has received two no decisions for his trouble. The bullpen appears to have run into a wall, and to be fair, a lot of people anticipated that with the way they were (ab)used for the first month of the season. That's not entirely Jerry Manuel's fault because there is only so much you can do when two-fifths of your starting rotation is lucky to make it through the fifth inning. However, we're beginning to see the ill effects of this and it is only June 3rd.

Last night, Santana turned in seven scoreless innings... and then it got interesting. K-Rod came in during the 8th inning looking for a four-out save. Except we forgot about David Eckstein. This guy never goes away. EVER. I'd love to have him on my team, but as long as he's playing against me, I hate him (just not in the way I hate Chipper Jones, Jorge Cantu, or Willie Harris - this is respectful hate. And yes, there is such a thing in sports). Anyway, Eckstein turned in yet another terrific at bat and singled up the middle to bring home the tying run. Since K-Rod essentially screws himself into the ground and/or flies off the mound after he throws, he was absolutely nowhere near a ball that a pitcher with less freakish mechanics probably would have fielded. Before we knew it, we were in extra innings, and the 2010 New York Mets don't ever want to be in extra innings.

Sure enough, Adrian Gonzalez hit a walk-off grand slam off of Raul Valdes. Valdes hasn't looked right since he tossed those five innings in relief of John Maine. I don't know what the problem is, but he doesn't seem to be as aggressive going after hitters. Or maybe he just can't throw strikes. Either way, the bullpen needs a shot in the arm.

It's frustrating for me to watch Santana continually turn in quality starts - real quality starts, not that 3 runs in 6 innings crap - only to watch the bullpen blow the game. In 12 starts this year, Santana is 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA. The scary thing is, even his ERA is being affected by one outlier because of that awful start he had against the Phillies. WHY CAN'T THE METS WIN FOR SANTANA? I'm going to refer to him as the Zen Master from now on because that is the only possible explanation for how he hasn't killed anyone in the bullpen yet.

One last thing - Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers should have pitched a perfect game last night... except first base umpire Jim Joyce blew the call on the 27th out. After watching the replay following the game, Joyce sought Galarraga out specifically to apologize for the mistake. According to many players, Joyce is considered one of the best umpires in the game today. This might honestly be the worst blown call we've seen this season, and it's a shame it had to cost Galarraga a perfect game and a no hitter - and that Joyce will be remembered for it.

A tale of two teams

Have you ever seen a baseball team with multiple personalities? Look no further than the 2010 New York Mets. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a team take 5 out of 6 from the defending National AND American League champions... to then go on the road and drop 2 out of 3 to a Brewers team that is just pathetic at home. Do the Mets have some sort of identity crisis? I mean, they go through these stretches where they play good, fundamentally sound baseball and look like they can compete. As soon as the fans become cautiously optimistic, they have a road trip and erase all their good will. Last year, everyone said that Citi Field was in their heads (in a bad way) and now it seems like that is the only place in which they can win. Their saving grace right now is that no one in the National League East has been able to run away with the division because everyone is having problems.

When the Mets started a three game series with the Padres last night, I was borderline optimistic. If there is another ball park where the Mets can play "Citi Ball" successfully, it would be Petco Park. Except for the fact that someone forgot to tell Hisanori Takahashi. I never expected Takahashi to be a starting rotation savior. I was hoping to ride his hot streak a little longer just to bridge the gap until Jon Niese can return to the rotation. But Takahashi and the bullpen had a meltdown last night en route to an 18-6 beat down by the Pads (by the way, the Padres and Nationals are tied for first place on my "Surprise teams in the NL" list. Did anyone see EITHER of these teams coming? I know I didn't).

There were some highlights - down 6-1, the Mets battled back in the fifth inning, helped by a Jose Reyes triple that scored two runs. And Jerry found a situation to use Oliver Perez, the stubborn SOB who apparently would rather be used irregularly as a mop up man than accept an assignment to Triple A and be able to actually HELP the team.

I'm done with Perez and his antics. I wish the Mets weren't on the hook for so much money from that damn contract, because I would send this guy packing in a heartbeat. Apparently Ollie is one of those guys that just wants to collect his paycheck regardless of performance. I guess that's ok... but for the love of everything that is good and holy, WHY does he have to put the rest of his team and the fans through this? Doesn't this guy have any sense of professional pride? He's an embarrassment right now and I can only hope he is committing career suicide by refusing to go to Triple A and work out his issues.

The Mets send Big Pelf to the mound tonight, which automatically gives me hope for the game. With a win tonight, the Mets will still have a chance to take the series - and might actually win back to back road games for the first time this year in the process.