New York Mets Baseball

Possible Pictures For New Banner?

2008-03-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

What ever you want to do, it's up to you.. I think we should create a new banner.. 3 pictures, with Mets Prospectus across it.

The Month Of April

2007-05-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Add Jose Valentin to the list, John Maine top 50 pitcher WICKMAN TO DL

2007-04-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Jose Valentin has now been placed on the 15 day DL with a partial tear in his ACL. Rotoworld says he is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. He now join Orlando Hernandez on the DL and is the age kicking in already?

During the off-season the Mets were faced with these two 37+ year olds, and they had to make a decision. That choice? Jose Valentin 1 year 3.8 million dollar deal. Orlando Hernandez 2 years 12 million dollars.

With 2B Adam Kennedy, Mark Loretta, Marcus Giles, and more in FA the Mets decided to stay with Valentin for a 1 year commitment.

The starting pitching market was way over priced and El Duque at 6 million for this year was a good deal, though I didn't see the point in giving him 2 years as he will be 65 years old at the end of his contract.

If somebody's going to get hurt it might as well be now and not at the end of the season but with all the age on this team you have to wonder who's next?

Now 2B Ruben Gotay has been placed on the 40 man roster and will take Valentin's spot, and it seems the Mets have lost all faith in Anderson Hernandez who was already on the 40 man roster. Gotay was obtained in the Jeff Keppinger trade to the Royals.

JOHN MAINE A TOP 50 PITCHER
Rotoworld.com doing their top 110 starting pitchers in the MLB have ranked John Maine at #37. Here's what they had to say about Maine.

"When Maine was coming up through the Orioles farm system, it looked like he had a chance of making it as a fourth or fifth starter despite being rather hittable. Well, the league is batting all of .203 against him 116 1/3 innings since he arrived in New York in the Kris Benson deal. In 2007, his average against stands at 169. There's no way he can maintain that for a full season, but since he's in a pitcher's park and he has perhaps the NL's best offense supporting him, it's time to take him seriously as a top-50 pitcher."

~Look at it inside the lines pitchers park, best offense, good pitcher = Cy Young?!!

UPDATE:
from rotoworld.com

"Braves placed RHP Bob Wickman went on the disabled list with an upper back strain.

Pitching through pain may be admirable, but if Wickman had been up front about his troubles, there's a good chance the Braves would be 17-6 right now instead of 15-8. Wickman was awful in three straight appearances, blowing saves twice. The Braves didn't announce a closer in his place, but Mike Gonzalez figures to get more opportunities that Rafael Soriano."

~Tubbs

Orlando Hernandez scratched from tonights start

2007-04-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

rotoworld.com
'According to WFAN in New York, Orlando Hernandez has been scratched from his scheduled start Monday because of shoulder tightness and is likely headed to the disasbled list.

Chan Ho Park will be called up from Triple-A to start in El Duque's place against the Marlins. Park was 3-1 in four starts at Triple-A, but with a 7.29 ERA and six homers allowed in 21 innings there he should be avoided at all costs."

Wow I'm actually pretty upset about this Orlando Hernandez dominates the Marlins every time out because of their young lineup, and now we have to sit through a Chan Ho Park performance when he has a 7+ ERA in AAA.. The Mets could of easily made the phone call and said that they needed Jorge Sosa for today and not to let him pitch his scheduled start in AAA.

All I'm saying is lets hope the bullpen can keep it close..

=

Enough Said

Mets beat the Nationals 1-0 ATL

2007-04-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys really busy this weekend just going to use what Rotoworld had to say..

"John Maine threw seven shutout innings versus the Nationals today to improve to 4-0 on the season.

Maine struck out eight and walked three while yielding three hits. It looked like Maine might blow a 1-0 lead in the seventh after a leadoff double and a walk, but be bounced back to pitch out of the jam unharmed. The right-hander has an impressive strikeout rate to go with his 1.35 ERA through five starts, but he's still an obvious sell-high candidate. Facing the Diamondbacks in Arizona next time out isn't a very good matchup for him, but he still has to be used until he cools down."

~Arizona is a perfect matchup for John Maine young hitters won't catch on to the sneaky fastball, he should have no problems with that lineup.

"Carlos Beltran drove in the only run of the game in a Mets' 1-0 win over the Nationals on Sunday with a solo homer off starter Jason Bergmann.

Beltran has started right where he left off in the 2006 campaign, batting .333 with five homers, four steals, and 22 RBI in 23 games played. He's well on his way to a full repeat of last year's stellar season."

~MVP MVP MVP MVP!!

"Jason Bermann was the hard-luck loser against the Mets on Sunday after yielding just one run in seven innings of work.

Bergmann struck out six, walked three, and gave up just two hits, but one of those was a solo homer to Carlos Beltran. The right-hander has a 2.79 ERA through five starts, in large part because he's given up just two homers. He'll regress at some point, and isn't a strong option against the Cubs on Friday."

~Poor guy well the Nationals only have 1 thing because they didn't score a run.

Don't forget about the bullpen, Aaron Heilman came into the game in the 8th let up 2 hits and a walk left the game with the bases loaded and Scott S. got the final out. Billy Wagner closed the game and that was the game. David Wright had another walk and thats 34 straight games he has reached base.

Atlanta lost a heart breaker to the Rockies today 11-9 in a 11 inning game.

"Bob Wickman blew a save against the Rockies on Sunday after giving up two runs while retiring just two batters in the bottom of the ninth.

Wickman entered a 9-7 game and promptly walked three of the first four batters he faced. An infield single and a groundout scored two runs to tie the game, and Wickman was pulled after hitting Chris Iannetta to load the bases. Luckily for Wickman, Tyler Yates retired Clint Barmes to send the game into extra innings. Wickman blew a save two outings ago and then gave up three runs in a non-save situation on Friday, but unless he's hurt, he's still going to get the next save opportunity the Braves generate. Should he continue to struggle or require some time off, Mike Gonzalez would likely step in."

~See what people didn't understand last year is that Wickman had success because nobody in the league had seem him before, it was obvious the league would catch on.

"Scott Thorman went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBI in a 9-7 loss in Colorado against the Rockies on Sunday.

Thorman hit a solo homer in the second, singled in one run in the fourth, and then finally singled in a pair of runs in the sixth. He also later added a double and an intentional walk. That the outing came at Coors Field lessens the impact a 4-for-4 performance can have on someone's job security, but it was still a big positive for Thorman. He entered the day with an unacceptable 708 OPS."

~The Braves also made a trade trading LF Ryan Langerhans to the Athletics for a player to be named later and cash considerations. Matt Diaz becomes the starting LF

The Phillies beat the Marlins 6 to 1 today in a day were 84 year old Jamie Moyer was masterful.

"Jamie Moyer didn't yield a hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning against the Marlins on Sunday, and he finished the game with 7 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up a win.

Moyer's no-hit bid was broken up by a Miguel Cabrera liner just over third basemen Abraham Nunez's head in the seventh. In total, he gave up two hits and a pair of walks while striking out five. With a 3-1 record and 2.65 ERA thus far, Moyer can be considered in most mixed leagues when he faces the Giants in San Francisco next time out."

~Poor Marlins they almost get no hit by John Maine and now Jamie Moyer. I have a lot of respect for Moyer it takes a lot of talent to be able to pitch effectively with a 43 MPH fastball.

"Jimmy Rollins went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases and a pair of runs scored on Sunday.

Rollins has one more game to play in April, but he may already be the league's MVP for the first month of the season. The shortstop leads the circuit in homers with nine and is also batting .299 with a .626 slugging percentage. Fantasy owners will also like his 25 runs scored, six steals, and 18 RBI."

~He's got a big bat but he's got a bigger mouth.

Rotoworld didn't have anything for the Marlins so I'll give a quick recap.

Wes Obermueller started the game and didn't pitch to bad but got the loss. He went 5 2/3 innings and gave up 3 ER. Nate Field came in for relief but didn't give anybody a relief accept for the Phillies offense as he went just 1 inning and gave up 3 runs. Josh Willingham had a RBI Double, and Miggy broke up Moyers no hitter just like he did to John Maine's.

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
NY Mets	15	8	.652	-
Atlanta	15	9	.625	0.5
Florida	11	13	.458	4.5
Philadelphia	11	13	.458	4.5
Washington	8	17	.320	8.0

Orlando Hernandez left to New York today to get an MRI on his pitching shoulder after complaining about tightness in his shoulder. The Mets didn't stop Jorge Sosa from making his AAA start so unless Chan Ho Park is getting called up expect Hernandez to make his start.

Results still haven't come in for Jose Valentin who left for an MRI to.

If Pelfrey continues to struggle you won't see Chan Ho Park called up, you won't see top prospect Philip Humber either you will see Atlanta reject Jorge Sosa. It seems Sosa has found his groove in AAA after throwing 6 scoreless innings today he now has a 1.13 ERA and is now 4-0.

More updates tomorrow..

A little bit more then Home Cooking for the Nationals

2007-04-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

The Nationals came home to Washington, and are getting a little bit more then home cooking. So far in the 2 games played between the Mets and Nationals it seems the Nationals are getting all the calls. Yesterday Matt Chico had a 5 inch bigger strike zone then any Mets pitcher. Carlos Beltran doesn't get the time out call, and today 3 straight bad calls by the 1st base umpire.

There is no reason why when Willie came out to argue that umpire should of got back in Willie's face, and kept the argument going. Very bad calls this series though the Mets should still be able to beat the Nationals..

Is it just me noticing these bad calls all going against the Mets?

CY-Jerome

2007-04-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Through 5 innings the Mets are making Jerome Williams who came into the game with a 7+ ERA just like Matt Chico like a Cy-Young. Ryan Zimmerman has made 46 diving stops and thrown the runner out every time. The Mets continue to leave runners in scoring position and Tom Glavine is throwing a gem with no run support.

A Very Bad Game

2007-04-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

unacceptable loss last night to the Nationals. These are the games you have to win, you're facing the worst team in the National League against a pitcher who had a 7+ ERA and has no OUT PITCH. There wasn't just one person to blame the game on it was a team effort in losing. Leaving runners in scoring position over and over again it's just embarrassing that a team like the Mets continues to struggle against these bottom feeders.

Oliver Perez had a ruff start but regained his composure after giving up a 3 run homerun to Austin Kearns in the first inning. Perez threw 7 great innings giving up 4 ER and striking out 9. But unluckily for Perez the Mets had to face the "GREAT" Matt Chico and could only get 2 runs off of him. Willie Randolph was not wrong (for once) for leaving Perez in the game to bat in the 6th inning. Bases loaded 1 out with the 9th hitter up if you pinch hit Franco probably grounds into a double play, it was better to have Perez up there to strike out and then have Reyes up with the bases loaded and 2 outs. It didn't work out thats not Willie's fault.

The only thing I could point out on one person was Moises Alou after he doubled with 0 outs there was a fly ball hit deep to right field? Moises Alou doesn't tag, next batter hit to deep right field he doesn't tag up again. It was bad base running and Moises should of tried to tag up manufacture a run. That could of tied the game right there.

Carlos Delgado just looks lost at the plate, he looks worse then David Wright up there because Delgado unlike Wright isn't working the counts and getting walks Delgado is just going up there hacking, and we all know he's in a slump like last year and we are all just waiting for him to breakout, but I have a question for you. Delgado is getting up there in age whats the age when Delgado doesn't break out of the slump? when is the year when Delgado goes on a heavy decline?

These are extremely bad losses and I've said it once and I'll say it again this division will come down to who has the better record against the Nationals. The Mets have already lost 2 series against the Braves, they should be able to sweep the Nationals every time out. Now I'm not going to lie that umpire had a huge strike zone on the National side and it seemed any pitch within 12 inches for a National pitcher was a strike. But that is still no excuse why the Mets can't beat the Nationals.

I'm not going to be able to do the ATL today so here's the standings in the NL EAST.

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Atlanta	14	8	.636	-
NY Mets	13	8	.619	0.5
Florida	10	12	.455	4.0
Philadelphia	10	12	.455	4.0
Washington	8	15	.348	6.5

Bad news for Milledge (from Metsblog.com)

"Omar Minaya told reporters after last night's game that Lasting Milledge will be out four to six weeks with sprained ligaments in his right foot."

It was a bad game for the Mets but at least the Mets are getting good starting pitching and good bullpen work. The bullpen isn't over worked and sooner or later Wright will find his stroke (Good power to RF last night for a double) and the Mets will go on a streak. It's much better to be a Mets fan right now then a Yankee fan as the Yankees have lost 7 straight games, and word is if the Yankees get swept by the Red-Sox Joe Toree could be fired.

I'm always questioning Willie but Joe is a horrible manager he can't manage a pen for his life. And because of the bad starting the Yankees have gotten lately the bullpen is not going to be able to rebound until the all-star break. Yes the all-star break 1-2 days off isn't going to do it for this pen they need a good 3-5 days off and unless the Yankees get some rainouts before an off-day they are in a lot of trouble. The Yankees could higher Joe Giradi former Marlins manager if Joe is fired.

Mets had the day off 1 game in the NL EAST

2007-04-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

There was only one game in the NL EAST yesterday and it was the Phillies vs the Nationals.
The Phillies lost the game to the Nats 4 to 2.

Cole Hamels started the game for the Phillies and didn't have that magic he had last time out when he struck out 15. Hamels had control problems (3 walks) and walked in a run during the game. Hamels final line wasn't horrible 5.1 innings 8 hits 4 ER 4 K's but Hamels took the loss in the game. 3.24 ERA on the year.

The Phillies could only score 2 runs off of starter Shawn Hill who gave the Nationals just what they needed, a win and some innings. Hill pitched 8 great innings giving up just 4 hits and 2 ER. Hill has been the only good Nationals starter this year as he is 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA on the year.

The only Phillies to get some hits off of Hill were Aaron Roward who is just on fire right now and hit another homerun last night, and Chase Utley who was 1-3 with a single. Pat Burrel was the lucky man to get the RBI walk but that was it for the Phillies offense.

The Meat Hook Dimitri Young hit his 3rd homerun of the year off of Cole Hamels which was the only bright part of his day as he struck out 3 times.

Austin Kearns was 2 for 3 with an RBI double in the game, and made a great diving catch.

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
NY Mets	13	7	.650	-
Atlanta	13	8	.619	0.5
Florida	10	11	.476	3.5
Philadelphia	9	12	.429	4.5
Washington	7	15	.318	7.0

Tonight the Mets start a 3 game series in Washington vs the Nats as Oliver Perez takes the ball and faces Matt Chico.

Ok your not going to believe this but last night Carlos Gomez walked 3 times! Thats like 3x the amount he walked last year. Congratulations to Carlos Gomez who we will probably see this September. Gomez also has an RBI Double in the game.

These are some amazing stats that go along with my last post this info from www.mikesmets.com

Mets Pitching Staff -- 20 Games
Innings	ERA	Hits/9	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	AVG	OBP	SLG
181.0	2.88	7.3	6.8	4.2	0.9	.225	.324	.367

Mets Starters vs. Relievers -- 20 Games
	Innings	ERA	Hits/9	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	AVG	OBP	SLG
Starters	117.2	3.21	7.6	6.6	4.1	1.1	.234	.328	.381
Relievers	63.1	2.27	6.8	7.2	4.5	0.4	.210	.317	.341

~Now if it wasn't for Pelfrey's 7+ ERA what would that starters ERA be?

Mets Starters
	GS	Innings	ERA	Hits/9	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	AVG	OBP	SLG
Tom Glavine	5	29.1	3.07	8.3	4.9	3.7	1.2	.252	.341	.439
O. Hernandez	5	32.0	2.53	6.2	7.0	3.7	1.4	.210	.317	.341
John Maine	4	26.1	1.71	5.1	7.5	4.8	0.7	.169	.274	.247
Oliver Perez	3	16.1	3.31	8.3	9.4	3.9	0.6	.242	.329	.371
Mike Pelfrey	3	13.2	7.90	13.2	4.0	4.6	1.3	.351	.431

Mets Relievers
	GA	Innings	ERA	Hits/9	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	AVG	OBP	SLG
Joe Smith	12	11.0	0.00	5.7	9.0	3.3	0.0	.184	.262	.237
A. Burgos	10	11.1	3.97	5.6	8.7	5.6	0.8	.175	.327	.300
P. Feliciano	10	8.1	0.00	5.4	8.6	7.6	0.0	.167	.341	.200
S. Schoeneweis	10	8.0	2.25	6.8	3.4	7.9	1.1	.214	.371	.357
Billy Wagner	8	9.0	1.00	6.0	8.0	3.0	0.0	.188	.257	.313
A. Heilman	8	6.2	2.70	6.7	5.4	1.3	1.3	.200	.259	.480
Aaron Sele	5	9.0	6.00	12.0	6.0	3.0	0.0	.316	.357

Now mike (Mikesmets.com) Goes on to give full detail about each player I'm just giving you stats if you want the true facts of how the Mets pitching staff is doing go to mikesmets.com

Last time I made a prediction I said Alou would go deep and the Mets would win 5-1 vs the Phillies. Alou went deep twice and the Mets won like 7-1. Tonight I'm going to make another prediction. Mets will beat the Nationals 8 to 3 and David Wright will go Deep. Expect a great start from Oliver Perez

"Mets pitching ruling NL"

2007-04-27T04:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18337514/

great, great article..

"As April winds down, the New York Mets are at the top of the National League in virtually every major statistical category. And we’re not just talking hitting. We’re talking about pitching, too."

