N.Y. Mets: The Day, The Bullpen..., Died

From the desk of:   HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:  Shoot it Now, and Send This Bullpen to the Glue Factory.


The list of the ineffective; incapable; inexcusable; incompetent; and yes, the injured, is long and still growing.  It hurts me to even compile the list for you.  Find a name in the Mets' bullpen, and it applies. What applies?  Everything but the good stuff.


Collectively, the whole lot of them have been through too much; too much abuse from opposing batters, from fans, and the media; and maybe unfairly for too long as well.  You can only whip a horse so many times.  When they can't give you any more, they just can't give anymore.  Sometimes, the glue factory calls.


Now..., we can say what we will about them.  But when does it become overkill?  We do know this however.  Sandy Alderson deserves a bushel of blame and bares a huge portion of responsibility regarding Terry Collins' available choices out of the pen.  For this gang of relievers stopped pulling their weight long ago.  Everyone knew it in May.


We may now add Tim Byrdak to the list.  The aging, sub-par, relief butcher pitcher, who suddenly forgot how to comport himself in the twilight of his career, and who likes to give his catchers dirty looks, is now done for the season, and may even be done for his career.




Here is your list of ponderous bullpen issues:

*  On April 5th, Pedro Beato and D.J. Carrasco were placed on the fifteen-day disabled list.

*  On May 8th, Pedro Beato was moved to the sixty-day list.  On May 16th, D.J. Carrasco was designated for assignment.  On May 20th, Miguel Batista was placed on the fifteen-day disabled list.  On May 29th, Manny Acosta was designated for assignment.

*  On June 5th, Ramon Ramirez was placed on the fifteen-day disabled list.  On June 24th, Frank Francisco joined him.

*  On July 22nd, Miguel Batista was designated for assignment, and on July 27th, he was released...,

*  ....Which inevitably brings us into August, and Tim Byrdak.



Omitted from this list, were the young and innocent who spent the season trafficking back and forth from Buffalo.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Mets ~ No Malcontents Allowed

From the desk of:   HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:  You Haven't Earned The Right To Glare At Anybody!


Hey!  Just shut up and pitch!  That goes for Pedro Beato, and now more vehemently, for Tim Byrdak.


The Mets can't have two pitchers now pointing fingers at Josh Thole.  How about having command of your pitches first.  I know Coach Terry took care of this in a stern way after Wednesday afternoon's game.  But had I been catching and Tim Byrdak stared me down like that, he would have suddenly become unavailable for the next day.


When you've done something credible as a relief pitcher, then you might have a leg to stand on and then maybe you can stare in at the Mets' catcher.  But as a team mate, that crap doesn't fly; not on a team I was in charge of.  WHO ARE YOU?  And what have you done?  A washed up pitcher who never had an ERA below 3.00 and who never could average less than four walks per nine innings is going to glare at Josh Thole?  No!  If I was running things, he'd have been cut right there because we're losing with him, so we can lose without him as far as I'm concerned.


No malcontents allowed!




MIKE.BTB

N.Y. Mets ~ Nats Outlast The Amazins

From the desk of:   HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:  Washington Takes Game One.

Nationals Barely Out-Last the Amazin's Tenacity.

N.L. East

1) - Nationals  -  *

2) - Marlins  -  1

3) - METS  -  1.5

4) - Braves  -  2

5) - Phillies  -  5

Tuesday was the opening game of a battle for first place against the Washington Nationals.  As such, I have a thing about winning first games.  They send messages; whether big or small; they send messages none the less.  Although, this game said a little more than I think we Mets fans cared for.

I didn't like what I saw from Josh Thole Tuesday night.  This was his first negative showing since returning from a concussion.  In the bottom of the twelfth, as in the tenth inning, Josh Thole failed to block a pitch in the dirt, which put the winning run on third, with one out.  It looked like the Mets were going to escape the inning, but Bryce Harper singled home the game winning run in the home twelfth.

Josh Thole was failing to drop to his knees and squaring his body to the pitch.  As a result, pitches in the dirt ate him up.  And visually speaking, the effort looked poor.  He's my dude, but I have to call it like I see it.  Within the inning, he corrected himself though; but too late.  The damage was done.  The Mets also suffered mightily at shortstop.  Omar Quintanilla (1), and Jordany Valdespin (2), committed a series of untimely E-6's as well.

Between Chris Young's return to the mound with five innings of work, and Bryce Harper's game winning single, the Mets held three different leads which, A) - the bullpen shouldn't receive too much blame for blowing on three separate occasions, because B) - the Mets got handcuffed on a series of infield dinks, thus forcing the defense into several unfortunate donuts.  Sometimes that's baseball.

