NY Mets Week in Review: 3/15-3/22

by Jesse Liebman

Editorial. Photos by AP News

It seems that for the better part of the decade, the New York Mets found new and inventive ways to lose on an almost daily basis. Last year was more of the same. Not to mention the fact that the roster was decimated by injuries, and manager Jerry Manuel was forced to rely on a number of young call-ups from the minors.

But a new season brings new optimism; at least, it should. There are still a lot of uncertainties facing New York as they prepare for Opening Day down in Port St. Lucie, especially the guys who will be taking the mound.

If the Mets brass has done its homework, the team may finally be able to answer the questions surrounding the bullpen-by-committee that is the Mets’ pitching staff.

The big story this week was the spring debut of closing pitcher Francisco Rodriguez, who threw seven pitches to retire the St. Louis Cardinals and earned the victory after Angel Pagan hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to seal the 6-5 win.

Keeping it Close

by Tom Nieradka

Editorial. Photos by AP News

Coming into this season of baseball many predicted a tight race between the top three teams in the NL East. The defending champion Phillies, the young Marlins, and the bullpen-buffed Mets were all considered to be possible division champs or wild card winners. And just glancing at the standings only two games separate the top dog Phillies from the Mets, with the Marlins sitting right in the middle. This is pretty much how it should be right? Well coming from a New York sports fan, I would have to say absolutely not.

Now I don’t know how or why it happened, but someone from Philly seems to have cast some sort of VooDoo spell on the New York Mets. Perhaps it was former Mariner Raul Ibanez, who in the process seems to have doubled his own power before being hit with an injury of his own. Or could it have been the flyin’ Hawaiian Shane Victorino? We may never find out, but the effect on the Mets has been nothing short of grievous.

The first victim, oddly enough, was first baseman Carlos Delgado. A hip injury early in the season has kept him out of the lineup and on the DL, and he is looking at an August return if all goes well. Second was speedster Jose Reyes, who after trying to play through a hamstring injury has been sidelined since late May and is looking at a post All Star Break return. Someone else looking at a post-ASB return is center fielder Carlos Beltran, who is having issues with a bone bruise in his knee. And those three , aside from being the most important, are only the beginning.

We can’t forget about backup outfielder Angel Pagan, who was getting a bit of hype of his own before he was hurt during the season. And from a pitching standpoint who can forget about offseason re-signined free agent Oliver Perez? Despite being awful his first starts of the year before heading for the DL with a knee injury, that’s a 12 million dollar contract the Met’s have on the bench. Starter John Maine is also having problems of his own with shoulder fatigue. Neither starter is expected back until after the ASB. Back in the bullpen, former closer JJ Putz is out until mid-August with an elbow injury. And though many people are forgetting this guy, closer Billy Wagner due to surgery he had on his left elbow.

It just seems to never end for these poor Mets. For a second, imagine your favorite team without three of its four best players. What would Red Sox nation do without Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, and Jacoby Ellsbury? How would the Yankees be doing without Big Tex, A-Rod and Cano? In the rotations imagine not having your three and four starters. Wakefield and Penny are gone (actually not a problem for the Sox with that deep pitching). It is more of a problem for the Yanks without Pettitte and Joba. It’s just sickening having such a great team, but so many injuries.

Many would say that the Mets are losing because of sloppy fielding. But with a whole team playing out of position on a nightly basis how can it not be sloppy. I went to a Met game the other night, and was not surprised to find a AAA lineup. I counted two everyday starters on the entire field, maybe three if I give some them a break in the outfield. Oddly enough the game that I was at Tim Redding pitched well, something that happens but once in a full moon. Without the kind of quality pitching and hitting that the Mets need, what can they do?

All the Mets have to do is keep it close and try to wait out the injuries. Losing near 40 HR power in Delgado is tough enough, let alone losing 50 plus SBs from Reyes, as well as the great all around talent of Beltran. If the Mets can stay near the top of the standings and keep it reachable, hopefully when the get a full lineup it will be the Phillies choking this year. Until then, all we can do is hope that Johan can throw shutouts every outing, and pray that the Sheff can get some of his swagger back.

