The Month Of April
The Month of April is now over and the Mets finished with an overall record of 15-9 and are a half game back of the division leader Braves. So far during the first month of the baseball season the Mets and Braves are already in a dog fight for first place switching places game by game, while the Phillies got off to one of the worst starts in franchise history. During the month of April there was some pleasant surprises and some disappointments, and injuries to go with them.
Surprises
1. Shawn Green
Green wasn't even guarenteed a starting spot in right field going into spring training, and after he hit .149 it seemed he might not even win the spot. But Willie picked his veteran Green over 22 year old Lastings Milledge and Shawn Green has responded by hitting .355 (14th in MLB) with 3 homeruns and 15 RBI's. The talk of taking Green out of Right Field, or Platooning him is now done with and we are all waiting to see what May brings for Green.
2. John Maine
Maine showed great things last year as he had a 3.60 ERA in his rookie year, but many thought it was a fluke and the league would catch on to his fastball and he would be very hittable. But so far this year John Maine is 4-0 (3rd in MLB) with a 1.38 ERA (#1 in mlb) Yes John Maine has the best ERA in the MLB, Maine during the off-season worked on his secondary pitches (Slider, and changeup) and this spring Rick Peterson wanted Maine to work at the knees more often. Well come April Maine still has a rising fastball but now keeps hitters off-balance with his slider/changeup combination. Maine ranked at #37 of all pitchers in MLB at rotoworld.com and may deserve to be a little better then that.
3.Oliver Perez
were hoping Perez's great postseason performance would give him the confidence he needed leading into the 2007 season, and so far they were right. Perez had a great spring, and when he Perez made a case in 2006 for worst pitcher in the MLB at 3-13 Perez had a 6.38 ERA, but again Rick Peterson was ready for the challenge and put his uncontrolled talent to the test. The Metsbaffled the Red-Sox I thought right there during a spring training game Oliver Perez was back. Perez has had 4 starts this year 3 good one's and 1 horrible one. That bad outing 2.2 innings pitched 7 WALKS, this coming after a game were Perez completely destroyed the Braves throwing 7 innings and walking none. The problem? Release point Rick Peterson had 4 bullpen sessions in between starts with Perez and so far the results are great 13.2 IP 6 ER 0 WALKS 18k's. So far this season Perez is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA enough to earn him a spot on my surprises.
Disappointments
1.David Wright
All spring training the talk was about moving David Wright to the number 2 spot in the lineup. What ended up happening? Wright stayed at #5 because the Mets wanted his power in the middle of the lineup. Well Wright hasn't had that power the Mets are looking for as he is batting .244 with 0 HOMERUNS 6 RBI's and 23 strike outs in just 24 games. Wright to start the season got on a 26 game hitting streak (continued from last year) and nobody wanted to realize that Wright was in a slump. Well then the hitting streak ended and now Wright's slump is one of the biggest things in the MLB. It seems Wright is trying to pull the ball to much, and is vulnerable to the outside pitch, but Wright is one of the hardest workers in the MLB and if you've been watching all the games you can see Wright is trying minor adjustments in his batting stance and his approach before the swing. Since the homerun derby last year Wright hasn't been the same player last year, but it is getting out of hand with fans booing him at the plate. We laughed at Yankee fans when they booed A-Rod now we are doing the same exact thing.
2.Carlos Delgado
Delgado had a huge slump last year for basically 1/3 of the season before getting on a monster hot streak that would land him at 38 homeruns and 100+ RBI, well this year Delgado is in another monster slump and is hitting just .188 with 1 homerun and 12 RBI on the season. Delgado's slump is very weird compared to David Wright as it seems Delgado is just getting under the ball and missing it. His bat speed is fine, and he's taking good swings he just seems to be missing the ball. Another weird stat is Delgado is hitting .333 off of lefty's and just .100 against right handed pitchers. Without Delgado and Wright hitting the 4-5 in the lineup is basically 2 easy outs and rally killers, but when these two get going watch out for all opposing pitchers.
3.Mike Pelfrey
Pelfrey pitched great early in spring and earned himself the #5 spot, but since that time Pelfrey has been just awful. Pelfrey has showed that he is not ready to be a pitcher in the big leagues as his off-speed pitchers and nowhere near ready, and his sinker is very hittable. A question I've had now with Pelfrey is did Peterson change something he shouldn't of? Pelfrey last year when called up threw extremely hard 98 MPH fastball up in the zone that just blew by hitters now if he could just throw that slider and changeup over he should be an even more effective John Maine, but Pelfrey didn't have the off-speed pitches, and Peterson transformed Pelfrey into a contact hitter that pitches low in the strike zone and now Pelfrey is at 92-93 MPH getting hammered. Entering his start tonight Pelfrey is 0-2 with a 7.90 ERA. According to everyone around Pelfrey he's having terrific bullpen sessions but just can't translate it into the games. If not to the injury to Orlando Hernandez Pelfrey's starting spot could of been on the line with his start tonight. Possible minor league call ups could be Top Prospect Philip Humber, Jason Vargas from the Marlins, and FA pickup Jorge Sosa (4-0 1.35 ERA AAA) We'll see what happens but Pelfrey did not have an April that he expected, and is hoping for a better May.