Tim Byrdak and Bobby Parnell were victims of odd play that ensued between the eighth and twelfth innings despite pitching fairly well.  Frank Francisco, at worst was hittable.  In light of the recent DFA's Sandy Alderson initiated within the bullpen, and now having Jon Rauch's and Ramon Ramirez' injury status to consider, it is just plain unfortunate Buffalo call-up, young Elvin Ramirez was pressed into pitching a second inning of work.  By then Coach Terry was on his fifth reliever of the evening.  And the fact Elvin was even in that position (12th inning) demonstrates how dire the Mets' bullpen situation really is.

So, against their leading competition Tuesday evening, instead of seizing the day, the Mets faults were exposed.  With Thole behind the plate, and a consortium of infielders misplaying several chances at shortstop, the Mets showed their weakness up the middle.  There is no sense in continually harping on Daniel Murphy's defense.  And while Andres Torres is quite capable in center, it is clear the Mets are still defensively inefficient in the key positions up the middle.  And then, yes, the bullpen also continues to be a season long liability.

On the positive side of this game, Terry Collins managed this contest terribly well..., again.  His Boys continue to be resilient, and play with a never say die attitude.  AND, they hit with power again.  On Tuesday, the Mets tapped into their comeback abilities multiple times and held three different leads, as mentioned.

The secret is now out.  When Clark Kent isn't fumblin' around the coffee maker at the office, he's busy moonlighting as a home run hitter for the New York Mets.  When the call for Truth, Justice, and the Metropolitan Way sounded again Tuesday night, Scott Hairston stepped up and hit his eighth home run of the season in the top of the twelfth inning, to give the Mets a (then) 6-5 lead over the Nationals.

Before you knew it, Terry's Kids looked like they were going to do it again.  Well, not so fast.  This took extra innings, and they did lose.  Regardless, sometimes we don't even know how the Mets do it.  But we all know by now, Terry Collins doesn't allow his Kids to ease up for a second, even when things aren't exactly going according to plan.  Even in defeat, it is clear, the team, and their skipper, are engaged together with a tremendous amount of mutual respect.  And that's half your battle.  With yet another eye-opener, Terry's Kids are easily reviving an old Flushing mantra which has everyone calling this year's Mets, AMAZIN', once again.  And for a change, it's a pure, unpolluted, expression of the fans, and not contrived or forced by the Media.

And maybe Chris Young has shown he can be this season's answer to the Mets fifth spot in the rotation.  He allowed two earned runs and six hits in five innings.  He walked one and struck out two. If that's what we get in his first game back, then I guess there's hope for the fifth spot after all.  At least, let's agree to call the situation, promising.

Now, I don't believe in moral victories.  But I will gauge how much of a fight a team puts up in defeat.  Sometimes a team's ability to be competitive, and Baseball's Law of Averages, just clash with each other.  Like this game.

Being Amazin' again is cool.  But "Ya Gotta Believe" - that comes way later.



Mike.BTB

N.Y. Mets ~ Failed Opportunity

From the desk of:   HEAD BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:  Two Opportunities Lost.


Opportunities lost indeed.  With no Roy Halladay to face, the Mets had Cole Hamels right where they wanted him Monday.  Wednesday night, the Mets similarly had Cliff Lee right where they wanted him as well.  In both cases, the bottom of the bullpen fell out.

Monday's meltdown centered around Manny Acosta.  And it cost him his job.  After seeing what happened to D.J. Carrasco prior to that, the word is out - Sandy will cut you; no other descriptive needed.

Wednesday night, everyone who stepped out of the bullpen got roughed up.  Bobby Parnell took a second tumble this series.  Along with Parnell, Tim Byrdak and Jon Rouch, I believe are just matters of usage.  So I won't harp on a loss with regards to them.  And for the moment, it's not fair to pick on Chris Schwinden either. 

So that leaves us with Ramon Ramirez, who took his turn at folly Thursday evening.  He surrendered only his second home run this season, to Jimmy Rollins.  Thing with Ramon Ramirez is, when he's on, he's good.  When he's off, he's really off.  And he's terribly streaky.  So I hope this isn't about to begin a new string of troubles for him, and us.  This would be the absolute wrong time for that.

Guys like Ramirez and Miguel Batista just became more important to the Mets.  After all, there are only so many appendages Sandy Alderson can amputate from the bullpen, before Buffalo, and Binghampton run out; if they haven't already.  And quite obviously, what we can reasonably expect from Chris Schwinden, is negligible.  Which is to say, we have a real precarious situation on our hands, as this schedule begins to test the Mets.

For a night, or a series, Bobby Parnell, Tim Byrdak, and Jon Rauch, at least I feel, we all victims of over-use heading into Wednesday night.  And not just lately, but over all this season.  Sometimes over-use manifests itself at different times, even on the heels of recent, long and strong performances by Johan Santana and Dickey.

