Hello, boys and girls, and welcome to Volume Seven of the St. Lucie New York Mets 10-Game Report.
Previous Results:
Volume 1: Games 1-10: Record: 5-5
Volume 2: Games 11-20: Record: 4-6
Volume 3: Games 21-30: Record: 8-2
Volume 4: Games 31-40: Record: 4-6
Volume 5: Games 41-50: Record: 7-3
Volume 6: Games 51-60: Record: 4-6
And the latest:
Volume Seven
Games 61-70
Record: 4-6
@ NYY L 15-0
@ BAL W 6-4
@ BAL L 6-4
@ BAL L 5-4
vs TAM W 5-3
vs TAM L 3-1
vs TAM L 10-6
vs STL W 6-4
vs STL L 3-0
vs STL W 11-0
Runs Scored: 43
Runs Allowed: 53
Team BA: 94/335 = .280
Team BA with RISP: 28/92 = .304
Team BA with RISP & 2 outs: 12/41 = .292 (Of course, their best performance on this stat would come when half the lineup is on the DL.)
HR's: 5
HR's allowed: 10
Team ERA: 87.1IP, 52ER = 5.37 (And of course, the one time they do great with the RISP and 2 outs, simultaneously the pitching goes in the tank. Ugh.
Starter ERA: 59.1IP, 30ER = 4.56 (Considering the fact that Johan gave up 9 earned runs in 3 innings in this volume, this number isn’t too bad.)
Bullpen ERA: 29IP, 22ER = 6.82 (Well, they’ve been near perfect up until this one.)
Team BAA: 93/338 = .275
Errors: 3
GIDP: 11 (I think Tatis may be responsible for all of these.)
Fielding DP: 10
SB: 8
Volume Seven MVPs
Starter: Fernando Nieve comes out of nowhere to post a 1.37 ERA in three starts. Wow.
Reliever: Sean Green appears to have righted himself, and since no one else in the bullpen was good in this stretch, he’ll get the nod.
Hitter: David Wright continues to show who the best third baseman in New York is. Yes, the power is down. DW only has four home runs. But he is hitting .350 on the year, and .407 in June with a 1.087 OPS.
Volume Seven Whiskey No Ice Specials
Starter: Johan Santana finds himself with this award for the first time this season, and he deserves it for what he did in that bandbox in the Bronx.
Reliever: Bobby Parnell has not been the same since he threw the ball 100mph at Fenway Park. He’s been giving up a lot of hits lately. But I’m not overly worried—because the stuff is still there. He’s still throwing hard and still has that good slider. He’s just in a rut. I think he will be fine.
Hitter: Fernando Tatis leads the league in GIDP.
Summary Analysis: So the Mets, or as I like to call them now – a bunch of guys and David Wright – are seriously depleted. I mean—Jerry Manuel might be placed on the DL soon with a massive migrane.
Carlos Beltran is the latest casualty. No Beltran, no Reyes, no Delgado, no Maine, no Perez. And let’s not forget that throughout all of this, for significant periods of time we were without Cora, Beltran (before this most recent calamity), Church, etc. You can’t make this stuff up.
Back to back 4-6 results is pretty bad. The first thing that should be noted is that the Mets obviously cannot continue to play .400 ball and win. The Phillies, who have been playing .200 ball lately, have allowed them to stay in the race. Somehow, these Mets are only two in the loss collumn behind the Phillies.
The second thing that should be noted about those back to back 4-6 results is that the Mets were a dropped pop-up and a K-Rod blown save away from making it 5-5 and 5-5. And those tough losses aside, the Mets have been in almost every single one of these games. They are playing and fighting very hard, and coming from this scrap heap of players—it’s actually pretty inspiring to watch.
But as I’ve said many times before, it always comes down to pitching. For the most part, despite the AAA lineup, the Mets actually got good offensive production this volume. Look at those numbers with RISP.
But then look at the ERAs. This volume was their worst with respect to pitching. And that is ultimately why they went 4-6. Now more than ever, it is imperative that they pitch well, because they are not going to score a ton of runs.
Next up for the Mets is the finale of this St. Louis series (in which Nick Evans just got a big two-out two-RBI double!), a series at Citi against their crosstown rivals, away at Milwaukee for 3 and then a makeup at Pittsburgh, and then fourth of July weekend in Philadelphia.
The Mets just need to find a way to play .500 ball until the All-Star break. If they can stay within five games of the Phillies by the time they hit the break, I think they can make a run. Take a look at that second half schedule. It really is not very tough. The Mets can do this. Believe!
Around the NL East
Phillies: 4-6, 7-3, 5-5, 7-3, 7-3, 5-5, 2-7
Braves: 5-5, 5-5, 4-6, 6-4, 5-5, 5-5, 4-6
Marlins: 9-1, 3-7, 4-6, 3-7, 4-6, 6-4, 5-5, 3-0
The 2009 Phillies are sort of reminding me of the 2007 Mets. Just like the 2007 Mets, they can’t win at home. And just like the 2007 Mets, they blew golden opportunities in June to put the division away. In 2007, the Mets went on a horrific 4-14 skid in June, but somehow—because every other team in the division was almost as bad—they remained in first place by a game or two.
The 2009 Phillies are currently in the midst of a 5-12 skid, and yet they are still in first place because the Mets have been almost as bad. If the Phillies had even been playing .500 ball this month, they’d be a good six or seven games ahead of the Mets in the loss collumn right now. Opportunities lost for them.
The Braves still stink.
Don’t look now, but the Marlins are starting to hit their stride again. They are not too far behind the Mets.
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