Here’s where Rick Peterson’s staff stood through Wednesday’s games:

Wins: 1^st (13)
ERA: 1^st (2.88)
Hits to innings pitched ratio: 1^st (147 hits allowed, 181 innings)
Earned runs: 1^st (58)

Only Pelfrey in the fifth spot has been cause for concern. After the Rockies roughed him up, his ERA rose to 7.90 in three starts. Remove his numbers, and the foursome of Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez, John Maine and Oliver Perez are a combined 10-3 with a 2.60 ERA in 17 starts. Pelfrey is expected to remain in the rotation for at least one more start, but another bad one could mean veteran Jorge Sosa or top prospect Philip Humber could get an opportunity.

Maine is proving his 2006 postseason breakthrough was no fluke, posting three quality starts, including seven one-hit innings in his first outing. Hernandez has four quality starts in five tries. Perez had one throwaway outing in his first three, with the encouraging sign being a 17-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The bullpen hasn’t missed Guillermo Mota (serving a 50-game suspension) and Duaner Sanchez (season-ending surgery). Lefty Pedro Feliciano and rookie submariner Joe Smith haven’t allowed earned runs. Billy Wagner is three-for-three in save situations with a 1.00 ERA. And other than long man Aaron Sele’s 6.00 ERA, only Ambiorix Burgos has an ERA above 2.70.

And meanwhile, Pedro Martinez reports that he is very pleased with his recovery from surgery, and expects to contribute in the second half.

~I know it seems like I took the entire article but there is much more to read ;)

And this from Newsday Wagner wants more work

"It's feast or famine," Wagner said. "More than anything, it wears on you mentally because you don't get out there. And when you do, you're not in your typical setting."

"I went to [Randolph] after that and told him that he can use me for more than one inning," Wagner said. "Don't get carried away, but I want to be able to be used in those situations to help the team and give another inning. I can't promise you it will be great, but I'll go out there and compete. Maybe save a guy or give us a chance."

so lets just talk about this pitching staff. This is no FLUKE now they won't be able to keep up these 1-2.8 ERA's going around, but this pitching staff led by 40 year old Tom Glavine was doubted all off-season. John Maine is the real deal, and will probably be the #2 starter on this team by the time things are over with, even with Pedro Martinez coming back from injury. Orlando Hernandez when healthy is a great pitcher to have on your staff, just keep him healthy and you can expect a high 3 ERA to low 4's. Oliver Perez will be the comeback player of the year, you won't see him 3-13 and a 6+ ERA this year, Perez has showed signs of dominace and is just to good to have another bad year like that. With the help of Rick Peterson Perez will be a dominant pitcher in this league again.

So basically I agree 100% with the writer, and also agree that Mike Pelfrey is the only question mark in the rotation. Pelfrey really only has 1 pitch his sinker. Right now I'm questioning Rick Peterson on this. Pelfrey had a high 90's fastball that blew by people, Pelfrey's fastball reminds me of John Maine's sneaky but the difference is Pelfrey is throwing in the high 90's while John Maine is throwing 91-92. I know it's Peterson's philosphy that his pitchers should throw down at the knees all the time but Pelfrey is a different type of pitcher. How did Perez turn out when the Pirates pitching coach wanted him to be a finesse pitcher? I would rather see Pelfrey get beat up going after hitters with his best fastball, instead of him trying to throw a sinker that after 3 starts isn't sinking. If you ask me a high fastball makes that low and away slider 10x more affective. Pelfrey needs a lot of work on his off-speed pitches we all know it and it was probably the worst thing possible for him to make this team. Who worked out the best in all of this is Philip Humber who had a horrible spring but is getting his time in the minors to work on his changeup to go with his dominating fastball and amazing curveball to make him a better pitcher, and when he gets his shot he will be ready to face off against big league hitters.

I'd like to see the old Pelfrey out there next time, and I know its unlikely but it's the better option. Pelfrey just isn't making hitters swing and miss, right now he doesn't have a strike out pitch with that sinker. So what Pelfrey will we see his next time out? And what Pelfrey will we see next time he his called up. (I think he'll be sent down after 2-3 more starts in favor of Jorge Sosa or Jason Vargas)

Pelfrey gets bombed, ATL

2007-04-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Mets lost to the Rockies last night 11-5 in a game in which Mike Pelfrey showed why he should not be in the majors.

Mike Pelfrey didn't have control of any pitch and gave up 6 ER in just 3 innings of work to a team that scored just 6 runs all last week. It wasn't walking people that came back to bite him he just couldn't get anybody out Pelfrey walked just 1 but gave up 8 hits in 3 innings.

~Pelfrey should get 2 more starts to prove himself if he doesn't improve I'm all for bringing up Jason Vargas..

Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith both pitched a scoreless inning and both still have a 0.00 ERA for the season.

It's very weird to see Jose Reyes being on base 4 times and the Mets not winning but it happened yesterday. Reyes was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles. Now batting .356 on the season.

Shawn Green didn't care how well Josh Fogg was pitching Green had 2 hits including a double and 3 RBI's (#11 #12 #13) Green is now second in the league with a .351 average.

David Wright and Carlos Delgado combined for an 0-7 with 2 strike outs. None of the strikeouts belong to Wright as he has been looking better at the plate this week, and we should be expecting better results soon.

Josh Fogg of the Rockies pitched a great game that shouldn't go unnoticed as he shut down the Mets offense and pitched 7 innings giving up just 3 ER and got his first victory of the year.

Marlins win in walk off fashion against the Braves 4 to 3 as the bullpen couldn't hold the lead for Atlanta.

Tim Hudson so far the CY YOUNG of the NL had his great outing wasted last night. It was just another day at the office for Hudson who went 8 innings giving up 12 hits 3ER and striking out 12. Hudson had actually given up no runs through 8 innings but went into the 9th inning and did not record an out, but still he hadn't given up a run.

~This outing actually raised Hudson's ERA on the year he now has a 1.22.

The Braves called on closer Bob Wickman to save the day and thats just what he didn't do. Wickman gave up all 3 runs that Hudson left on and gave up an unearned run of his own to blow the save and lose the game for the Braves 4-3.

Kelly Johnson went deep again last night for his 5th homerun of the year as he was 2 for 4 on the day.

~ I don't know where Kelly Johnson came from but the Braves have to be loving it right now.

Chipper Jones hit a homerun off of Olsen in the 1st inning his 7th of the year, and now after a bad first couple of games Jones has been on fire is now hitting .317

Not to be outdone by Tim Hudson, Scott Olsen pitched an amazing game as well but didn't get a descion in the game. Olsen went 8 innings giving up 8 hits 3 ER and struck out 10, Olsen rebounded from a bad first inning to have a great outing.

Henry Owens got the win for the Marlins as he pitched a scoreless 9th inning before the Marlins made their comeback.

Miguel Olivio was 1 for 4 with a 2 run double and also scored later in the inning on pass ball to win the game for the Marlins.

The Phillies continued their winning ways on Wednesday in blowout fashion as they beat the Nationals 9 to 3.

Jon Lieber looked good for the second straight game as he got his first win of the season going 6 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 ER and striking out 5. ERA for the season 3.21.

It seems the MVP Ryan Howard is back as he hit his 3rd homerun of the season last night and drove in 2 runs (#11,#12)

Jimmy Rollins not impressed with Howards homerun decided he wanted to hit his 8th homerun of the year yesterday.

If anybody has been on fire lately its Chase Utley who continued his tare going 5 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI's. Raising his average to .296

Once top pitching prospect John Patterson is off to a horrible start and continued his bad pitching into last night. Paterson went just 5.1 innings giving up 8 hits and 6 ER. Now has a 7.71 ERA!! This is the Nationals ace here..

Not many bright spots here for the Nationals on offense as its been all season..

Dimitri Young was 1 for 3 with an RBI single.. (#10)

Brian Schneider was 1 for 4 with a Double and a RBI (#11)

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
NY Mets	13	7	.650	-
Atlanta	13	8	.619	0.5
Florida	10	11	.476	3.5
Philadelphia	9	12	.429	4.5

How about that Mets lineup? When your thinking about this amazing lineup you probably wouldn't start with the 7 and 8 hitters Shawn Green, and Jose Valentin. But these 2 Vets are off to great starts and here's some more info on the #7 and #8 hitters in the mets lineup from Mets.com

"Consider that Shawn Green, the regular seventh hitter, is batting .351 on the year. His three home runs rank second on the team, his 13 RBIs third. Then there's Jose Valentin, a rock in the eight hole. Valentin clocks in at .281 -- paltry by comparison, though his 12 RBIs stand as proof of his clutch start."

"Those guys have done a fantastic job," Wright said of the bottom two. "It's definitely easier for the guys that are struggling to put less pressure on ourselves when we're winning. It'd just be nice to join the party."

Lets compare the #4-5 hitters Delgado and Wright to the #7-8 hitters Green to Valentin.

Carlos Delgado .193 1 homerun 12 RBI.
Shawn Green .351 3 homeruns 13 RBI.

David Wright .263 0 homeruns 4 RBI.
Jose Valentin .281 2 homeruns 12 RBI.

Now Wright and Delgado aren't going to slump for the entire season so these numbers won't hold up until the end of the season, but it's great to see that the #7-9 hitters aren't auto outs and that with Green or Valentin up with the runners in scoring posistion there is a good chance those runs will be driven in.

Shawn Green with RISP has 1 homerun and 11 RBI.

Jose Valentin is hitting like .350 with 1 homerun and 11 RBI.

Pedro expecting 2nd half return ESPN.COM

"Pedro Martinez is encouraged by his recovery from rotator cuff surgery and confident that he'll return to the New York Mets for the second half of this season."

"I am super excited with how things are progressing. I feel as good as I did in 1996 and 1997," the 35-year-old ace told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"I haven't felt any pain during rehabilitation and I think that in a month I'll be throwing from the mound and then do a short rehabilitation in the minors," he said.

~See the last thing I heard was Pedro would be throwing from a mound as early as May 1st. Guess not but I think Pedro will be back before August.

Lastings Milledge was placed on the minor-league disabled list today, after he was diagnosed with a strained ligament in his right foot.

~Milledge was on a tear in the minors before he got hurt, and I'm not sure how long he'll be out probably just the 15 days.

At ESPN.COM Jerry Crasnick has made a list of best leadoff hitters in baseball, and guess who was #1.

"Based on his performance in 2006, quick start in April and the people hitting around him, a healthy Reyes appears to be a lock for 20 homers, 15 triples, 120 runs, 80 RBIs and 60 stolen bases. His on-base percentage, which spiked from .300 to .354 last season, continues to trend upward as his discipline and pitch recognition also improve."

"Reyes will still chase a two-strike pitch outside the zone, but he hardly ever swings at the first pitch unless it's a strike. A little maturity and some guidance from teammates Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Jose Valentin have turned him into a man with a plan."

"Even when Reyes gets a tad reckless on the bases, he has the speed to outrun his mistakes. He's been successful on 81 percent of his career stolen base attempts, and he's off to a 12-for-14 start in 2007."

Continue reading about other top lead-off men here..
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2848182

No Mets game tonight as they get a travel day going to Washington. More updates to come today as there isn't much to watch tonight.

~Sorry this update took so long to come I was going to come home and do it right away but I fell asleep right away.

Mets win a great game

2007-04-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Amazing game last night as the Mets beat the Rockies in 12.. Endy Chavez walk off drag bunt

Orlando Hernandez pitched great got a no descision

Joe Smith got the win pitching .2 scoreless innings

no big updates today but I don't think Pelfrey will be sticking around after his second bad outing against a Rockie team that has shown they can't score runs

Rotoworld NL EAST Updates

2007-04-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

Duaner Sanchez (shoulder surgery) has been cleared for light exercise and plans to pitch for the Mets this season.

"There's not a timetable to start throwing," Sanchez said. "I have to get my shoulder back strong and make sure everything is fine and then there is going to be a timetable to throw." Sanchez had a screw inserted in his right shoulder during the first week of April.

Pedro Martinez (shoulder surgery) continues to have a smooth rehab and is on schedule to return to the Mets in August.

"He looks great and feels great and he's working extremely hard," Chris Correnti, Martinez's personal trainer said. Pedro has increased the distance he is throwing from 75 feet to 180 feet in the past month.

18-year-old Deolis Guerra allowed two hits in six scoreless innings Monday for Single-A St. Lucie.

He's 1-2 with a 2.18 ERA. The velocity spike the Mets were hoping for has taken place, and Guerra is now throwing in the low-90s with regularity. He's on his way to developing into one of the NL's top pitching prospects.

Fernando Martinez was back in Double-A Binghamton's lineup Monday after being pulled from Sunday's game for not hustling.

Martinez was "not running as hard to first base," according to Mets VP of player development Tony Bernazard. The 18-year-old went 0-for-3 on Monday and is now batting .214 for Binghamton.

Nook Logan was able to run hard sprints on Sunday for the first time since injuring his foot.

"From last week to this week, it's going faster than I thought," Logan said. "If you told me last week that I'd be out there running sprints, I'd have looked at you like you were crazy." Logan should play in an extended spring training game this week and could go on a minor league rehab assignment early next week.

Christian Guzman (hamstring) has done fielding and agility drills the past few days.

The Nats hope to have Guzman play in some extended spring training games this week. He is still a week or two from being activated from the disabled list.

Mike Jacobs (thumb) sat out his third consecutive game on Monday.

"He is moving the thumb and taking some swings in the cage," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "A couple of days ago, it looked like a fat toad." Jacobs could return to the lineup on Wednesday.

Brian McCann is questionable for Tuesday's game against against the Marlins due to his bruised finger.

"It's black and blue," McCann said of his fingertip, "but it's not serious." X-rays on the fingertip came back negative.

Mike Gonzalez returned to action on Monday and pitched a hitless inning against the Marlins.

Gonzalez hadn't pitched in a week because of a sore left elbow.

Just some updates for you to read.. I think Pedro will be back earlier then August, and Sanchez I don't think will be back until late August.

Mets beat the Rockies ATL

2007-04-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Another great start by John Maine but just watching the game you could see this Rockies offense is not in the same league as the Mets. How much better is the Mets offense? with Wright and Delgado struggling the Mets have scored 39 more runs this year then the Rockies. Here's how it all went down..

John Maine started the game and again was brilliant Maine was the first Mets pitcher this year to throw a pitch into the 8th inning but could not finish the inning. It doesn't matter he pitched GREAT and earned his 3rd win of the season. Maine's final line was 7.2 innings 7 hits 1 ER 5 k's now has an ERA of 1.71 on the year.

~Tom Glavine, and El Duque are getting up there in age, they aren't going to be able to go deep into games most of the time, and with Perez inconsistent and Pelfrey with 1 pitch Maine will have to be the work horse of the rotation.

Carlos Delgado finally finally went deep his first homerun of the year and ended a 117 at bat homerless streak. Delgado's homerun was a 2 run shot and if he can get it going good luck for all opposing pitchers.

Moises Alou MR APRIL had 3 more hits yesterday in 3 at bats. Alou is batting 2nd in the league with a .397 batting average and what a pickup it has been for the Mets.

Jose Valentin had a 3 run shot to give the Mets the lead in the second inning then also added a sac fly.

~The presence of Reyes really affects pitchers.. Valentin was up with 1 out and a man on third, and instead of just walking Valentin to getting to the pitcher you have to worry about the pitcher bunting Valentin to second and Reyes getting up with runners on second and third.

David Wright was 0 for 3 last night and had 2 more strikeouts. He looked horrible in his first two at bats but in the sixth inning Wright hit a ball deep to right field which is a good sign. If Wright can stop trying to pull pitches this could be a time when Wright finally breaks out.

The Marlins held off the Braves last night 8 to 7 as the Marlins bullpen almost blew another one.

Dontrell Willis started the game for the Marlins and didn't have his good stuff but got enough run support for a win as he went 6.2 innings and gave up 5 earned runs. Willis after getting off to that great start now has a 5.58 ERA but he is 4-1

~Dontrell Willis's wife was supposed to induce labor last night and unlike Delgado instead of going to be with his wife Dontrell stayed with the team.

X-Met Henry Owens had another ruff outing last night as he went just .2 innings giving up 2 ER and almost blew the game. ERA 3.19

Dan Uggla hit another homerun last night his 3rd in the last two days and drove in 3 runs. Uggla now really starting to breakout has 15 RBI's.

Miguel Olivo had a 3 run homerun last night his first homerun of the year.

Kyle Davies was knocked out in the 5th inning as he gave up 5 ER in just 4 innings of work. What really killed Davies was his walks as he walked 6 batters, he was working in trouble the entire game.

Jeff Francoeur had a grandslam last night his 4th homerun of the year and is now leading the National League in RBI's at 22.

Chipper Jones added a solo homerun of his own (#6) and had 3 hits in 4 at bats. .319 average

Andruw Jones didn't go deep but he had 2 hits of his own including a double and 2 RBI's.

Oscar Villarreal gave up 2 runs in 2 innings as the Braves bullpen couldn't stop the Marlins from scoring.

The Phillies pounded the Astros last night 11 to 4 .

Adam Eaton didn't pitch good but got a win as he gave up 4 ER in 6 innings of work inlcuding 2 homeruns. Eaton is now 2-1 with a 6.46 ERA

Phillies bullpen 3 innings 2 hits 0 runs.

Jimmy Rollins may have a big mouth but he has an even bigger bat. Rollins crushed his 7th homerun of the season last night which was just 1 of 4 hits on the day raising his average to .312.
Rollins 7 homeruns 14 RBI's guess the bottom of the lineup isn't doing it's job.

