Another “Mini-Series”

I am not a fan of the two game series, or the “one night stand” of the baseball schedule if you will.   The sole reason is it screws up how I follow the Mets.

Two games isn’t enough to allow me to truly gauge how the Mets match up against a team at a particular time.  If you win both, you feel dirty saying you swept your opponent because it is only two games.  That leaves you with splitting or getting swept which still sounds awful even if it is only two games.

Regardless, the Midwestropolitan research staff scoured the Bitchin’ Internet for some thoughts about what to expect the next two days.

Nats Still Offensively Challenged

Even with a healthy lineup, the Nats didn’t exactly showcase a murderer’s row.  Along with Ryan Zimmerman, Rick Ankiel is injured (right wrist), so their lineup is even less scary.

Nat fans seem to doubt that Adam LaRoche will heat up.  He is currently hitting below the Mendoza Line at a .196 clip.

Crafty Pitching Ahead

Livan Hernandez and Tom Gorzelanny will provide the pitching, which means we are in for two games of pulling our hair out trying to figure out why the Mets aren’t rocking the hell out of them.

These guys, particularly Hernandez, thrive on mixing up their pitches so hitters don’t know whats coming.  They certainly aren’t going to blow anyone away.

What To Expect

Prior to Wright landing on the DL, I felt the Mets should take both of these games at home.  Now the lineup seems a tad bit different so I have changed my mind.  I see a split occurring as either Livan or Gorzelanny will wind up frustrating all of us to no end as they provide a one run win for the Nats.

On a positive note, I am looking forward to seeing how Ruben Tejada performs in his return.  I am also hoping Pedro Beato continues his fine pitching that he displayed prior to his injury.

Mission Accomplished in The Tigers Series

I wanted a sweep.  You wanted a sweep.  We all wanted a sweep.

It would have been great if Hisanori Takashi showed up and was Terrific Tak.  I would have loved for David Wright or Ike Davis to come up with a hit in the seventh inning with the bases loaded.

It just didn’t happen.

Those are the breaks sometimes when you follow the National Past Time.

It would be prudent to keep in mind, the Mets accomplished their mission against the Detroit Tigers.  They won the series.  A sweep would have been icing on the cake.

Winning this series shows the rest of baseball that the Mets are a team that is going to be tough to beat, especially at home.

Besides winning series against divisional rivals like the Phillies and the Braves.  The Mets have shown they can beat the other division’s better teams.

They have series wins against the Yankees, Tigers, Padres, and the Dodgers.

I continue to be encouraged by how this team plays, no matter who the opponent.

Rueben Tejada Makes Me Say Luis Who?

I’ve mentioned in the past that the Mets’ defense is an underrated reason why they have had success.  Rueben Tejada has been an obvious upgrade at second base defensively.

He came up in a good situation.  Coming in to replace an injured player, I expected him to help out defensively and didn’t expect anything from him offensively.

Just like all the other Mets that have been called up to play, he has taken advantage of his opportunity.  He currently has an eight game hitting streak and owns a .260 batting average.

Tejada has also been able to cross home plate at a nice rate, thanks to Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan.  Rueben has scored nine runs in the thirteen games he has played  since his call up.

His play has caused me to forget about Luis Castillo almost entirely.  He is definitely going to make the Mets think twice about what to do with Castillo when he is ready to come back.

Jonathon Niese: Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back

I have no idea why, but the theme of the 70’s TV show, Welcome Back Kotter, keeps playing in my head in reference to the return of Jonathon Niese.

When I put things in perspective, it isn’t like he was on the DL for several months, or he is the Mets’ Cy Young candidate returning either.

It might have something to do with the fact he replaced Oliver Perez on the roster and that he is a young, home-grown, pitcher that has showed signs of being a quality starter for the Amazin’s.

His performance yesterday sounded (I was blacked out from watching the game) like it couldn’t have gone any better.

I had some concerns, based on the fact that the Marlins were very right-handed heavy and they do pretty well against lefties.

No worries, as Niese gave the Mets a return that was better than expected.

His line is impressive.

Seven innings pitched, six strike outs, only one walk and one run allowed.

I will try not to expect this every start, as it is wise to keep in mind that he is a young pitcher that will undoubtedly have some bumps along the way.

Wright, Davis, Francoeur, and Tejada

The offense was carried by David Wright,  Ike Davis, Jeff Francoeur, and Rueben Tejada.

Wright was two for three, driving in three runs, which included this monster blast down the left field line.

Ike Davis collected his first four hit game of his career as he went four for four, scored three runs, and drove in one.

Jeff Francoeur continued his hot streak with a two for four performance that included an RBI.

Rueben Tejada will be just fine if he continues to come up with one hit a game.  Especially, when they are of the two run double variety.

On Deck

The Mets go for the series sweep, as Hisanori Takahashi hopes to rebound against the fish.  He will oppose Ricky Nolasco.