Losing two out of three games to the Phillies was an opportunity lost on the Mets.  In the face of mystifying offensive accomplishments, the Mets still betrayed their own timely hitting and decently strong pitching with an array of confounding bullpen performances.  These two losses to the Phillies are the kinds that haunt.  These are the ones you rue not winning.  This was a series designed to seize the moment.

What is still undeniable about these Mets however, is their ability to, if not staying in against strong opposing starting pitchers, but they also have shown they can indeed out-last them.  This was the second time against Cliff Lee this season, and they had him where they wanted him too.



Mike.BTB

N.Y. Mets ~ Late Scoring Makes Dickey a Six Game Winner

From the desk of:   HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:

It's Time To Start Talking About R.A. Dickey the All*Star.

After seven full innings pitched in Pittsburgh, R.A. Dickey achieved his career high for strikeouts in a game with eleven.  R.A. surrendered but five hits, one earned run, and walked none.

In the top of the eighth, Coach Terry was faced with leaving Dickey in the game, as he only had thrown eighty-nine pitches to that point, or pinch hitting for him, because the Mets were tied with the Pirates at one, with the pitcher due to lead off.  Buc's starter, James McDonald, was equal to the task with seven innings of one run baseball as well.  He allowed four Met hits, walked two, and struck out eight.

The scoring re-cap is easy.  Mike Nickeas singled home Daniel Murphy back in the second.  And Pittsburgh scored on a sac-fly in the sixth.

Coach Terry sent up Andres Torres to pinch hit, who promptly struck out.  So much for strategy.  Mike  Baxter then lined a double to straight away center field.  Kirk Nieuwenhuis did well to work out a walk which brought up David Wright.  But the (now) .403 Kid struck out too.  So up stepped Lucas Duda looking for a clutch two out hit.  And you know..., he came through.  He pulled righty Juan Cruz' offering past first base for an RBI single.  Baxter scored from second on the hit.  James McDonald's line was now complete and would be marked by a no-decision.

The Bucs brought in another righty, Chris Resop, to face lefty Daniel Murphy with two outs and Nieuwenhuis on third.  An E-5 put Murphy on first, and allowed Nieuwenhuis to score for a 3-1 Mets lead.  Ike Davis, who was 0 for 4 on the night, with two strikeouts, ended the threat.

Then, in came the Mets' bullpen.  After suffering the loss in Monday's game, Jon Rauch was first.  A one out double by Jose Tabata to right was followed up with a fine play by Nickeas, 2-3 for the out.  Tabata moved to third on the play and scored when Daniel Murphy couldn't make an over the shoulder catch on a flair to short right.  The game was now 3-2 Mets, with the tying run on first.  Out went Rauch.  In came Tim Byrdak to face Pedro Alvarez.  Andrew McCutchen stole second to put the tying run at second.  Then on a 1-2 pitch, Tim Byrdak struck out his man and preserved the Mets lead.  The book on R.A. Dickey wasn't closed yet.

Frank Francisco began to muster in the bullpen while the Mets took their at-bat in the top of the ninth.  Once they failed to tack on any insurance runs, the big righty entered the game in search of his eleventh save, or his fourth loss, or his third blown save.  We never know these days.

A grounder to Murphy, and a strikeout, left Pittsburgh down to their last at-bat.  Rod Barajas popped up that opportunity a mile high and Kirk Nieuwenhuis squeezed it for the last out.  And so Frank Francisco's eleventh save indeed, came without incident.  R.A. Dickey is now a six game winner versus just one loss.

Scott Hairston is still the only Met to hit a home run on this road trip.  Pittsburgh barely has more than New York.  After tomorrow's rubber game, the Mets will host the San Diego Padres - the only team with less home runs than the Roosevelt Avenue Scrappers.

In lieu of power, the Mets have five, two-out RBI, against Pittsburgh so far.  And unlike their paltry .179 batting with RiSP against Toronto, the Mets are now 4 for 13 (.308) with RiSP this series.

Even with no power to speak of, everything the Metrs aren't getting accomplished against a string a good starting pitchers this month, they've done well to take out on relief pitchers.  The Mets continue to outlast many quality starts, and score late against team's bullpens.  James McDonald's was just the latest good start and Pittsburgh's bullpen was just the latest to implode against the Mets.

Such style of Baseball is tough on starting pitcher's baseball card.  But unlike last season, when a preponderance of R.A. Dickey's quality starts were relegated to no-decisions, or toe-tagged with a blown loss, this season, the Mets are doing a better job getting R.A. wins.

His continues to be a remarkable story.  Signed out of the ether by Omar Minaya to a minor league contract over the winter of 2009-10, he's become the Mets' most reliable, and consistent starting pitcher.  While improving his staff leading record to 6-1, he also lowered his ERA to a 3.45 in nine starts.  He leads the Mets rotation with 57.1 innings pitched, by far offering the Mets bullpen the most respite.