Chase Utley now with 4 had a 3 run homerun of his own and homered for the second straight night Utleyhomeruns and 13 RBI

The Flyin Hawian Shane Victoriano had 3 hits last night and 3 RBI's as he's now batting .319

~Rollins back batting leadoff, and Victoriano at #2..
This Phillies team can hit, and once Howard starts going their going to have a great offensive team, but all off-season all the question marks were on the Mets starting rotation but this Phillies starting rotation has alot more questions right now then the Mets.

Mets and Braves already battling back and forth for 1st place.

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
NY Mets	12	6	.667	-
Atlanta	12	7	.632	0.5
Florida	9	10	.474	3.5
Philadelphia	7	11	.389	5.0
Washington	6	13	.316	6.5

El Duque pitches tonight for the Mets..

From MLB.com

"But there was something fitting, if not glamorous, about Orlando Hernandez's outing against the Marlins on Thursday night. The aging right-hander was coming off a start in which he appeared, as he has so many times before, on the brink of extinction. Disaster loomed."

"And then, three hours later, the Marlins were left muttering and perplexed, wondering about the silent carnage of seven innings, two runs, three hits and 10 strikeouts. "

We all know even though El Duque is 37 or 41 he will still give you good outings and a chance to win every time out. As long as you keep him healthy and give him some extra rest and skip starts in between he'll stay effective.

Deolis Guerra the young 18 year old was dealing last night in A+ as he went 6 IP giving up just 2 hits and striking out 4 on the day. He now has a 2.18 ERA on the young season.

Jorge Sosa has good outing #3 in a row as he went 7 innings last night 2 ER and struck out 8. Now has a 1.38 ERA in AAA.

You know he is dominating but I really don't trust Sosa to many flat fastballs I can't see him being any good. If somebody gets hurt it would be him or Vargas coming up I guess who ever is doing better in AAA.

Lastings Milledge had to be taken out of the game last night with a bruised right foot. He is day-to-day

Fernando Martinez was benched the other day for not running out a groundball to first base.

Have a good day updates later~

Mets blow game to Braves ATL

2007-04-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

Mets blew the game against the Braves yesterday 9-6 on what seems to be bad managerial moves by Willie and a misplayed ball by Shawn Green.

Tom Glavine pitched well enough for his 294th win of his career yesterday as he pitched 6 innings giving up 3 runs and striking out 5.

Ambiorix Burgos seemed to be pitching well in relief when Willie after 7 pitches took him out, and thats when the game started to get out of hand.

Scott Schoenweis gave up yesterday giving up 2 runs of his own and 1 of Burgos's in just .1 of an inning. He also walked 2 batters he is not going after batters and it should be of concern it really doesn't matter that he blew the game everybody does it once in a while but he is walking way to many batters.

Aaron Heilman got the loss as he gave up 3 unearned runs because of Shawn Green dropping another fly ball hit to him in right field.

Jose Reyes had 2 hits including a bases loaded 3 run triple, and stole a base. Now batting .370 16 RBI's 5 TRIPLES and 10 STOLEN BASES. An MVP type start for Reyes.

Shawn Green though making kind of the game losing catch still continues to hit. Green had 3 more hits last yesterday including a solo homerun. Green now hitting .338 on the young season.

David Wright had another hitless night, and its really started to worry me that he just is not the same player anymore. "If you look at his split stats from last year he just isn't a power hitter anymore." Mack

John Smoltz allowed 6 earned runs in 5.2 innings raising his ERA to 4.26

Kelly Johnson was a key for the Braves offense as he had 2 homeruns 1 solo shot and 1 three run homer off of Heilman

Edgar Renteria also had 3 RBI's of his own and continues to stay hot.

~Hmmm.. Shawn Green making a game decicding error against the Braves in a game when John Smoltz faced Tom Glavine and Aaron Heilman was on the mound. Didn't that happen game 2 of the Mets vs Braves last week?

The Marlins beat the Nationals yesterday 12 to 6

The Nationals needed somebody to give them innings as that bullpen is more overused then the Yankees pen.

Jerome Williams was the victim of it as he pitched 6 innings giving up 9 Earned Runs including 3 Homeruns. 0-4 7.74 ERA

Ryan Zimmerman had 2 hits including his 1st homerun of the season which was a grandslam in the 9th inning off of Marlins new closer Gregg.

Wess Obermueller (I'm not going to lie I have no idea who this is) started his first game as a Marlin and pitched well against the Nationals as he went 6 innings giving up just 2 earned runs for a win.

Miguel Cabrera after getting off to that great start started to cool down but yesterday he hit his 5th homerun of the season.

Dan Uggla had a huge night at the plate as he hit 2 homeruns and had 6 RBI's. After getting off tot that horrible start he's only hittting .260.

Josh Willingham had 2 hits of his own and had a homerun to go with it, it was his second homerun of the year.

The Phillies got a win over the Reds yesterday 9 to 3.

Phillies got a good outing from Freddy Garcia who is s till trying to get back from his spring training injury. Garcia pitched 5 innings (89 pitches) and gave up 2 earned runs while striking out 3. His first win as a Philly.

Ryan Howard, after missing three games, homered (#2) and drove in three runs (#8,#9,#10)

Chase Utley has 2 doubles last night and drove in a run and also scored 3 times. .250 average.

Brett Myers pitched the 9th inning and gave up 1 run, but overall the Phillies bullpen pitched well 4 innings 1 run. Not Bad.

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Atlanta	12	6	.667	-
NY Mets	11	6	.647	0.5
Florida	8	10	.444	4.0
Philadelphia	6	11	.353	5.5
Washington	6	13	.316	6.5

Things look good for the Mets as I took a look at the upcoming schedule.

3 against the Rockies AT HOME.
3 against Washington on the road.
3 against the Marlins AT HOME.
4 against The Diamondbacks on the road.
3 against the Giants on the road.
3 against the Brewers AT HOME.

These are not good teams now some of these teams like the Brewers, and Rockies have some talent but really should not win more then 1 game against the Mets..
Mets should sweep the Rockies or win 2 out of 3
Mets should SWEEP the Nationals
Mets should at least win 2 out of 3 from the Marlins
Mets have Murdered the D-Backs in Arizona they should win atleast 3
Giants always give the Mets problems but they don't have Moises they should take 2 out of 3
Mets should take 2 out of 3 from the Brewers.

So not going best possible all sweeps it should be something like
14-5

add that with the 11 and 6 they are now they should be 25-11 by the time the Cubs and Yankees come to town in mid-may.

I'll do tonights pitching matchups later as the Mets vs the Rockies at home.

Updates tomorrow

2007-04-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

Been busy today didn't even get to see the game as I had a double header, and sadly it seems I'm having the exact same problems David Wright is having right now. Its frustrating because you know what your doing wrong it just takes more and more swings before you can fix it.

I wanna see at least the highlights from all the games in the NL EAST before I do a real update but just by looking at the boxscore I can say that Willie Randolph made a bad move by bringing in Burgos. And WOW Shawn Green is proving me wrong.

Perez bounces back as Mets win ATL

2007-04-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

Perez had 4 bullpen sessions since his last start against the Phillies when he walked 7 batters in 2 and 2.2 innings. The sessions proved helpful as Perez had a much better night as the Mets beat the Braves 7 to 2.

Oliver Perez was again a completely different pitcher then last time out. Perez pitched 6 2/3 outstanding innings giving up 0 WALKS while striking out 9, and only giving up 2 runs. Perez now is 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA

Carlos Beltran now leads the National League in batting average (.385) and RBI's (19) and did nothing to hurt his cause today as Beltran kept his hot clutch hitting going. Beltran today had 4 hits including an triple as he had 2 RBI's on the day. Beltran making an early bid for MVP as Pujols, and Howard are off to horrible starts.

Jose Reyes went deep tonight for his 2nd homerun of the season, Reyes also had 2 other hits on the night and stole a base. Reyes is now batting .368 with 9 stolen bases.

How about Ramon Castro the backup catcher hit his 3rd homerun of the season today and now has 3 homeruns in 18 at bats. Ramon was filling in for the hurt Paul Lo Duca who should get a couple of more days off since Castro seems to have the hot bat.

David Wright read the article below

Joe Smith came in the game in a crucial situtaion with bases loaded and Andruw Jones at the plate. Smith struck out Jones on a nasty slider to end the inning and still has a 0 ERA on the season.

Chuck James started the game for the Braves and got beat up by a Mets offense that is now 5-0 against left handed starters. James gave up 10 hits and 6 ER in 5 and 1/3 innings pitched. James took his second loss of the season and now has a 4.22 ERA

Edgar Renteria Chipper Jones Andruw Jones and Brian McCann all had 2 hits on the day, but Andruw was the only one with an RBI out of the 4.

The Phillies beat the Reds tonight thanks to an AMAZING start by young phenom left hander Cole Hamels who didn't give the Phillies pen a chance to blow this game.

Cole Hamels had the best start of his young career pitching a complete game 5 hitter and struck out 15!!! Red batters. The only run Hamels gave up was a 9th inning homerun by Conine.

Chase Utley supplied all the offense the Phillies would need going 2 for 4 with a Homerun and a Double as he had 3 RBI's on the night.

The Phillies today tried out a new lineup since Ryan Howard is still out, moving Jimmy Rollins down to the number 3 spot Shane Victorino leadoff and the hot Rowand 2nd. The results:
an 0-4 by Rollins 2 for 4 by Victorino and a 1 for 4 with an RBI for Rowand.

Florida beat the Nationals today 9-3 ending a 6 game losing streak. The Marlins scored early and often against this Washington pitching staff.

Anibal Sanchez got the win for the Marlins as he pitched 5 innings giving up 3 ER and striking out 5. Sanchez has a 4.15 ERA on the season.

X-Met Matt Lindstrom pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief and struck out 2 lowering his ERA to 2.16.

Hanley Ramirez who is compared to Reyes is having a start very similar to Reyes's. Hanley today like Reyes went deep and hit his 3rd homerun of the season. Ramirez on the season is hitting .364 with 5 RBI's

Josh Willingham had 3 hits including his 10th RBI of the season.

Jason Wood played for the injured x-Met Mike Jacobs tonight and a homerun and 2 Walks tonight.

Matt Chico failed to go 5 innings tonight and picked up his 2nd loss of the season as he gave up 5 ER in 4 2/3 innings. 6.38 ERA

Ryan Wagner came in and didn't do a very good job keeping the game close as he gave up 4 R 3 ER in an 1 inning and 2/3.

Ryan Zimmerman looks to pick up his slack has he was hitting under .230 before the game started. Zimmeran tonight was 2 for 4 with an RBI just his 4th of the year.

Ryan Church was 2 for 4 with an RBI double and raised his average to .299

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
NY Mets	11	5	.688	-
Atlanta	11	6	.647	0.5
Florida	7	10	.412	4.5
Washington	6	12	.333	6.0
Philadelphia	5	11	.313	6.0

Philip Humber pitched great for New Orleans tonight going 7 strong innings giving up just 1 ER while striking out 3. Humber got a no descion as New Orleans is in a 3-3 game in the 9th. Humber now has a 3.00 ERA.

If somebody gets hurt or if Pelfrey doesn't work out who is the next pitcher to be called up? The Vet Park who is getting knocked around in AAA? Philip Humber who had a ruff spring and is finally getting the time he needs in the minors? Jason Vargas who is dominating the minors right now gaining confidence? Or Jorge Sosa who is off to a good start but just isn't somebody to trust with the ball.

Carlos Gomez had another 0 for as his average diped down to .312 after tonight.

Lastings Milledge had a hit in 5 trips including an RBI and after a slow start Milledge is now hitting .343

For the rest of your minors news go to metsprospecthub.blogspot.com

The Fan who was caught with the laser gun was arrested and if charged will face up to 1 year in jail and $5,000 bail.

Tomorrow the best buds Glavine and Smoltz will face off again. as Glavine goes for Career win 294. Last time they met Smoltz out pitched Glavine and got the win.

In his last outing against the Phillies Glavine pitched 6 innings giving up just 1 ER as he got his 293 win of his career.

David Wright could be in for a massive slump..

2007-04-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well we all know the quote "A hit a day keeps the doctor away" and that was basically what David Wright was doing up to the other night. Wright looks horrible at the plate probably the worst he's ever looked in his career. But because Wright has been getting his 1 hit a night sometimes 2 in the 9th inning with no one one Wright's average kept rising and it was fine. But now without Wright getting a hit for 2 nights you can see how bad he looks at the plate. Call it the homerun derby curse, or just say pitchers have finally caught on to him but Wright is looking horrible at the plate.

Wright right now is hitting .290 with 0 homeruns and 4 RBI's. He's got 4 extra base hits all season not very good. Now it seems simple what pitchers are doing with Wright here's what I see.

Pitch One: Fastball right down the middle Wright never swings first pitch 0-1
Pitch Two: Wright gets beat somewhere and fouls it off 0-2
Pitch Three: out of the strike zone Wright takes 1-2
Pitch Four: Out of the strike zone Wright takes 2-2
Pitch Five: Slider outside corner maybe a bit outside Wright looks foolish STRIKE 3.

It keeps on happening and nothing David Wright is doing seems like he's trying to change it. Right now it seems Wright is trying to pull everything and must think pitchers are going to come inside on him.

Wright needs to do something different, maybe move a little closer to the plate to hit the outside pitch, maybe use a lighter/heavier bat, maybe change his batting stance. Something he's doing isn't working and it needs to be fixed before he goes into a massive slump.

Last year prior to the all-star break Wright was taking that slider outside and hitting it the opposite field with power. After the homerun derby Wright developed a slight upercut and now can't hit that pitch.

Wright is also getting beat on fastballs no matter the speed which is why he might want to go to a lighter bat. Wright needs to approach hitting right now like SHAWN GREEN. YES SHAWN GREEN the guy I said is horrible, and should not be the starting right fielder. But Shawn Green has a great approach right now that has led to him hitting .311 with 2 homeruns and 9 RBI. So far this season when any pitcher attempts to go outside on Shawn Green, Green looks to go to the opposite field and hits it that way.

Wright is a good hard working kid, and I really don't believe that all this "Success" has gone to his head because you can tell whats wrong with him. I say let Keith Hernandez go to him during a batting practice and lets see what happens. I'm not a big fan in Rick Down and thought Howard Johnson would do a good job helping when batters get into slumps.

Extra Thought~~
Last year Delgado looked horrible at the plate, and Keith Hernandez kept saying when a hitter like him goes into a slump sooner or later their going to break out in a big way. Maybe we just have to wait and sooner or later Wright will break out. But will he ever be the same player he was in the first half of 06?

Mets recap and around the league when all the games in the NL EAST go final.

Managment Mistakes

2007-04-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of things leading up to this series with the Braves and then tonights game.

First off you have a sinkerballer in Mike Pelfrey. It's a known fact that when a pitcher like Pelfrey gets to many days off they get to strong and their sinker doesn't sink. Next you can either have a pitcher with 4 career starts face a team you just killed when they had their best pitcher out there, or a very good team that you are battling for first place. All I'm saying is Mike Pelfrey could of pitched yesterday against that struggling Marlins team got his confidence up and had him pitch on a day less of rest, then today had Orlando Hernandez pitch against the Braves in a game you really want to win. This could be a completely different game right now and the Mets would definitely not be down by 7 runs.

My next question is keeping Pedro Feliciano in for a 2nd consecutive inning. Your trying to win a game ok the guy pitched very well his first inning but first sign of something bad going to happen you have to get him out there. Now you had Johnson a lefty Jones a switch hitter and McCann a lefty so ok maybe you wanted a left handed pitcher in there. But then why not pitch Schoeneweis? Or with Jeff Francore up why not bring in Joe Smith? Why then after he walks a runner in bring in Burgos who pitched the night before? Then just to bring in Scott for the 8th inning a now meaningless inning because your down by 7 runs. So basically you blew the game and now Feliciano will probably be available tomorrow.

Maybe its just me noticing this but I always see Willie making these mistakes.. I also thought Lo Duca should of took another day off, now thats not Willie's choice thats Paul's but you can see he is still favoring that hand and Ramon Castro is hitting everything right now it wouldn't of been a bad idea to sit another one.

In other news Tim Hudson is looking amazing right about now, and it seems David Wright's hitting streak has come to an end at 26. Only good news about tonight Hudson is on my fantasy team.

And now Joe Smith comes in the game so you weren't keeping him fresh for tomorrow. What are your thoughts??

Mets Stats

2007-04-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

Mets team leaders as of 4/20

Average
Jose Reyes .356
Reyes is just getting better and better an no he won't be able to keep up that .356 average but there is a good chance he could lead the team in average though he'd have to beat out David Wright. Possibly in the .310 range

Homeruns
Carlos Beltran 4
No surprise here Beltran top 5 in the MVP voting last year will most likely end the year with the most homeruns on the team. Should be in the 40 range

RBI
Carlos Beltran 17
Again no surprise here he's a great player and him Wright and Delgado should finish a close top 3 in RBI's on the team. Should be in the 120 range

Doubles
Shawn Green 6
Early on it seems Shawn Green has found his stroke. The thing Green is doing is going to the opposite field and is not trying to pull the ball every time. Unlikely Green leads the team in doubles by the end of the year. Green will probably have around 35 doubles.

