Changeup?, Wild Card Update, & Bay

A few quick thoughts on this glorious Saturday morning….

Changeup?  You Gotta Be Kidding Me

Right before David Wright’s huge eighth inning bomb, Keith Hernandez appropriately questioned Humberto Quintero’s call of an outside changeup by saying,

“Changeup?  You gotta be kidding me.”

This is one of the reasons I really enjoy Mex as an analyst.  Clearly he isn’t one of the most polished color guys in the biz, but he’s not afraid to question certain player or managerial decisions (even members of the Mets).

In this case, he was spot on.  Why would you throw anything else to David Wright but a 94 mph fastball or a curveball or slider on the outside corner?  Up to that point, Wright had not shown the ability to catch up to the fastball and we all know his propensity to waive at outside breaking pitches.  Also, everyone knew he is dealing with a bad back.  Maybe everyone except Quintero.

Regardless, it was great to see Wright come through with a clutch hit.

Wild Card Update

Don’t look now but the Mets find themselves tied for 6th place in the Wild Card standings.

National League
	W	L	GB	Left
Florida Marlins	22	15	—	125
San Francisco Giants	21	17	1.5	124
Cincinnati Reds	21	17	1.5	124
Atlanta Braves	21	19	2.5	122
Los Angeles Dodgers	19	20	4.0	123
New York Mets	18	20	4.5	124
Pittsburgh Pirates	18	20	4.5	124
Washington Nationals	18	20	4.5	124
Chicago Cubs	17	20	5.0	125
Milwaukee Brewers	17	21	5.5	124
Arizona Diamondbacks	15	22	7.0	125
San Diego Padres	15	23	7.5	124
Houston Astros	14	24	8.5	124

Has Jason Bay Busted Out Of His Season Long Slump?

Jason Bay had two hard hit balls last night, leading some to believe that this may be a sign that he is starting to heat up.  I certainly hope this is the case.  It isn’t a coincidence in my opinion.  He appeared to be significantly closer to the plate last night.

I’ll Let Gary, Keith, and Ron Do The Talking

Chalk up another loss that you can attribute to the Mets bullpen.  The bright side is the boys at SNY were able to bring a smile to my face in the middle of yet another Bobby Parnell meltdown.

Gary Cohen used the word beleaguered to describe the bullpen which opened the door for Keith and Ron.

There is Ronny’s straight forward,

The entire bullpen has struggled.

Keith started off with a cliche.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Then came the Pièce de résistance.  Mex at his finest.

Can’t put your thumb in the dike and stop the bleeding.

This is exactly why I shelled out an extra twenty bucks for the MLB.TV premium package.  There is no way the lame ass Colorado Rockies broadcast team can match this exchange.

For those of you that have never had to listen to out of market announcers, appreciate what you have.

Am I frustrated right now?  Absolutely.  Is it still early? Absolutely.  The only thing I can take from this game is that it was probably Bobby’s last game as the set up man for a while.

David Wright Highlight Reel

Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

David Wright was everywhere last night.  If this were little league, he would have most certainly received the game ball for his play in the Mets’ 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Offensively, he went two for three with two RBIs.  In the fourth inning, he tied the game with an RBI double, and in the sixth inning he added a home run that was a screaming line drive to right field.

Keith Hernandez commented that he felt Wright’s recent success at the plate could be attributed cutting down on his upper-cut and leveling his swing more.

Intangibles

Besides driving in his 58th and 59th runs, he again displayed why he is such a complete player.

In the second inning, Nick Punto bounced one down the third base line.  Wright charged quickly grabbed the ball on the second hop with his bare hand, and threw out Punto all in one motion.  This is a play that he is making more routinely, to the delight of Mets’ pitchers.

My favorite play of the game involving David occurred in the fourth inning. After knocking in Jose Reyes with an RBI double, Wright moved to third on a line drive single to center off of Ike Davis’ bat.  The throw from center was off-line and got away from the catcher a bit.

Alertly, Wright noticed no one covering the plate and bolted for home.

Base running is often an overlooked skill.  It is a great indicator of how intelligent a player truly is.

Pelfrey Back On Track

Mike Pelfrey returned to form as he earned his tenth win of the year.  He gave up two runs in six innings and struck out two Twins.

One of the reasons why Pelfrey has enjoyed success this season is that he has figured out how to pitch out of jams.

Last night, he found himself in a bit of a pickle with no one out and runners on first and third.   He was able to strike out the very dangerous Joe Mauer and get Justin Morneau to ground into a double play.

Josh Thole

Josh Thole made his 2010 debut last night.  I’m sure he would have preferred getting a hit, but he did a decent job behind the plate.  I’m sure there will be more from him to come in the future.

On Deck

Johan Santana takes the hill today as he faces Carl Pavano.