Backwards No More

By Tom Nieradka

Editorial. Photos by AP News

The NL East is finally back on its way to normalcy. The Nationals are firmly at the bottom, the Mets, Marlins, and Phillies are jockeying for first, and the Braves are somewhere in between.

This is a far cry from just a few weeks ago where it looked like the Marlins were going to run away with the division and the Mets were on their way to missing the playoffs yet again. At least this time they would have melted down early so we could have gotten the “METS CHOKE AGAIN” headlines out of the way well before the playoffs. Things have a way of evening out though. The good teams start doing well, the crappier teams starting playing crappier, and the Nationals just keep on losing.

The Mets are currently on a seven game win streak, their last loss coming when then starter Oliver Perez gave up four runs in two innings to the Phillies, a team that he had an ERA under 1.00 against last season. Now Perez is in the pen, and the Mets are getting great performances from pitchers coming out of nowhere. Jonathan Niese threw six innings of two run ball against the Pirates, and the struggling Maine and Pelfrey managed to pull it together against the Braves and the Phillies. And let’s not forget about the old guy, the 34-year old Livan Hernandez playing for his ninth MLB team. Oddly enough, he’s looking like the Livan of old, throwing good games against the Braves and the Pirates. Earlier in the season, the problems had been the starting five, but it’s looking better and better for the Mets pitchers. And with Tim Redding on the way to recovery, hopefully the Mets will be in the clear as far as starters go.

And there’s a reason I didn’t mention Johan yet. Johan deserves his own paragraph. Sorry Tim Lincecum, but this year’s Cy Young looks to be headed to New York. And Zach Greinke, you better consider yourself lucky that you’re in the AL. Johan is off to a monster start, going 4-1 with a near microscopic .91 ERA (best in the NL by half a run). But that’s not the best part. He’s also struck out 54 in only 39 innings, putting him in the top five in K’s. Now here’s the kicker. And this is one of those things that sucks, but is good at the same time. The Mets have never given Johan more than 4 runs of support. This was one of the issues that he had last year (the bullpen being the other), but this is kind of a blessing in disguise. If he can win four out of six starts with less than four runs of support, what’s going to happen when the Mets start giving him those runs? The last three games the Mets have been on a tear, scoring at least seven runs per game. And if the Mets lineup can keep scoring, Johan should be able to keep on winning.

He should, that is, if the pen can hold it up. Aside from awful run support, last year the Mets blew the most saves in the majors (29). Out of 28 quality starts that Johan had, he only managed 16 wins. By comparison, John Maine had 11 quality starts and 10 wins. This year’s improved pen should be able to hold out quite a bit more. Over the off-season the Mets purged almost their entire bullpen, and added the likes of J.J. Putz and K-Rod. So far K-Rod has been worth his weight in saves, allowing only two earned runs all season thus far. Setup man Putz has fared slightly worse, managing a 3.50 ERA that has to come down if the Mets want to keep on winning.

And let’s just forget about Sean Green, the other guy who came from the Mariners in the Putz deal. He’s not quite Home Run Heilman yet, but he’s getting there. But judging from the pitcher friendly nature of Citi Field and the fact that he’s not giving up a ton of home runs yet, maybe Ground-Rule Double Green is more appropriate.

But aside from these few blemishes, it’s really the unknowns that have been saving the Mets. Rookie Bobby Parnell has a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings. Brian Stokes has yet to give up a run. Also still waiting to give up a run is the 40 year old Ken Takahashi, who made his MLB debut after the Perez meltdown and held the Phillies scoreless over two innings. It’s all of these guys that need to pull it together for the starters to keep the Mets in the game. And if the pen can pitch like they have been so far, the Mets are headed to the playoffs and Johan is headed to his third Cy Young.