Stolen Bases
Jose Reyes 8
Its not even close and by the time the season is over it still won't be close. Reyes should be around 65-70 steals again this year, but I think the thing he wants to do better when stealing his his stealing % Reyes does get thrown out his fair amount of times.

(starting pitching)
Wins
Tom Glavine 3
Glavine is being asked to be the ace of this staff and so far so good. Glavine has had his control problems early on but thats due to the control. So if Glavine can walk 5 a game and still be dominant what happens when it heats up and he doesn't walk batters? Glavine should be around 16 wins for the season

ERA
John Maine 1.93
Maine like Glavine has had his fair share of walks but in his last outing against the Marlins Maine was just dominant. Maine still needs some work on his changeup but he is still a good #3 starter. Expectations around a 3.7 ERA

Strike Outs
Orlando Hernandez 20
Well El Duque got help with those strike out numbers last night as he struck out 10. El Duque should lead the team in strike outs if he can stay healthy all season maybe Maine or Perez could have more. Expectations around 170k's

It's way to early to do bullpen since they have like 5 innings pitched. But some things you might want to know are Joe Smith has 8 scoreless innings to start off his rookie season with 8 k's. Billy Wagner has 6 scoreless innings pitched including 3 saves. Wagner says he's not a thrower anymore he's a pitcher.

Ramon Castro
Is tied for 2nd in homeruns on the Mets with 2. But Ramon only has 14 at bats this season.

This Mets team is on fire right now offensively and defensively and once Wright and Delgado got hot this team could be on the verge of a huge streak. Amazingly one of the biggest question marks in all of baseball the Mets rotation has one of the lowest if not the lowest ERA in baseball.

Tom Glavine 3-1 2.70 ERA
Orlando Hernandez 2-1 3.24 ERA
John Maine 2-0 1.93 ERA
Oliver Perez 1-1 3.72
Mike Pelfrey 0-0 3.18 ERA

Did You Know??
Jose Valentin is hitting .298 with a homerun and 7 RBI's.

Now I know we are only a couple of weeks into the season, but if the Mets players can get hot at the same time (right now they are except wright and delgado) they can get on a run and push themselves ahead of the pack, and make all the teams in the division be looking up at them.

Mets win 3rd straight ATL

2007-04-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Mets again crushed the young Marlins 11-3. The biggest scare for the Marlins was in the first inning when the Marlins had just scored a run and had their best hitter up in Miguel Cabrera up and Cabrera bunts the ball and comes up lame. Cabrera came out of the game and is now day-to-day. The Mets played with a modified lineup with Paul Lo Duca sitting. The Mets have now won 3 straight games as the Marlins have now lost 5 straight.

Orlando Hernandez took advantage of the young right handed hitting Marlins lineup, as he went 7 innings giving up just 2 ER (Both in the first inning) while striking out 10 batters.

Carlos Beltran hitting 2nd had a big night at the plate as he had 4 hits including his 4th homerun of the year and also had 2 RBI's. Beltran now hitting

Ramon Castro has taken advantage of any opportunity he's had to play. Castro who started last night for Lo Duca had 2 hits including his 2nd homerun of the year and had 3 RBI's.

David Wright had a single that extended his hitting streak to 26 games.

Jose Valentin has found his stroke Valentin had 2 more hits last night including his 1st homerun of the season.

Shawn Green hit 2 balls the opposite way that almost got over but Green still had 2 hits and 2 RBI's on the night.

A prime example of why you don't bring a kid up from Single A. Now Vaden Hurk has great stuff but you could see the lack of experience. Once he got in trouble he had no idea what to do and crumbled under the pressure.

X-Met Henry Owens gave up his first Earned Runs of the season last night. Pitching one inning he gave up 2 ER while striking out 2. ERA 2.00

Around The League

Atlanta lost to the Chicago Cubs last night 3-0 as Rich Hill threw another gem.

Mark Redman took the ball for the Braves last night and pitched well but got the loss. Redman went 7 and 2/3 innings while giving up 3 ER and striking out 5. ERA 8.62

The Braves only had 4 hits last night 2 of them coming from Kelly Johnson.

Really how about Rich Hill this guy has been amazing this year, he's got one of the best curveballs in the game and he can spot all of his pitches. Last night as he threw 8 scoreless innings striking out 7 he improved to 3-0 on the season and now has a 0.41 ERA yes thats POINT 41.

The Phillies held of the Nationals last night winning 4 to 2, in a game in which they didn't have their best hitter Ryan Howard who is day to day.

Jamie Moyer started for the Phillies and seems to be the only sure thing they have in that rotation. Moyer improved to 2-1 on the season as he pitched 8 innings allowing only 2 ER. ERA 3.05

Aaron Rowand continuing his hot start hit his first homerun of the season last night. He's now hitting .340

Shane Victorino had 3 hits last night and an RBI improving his average to .300 on the season.

Tom Gordon got his 3rd save of the season giving up 1 hit while striking out 1 closing the door for the Phillies.

Who didn't get in this game is new bullpen man Brett Myers.

Standings

NY Mets	10	4	.714	-
Atlanta	10	5	.667	0.5
Florida	6	9	.400	4.5
Washington	5	11	.313	6.0
Philadelphia	4	10	.286	6.0

Tonight~

The Mets start a 3 game series with the Braves with a half game lead in the NL EAST. Mets have finally gotten the bats going and look to keep the trend going against the Braves.

Tonight Mike Pelfrey takes on Tim Hudson.

Mike Pelfrey
Pelfrey hasn't pitched since his start vs the Nationals when he pitched 5 and 2/3 innings giving
up 3 ER. Pelfrey had some control problems in that game but with temperatures around the high 50's tonight Pelfrey will look to set the tone with his slider and changeup.

Tim Hudson
Hudson has been AMAZING this year as he will be going for his 3rd win tonight against the Mets. Hudson's ERA on the year is .86 and it looks like he has rejuvenated his career. Hudson is one of those guys who likes to make hitters swing at the pitches that look like a strike but dip out of the strike zone at the last second.

Notes
Mike Gonzalez might not pitch in this Mets Braves series as he has a little bit of inflammation, and little tenderness in his shoulder.

Willie on the series
``I usually don’t put a lot of emphasis on and early season series,’’ Randolph said. ``But, it’s the Braves and they are a team we have to beat because they are in our division. This will be a big series for us. I’ve always had a lot of respect for them and always will.’’
~Metsfever.blogspot.com

Minor Leagues~

Carlos Gomez lost his hitting streak as he went 0 for 5 last night dipping his average to .357

Lastings Milledge (rf) 2 for 4, run, RBI, K, .346
Carlos Gomez lost his hitting streak as he went 0 for 5 last night dipping his average to .357
Metsprospecthub.blogspot.com

Mets as a team have a .303 TEAM AVERAGE
Mets also have a team 2.40 TEAM ERA

More updates later~

Quick Update

2007-04-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

sorry no Around The League today been busy..

Mets beat the Marlins 9-2 and while doing so crushed Dontrell Willis. Willis had to take one for the team as mitre only threw 16 pitches the game before. Wright extended his hitting streak to 25, and Carlos Beltran went deep. John Maine brought a no hitter into the 7th inning but Miggy after a pitch that looked like he went around on but didn't hit a liner to right field for a base hit. Maine's final line was 7 innings 2 ER 7 k's. 1.93 ERA

Tonight the Mets take on the Marlins again as Orlando Hernandez faces off against Rick Vanden Hurk.

Orlando Hernandez
is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA on the season looking to rebound from a tuff start against the Nationals. Hernandez only has 2 career starts at Dolphin Stadium but he's made them count as he is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA.

RHP Rick Vanden Hurk (0-0, 3.86 ERA) (mets.com)
The youngster from Holland will be making just his second Major League start. His first one, against the Brewers, was surprisingly good. He lasted 4 2/3 innings and allowed only one run before rain stopped play. He struck out five straight at one point. In two innings of relief against Atlanta, he wasn't so special, giving up two runs over 2 1/3 innings.

Paul Lo Duca won't be in tonights lineup after playing last night. Willie said Lo Duca was favoring the hand and wants to give him the night off and Castro a start.

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Atlanta	10	4	.714	-
NY Mets	9	4	.692	0.5
Florida	6	8	.429	4.0
Washington	5	11	.313	6.0
Philadelphia	4	10	.286	6.0

Rotoworld updates WHAT ARE THE PHILLIES THINKING?

2007-04-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of the season all Phillies fan when comparing Brett Myers to Tom Glavine said Myers was better and would only get better.

Here's Phillies bright idea after 2? bad starts

"The Phillies have decided to make Brett Myers into a setup man to make room for Jon Lieber in the rotation. He'll work in the seventh and eighth, as well as close when Tom Gordon is not available.

Incredible. This is perhaps the biggest overreaction to a lousy start that we've ever witnessed. Myers earned the Opening Day start for the Phillies after back-to-back fine seasons and had a great spring. He was coming off back-to-back poor starts, but he had struck out 19 in 15 1/3 innings"

"Jon Lieber is moving into the Philadelphia rotation, displacing Brett Myers.

Lieber finished last year with a 4.93 ERA in 27 starts. He's probably better than that, but his fantasy value still figures to be pretty limited, and if the Phillies aren't careful with him, they might get him hurt again."

Now this makes no sense to me.. The Philles are taking their ace out of the rotation to put him in the pen? Now how is a guy who has been a successful starter during his career going to act to be putting put in the pen for a 37 year old? My guess look for Myers to be traded soon.

Mets

"Paul Lo Duca is in the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the Marlins.

Lo Duca left Tuesday's game with a bruised right index finger."

Surprised thought he would at least take one day off

Marlins

"Marlins placed outfielder Alejandro De Aza on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 16, with a sprained right ankle."

"Marlins placed RHP Jorge Julio on the 15-day disabled list with a right calf strain."

Just tell the guy he isn't good enough to pitch on your team don't go making up fake injuries.

"Marlins recalled RHP Lee Gardner from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Gardner gets recalled after six days because of Jorge Julio's "injury." He'll work in middle relief and in a setup role."

"Marlins recalled outfielder Eric Reed from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Reed was hitting .130/.149/.196 in 46 at-bats for Albuquerque. The Marlins will probably keep using Cody Ross and Alfredo Amezaga in center, with Reed serving as a defensive replacement."

Glavine gets #293 ATL

2007-04-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Mets beat the Phillies in the first and only game of the series 8 to 1.

As I expected the Mets came ready to play and Alou went deep.

Tom Glavine started the game and won his 293rd game of his career. Glavine walked a lot of batters again, and had to work out of trouble but pitched good overall going 6 innings giving up 6 hits and 1 ER. 2.70 ERA

Moises Alou was 2 for 3 last night with his first and second homerun of the season. Alou has been hitting the ball hard all season and it was just a matter of time before some of these balls started going out. Alou had 3 RBI's on the night and is now batting .341 on the season

Carlos Beltran was 2 for 5 with 2 RBI's and also stole 2 bases on the night.

Jose Reyes nothing new 2 for 4 a walk and a stolen base now hitting .327 on the year with a .431 OBP

David Wright extended his hitting streak to 24 games but Wright up with the bases loaded struck out against Geary with a horrible swing on the outside Slider.

Carlos Delgado looks awful at the plate after an 0 for 4 last night with 3 k's he's now hitting .224 on the season. In his older age Delgado has become a streaky hitter and he showed that last year, I just hope it's the cold weather and going to Florida will get him started.

The Phillies just don't look like they want to be on the field. They are known for slow starts but they look awful out there and it doesn't seem like anyone cares.

BIG STORY
The big story for the Mets was catcher Paul Lo Duca having to come out of the game after the 4th inning because of a foul tip hit off of his right hand. Lo Duca's x-rays came back negative but after being checked again the doctor told him he had a fracture on his hand.

Lo Duca is day-to-day and Ramon Castro will start in his place today. Castro was 2 for 2 after coming in for Lo Duca and had 2 RBI's.

The Braves beat those pesky Nationals 6 to 4.

John Smoltz again started for the braves against the Nationals this time he pitched 6 innings and gave up 4 R just 2 ER while striking out 2. ERA 3.12

Rafeal Soriano finally had an easy outing pitching 1.2 innings giving up nothing while striking out 2.

Bob Wickman closed the game for the Braves and now has 4 on the season without giving up a run.

Chipper Jones has found his swing he went deep again last night for his 4th homerun of the year.

Kelly Johnson had a big day at the plate going 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored.

Jerome Williams started the game for the Nationals went 5 innings and gave up 4 ER. 0-3 5.62 ERA on the year

Chris Snelling was 2 for 3 with a tripple and an RBI on the day

Nationals were trying for their 3rd straight win.

Florida lost to Houston 6 to 1

Starter Sergio Mitre had to leave after throwing just 13 pitches due to a torn callous on his pitching hand.

Jorge Julio is just awful and again blew another game for the Marlins this time coming in the 3rd inning he gave up 5 ER in an inning of work.

Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with his second homerun of the season.

For The Astros

Roy Oswalt pitched on three days rest and did just fine going 6 and 1 third inning giving up just 1 run while striking out 7. Oswalt out to a quick start is now 3-0 with a 2.89 ERA

Carlos Lee had another big day and is just eating up NL EAST pitching Lee was 3 for 4 with a homerun and 4 RBI. Now hitting .340 on the season

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Atlanta	9	4	.692	-
NY Mets	8	4	.667	0.5
Florida	6	7	.462	3.0
Washington	4	10	.286	5.5
Philadelphia	3	9	.250	5.5

Carlos Gomez watch

Gomez had just 1 hit in 4 at bats but drove in 2 runs yesterday and is now hitting .404 on the season

Also in this game 23 year old lefty

Jason Vargas threw 6 innings giving up just 1 run while striking out 5. He is now 2-0 on the season with a 1.50 ERA

A lot of people are saying the trade for Vargas was a bad trade because hey Owens has a 0.00 ERA and Lindstrom is pitching well while Vargas and Bostick are in AAA. I think it was a great trade that will pay off. I believe if Jason Vargas after the first half of the year in AAA is something like 2.8 ERA he will have a lot of value. 23 year old lefty who's slider and change up are plus pitches and has a 92-93 MPH fastball. If Valentin isn't having a good year by that point I think the Mets could look towards the Twins. The Twins have 2B prospect Alexi Casilla who they are very high on and ironically the player he is compared to is the guy patrolling 2B for the Twins right now Luis Castillo. The Twins rotation without Liriano isn't very deep and I think with Castillo being a free agent after the year a trade with Vargas could go down for Castillo. Omar likes Castillo and tried to get him last time he was a FA and what Omar wants OMAR GETS.

Tonight the Mets start a 2 game series with Florida in FLORIDA which has the players very happy that they don't have to play in the cold.

John Maine starts the game for the Mets and is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA he was a little shaky last time out walking hitters but got out of trouble. Maine only has 1 career start against the Marlins which he lost and also has a 4.99 ERA on the road in his career.

Dontrell Willis determined not to get out in a slow start like last has had 3 great starts in a row. Willis is 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA. Against the Mets in his career Willis does everything hit pitch play defense. What do the numbers say? In his career Willis is 11-2 against the Mets with a 2.02 ERA in 16 starts. Willis also has 3 homeruns and 8 RBI against the Mets.

No more predictions because really I would just predict the Mets to win every game

Called it :)

2007-04-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

Called that Moises Alou would hit a homerun in the post before this.. :)
2-0 Mets top second

Moises Alou goes deep AGAIN!
Mets now lead 4-1

My prediction was Mets 5-1 and Alou would go deep lets see what happens.. Game Recap and Around the NL EAST to come later.

Around the NL EAST and your 4/17 updates

2007-04-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well we know the Mets and Phillies got rained out but lets see how Atlanta, Washington and Florida did last night.

Washington played the Braves AGAIN

This time the Nationals beat the Braves and young lefty Chuck James 5 to 1.

Chuck James started the game for the Braves and got the lost pitching 5 innings giving up 3 ER. ERA for the season 2.25

Former Met Tyler Yates gave up 2 runs in relief in just 1/3 of an inning. Yates now has a 6.75 ERA

Scott Thorman came in the game as a replacement for Jack Wilsonand had the Braves only RBI of the game.

Bobby Cox had this to say about the game..

"We had six runners on in the first two innings, and that's a lot of runners not to score one," said Braves manager Bobby Cox. "We just couldn't get [hits] at the right time."

Matt Chico started the game for the Nationals and pitched good enough to get a win. Chico went 5 innings giving up 5 walks and 4 hits but only allowed 1 ER. 5.27 ERA on the season.

Dimitri Young had a big night at the plate going 3 for 4 including a double and 2 RBI

Ryan Zimmeran had 2 hits of his own and an RBI as he try's to get on a roll after his slow start.

The Nationals bullpen in the game that consisted of Rivera Rauch and Cordero pitched 4 scoreless innings giving up just 1 hit while striking out 3 to close out the game.

Florida lost the Houston Astros 4 to 3 last night as the Marlins bullpen blew another game.

Anibal Sanchez started the game for the Marlins and though he walked 6 batters he got out of jam after jam and ended up giving up just 1 run in 5 innings of work.

Former Met Matt Lindstrom came into the game in relief and gave his first earned runs of the season as he gave up 2 runs in his 1 inning of work.

Marlins search for a new closer game to Kevin Gregg but Gregg's first day as a closer didn't go to well as he gave up 2 walks and 2 hits which led to a walk off hit by Morgan Ensberg with the bases loaded.

Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a tripple as he was thrown out going for an inside the park homerun.