I think it's time we starting talking about R.A. Dickey in the same sentence with All-Star Game.

The Mets came back to split two games and will play the rubber match against the Pirates tomorrow in an early afternoon matinee, before returning home.  After dropping two of three to Toronto, they can end this road trip (2-3), and bring their overall road record (11-12) this season to .500 with a win Wednesday.





Mike.BTB

N.Y.Mets ~ Terry's Kids Complete Sweep of Phillies

From the desk of:   HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:  Ike Davis Sends Philly Crowd Scattering!


Look what injuries have done to the Mets...again.  It just never stops, does it?


Rob Johnson was behind the plate in place of Josh Thole, who is now officially on the seven day DL; and who by the way, Sandy Alderson already stated would miss more games than just seven.  Rob Johnson was also behind the plate due to that pitch Mike Nickeas took on the elbow in Tuesday's game.  No one is saying that - that's just me.


Then after Coach Collins decided to sit Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda against Cliff Lee, the Mets went with the law firm of Rottino, Torres, and Hairston in the outfield.


At least Justin Turner has grown on us by now.  But at shortstop?  They do say necessity is the mother of all invention however.


Dillon Gee did his damnedest to keep the Mets close through the first five innings Wednesday against Cliff Lee.  Heading into the top of the sixth inning, the Phils led 2-1 largely based on Cliff Lee's own infield RBI single in the second.


Andres Torres; of the law firm Rottino, Torres, and Hairston; led off the top of the sixth with a triple off Lee which Shane Victorino misplayed.  Lee then baffled Daniel Murphy with a pair of curve balls for the first out.  David Wright backed up his mate with a flair base hit to tie the game at two all.


Dillon Gee took his turn in the sixth.  And wouldn't you know, Justin Turner turned assists to first for the first two outs of the inning.  But a bloop and a blast so to say, gave Philly the lead again.  Brian Schneider flared a ball to left for a two out single.  Freddie Galvis then blasted a double to score Schneider.  Laynce Nix pinch hit for Lee, and made it a 4-2 game.  For Galvis, it was his second RBI of the night.


But back came the Mets.  AGAIN!  With Cliff Lee out of the game in the top of the seventh, in came Kirk Nieuwenhuis to pinch hit for Rottino, and immediately drew a walk.  Justin Turner drove him home with a double to center.  Turner then had trouble gauging Ike Davis' liner to right field, and got held at third base on Davis' double.  Rob Johnson drew a walk to load the bases with no outs.  In the game came Lucas Duda to pinch hit.  Kyle Kendrick then hit him with a pitch to force home a run.  The Mets pushed across another run on a fielder's choice.


The Mets scored three times in the seventh of Kyle Kendrick to take a 5-4 lead in the game, and came back like they have in every game of this series.


After Tim Byrdak relieved Gee back in the sixth, into the hands of the rest of the Mets bullpen the game went.  Manny Acosta was first.  He posted a scoreless inning, highlighted by a double play and a Hunter Pence strikeout.


In the visitor's half of the eighth, the Mets picked up insurance, and even more runs against Kyle Kendrick, on back-to-back doubles by David Wright and Scott Hairston.  Out came Mr. Manuel, and off went Kendrick.  Too late though.  The second the Phils took out Cliff Lee spelled their doom.


In came El Fossil - Jose Contrearas, who put Nieuwenhuis down swinging.  Justin Turner then lofted a fly to right that Hunter Pence just dropped with Hairston threatening to tag at second.  And up came Ike Davis who made Philly pay dearly for that misplay.  He unleashed a bomb off the second deck facade in right to give the Mets a 9-4 lead.  With the rain falling out of the sky, the fans in Philly needed no more reason to start scattering for the exits.


Next out of the Mets' bullpen was John Rauch for the bottom of the eighth.  He gave up a run.  No details needed.  On to the ninth.


Andres Torres smacked his first home run of the season off Brian Sanchez to lead-off the final frame.  Daniel Murphy followed with a single.  But Sanchez would retire the next three.


Next out of the Mets pen was the yawn inspiring D.J. Carrasco to pitch Philly's last licks in a 10-6 game.  Daniel Murphy threw away an attempt to first base on Jimmy Rollins' grounder.  Carrasco then struck out Juan Pierre.  Shane Victorino popped up to Justin Turner.  Then up came Hunter Pence who jolted one off the right-center field wall to drive in Rollins with a triple.  Placido Polanco stepped up to record the third and final out of the game.


That's what you call a five game winning streak folks.  Not to mention a three game sweep of the rival Phillies ball club in Philadelphia.  And we thought we had troubles!  No Geno's for me thank you.  They make 'em better in Brooklyn.


There you go.  That's how the little engine that could did it on Wednesday night.  And that's pretty much how they swept the Phillies.


Terry's Kids!  How ya' like 'em now?





Mike.BTB