Home Sweet Home

Is there anyway we can convince MLB to move all of the Mets’ road games to Citi Field?

The Mets get another win in Flushing bringing their home record to 20-9, which is the best in the National League.

Dickey Does It All

Not only did R.A. come up with his fourth quality start in a row, he increased his batting average to .385.

Dickey went two for three, drove in the Mets’ first run, and scored a run as well.

The workman like Dickey improved his record to 3-0 pitching 6.1 innings while striking out four pesky fish.

He allowed three runs, seven hits, and walked four.  His ERA is 3.20 for the season.

Dickey is the Mets’ third best pitcher and I’m starting to believe he can cement himself in the rotation for some time to come.

The Offense Does Enough

I wouldn’t say the Mets bats looked amazing but they got the job done.  They didn’t give up after they found themselves down 3-0.

As a matter of fact, they bounced right back in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own.

Rueben Tejada got into the mix right away with a lead off double.  R.A. Dickey drove him in with a single.

Jose Reyes followed with a single of his own setting up a potential big inning.  The inning was dealt a severe blow as Angel Pagan hit into a double play.

Thankfully, Jason Bay delivered a big two out double that scored Dickey.

The Mets were able to add another two runs  run in the sixth inning as David Wright walked and Rod Barajas doubled moving Wright to third.

Jeff Francoeur came up with an RBI single that tied the game.  Rueben Tejada then drove in the eventual game winning run on a ground ball to the right of Hanley Ramirez that proved to difficult to turn the double play.

Franky Continues To Walk The Tight Rope

Francisco Rodriguez decided to introduce a new edition to his tight rope act.

The wild pitch.

F-Rod’s save was full of drama, as usual.

He was able to strike out Wes Helms and get Ronny Paulino to ground out to short to start the inning.

Then the fun began.

He proceeded to give up a single to Chris Coghlan and a walk to Gabby Sanchez.

To make things a little more interesting, he introduced the wild pitch to his repertoire which placed the tying and go ahead runs into scoring position.

Sanchez’s walk also brought up Hanley Ramirez, exactly the hitter you want to face in the bottom of the ninth with runners on.

This appearance had a good ending as Franky was able to get Hanley to ground out to David Wright.

Fortunately or unfortunatley, depending on how you look at it, my MLB TV on my computer crapped out so I was forced to “watch” the last inning on Gameday.

I’m not sure what is worse.  Having to visualize the almost meltdown, or wait for Gameday to take what seems forever to update each pitch.

Niese Returns

Sadly, I will likely be blacked out from watching today’s game, so I won’t be able to watch Niese’s performance.

The trials and tribulations of being a Mets’ fan in the Midwest…….

I am excited to see how effective Niese will be returning from his hamstring injury.

The timing of his injury was unfortunate as I thought he was learning how to be an effective starter in the bigs.

Ask And You Shall Receive

Yesterday, I felt as if I had a direct pipeline to Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel.  I decided to write about three things that needed to change with the Mets’ offense.

The post was produced first thing in the morning.

By late afternoon, the Mets had made some roster moves that made two of the changes I suggested.

In case you missed it, here are the changes they made:

Luis Castillo Needs To Be Placed On DL or Traded

The Mets placed Castillo on the DL and brought up Rueben Tejada, who wound up starting last night’s game and driving in the eventual winning  run on a fielder’s choice.

Toby Hyde does an excellent job writing the Mets Minor League Blog.  For a nice writeup on Tejada, click here.

Tejada is actually a very good defensive shortstop and has shown he can perform at second base.  He is only twenty so it would be wrong for us to expect that he becomes an offensive superstar right away.

Tejada’s Recent Offensive Statistics

	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	SF	BB%	SO%	XBH%	BABIP
08 FSL	131	497	114	19	4	2	41	77	8	5	.229	.293	.296	4	7.39	13.87	4.50	.265
08 HWB	24	86	20	3	1	0	7	14	2	2	.233	.284	.291	2	7.29	14.58	4.17	.270
09 AA	134	488	141	24	3	5	37	59	19	3	.289	.351	.381	2	6.69	10.67	5.79	.319
09 AFL	17	59	15	4	0	1	6	9	4	0	.254	.338	.373	1	8.82	13.24	7.35	.280

Gary Matthews Jr. Is Not an Option

Apparently, Henry Blanco is a little banged up, so the Mets used this opportunity to designate GMJ for assignment.

In his place, will be Omir Santos, giving the Mets a third catcher.

Frankly, I don’t quite understand the move.

If Blanco is banged up why not place him on the DL for 15 days?

It would have been interesting to see Jesus Feliciano brought up and how they handled the 40 man roster.

Beggars can’t be choosers.  I am much happier with Santos on the bench than GMJ.  Omir was able to come up with some big hits last year so he is a better option as a pinch hitter.