Joe Borchard was 2 for 4 with an RBI raising his average to .270 on the season

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Atlanta	8	4	.667	-
NY Mets	7	4	.636	0.5
Florida	6	6	.500	2.0
Washington	4	9	.308	4.5
Philadelphia	3	8	.273	4.5

Carlos Gomez watch until Gomez's average dips below .330

Last night Gomez had another huge night at the plate and also showed some plate discipline

Gomez was 3 for 3 with a tripple a run scored and 2 WALKS!
Now hitting .419 on the year

Tonights pitching matchup brought to you by
www.metsfever.blogspot.com

Tom Glavine (2-1, 3.12)
Glavine was about as good as he could be in frigid New York temperatures on Thursday, giving up three runs in a six-inning performance against Philadelphia. He recovered from a rocky start to record career win No. 292, despite walking three in the first inning and serving up two home runs to Phillies leadoff man Jimmy Rollins.

Freddy Garcia (0-0, 0.00)
Garcia makes his long-awaited Phillies debut. The right-hander had a delayed start to his regular season because of soreness in his right biceps. In his only career start against the Mets, Garcia allowed one run on six hits in a complete-game victory, striking out seven.

~my prediction Garcia has a ruff first start off the DL and the Mets after 2 rain delays are ready to play. Score Mets 7 Phillies 3

Moises Alou will go deep~

What does Rick Peterson think about off days?

“The opportunity is we can take a couple of our young guys and we can get a couple extra bullpen [sessions]. Things we worked on all through spring training, we have a couple extra sessions…Quite frankly, besides Tommy, I think everyone can benefit from this.”

~Remember Perez is not pitching until Saturday thats what 3 bullpen sessions? Now what would you say if Perez has no walks next time out?

From USA today Glavine on his last start vs Philly

''I was rushing in my delivery and rushing to try to make pitches,'' said Glavine, who earned his 292nd career win. ''After the second inning, when I threw my warmup pitches in the third inning, I kind of tried to make a little conscious adjustment and it felt good. It felt like my pitches were a little bit better during the warmup and just tried to go with it, and it seemed to work.''

4/16/07

2007-04-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

With the two rain-outs in a row The Mets are making some changes with the starting rotation.

Tom Glavine, Tuesday
John Maine, Wednesday
Orlando Hernandez, Thursday
Mike Pelfrey, Friday
Oliver Perez, Saturday

Glavine jumps over everyone, while duque jumps over Pelfrey who jumps over Perez. I guess Rick Peterson wants some more bullpen sessions with Perez before they let him get back out there.

Carlos Gomez is tearing it up in AAA he made baseball america's first hot sheet

#9 "No sense in waiting until the second half this year. The precocious Gomez is hitting .375/.405/.575 and leads the PCL with six doubles and six triples."

Yeah lets not forget Gomez has 6 steals and 5 RBI.

Gomez has a bright future, and it could be batting second behind Jose Reyes. Though right now with Gomez's plate discipline it doesn't seem like Gomez would be a good #2 hitter. Gomez said something like "If you don't swing then you can't hit" last year so I don't think he would be taking pitches for Reyes to run on. #7 hitter ?

What does this mean for Lastings Milledge who is struggling right now in AAA? The Mets could just keep Milledge in the minors then in 2008 have an outfield of Milledge Beltran Gomez. Or like many people think The Mets could trade Milledge at the all-star break for a starting pitcher. Here are some things to think about for all of you who want to trade for a starting pitcher..

Pedro Martinez is ahead of schedule and is set to return right after the all-star break? 20 pounds of muscle. Thats like gaining a #2 starter at the break without trading away anyone.

Maine Perez Pelfrey if these guys are giving you the solid pitching you need why do you need to trade for someone? and really if Pedro is going to come back healthy you only need 2 of the 3 to work out.

But lets say the Mets trade for a starting pitcher. Lets just throw out Haren, I'm not saying he's the guy the Mets will trade for but he's a good example because he won't be a FA for a while.

Looking ahead to 2008 if you trade for someone these are your possible starting pitchers..

Pedro Martinez
Dan Haren
John Maine
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando Hernandez (2 year deal)
Philip Humber
Jason Vargas

Now in a perfect world the Mets convince Hernandez to retire, or go to the bullpen. But look at that you have 9 starting pitchers for 5 spots. You have to give Pedro and Haren a spot. Now if Perez Maine and Pelfrey all have good years those are your next 3 spots. But then are you going to let Humber rot in the minors? are you going to trade him then if somebody goes down your left with nothing? same thing as Vargas.. and wait Tom Glavine hasn't decided if this is his last season..

I think you just go with the starters you have and hope Pedro comes back strong for a playoff push.

The Mets should be happy they have these kind of problems. Delios Guerra should be ready by 2009 :)

The Mets have another problem with the future of the outfield another great problem to have but what do you do?

Carlos Beltran 29 years old right now, by the time F-Mart is ready in 2009 he will be 31-32 years old still in his prime.

Carlos Gomez a Jose Reyes in the outfield? more power? how can you trade that away?

Lastings Milledge 20+ homerun guy who can hit for a good average play great defense and steal you some bases

Fernando Martinez in AA at age 18 #24? prospect in all of baseball predicts to be the next great hitter in the league.

What do you do? How long do you wait to trade a guy? Switch F-Mart to 1st base? but then what about possible FA Mark Texeira (SP?) is a free agent.. What about 1B prospect Mike Carp that Mets MLB coaches love.. what do you do? again a great problem to have but will have to be addressed sooner or later.

This is talking without future draft picks that can turn out, and guys in the minors that can break out at any time.

Around The League to come later..

Leave your thoughts on what the mets should do for now and for the future.

Mets game rained out AGAIN

2007-04-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

According to Metsblog the Mets and Phillies have been rained out.

Tom Glavine 7 days rest? will the Mets do that?

Ill be back later with more updates.

Mets split series with Nationals

2007-04-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

Because of the heavy rain the Mets and Nationals won't be able to play the next game in the series. The Mets won the first game against the Nationals, and then lost the second. I really can't believe the Mets lost a game to the Nationals these are games you must win, and the division could come down to who had a better record against the Nationals.

The Mets hitting made the Nationals pitching look like cy-youngs.

Now with the rain out you would have to wonder if the Mets will skip Maine or Perez in the rotation to keep Glavine on regular rest.

I think you have to let Perez get right back out there after his horrible start. I would let Maine pitch to, Glavine can handle an extra day rest it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Sorry for the non updates been busy. I usually don't update much on weekends

Heres the National League East standings

Team	W	L	GB
Atlanta	8	3	-
NY Mets	7	4	1.0
Florida	6	5	2.0
Philadelphia	3	8	5.0
Washington	3	9	5.5

Mets now go to Philly for 2 then to Florida for 2 then home for 3 with Atlanta. Big games in the division.

The Braves after beating Florida today go to play the Nationals again for 2 then go home to play the Cubs for 2 before going to shea.

The Phillies start a 2 game series with The Mets then get Washington for 2 stay on the road and play the Reds for 3 after that they have a makeup game with Houston before getting to play the Nationals for 3.

Phillies have the easiest upcoming schedule, and The Mets have the hardest.

Glavine gets win number 292 ATL

2007-04-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Mets beat the Phillies yesterday 5 to 3. In the beginning it seemed these two 40+ year old pitchers were in for an early exit walking batters early, but both Glavine and Moyer got out of early trouble and pitched well.

Tom Glavine started the game for the Mets and I really can not believe he went 6 innings after the first and second inning he had. Glavine looked like Oliver Perez out there early on but after walking 3 batters in the first inning did not walk a batter for the next 5 innings. All Glavine's runs were due to two homeruns by Jimmy Rollins. His final line was 6 innings 4 hits 3 ER 3 walks. ERA for the season 3.12

Jose Reyes is on fire. Reyes had 2 more clutch RBI'S yesterday giving him 11 already this season. Reyes on the season is now batting a .351

Moises Alou was 3 for 4 yesterday with an RBI, and finally some of these hard hit balls he is hitting are starting to drop. (.343 average)

David Wright kept alive his 21 game hitting streak with a triple on a ball he hit deep to right field last night.

Joe Smith has not been fazed by the change from spring training to the regular season, Smith has now thrown 6 scoreless innings this year and striking out 5 while doing so. Smith's slider is one of the nastiest pitches if seen from such a young kid all I want to say is a reliever never wins the rookie of the year award but I really think this kid could have a chance.

Scott Schoeneweis looked solid last night and was able to pitch a complete 8th inning giving Heilman an extra day off.

Billy Wagner made it a little interesting as usually but didn't give up a run, and got his second save of the season.

The Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves yesterday, yes the Nationals beat the Braves. The Nationals and Phillies are now tied in wins.

John Smoltz started the game for Atlanta and got the loss though pitching 8 innings giving up just 2 runs.

The Braves had only 2 hits all night and those hits came from Chipper and Andruw Jones.

Jason Bergmann finally gave The Nationals a chance to win pitching 6 scoreless innings while striking out 8 to cool down the hot Braves.

Chad Cordero made it interesting by getting the bases loaded in the 9th but eventually got Brian McCann to strike out to end the game.

Ronnie Belliard is making it a mission to make teams second guess not signing him this off-season. If you remember nobody signed Ronnie Belliard until the Nationals came to him this spring with a minor league offer. Belliard with an RBI last night is now hitting .406 on the year

The Marlins were off yesterday.

Today the Mets will start a 3 game series with the Nationals at home as youngster Mike Pelfrey got the call up today and will make his first start of the season.

Standings

Team	W	L	GB
Atlanta	7	2	-
NY Mets	6	3	1.0
Florida	5	4	2.0
Philadelphia	2	7	5.0
Washington	2	8	5.5

Interesting Notes

Fernando Martinez's homerun the other day in AA was in the 8th inning of a tie game off of a left handed specialist.

The Indians gave a 3 year deal to Jake Westbrook so I guess you could cross him off the list of possible mid-season trades to the Mets.

The Phillies the team to "Beat" have the same amount of wins as The Washington Nationals who are expected to lose 120 games this year.

Lastings Milledge was sent down today to make room for Mike Pelfrey. Milledge had only 3 at bats during his time in the majors and will go down to AAA and start every game in either left or center field.

Juan Padilla to undergo surgery

2007-04-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

UPDATE
J.B. Cox had a different type of surgery, and rotoworld says Juan Padilla could still come back later this season and help out the Mets.
~I still think he's done for the season he's thrown what 1 inning that was during spring in whats going to be by the time he should be back in 2 years. See you in spring training Juan.

From Mets press release
"The New York Mets announced today that right-handed pitcher Juan Padilla will undergo surgery on his right elbow tomorrow to repair a partial tear of his flexor tendon. The operation will be performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan."

Well not much to say except this is blow to the bullpen because he was expected back soon to take some of the load off of Heilman. Yankees minor leaguer J.B. Cox just had the same surgery and he will be out for 8 months so don't expect Padilla back any time soon. How many more days until Mota is off suspension?

Mets lose an UGLY game to the Phillies also ATL

2007-04-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Mets lost to the Phillies 5 to 2, before the game started the thoughts were Perez is going to prove again he is a different pitcher, and that the Mets were going to show why Adam Eaton is overpaid. We get into the game and its the complete opposite

Oliver Perez started the game for The Mets and after cruising through the first couple of batters Perez just fell apart. Perez walked 7!!! during the 3rd inning and was taken out after hitting Barajas on a 2-2 pitch with the bases loaded. Perez's final line was 2.2 innings 1 hit 7 walks and 3 ER.

Aaron Sele came in the game for long relief and really did a great job keeping the Mets in the game. Sele saved the bullpen from being overused by pitching 4.1 innings giving up 2 runs.

Jose Reyes was the only Met hitter with 2 hits, and also the only Met hitter to drive in a run off of Adam Eaton. Reyes is now batting .333 on the season

David Wright going 1 for 3 on Wednesday kept his 20 game hitting streak in tact.

Adam Eaton started the game for the Phillies and pitched great as he silenced this Met offense. Eaton pitched 7 innings giving up just 4 hits 2 earned runs while striking out 5. ERA 6.94

Adam Rowand had a good night at the plate going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's.

~Perez was just horrible tonight but I had some questions on pitch selection, it didn't seem Perez was shaking Lo Duca off but 2ce that I saw with the bases loaded 2 strikes while Perez had no control at all Lo Duca called a slider which 1nce was ball 4 and the other time hit the batter which was Perez's final batter of the game. I don't see why you would throw a slider in that situation even though the hitter is looking fastball Perez couldn't throw a strike, and I just thought it was a bad job by Lo Duca calling those pitches. Whats scary is if Perez would of just got that last hitter out he would of only gave up 2 runs while giving up 7 WALKS and maybe could of went out there and found himself and you never know with Perez he could of got on track and pitched 2 more innings.

~David Wright kept his 20 game hitting streak alive but he looks awful at the plate. Wright's at bat usually goes like this; Fastball taken right down the middle Strike 1. Changeup low swung at strike 2. A couple of pitches taken 2-2. Slider outside that he swings at 90% of the time for strike 3. Sometimes you just wish you could talk to the player just be like GET A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE PLATE DON'T TAKE THE FIRST PITCH FASTBALL IT'S THE BEST PITCH YOUR GOING TO GET WITH 2 STRIKES YOUR GOING TO GET THE SLIDER LOOK TO GO THE OTHER WAY. You would expect Rick Down or Wright would see this in video maybe they do but Wright is going to have to fix it quick because he's a huge part of this offense especially against lefty's which the Mets will be facing today in Jamey Moyer.

Around The League

The Braves beat the Nationals AGAIN 8-3 and the Braves now improved to a division best 7-1.

young Chuck James took the ball for the Braves and shut down the Nationals offense (who can't) for his second win of the season as he pitched 6 innings giving up no runs while striking out 5.

Chipper Jones hit his first homerun of the year and had 2 RBI's.

Andruw Jones hit his second homerun of the year and drove in 3 RBI's

~The Braves just have an easy schedule in April after this series with the Nationals they go to face the struggling Marlins for 3 then go back and play the Nationals 2 more times.

The Marlins finished that rain delayed extra inning game with Brewers and lost in 13 3 to 2.

~I already did a wrap of this game before the delay so ill just do what happend in extras~

Renyel Pinto surrendered an RBI single to Prince Fielder which was the game winner.

The Marlins then lost a second game to the Brewers 5 to 2.

Sergio Mitre took the ball for the Marlins and got his second loss of the season pitching 6 innings giving up 10 hits and 4 ER. ERA now 4.09

Miguel Cabrera went deep in the 4th inning for his 4th homerun of the season. He's now hitting .406 on the season.

Joe Borchard also went deep for his first homerun of the season.

NL EAST STANDINGS

East	W	L	PCT	GB
Atlanta	7	1	.875	-
New York	5	3	.625	2.0
Florida	5	4	.556	2.5
Philadelphia	2	6	.250	5.0
Washington	1	8	.111	6.5

Around The NL EAST April 10th

2007-04-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Braves blew out the Washington Nationals 8 to nothing last night and improved to a major league best 8 and 1.

Tim Hudson took the mound for the Braves last night and showed more good signs that this will be a break out year for him.
Hudson pitched 7 scoreless innings giving up just 3 hits and struck out 7. Hudson's ERA for the season 0.67.

Andruw Jones finally hit his first homerun of the year coming in the 4th inning off of Washington pitcher Chico.

Jeff Francoeur had a huge night at the plate going 2 for 5 with a homerun and 5 RBI

~Lets remember people this is the Washington Nationals who will lose more then 100 games this season shouldn't be a surprise Atlanta is having their way with them.

The Marlins had a terrific game with the Brewers in a game that went to extra innings and then got rained out. There wasn't much offense this game as the Marlins only had 6 hits in 10 innings.

Former Met Mike Jacobs seems to be having a turn around season and last night was 1 for 4 with an RBI. He's now hitting .367 on the season.

Former Met Jorge Julio blew another save for the Marlins pitching in the 9th inning gave up 2 walks a hit which led to an Earned Run and a blow save.

~It now seems that Matt Lindstrom (former Met) or Henry Owens (former Met) could take over the closer role for Florida.

In news around the NL EAST
from rotoworld.com
"Mike Hampton had successful surgery to fix the torn flexor tendon in his elbow on Tuesday.

Hampton will miss the remainder of the season, but should be fully recovered in time for the 2008 season."

Thats a big blow to the Braves. That rotation now features a pitcher in Mark Redman who didn't get a contract to mid spring and Kyle Davies who has good stuff but had what a 15 ERA last year?

The Mets, and Phillies were both off yesterday (duh they are playing each other) and will be playing today as Oliver Perez takes the mound against over paid Adam Eaton.

Standings
W L GB

Atlanta	6	1	.857	-
New York Florida	5	2	.714	1.0

Philadelphia	1	6	.143	5.0
Washington	1	7	.125	5.5

Back!!!

2007-04-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

I'm back from vacation today and will start to update again. Sorry for the non-updates.

What I missed

The Mets are now 5-2 a 1/2 game behind the braves for 1st place, and tied with The Marlins for 2nd.

The Phillies are tied for last place with The Washington Nationals at 1-6 and their bullpen is just horrible.

The Mets went to Atlanta and lost 2 out of 3 games. They could of easily won all 3 games but lost 2 games because of bad play.

After The Mets beat Mark Redman, Tom Glavine faced off against John Smoltz. Then in the 6th inning in a tie game a routine fly ball was hit to Shawn Green which he dropped and a run scored. Then another fly ball was hit to him and he didn't set up correctly to throw and another run scored. If he would of made the catch on the routine fly ball only 1 run would of scored and could of been a totally different game.