Business As Usual
1.Tom Glavine
What is there to say about a soon to be 300 win hall of famer? He was asked to be the ace of the staff and so far has done nothing but succeed. Glavine right now is 3-1 with a 2.80 ERA and could easily be 5-0 if not for bullpen implosions/bad defense against the Braves. To start the season with the cold weather Glavine had some issues with the walks because of the disease he has with his hands that he can't feel his fingers. That also prevented Glavine from throwing his Curveball to keep hitters guessing recently Glavine has broken out the Curveball, and the results are starting to show. It'll be more interesting to see how Glavine is doing in August/September to see what he has left at that point for a playoff push.
2.Jose Reyes
Jose Reyes just keeps getting better, and is quickly becoming one of the best players in the MLB. Jose Reyes now known country wide because of his fantasy baseball rank isn't disappointing his owners as he is hitting .356 (#10 in MLB) with 2 homeruns 18 RBI and 17 SB (#1 IN MLB) Reyes's walk/strikeout ratio is now 16:11 2 years ago would you ever think that would be possible? Reyes is the leading the attack against left handed pitchers who gave the Mets fits last year as he is hitting a .433 against left handed pitchers. But aside from his bat and his glove Jose Reyes has greatly improved his defense and could possibly win himself his first career gold glove. Reyes has more range then most shortstops in the MLB and could challenge almost any Shortstops arm. Possible MVP candidate on his way to another all-star game that he hopes to play in this year.
3.Carlos Beltran
and 23 RBI. Beltran told reporters in spring that he wanted to hit for a higher average Check that off and steal more bases. Well so far Beltran has 5 stolen bases, compared to his 18 all of last season so Beltran is on his way to another MVP run after he came in the top 5 last year. So far in April Beltran is hitting a BEAST .356 (#10 in MLB) and is close to #1 in the league with 6 homerunsthats a check to. Two things that Beltran did very bad last year was 1.Hitting at home, and 2.hitting left handed pitchers. So far this season Carlos Beltran is hitting a unprecedented .515 vs lefty's to go with his .347 batting average at home. Beltran has had one of the best April's of his career and will look to keep it going as he is one of the main parts of this batting order.
4.Moises Alou
Moises Alou had an April just like every other April in his career as he hit .349 with 2 homeruns and 11 RBI. Alou looked like a great pickup and the Mets were just hoping he could stay healthy. Well that wish looked like it was in jeopardy as Moises came out of yesterdays game against the Marlins and got 2 stitches in his chin, and also seemed to aggravate the right shoulder that he jammed in a game against the Nationals over the weekend. An MRI came back negative and Alou is back in the starting lineup for the Mets, just as I was about to put him on the injured list.
Alou has filled in nicely with this lineup and with Alou the Mets have one of the most potent lineups in the MLB even with a struggling Delgado, and Wright.
Injuries
We all knew coming into the season the Mets had a "veteran" team, and they would probably have some injuries throughout the season. Well as of now the Mets have 2 guys on the DL age's 38 and ill be nice 244.
1.Orlando Hernandez
Placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 25, with bursitis in his right shoulder. Hernande was having a terrific April and this was just bad news for the Mets. Hernandez was 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA (#17 in MLB) to replace Hernandez Chan Ho Park how'd his outing go? Lets just say we will never have to see him pitch for the Mets again. Hernandez was a risk when he was re-signed especially at a 2 year deal, and the Mets knew sooner or later he would get hurt, and at least this time it's not right before the playoffs started.
2.Jose Valentin
Placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 29, with a partial tear of the ACL ligament of his right knee. Valentin had a great spring training but started off April horribly and already the questions were asked "Is Valentin Too Old?" But Valentin started to pick his offense up, and his defense was lights out. Before Valentin got hurt he was a .279 with 2 homeruns and 13 RBI, even at 38 years old Valentin is one of the best and feared #8 hitters in the league. Already Valentin's great defense is missed as Damion Easley dropped a ball hit shallow to CF yesterday which opened up a big inning for the Marlins, a ball that Valentin gets to every time. As Valentin was placed on the disabled list 2B Ruben Gotay was called up, and should get a start every once in awhile vs Right Handers.
~Now to start the Month of May David Wright is batting 2nd with Paul Lo Duca batting 7th, and Mike Pelfrey will take the ball and start against the Marlins.