The next game The Mets had a 2-1 lead going into the 8th with Aaron Heilman pitching, usually a win but Heilman had a really bad game that cost The Mets the game.

But you can't complain with a 5-2 start and getting 5+ innings from your starters every time out.

Shawn Green has surprised everyone with his good hitting, and has pretty much nothing to worry about as it seems Milledge can't even get in a game.

Willie Randolph is making some really bad moves that are being covered up. On the bench you have right handed hitting Lastings Millege, and Damion Easley. We know Shawn Green are Jose Valentin are bad against lefty's so against Mark Redman who starts? Green and Valentin. Didn't see the point in that. And then again Mets have to face one of the best lefty's in the game in Cole Hamels and Willie again leaves Green and Valentin in the game. Though Valentin had a big hit it was later in the game when Hamels had left.

Then there was the biggest dumb move. In a 3-2 Mets lead after John Maine had been taken out Willie Randolph let Burgos pitch to Howard after Howard had just seen Burgos have a 12 pitch at bat with Utley. Felciano was ready in the pen but Willie kept Burgos in there. The outcome? 3 run homer from Howard.

But yesterday Willie was bailed out by the offense who went off in the bottom of the 8th inning. And of course with the bases loaded and 1 out a ball hit right to Jimmy Rollins and he can't handle it. The guy who doesn't shut his mouth makes the game losing play, and now his team is in last place.

Help from unexpected players #2 Joe Smith

2007-04-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Over at sportingnews.com this writer has Joe Smith as the #2 player who will help their team this year

Good teams -- the Mets and White Sox -- and bad teams -- the Nationals and Devil Rays -- could be getting some unexpected help this season from players arriving out of nowhere.

2. Joe Smith, RHP, Mets. This time last year, Smith was pitching for Wright State. The club's third-round pick in 2006, he graduated to the majors this spring by schooling hitters with his wicked sidearm delivery.

~I have a lot of faith in young Joe Smith, and I feel he will be with this club all year and make us all forget who Chad Bradford is. Smith will have to keep working for a spot as it's most likely between him and Burgos when Guerrmo Mota comes back from suspension. Before the season is over we will have seen Joe Smith be a right handed specialist, a middle relief pitcher, a setup man, and possibly used in Long Relief he can do anything.

OT
Just looking through The Nationals roster the other day I saw how bad that rotation is, and was thinking of a possible trade. Jason Vargas and Jon Adkins for Jon Rauch AKA the "Wookie"

The Mets could use a setup man to take some of the load off of Heilman, and Vargas is behind a load of pitchers to get a shot on this team. For The Nationals they get a 22 year old lefty who has had success in the majors before and would probably become their #2 starter. Also Vargas still has some years before free agency so it wouldn't cost The Nationals much.

Baseball America on Guerra

2007-04-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well if you haven't noticed yet Guerra is one of my favorite prospects, and I can't wait to see him pitch.

It was all too easy for the 17-year-old Mets righthander in his first start for St. Lucie on Thursday, tossing five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five.

Guerra doesn’t turn 18 for another two weeks, but the Mets saw three significant things change in spring training: a spike in fastball velocity, added depth to his breaking ball with the confidence to use throw it and the ability to repeat his delivery more consistently.

Guerra’s fastball was up to 94-95 mph in minor league camp, an increase of four-to-five miles an hour from where he was last season. He also worked hard on his curveball, which lagged behind his fastball and plus changeup, during the offseason.

He also apparently grew at least an inch.

“He’s up to 6-foot-6 now,” Mets vice president of player development Tony Bernazard said. “His body is getting there and he’s progressed a lot, not only with his stuff, but with his delivery and his work habits.”

Guerra was clocked consistently in the low 90s in the Mets rain-shortened 2-0 win against Vero Beach on Thursday and showed the same consistency with his breaking ball as he had during spring training.

“His arm speed is there with the changeup and it’s a plus pitch,” Bernazard said. “His curveball is coming along. It’s got good tilt and break to it now, and it’s where he can throw it for a strike. He’s using it more often now than he had before.

Thanks Baseball America for the update. Some people didn't believe Guerra was throwing mid 90's already so heres your proof. Get ready folks this kid is going to be the next big thing.

For all your minor league reports go to

www.metsprospecthub.blogspot.com

Atlanta Sweeps Philly Nationals Lose To D-Backs

2007-04-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

Around The League

The Phillies are really showing they are the team to "Beat"as they have now lost the first 3 games of the season to the Atlanta Braves. Tonight The Braves beat the Phillies by a final score of 8 to 4.

Adam Eaton made his first start for The Phillies after getting ridiculous amount of money in the off season from The Phillies. Adam Eaton looked horrible giving up 7 ER in just 4 and 2/3 innings. (Thats an ERA of 13.50)

Young Chuck James took the mound for The Braves and was much better then Eaton though only pitched 5 innings giving up 6 Hits but only 1 ER while striking out 5.

Amazingly in this game The Phillies bullpen didn't allow a run, while The Braves bullpen gave up 3 runs.

Kelly Johnson got his first hit of the season which was a homerun off Eaton in the 5th inning.

Brian McCann had 2 more RBI's today giving him a total of 6 on the season.

The Nationals after winning their first game of the season yesterday could not keep it going as they lost to The Diamond Backs in a close one 4 to 3.

The Nationals just can't get any good starts from any of these starters.. Todays starter

Jason Bergmann only lasted 3 and 2/3 innings as he couldn't find the strike zone today giving up 4 ER while walking 6 batters.

Dimitri Young after his walk off hit last night was 2 for 4 with a homerun and an RBI.

for the Diamond Backs

Orlando Hudson was 2 for 4 with his first homerun of the season.

~The Mets had the day off as they travel to Atlanta for three games. Oliver Perez will face Mark Redman in the first game of the series, and Lastings Milledge will be expected to make the start in right field.

~Adam Eaton was one of the worst contracts ever, I don't see why the Phillies would give such a big contract to a guy who is never healthy and when healthy isn't really that good. The Phillies should of took that money and invested it in some bullpen which is what they need right now.

The Nationals are in for a VERY VERY bad season, as they don't have any starting pitching I think their combined starters win total from 2006 is 1. You don't understand how bad this team is, and it will take some time before they are competitive again.The sad part is they have a decent bullpen with Rauch and Cordero but those guys will probably be traded mid-season for some prospects something The Nationals are lacking.

East

PCT

New York

1.000

Atlanta

1.000

Florida

.667

1.0

Washington

.250

2.5

Philadelphia

.000

3.0

Deolis Guerra gets opening day nod for St.Lucie Mets

2007-04-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Deolis Guerra will pitch opening day for the defending Florida State League-champion St. Lucie Mets as they begin their season tonight against the Vero Beach Devil Rays.

Deolis Guerra notes from Metsprospecthub.blogspot.com

"Guerra is kind of the pitching version of Fernando Martinez in terms of youth and how excited the organization is about him. He'll turn just 18 this April and will likely be the youngest player in the FSL. At age 17, Guerra had a 2.20 ERA in 17 South Atlantic League starts. Opponents hit just .208 against him, earning Guerra a late promotion to St. Lucie and a playoff start."

~One of the greatest things about Guerra is he is so young that he will keep on getting better.. Take a look at a scouting report on him just a few months ago, and then ill post the updates..

"Strengths: Guerra stands out most with a feel for his changeup that's exceptional for a teenager. He maintains his normal arm action, setting up a fastball that sits at 88-90 mph and touches 92. His frame should allow for more velocity as he matures, making the gap between his changeup and fastball all the more difficult for hitters.

Weaknesses: Guerra's curveball is below average. He lacks confidence in his curve, and it has poor rotation and depth. The tilt and velocity on his breaking ball changes as he tries to figure it out, and it's possible it could morph into a slider. His delivery is repeatable but too slow and mechanical.

The Future: With a little more velocity and an average curveball, Guerra would establish himself as an elite prospect. Time is certainly on his side, as he'll begin the season at age 17, making him a safe bet to be the youngest player in the Florida State League."

Now during the winter Guerra made amazing advances with his curveball, and changeup here's what the hub had to say..

"Update: On Guerra, it appears that his CB began to develop during the month of August and he improved it during the Instructional League. The Mets now believe that it will develop into a plus pitch. Also, he has been rated as having the best CU in the system."

Now Deolis Guerra comes to Spring Training and theres another update on him it seems he has hit great strides with his Fastball to..

"Deolis Guerra is at camp in St. Lucie, where he will open up his Minor League season. Reports out of camp are that Guerra has been touching 95 mph on the gun with his fastball, and could be ready for a breakout year(if last year wasn't). With another very good season this year, he could be primed for a top 25 prospect ranking, can't wait to see what he does."

Now lets put it all together.. This 17 year old kid is hitting 95 on the gun.. Which means he is prob around 91-92 MPH at an age were he should be a senior in high school, he has the best change up in The Mets minor league system that is considered a very plus pitch, and a quickly improving Curve-ball that with more experience projects to be a plus pitch.

Last year Guerra was on a tight pitch count because of his age should get a little longer leash this year but will prob not see over 75 pitches per start. Expect Guerra to spend the entire year in A+ there is no needs to rush this kid anymore.

He's been compared to King Felix in some ways at this rate he should be in the majors by the age of 20-21.

Again thanks to www.metsprospecthub.blogspot.com for the reports, and updates.

Watch Mets AAA team tonight on SNY

2007-04-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

SNY will show the New Orleans Zephrys first game of the minor league season. Top prospect Philip Humber will start the game after a disappointing spring training as many people expected Humber to take the #5 spot in the rotation.

Also you can get a look at top prospect Carlos Gomez.
I really don't know where in the order Gomez will be batting, you expect with his great speed he would hit lead off but when Gomez slumped in AA it was because of batting lead off and when he was moved down in the lineup is when he excelled.

Gomez will be the starting CF

Mets dominant the Cardinals again

2007-04-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

Mets beat the Cardinals 10-0 and completed the sweep of the defending champs who just look awful all around. The Cardinals just look lost offensively and defensively and that bullpen is just bad.

But besides that The Mets looked amazing again, and got another great pitching performance from a starter this time it was John Maine.

John Maine: Maine had his A+ game tonight, you could see the diffrence from a year ago as he spots his pitches down by the knees this year unlike last year when he was always up in the strike zone. Maine pitched 7 innings giving up just 1 run while striking out 6.

Carlos Beltran: Beltran went deep 2ce tonight, and had 4 RBI's the first one off Looper in the 6th inning to break a scoreless tie.

Jose Reyes: Reyes went 2 for 5 with a homerun and 3 RBI tonight, the homerun was Reyes's first of the season.

Shawn Green: Green had a good night going 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Paul LoDuca: Lo Duca had another 3 hits tonight, and is off to a great start.

Moises Alou: Alou went 2 for 3 with a run scored and a great defensive play early on.

Ambriox Burgos: Made his Mets debut tonight and looked very sharp Burgos didn't give up a hit and struck out 1 in his inning of work.

Aaron Sele: Sele made his Mets debut pitched a scoreless inning including a nasty curveball that buckled Pujols.

Overall in the 3 games The Mets scored 20 runs, while the starting pitching combined in the 3 games has given up 2 ER in 20 IP. Whats that a .086 ERA? The bullpen was also solid just giving up 1 run in the 3 games.

John Maine was just amazing tonight I have never seen him look better including the playoffs last year. He just spotted that fastball on the outside corner time after time against these Cardinal hitters.

Braden Looper actually didn't look half bad he was dominant early on but in the 6th it was obvious fatigue settled in which looks to be a major problem for him at least early on in the season.

Around The League

The Braves beat The Phillies today in extra innings. This game had a terrific pitching match up Hamels took on Tim Hudson, though both pitchers got a no decision in the end.

Hamels: Simply dominant and made these Brave hitters look foolish as he threw 7 scoreless innings while striking out 8. Many people have Cole Hamels as a possible Cy Young award winner in his rookie season.

Hudson: Hudson is looking to revitalize his career, and so far he looks to be on the right path. After a great spring Hudson in his first regular season start looked great as he also threw 7 innings giving up just 1 run while striking out 5.

The Phillies had the lead going into the 9th inning but closer Tom Gordon blew the save by giving up a 2 run homer to Brian McCann. Then in the 11th inning Scott Thorman hit a homerun in the top of the 11th inning that proved to be the game winning shot.

The Nationals came back and beat the Florida Marlins today after x-met Jorge Julio blew the save.

Miguel Cabrera: Hit his second homerun of the season as he went 2 for 3 with an RBI tonight, and he is now hitting .700 on the season

Jorge Julio: Julio blew the save as he came in with a 2 run lead in the 9th inning he only retired 1 batter while giving up 5 hits as he blew his first save of the season.

Keep an eye on it folks, The Marlins, and Phillies bullpen will cost them big this season. Both of these teams are talented but the lack of bullpen is a major hit as both teams will not be able to close out games, which is why I have The Mets winning this division.

Standings
W L
Mets 3 0
Braves 2 0
Marlins 2 1
Nationals 1 2
Phillies 0 2

Lastings Milledge crystal ball

2007-04-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2005/9/6/164143/1213

Lastings Milledge

~Remember this crystal ball was made before Milledge put on all that muscle.. In my opinion Milledge will be better for The Mets, and if he does what I think he will do he won't be traded at all. I don't believe Milledge can hit .368 nothing from his minor league numbers show that he can hit that high. Also I would think Milledge would steal more bases over his career averaging 20+ stolen bases over his career. I think this crystal ball shows that The Mets will give up on Milledge way to quick, and sell him low then he makes The Mets wish they had never traded him.
Overall I thought John did a good job on this, and for my best season Milledge would have I would say...

.329 29 homeruns 118 RBI 32 SB

My favorite part of this was the end to Milledge's career...

AP (Los Angeles, January 5, 2023) Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Lastings Milledge announced his retirement today at age 37. The two-time All-Star outfielder decided on retirement after Dodgers General Manager Matt Stairs told him that the club could not guarantee him a roster spot for 2023. "We would have been happy to have Lastings return on a non-roster basis for spring training," Stairs told USA Today, "but we couldn't guarantee that he'd make the team." "I have no hard feelings," said Milledge, "and I understand the position of the team. But I'm too old to go scrambling for a job anymore. So I thought I'd hang it up." Milledge, who won a batting title with the Colorado Rockies in 2015, says his only regret is not having won a World Series ring. "We came close once with Detroit, but it's the main thing I wish I could have done."

~stay tuned for a Mike Pelfrey crystal ball over at minorleagueball.com right now they are doing a community project for Pelfrey go over and voice your opinion.

Mets beat the Cardinals 4-1

2007-04-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

The Mets again beat the Cardinals for the second straight game, and if you were watching The Cardinals don't match up to The Mets at all..

Orlando Hernandez: started the game for The Mets and was amazing. El Duque pitched 7 innings giving up just 1 run, and had a big night with the bat as he went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's.

Jose Reyes: was 1 for 4 with 2 runs scored, and his first stolen base of the season.

Carlos Beltran: Beltran went 1 for 3 with an RBI and stole his first base of the season.

David Wright: Wright went 1 for 2 and showed a good eye at the plate with 2 walks.

Scott Schoeneweis: Made his Mets debut today for The Mets. Scott came in for the 8th inning but after giving up a hit and walking a batter was taken out for Aaron Heilman who then got Albert Pujols out to end the inning.

Billy Wagner: Wagner made it nice and simple tonight pitched a scoreless inning with no walks and no hits, and got his first save of the season.

~So yeah this starting rotation is just horrible combined 13 innings pitched 2 runs just horrid. And this old lineup they are having a very difficult time getting runs as they only have scored 10 in the 2 games they've played.

John Maine gets the start tomorrow against former Met relief pitcher Braden Looper, and really it's a game The Mets should again dominant. This Mets starting rotation was called horrible all off-season and I know its only 2 games but Glavine, and Duque looked great. Also wow The Cardinals have a really bad starting rotation. Now Chris Carpenter is hurt for them, and the starting rotation now looks like Wells,Looper,Wainright,Reyes, Pray for rain.That starting rotation makes The Mets rotation look untouchable.

Around The League

The Marlins again dominated the Washington Nationals 9 to 3.

Scott Olsen started the game for The Marlins and had some control problems which caused him to only pitch 5.1 innings. Olsen walked 5 and struck out 2 while giving up 2 ER.

Former Met Henry Owens made his debut for The Marlins tonight as he pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

The Braves and Phillies had the day off.

Around The NL EAST April 3rd

2007-04-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

The talkative Phillies lost the first game of the season against Atlanta in extra innings.
It was a pitchers duel early on when John Smoltz met Brett Myers.

Edgar Renteria hit a walk off shot off of Ryan Madson in the 10th inning. (get used to it Philly fans your going to see a lot of games blown by your pen this year.

The Marlins beat The Nationals today in a blow out 9-2.
Dontrell Willis started the game for the Marlins and looked great unlike Nationals Ace John Paterson who got rocked pitching just 3.2 innings and giving up 7 ER.

Hanley Ramirez, was 4 for 6 with an RBI, and Miguel Cabrera, was 3 for 4 with a homerun and 4 RBI's.

NL EAST STANDINGS

New York Mets: 1-0
Atlanta Braves: 1-0
Florida Marlins: 1-0
Philadelphia Phillies: 0-1
Washington Nationals: 0-1

Mets most hated team in MLB?

2007-04-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

The Mets don't even do anything, and all off-season they have people calling them out saying how there not the team to beat, how weak they are... and now first game of the regular season were The Mets outplay the Cardinals in every way possible La Russa (who was probably drunk at the time) had this to say on Beltran's throw

"kind of a foolish throw."

"I don't think you make that throw too often, and he pulled it off," the manager added. "That's the kind of night they had." (thanks Metsblog)

Are you serious? What's a joke is that your down by 5 with your best hitter coming up and your 3rd base coach lets him go. Word of advice to the rest of the NL THE METS ARE THE TEAM TO BEAT.

"He's not a Cardinal. He's a Met.

2007-04-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Willie Randolph on Keith Hernandez doing opening day festivities with the Cardinals, then coming to Shea and throwing out the first pitch.
(Newsday)
"He's a Met," Randolph said, smiling. "He's not a Cardinal. He's a Met. He's throwing out the first ball. What, are you kidding me? How's he going to do that? He's going to come out there and prance around with the Cardinals and then come out and throw the first ball? That's not right. That's not right. We've got to do something about that."

~Now its all in good fun, but I could see something coming from this.

Mets win first game of the season 6-1

2007-04-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

Todays box score is from Metsblog.com

Tom Glavine wins his second consecutive Opening Day for the Mets, and 9 wins away from his 300th win. He gave up one run on six hits in six innings, walking only one and striking out two.
Paul Lo Duca led the offense, going 2 for 5, driving in three runs, and scoring one. He also made a fine tag at home to nail David Eckstein off a Beltran outfield assist.
Carlos Delgado was 1 for 5, with a 2 RBI double.
Shawn Green was 2 for 4, with a run scored.
David Wright was 1 for 4, and made a great play in the first inning to turn a double play.
Carlos Beltran was 1 for 4 scoring a run and driving in a run, he also threw out David Eckstein at home.
David Newhan, pinch hitting for Heilman in the 9th, singled and scored a run.
Jose Reyes turned two double plays and was 1 for 4 with a run scored. He was picked off first in what appeared to be a balk but was apparently legal.
Pedro Feliciano pitched the 7th inning and gave up 1 hit, no runs.
Joe Smith came in the 8th and gave up a hit, a walk, and struck out one.
Aaron Heilman came in to relieve Smith, and was saved by a great play by Jose Valentin that he turned into a spectacular double play.
Billy Wagner gave up two hits in the 9th but settled down to induce a pair of flyouts.

Todays game was a terrific game to watch. If you saw it you got to see great pitching, great defense, and great offense from The Mets. I think this game was a message to the rest of the league that you can say all you want before the season starts but when the season begins The Mets are still the best team and the team to beat. Moises Alou also made a great diving play, and if he didn't make that play Glavine probably gives up 2-3 more runs. Looking ahead The Mets will be facing RHP Kip Wells, and Braden Looper in the next two games. These guys are not quality pitchers and I expect a lot more offense off of these guys. Look for The Mets to get into the Cardinals pen early and sweep the series.

Paul LoDuca batting 2nd tonight

2007-04-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkx
MTQmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxMDQxOTgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

"Randolph said that his opening-day lineup will feature Paul Lo Duca still in the No. 2 spot."

Thats the right move Lo Duca is a better choice for #2 then Wright. With Wright batting 5th The Mets now have an amazing 1-6 in the lineup with not just power the right lefty combo give both power and speed. This should be a long season for opposing pitchers.

milb.com "Mets system solid from top to bottom"

2007-03-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well seems appropriate I did a Mets minors outlook a couple of days ago, and now MILB.com comes out with an organizational overview. They talk about The Mets international studs:

Since Minaya was named GM in fall 2004, the Mets have signed some high-ceiling international talent, the most notable being uber-outfield prospect Fernando Martinez. The teenage phenom is closer than you might think to New York. He's one step behind fellow Dominican Carlos Gomez (signed in 2002, pre-Omar), allowing Mets fans to dream about an all-Latino outfield of Martinez, Gomez and Beltran.

The next wave is a few steps behind, with Venezuelan hurler Deolis Guerra on a similar fast track. But if you really want to see what this renewed commitment to international scouting is yielding, head to Savannah, the Mets' new South Atlantic League affiliate, where several teenagers are primed for their United States debuts.

Then some college pitchers:

Couple these developments with some advanced college pitchers (Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey) rising quickly through the ranks and you've got an organization flush with some serious talent.

Climbing The Ladder (Important names)
AAA

Carlos Gomez, OF
Before the 2006 season, the Mets decided to challenge Gomez, then 20, by jumping from low-A ball to Triple-A. They had the feeling the heady youngster would be able to handle it, and they were right. After a rough start and an injury, Gomez recovered to hit .281 for the year with 41 steals. As he continues to grow and mature, he should develop some more power to make him more of a five-tool threat. He's got the arm to play right field, which is a good thing since Carlos Beltran is signed through 2011 to play center in Queens.

Philip Humber, RHP
Humber made an improbable journey from Tommy John surgery in July 2005 all the way to the big leagues last year. In 76 1/3 Minor League innings in 2006, Humber had a 2.83 ERA, 79 strikeouts and a .199 batting average against, returning to form quicker than most. A sore shoulder forced him from getting more innings in the Arizona Fall League last fall, but he's ready to go. Some thought he might get a crack at the No. 5 spot in the rotation (recently won by Mike Pelfrey), but with just over 150 professional innings under his belt, the 24-year-old will head to New Orleans as the staff ace.

AA

Fernando Martinez, OF
It may be a surprise to hear that the 18-year-old Martinez will be heading to Binghamton to start the season. But that was the Mets' plan all along, beginning with the decision to send him to Arizona as the youngest player in AFL history. Martinez hit .253 with a pair of homers there, more than holding his own considering his age. That helped the Mets realize Martinez -- similar to Gomez the year before -- could handle the jump to Double-A. Martinez had just 192 at-bats in low-A ball because of some injuries, but hit .333 during that span and showed plate discipline well beyond his years. That should serve him well with the jump to Double-A, where he'll continue to play center field. The Mets, though, can easily dream of an outfield with Beltran in the middle, flanked by Martinez and Gomez.

A

Deolis Guerra, RHP
Guerra is kind of the pitching version of Fernando Martinez in terms of youth and how excited the organization is about him. He'll turn just 18 this April and will likely be the youngest player in the FSL. At age 17, Guerra had a 2.20 ERA in 17 South Atlantic League starts. Opponents hit just .208 against him, earning Guerra a late promotion to St. Lucie and a playoff start.

(They left off Mike Carp which is not fair)

A-

Francisco Pena, C
The Mets made a big splash when they signed Pena, son of former big leaguer Tony, to a $750,000 deal last summer. Not surprisingly, he's got outstanding defensive skills, particularly his arm strength and quick release. His overall offensive game has a ways to go, but he does have a good approach and can hit to all fields. Pena is a bright kid who already speaks English fluently, so even though he hasn't played at any kind of pro level yet, the Mets felt he could handle the rigors of a full-season league behind the plate at 17.

John Stinson, RHP
The Mets may have gotten one of the better late draft picks in 2006 when they nabbed Stinson in the 37th round. He made an immediate impression by posting a 1.79 ERA over 40 1/3 innings, finishing the season as an 18-year-old in the South Atlantic League. He was an extreme ground-ball pitcher in the Gulf Coast League, and finished the summer with a 1.83 GO/AO ratio thanks to a fastball with some heavy sink. The Shreveport, La., native will head back to the SAL in 2007, this time with Savannah. At 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, he's got the projectable body that scouts love and a three-pitch mix that should enable him to be a decent starter down the road.

2006 draft recap

It was obvious the Mets were targeting pitching in this draft. Eight of their first 10 picks were pitchers and six of the first seven make their living on the mound. Third-rounder Joe Smith, a college reliever, made it to Double-A last summer and finished with 40 strikeouts, a .190 batting average against and a 2.48 ERA over 32 2/3 innings. A strong spring will land him in the big-league bullpen to start this season. ... RHP Tobi Stoner (16) was outstanding in Brooklyn, going 6-2 with 2.15 ERA over 83 2/3 frames. The league hit just .219 against him. ... RHP John Holdzkom (4) has one of the best fastballs in the class, but doesn't always command it well. He fanned a batter an inning, but walked almost as many and finished with a 7.71 ERA.

Predictions

Organizational Player of the Year -- Carlos Gomez
It's a little too much to ask Martinez to jump to Double-A and be the organization's top hitter. Gomez isn't exactly a fall-back plan and should put up some gaudy numbers with New Orleans while getting ready for the bigs in 2008.

Organizational Pitcher of the Year -- Deolis Guerra
Mulvey's probably the safer choice, or Humber, if you think he'll be in Triple-A most of the year. But Guerra's got that projectable body, the vast ability to improve on a fine 2006 season and a very friendly pitching league to call home.

For the rest of the article (No I didn't take the entire article) go to milb.com
Some things I think they should of mentioned were Mike Carp, and Juan Lagares.
I also think they could of mentioned Lastings Milledge even though hes not considered a prospect he's still only 21 years old and their a good chance he will be in AAA for a good portion of the year..

MILLEDGE MAKES THE TEAM

2007-03-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

FROM METS.LOHUDBLOGS.COM

Milledge made the roster as a role player.

Willie Randolph stressed how hard Milledge worked in the offseason and during spring training, and there’s no question this was a reward for that work.

``I’ll try to find him some at-bats,’’ Randolph said. ``He’s on the team to play.’’

we all know how much I like and defend Milledge, don't be surprised when its time to make another descion on the roster (When Pelfrey gets called up) If Milledge becomes the starting Right Fielder..

In honor of one of my favorite players Lastings Milledge here are some pictures, and a video.

Mets 2007 Spring Training Stats

2007-03-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

Going by Mets.com opening day roster I will post the stats they had during spring..

1.Jose Reyes
77 AB .338 4 homeruns 9 RBI 18 R 13 stolen bases

2.David Wright
67 AB .284 1 Homerun 7 RBI 8 R

3.Carlos Beltran
58 AB .241 3 Homeruns 10 RBI 9 R

4.Carlos Delgado
32 AB .219 0 homeruns 5 RBI 1 R

5.Moises Alou
60 AB .167 0 homeruns 3 RBI 5 R

6.Shawn Green
72 AB .153 2 homeruns 5 RBI 8 R

7.Paul Lo Duca
51 AB .196 0 homeruns 5 RBI 3 R

8.Jose Valentin
51 AB .314 2 homeruns 11 RBI 6 R

1.Tom Glavine
1-0 20 IP 13 k's 2.25 ERA

2.Orlando Hernandez
0-1 12 IP 7 k's 5.25 ERA

3.John Maine
1-1 20.2 IP 17 k's 3.05 ERA

4.Oliver Perez
2-3 25.2 IP 20 k's 7 WALKS 3.51 ERA

5.Mike Pelfrey
1-1 19 IP 5 k's 2.84 ERA

Bullpen
Billy Wagner
12 IP 4 k's 5.25 ERA

Aaron Heilman
10 IP 7 k's 6.30 ERA

Scott Schoeneweis
10.2 IP 7 k's 1.69 ERA

Pedro Feliciano
13 IP 13 k's 0.69 ERA

Joe Smith
14.1 IP 17 k's 1.26 ERA

Aaron Sele
18.2 IP 7 k's 5.79 ERA

Chan Ho Park
18.1 IP 23 k's 5.89 ERA

Bench
Endy Chavez
53 AB .377 0 homeruns 5 RBI 8 R 6 SB

David Newhan
51 AB .314 3 homeruns 12 RBI 11 R

Ramon Castro
33 AB .333 2 homeruns 9 RBI 7 R

Damion Easley:
50 AB .220 1 homerun 6 RBI 4 R

LASTINGS MILLEDGE:
57 AB .368 1 HOMERUN 8 RBI 10 R 5 SB

Some of these stats jump out at you.. You wonder WOW can he really put up numbers like that during the regular season? or how long is it until he's replaced and put in a retirement home.

Some of my thoughts are David Wright should not bat second, The Mets have an amazing lineup with him batting 5th. Its balanced, and there is no weak points. With Wright batting second he is forced to take pitches for Reyes to run on, and also your going to have Wright's RBI production go down, and I just feel Lo Duca is the perfect #2 hitter, and doesn't really fit into this lineup anywhere else.

All these starters looked great this spring, especially Oliver Perez who struck out 20 this spring. Mets can only hope for a big year from Perez who if can recapture his old status could become this rotations ACE.

The bullpen numbers like Wagner, Heilman, And Park are a bit off because of the slow start they got off to. They have been pitching better of late and once the season start those numbers like the rest won't mean anything. Smith earned his spot, and I feel Park will get the last spot because he has looked a lot better lately and you can't ignore his 23 k's this spring.

Lastings Milledge will come north with the team until at least mid April when Pelfrey is scheduled to make his first start. I really have no faith in Shawn Green and if Green gets out to a real slow start we could see Milledge as the RF'er.

Update:
The Mets have optioned Chan Ho Park to AAA, and Burgos has made the team. I really don't get this move as The Mets will most likely lose Park who will ask to be released, just to keep Burgos who hasn't proved he can be an effective pitcher at all this spring. At least with Chan Ho Park once in awhile he could spell Aaron Heilman and pitch the 8th inning, Burgos is more like Jorge Julio who will only be in blow outs so I don't see the point. Unless Peterson has seen something in Burgos in his last couple of appearances this is a mistake.

Mets beat The Marlins 8-2 In last game of spring

2007-03-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

In The Mets last game before opening day they beat The Marlins 8-2.

Chan Ho Park: Started the game for The Mets and looked great pitched 3 scoreless and hitless innings while striking out 5. A little to late for Park

Carlos Delgado: In his first game back Delgado went 1-2 with 2 RBI

Lastings Milledge: Milledge only had 1 at bat, but made it worth it as had 2 RBI in his one at bat.

Jose Reyes: 2-4 2 runs scored, and a stolen base another day at the office for Reyes.

David Wright: Didn't have a hit but had 2 RBI's.

Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilman, and Billy Wagner: all threw a scoreless inning in relief

Later ill be doing Mets individual player stats for spring.

Martinez a 5 tool player

2007-03-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

From Mets.com

"He's a five-tool player," said Tony Bernazard, the Mets' vice president of development. "He's one of those hitters that comes along once in a generation. As long as he stays healthy, he has a chance to be a real impact player."

many team were looking at him but he chose to sign with The Mets. Omar's thoughts:

"I call it the domino effect," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. "He had a few teams that were very interested in him, but he chose us at least in part because of the influence of Pedro."

"He's one of those special kids," Bernazard said. "He's got a great attitude, great desire. He doesn't want to be just good; he wants to be great, and he works at it."

I thought this was intresting

Martinez is 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds -- average size for someone who has been regularly peppering the maintenance facility beyond the right-center field fence on Field No. 4 with 400-foot-plus home runs.

"Said Bernazard, "From everything we've seen, he's got a great future ahead of him."

Now we all love Fernando Martinez but before I start crowning him The Mets future I want to see him hit 280 this year in double A with 16 homeruns. He will be the youngest player in AA, and will be one of the best prospects there. As of now its all potential, and could develop like I said before, but as of now he looks to be a GREAT player. I can't wait...
On this pace he would be ready to play in the MLB by 2009.. which is not likely as he would be 20 years old but if he is really as good as they say, and I've seen him compared to the best think it could happen.
2007:AA
2008:AAA
2009:MLB

Don't let Alou's bad spring scare you

2007-03-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

Even though Alou keeps saying doing worry, " I always have a bad spring" people are still getting worried.. Take a look at these stats I dug up..

2004 ST With The Cubs:.239 1 homerun 11 RBI
2004 regular season: .293 39 homeruns 106 rbi

2005 ST with Giants:.232 2 homerun 9 rbi
2005 regular season .321 19 homeruns 63 rbi 427 at bats (injuries)

2006 ST with Giants:.227 1 homerun 4 RBI
2006 Regular season: .301 22 homeruns 74 RBI in 345 at bats (Injuries amazing numbers in limited at bats)

So as you can see like Alou says he NEVER does good in spring, it doesn't have any impact on his season, and we can all stop worrying about his production. What you can worry about is injuries, Though I think he will have so many off-days he won't have any major injuries

Mets starting rotation to start the season

2007-03-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Over at Metsblog.com

Matthew Cerrone writes

"Following today’s win over the Dodgers, Willie Randolph told reporters he will use the following rotation through the first week of the season…

Sunday: Tom Glavine at St. Louis
Monday: off day
Tuesday: Orlando Hernandez at St. Louis
Wednesday: John Maine at St. Louis
Thursday: off day
Friday: Oliver Perez in Atlanta
Saturday: Tom Glavine in Atlanta
Sunday: Orlando Hernandez in Atlanta
Monday: John Maine vs. Phillies, in home opener"
Congratulations to John Maine, and Oliver Perez, we all knew you were going to be in the starting rotation but now its official. All I can say is it's time for The Mets starting pitching to go out there and show the rotation is not a question and can be dominant.
Also at metsblog.com I found this out.
That The Mets announced that Joe Smith, and Aaron Sele have made the team in the pen, and that Ben Johnson and Anderson Hernandez have been cut and sent to minor league spring training. The Mets still have a spot open on the bullpen, and there as of now it looks like Milledge will make the team.

Hats off to Metsblog for the info

The Mets bring the wooping stick and destroy The Dodgers

2007-03-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Mets offense finally came alive today in a game were they started what Willie likes to call the A- lineup. The Mets homered 4 times from unlikely sources, and beat The Dodgers 13-2

John Maine: In his last spring start Maine pitched great pitching 6 innings giving up 5 hits 2 ER while striking out 5

Ramon Castro: Castro hit a GRAND SLAM in the 5th inning of todays game. He is leading The Mets in homeruns and is batting .323 on the spring

David Newhan: had a terrific day at the plate overall he was 4-4 with a homerun and 4 runs scored while driving in 2.

Lastings Milledge: Didn't start the game but got his first action since being hit in the wrist by a pitch on Monday. Milledge went 1-2 with an RBI

Fernando Tatis: The new Met went 3-4 with a 3 run homer against the team that cut him earlier this spring.

Damion Easley: Easley was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI today.

Aaron Sele: trying to earn a bullpen spot pitched 1 inning giving up 2 hits 0 runs and striking out 1

Lino Urdaneta: pitched another scorless inning

~Good to see some guys that will be key for The Mets on the bench step it up big today. Endy Chavez was also 3 for 3. It's amazing that The Mets can't score with there regular crew but the A- lineup can score 13 runs. John Maine is ready for the season, and will be the #3 starter. Great to see Milledge get back in the action, and get an RBI. Looks like he still might make the roster on the bench until April 15th.

Phillies need to put up or shut up

2007-03-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Phillies again are calling there shots.. The latest Ryan Howard..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17843915/

Here are Howard's comments

“It was shocking because other people weren’t expecting him to say it,” Howard said. “He’s basically saying what everyone feels. Everybody in this locker room feels we have a great team this year. We got a chance to do a lot of good stuff. Jimmy was the one who came out and said it. When he said it, it opened up a lot of people’s eyes.”

Phillies need to take some advice from The Braves. Just because you feel you are the best team that dosn't mean you can come out trash talking the team that just beat you by 16 games. It's great that you think adding a pitcher who had a 4.5 ERA last year, and a guy who has never pitched over 200 innings makes your rotation "deep" but that dosn't mean anything. Talk is cheap and until you prove it on the field that you are the best team, you have no right to call out the division champs. Writers want to talk about The Mets problems... Lets talk about The Phillies problems..

There starting rotation..
Freddy Garcia-Injuries throughout spring whats his ERA? Have fun pitching in CBP
Jamie Moyer-Who's older him or Julio Franco? I forgot
Brett Myers-I'm not going to lie he's pretty dam good but he's still not as good as Glavine
Adam Eaton-What a waste of money.. The guy is always injured and hasn't proved to be any good
Cole Hamels-Great prospect not going to lie he's pretty good.. and will prob have a great year

There rotation is basically The Mets rotation with less upside..

The Mets think there bullpen is in bad shape? The Phillies bullpen has Tom Gordon who is always injured and after that nobody..

The Phillies in 2007 remind me of The Braves in 2006, they both have good offenses and good starting pitching. But what killed The Braves? Their bullpen.. wake up Philly that bullpen is HORRIBLE..

We can do all the lineup comparisons we want, we can go posistion by posistion. The Mets are the better team, and will show it this year.

David Wright said it best

“The Phillies, they can come out and talk as much as they want,” Wright said. “Until they prove it on the field, then it’s just talk. As far as throwing out predictions and talking about it, talk is very, very cheap.”

Mets lose to the Braves

2007-03-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Mets lost to the Braves today in a game that was pitched by all relief pitchers. The outcome Mets lose 8-3.

Jon Adkins: Started the game for The Mets gave up a grand slam to Jeff Francoeur. His final line was 2 innings 5 ER 2 BB and his spring ERA is 10.38.

Chan Ho Park: In his second relief outing of the spring trying to get ready for his new role Park allowed 1 run in 2 innings while striking out 2.

Ambiorix Burgos: Had his best outing of the spring, and just looked dominant out there. Burgos pitched 2 innings striking out 3.

Aaron Heilman: got roughed up today giving up 2 ER in 1 inning of relief.

Billy Wagner And Pedro Feliciano:both threw a scoreless inning.

Jose Reyes: Reyes was 1-3 with an RBI double while stealing 2 bases (12 stolen bases on spring)

Paul Lo Duca: 1-4 with an RBI

~The Mets definitely are not looking good, but we have to remember its just spring training. It's kind of scary to see Aaron Heilman getting hit around like he did today because he is going to be the key to this bullpen. The offense was quiet again, I don't think batting Wright 2nd is good for the offense.

Mets 2007 team outlook

2007-03-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Mets ran away with the 2006 division and 1 hit away from the World Series. The Mets thought they didn't need to overpay big name free agents, and little additions could put them over the top.

Now The Mets Roster looks something like..

1.Reyes
2.Lo Duca
3.Beltran
4.Delgado
5.Wright
6.Alou
7.Green
8.Valentin

9.Glavine
10.El Duque
11.Maine
12.Perez
13.Pelfrey

14.Wagner
15.Heilman
16.Scott S
17.Chan Ho Park
18.Joe Smith
19.Aaron Sele
20.Pedro Feliciano

21.Franco
22.Castro
23.Easily
24.Newhan
25.Chavez

Most likely Mike Pelfrey won't be on the opening day roster, and wont get called up until he is needed to start. Meaning a spot on the bench for Lastings Milledge who will continue to try and earn a spot on this team.

The offense is solid, and will be one of the best. Don't let these spring games fool you. One question that needs answering is if The Mets are going to have David Wright bat second in the order. Wright was the #5 batter in 2006 and had a great year, though Wright had a decline in the second half, and it can be debated that it was because he didn't have enough protection. So ideally you bat Wright in front of Beltran for protection. But that means Wright will have less runners on base, and will be forced to take more pitches for Reyes to run. What to do? I would keep Wright hitting 5th, he will have plenty of protection in Moises Alou. Wright can bat 2nd when Moises Alou or Paul Lo Duca gets a day off (which should be often) Endy Chavez, and David Newhan will give Moises Alou, and Shawn Green (for now) more then enough rest. Damion Easley will take almost every start against left handed pitchers, and give Valentin a day off. The bench, and the lineup look great.

The Mets starting rotation has some questions. You have hall of fame pitcher Tom Glavine but then after that you go with the injury plagued Orlando Hernandez, 1 year vet John Maine, Oliver Perez who was 3-13, and rookie Mike Pelfrey. I think the starting rotation will be fine, and we will see some big years from the guys at the back end of the rotation. Oliver Perez, John Maine, And Mike Pelfrey have looked great this spring in there own ways. Perez is not walking batters keeping composure, and getting the outs he needs. John Maine is throwing more change ups then he did last year, and throwing scoreless innings. Mike Pelfrey has earned his spot in the rotation this spring. He came to camp with a different way of pitching, and he now knows he can't just throw fastballs by everyone and must work with his off-speed pitches, and pitch to contact as he has been getting ground ball after ground ball looking like Ching-Ming Wang.When El Duque gets hurt The Mets will have to decide who they want to start. They have Chan Ho Park (bullpen) Aaron Sele (bullpen) and Jason Vargas (Minors) that are all good options for a limited amount of time. Philip Humber most likely won't be ready to make an impact until at least July. We saw from him this spring that he could use some more time in the minors. We are all hoping that Pedro Martinez will be able to make a comeback to baseball after his rotator cuff injury, but as of right now no 34+ year old pitcher has ever come back from that kind of surgery and succeeded, though not many were hall of fame pitchers like Pedro Martinez. Doctors and trainers say Pedro will come back throwing harder, and will be fine. While others say Pedro will never be the same. What I expect from Pedro in 2007 is nothing. Hopefully he can come back strong and will be a huge impact down the line to help The Mets get into the playoffs.

The bullpen right now is full of huge question marks like Chan Ho Park, Aaron Sele, and Joe Smith. I really don't know what to expect from Chan Ho or Sele and it might be a rough go around for the bullpen until guys like Padilla, and Mota get back. The Mets were hoping for a great lift thinking Duaner Sanchez might be ready by mid-late April. But Sanchez is needing another surgery and most likely won't pitch again until August. Your main setup man Aaron Heilman is having tendinitis in his elbow, and might have trouble pitching back to back days another problem. Heilman says this is a problem he will have his entire life, and he will just have to deal with it. But Heilman this year is most likely going to have more innings out of the pen then he has ever had in his career. Scott S. (not even going to attempt) was a huge pickup for The Mets. At the time we all wondered why The Mets would give him the contract they did after letting Chad Bradford go, and trading away lefty Royce Ring. We all see that Scott will be able to get out big lefty's like Howard, and will be able to throw some innings in middle relief. Pedro Feliciano will probably not have a season like he did last year. But he has looked great this spring and better not complain how about how much he will be pitching as he will be a major part to this pen. The Rookie Joe Smith has big shoes to fill. He has looked amazing this spring and will be looked upon to get out right handed hitters, pitch in long relief and may be used in middle relief.

The Mets defensively are the same around the infield, Delgado and Lo Duca are a little older, but Reyes and Wright are more experienced. The outfield defense looks to be a major problem. You have 41 year old Mosies Alou in LF, and 34 year old declining Shawn Green in RF. In the middle you have Gold Glover Carlos Beltran. You're asking a lot of Beltran by doing this. As neither Green or Alou have any range. Plus there arms are not good. The solution is giving them days off on separate days, and getting Endy Chavez or David Newhan out there.

This last subject is one I will not talk about anymore after this. Lastings Milledge should be the starting Right Fielder over Shawn Green. Shawn Green is in decline. He will have a worse year then last year because he won't be playing in a hitters park in Arizona. Green offers no defense, and no speed. Lastings Milledge has come to camp with a new attitude, and is determined to prove all his haters wrong. Milledge offers the team a #2 hitter without taking Wright out of the power spot, and it still adds more speed and power at the 2 spot in the lineup. Milledge can at least put up numbers offensively like Shawn Green would put up. If Milledge did that then it would still be a plus, as Milledge would steal more bases. But more importantly Milledge plays great defense and takes a lot of the pressure off Beltran to cover 3 positions. Lets remember Beltran has had some quad problems the last couple of years extra running in the outfield won't do him any good. Milledge's injury won't help his chances and might cost him a spot on the roster. But in my opinion in a month (May) Milledge will be starting in RF.

I'm not going to lie this Met team has a lot of questions. But some of these questions will be answered soon like the starting pitching. And some of these questions might take a trade or two (bullpen). We know this team will score a lot of runs, and the starting rotation will get it to the bullpen. Whether that be after 5 innings or after 7 that is to be seen. But every team has there questions, and just because The Mets play in New York all these questions will be all over the media. But lets look over The Yankees starting day pitcher is Carl Pavano, and following him is Kei Igawa Mike Mussina, and Rasner. Come on Met fans our problems aren't that bad.

Carlos Zambrano thinking about The Mets

2007-03-27T02:05:00.000-07:00

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070326cubsbits,1,5789313
.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines
"With six days left to reach a contract extension before Opening Day, Carlos Zambrano is discussing the possibility of wearing a New York Mets uniform next year."

"Asked by SI.com if he'd consider the New York Yankees, Zambrano said": "I like the Yankees, but I don't see myself pitching at Yankee Stadium. Too many rules. If I play in New York, it's going to be with the Mets. First of all, because I get to hit. And I love hitting. I can't say … that I would never play for the Yankees. Hopefully no, but you never know."

The article goes on to say how Zambrano wouldn't mind pitching for the White-Sox. But lets be serious the White-Sox can't even afford to bring back there own pitchers. They have made it clear they will not overpay in this market.

I would love to see Zambrano become a Met. He's a workhorse, an ACE. Everything we need right now.

Mets beat the dodgers 6-5

2007-03-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

The Mets won a close one today against The Dodgers the same day they found out they would be missing a huge part of there bullpen for almost the entire year in Duaner Sanchez. Though Omar said Sanchez might opt not to go to surgery. Dwayne Wade anyone?

Tom Glavine: Started the game for The Mets and looked amazing early on. Fatigue got him in the 5th in 6th inning but Glavine still pitched 6 innings giving up 3 ER and striking out 7! Total ERA for the spring 2.25

Chan Ho Park: In his first real relief appearnce of the spring Chan Ho almost blew the game for The Mets. Chan Ho threw 1 inning giving up 2 ER.

Joe Smith: One of the newest additions to the bullpen saved the game for The Mets and struck out 1 while doing so.

Jose Valentin: Valentin just keeps on raking, and cant wait for the season to start. He went 3-4 with 2 RBI and upping his average to .341

Julio Franco: Franco is playing like he's only 45 years old. He went 1-2 with 2 RBI. His spring average is now .314

~Lastings Milledge is hoping for a return to the lineup Wednesday, but is looking for something to wear near that wrist that won't affect his swing. Remember that "button" type thing Aaron Rowand wears on his hand? Think that would work? Its so big it prob covers his wrist.

SANCHEZ TO HAVE SECOND SHOULDER SURGERY?

2007-03-26T11:31:00.001-07:00

AT ADAM RUBINS METS BLOG

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/

"Source: Sanchez to Have Shoulder Surgery

Duaner Sanchez is headed for a second surgery on his surgically repaired right shoulder, a source told the Daily News. The Mets have yet to announce the procedure. Sanchez heard a pop while throwing on the mound Thursday for the first time since Aug. 1 surgery to repair a separated shoulder."

This is just horrible news for the Mets. The Mets have to now figure out what to do with there bullpen. And just hope Padilla can come back from injury strong, and Mota doesn't miss a beat when he gets off suspension.

Jose Reyes 2007 prediction

2007-03-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Jose Reyes

Average: 305

Homeruns:24

RBI:84

Stolen Bases:64

Doubles: 28

Triples:16

~Jose Reyes had an amazing 2006 season. I believe he can build off that season, and have an even better MVP type season. Reyes came to camp stronger, and has showed it so far already with 4 homeruns this ST. What I want to see from Reyes this year is more walks, and a higher OBP. Jose Reyes the #1 fantasy SS in the MLB is one of the most exciting players to watch. A season like this could put him over the top.

Mets minors outlook

2007-03-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

This Mets minor league system basically had to build from the bottom. With the Duquette and Phillips decade the Mets minor leagues basically produced Wright, And Reyes. After Wright, and Reyes the farm had Scott Kazmir as the top prospect. We all know what happened there. The same thing also almost happened with Wright, and Reyes. After the Mets got rid of those 2 horrible GMS they got a great one in Omar Minaya. Omar has started rebuilding this farm system, and it is now slowly moving to the top of Overall Farm Ranks.

Two big steps Omar took in getting this farm system moving in the right direction were the signings of Pedro Martinez, and Carlos Beltran. Now how does the signing of 2 MLB players help the farm? Pedro, and Beltran are legends in there respected home towns. Many young domican players, have high hopes of one day playing with the great Pedro Martinez, and Carlos Beltran. These signings opened up the Mets international scouting. Here's a look at some of the guys the Mets drafted in the 2006 draft.

2006 Draft: Kevin Mulvey

"Scouts are impressed with his command of three average or better pitches: a 90-94 mph fastball, a slider that is effective against righthanded hitters and a curveball that some scouts like even better than the slider. He also has good feel for a changeup that can be used to get lefties out. Mulvey has loose, easy arm action and clean mechanics,"

Joe Smith

"After Rob Cooper took over as head coach before the 2005 season, new assistant coach Greg Lovelady suggested Smith drop down to a sidearm delivery. That usually adds movement and subtracts velocity, but Smith's fastball now sits at 88-91 mph and reaches 94. He also throws a nasty slider and his changeup has improved this spring as well. Hitters have trouble picking up his pitches, as evidenced by his regular-season 0.75 ERA--which would lead NCAA Division I if he weren't five innings short of qualifying. Smith could move quickly as a pro reliever."

~Smith made the Mets opening day roster

Josh Stinson

"Josh Stinson is a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder with a 90-91 mph fastball. His velocity and secondary pitches could improve if he cleans up his mechanics and stops falling away from the plate."

~Stinson did very well in his short time in the minors in 2006. Scouts are now saying he was one of the top steals of the draft

Tobi Stoner

I love his name, Stoner after being drafted pitched the rest of the year in Brooklyn were he dominated.

My Mets Top Prospects list

1.Mike Pelfrey:
"Mike Pelfrey was named Kansas high school player of the year in both 2001 and 2002. He spent his college career at Wichita State University, where he went 12-3 in his last season, posting a 1.93 ERA in 139.2 innings. His 3 year college stats were staggering… 33-7 with a 2.18 ERA, striking out 366 batters while walking only 69. The Mets selected Pelfrey in the 1st round (9th overall) of 2005 draft. He received a 5.25 contract, through 2009, with a 3.5mil signing bonus. Mike was named to the Eastern League all-star team in 2006, and OnDeck currently ranks him as the Mets #2 prospect. He has posted outstanding numbers (4-2, 2.71) so far this season and is expected to be called up to the Mets before the season ends. John Sickles pre-season ranked him A- as the 2nd overall Met prospect. "

~Pelfrey has made the Mets rotation

2.Lastings Milledge:

"Lastings Milledge was drafted in the 1st round of the 2003 draft, out of Lakewood Ranch High in Bradenton, Florida, where as a senior, he hit .414 with 4 doubles, 3 triples, 10 homers, 35 RBI and 42 steals. A 5-tool talent, Milledge fell due to signability concerns, among other factors."

~Milledge had some attitude problems in 2006. But he has come to camp this year with no problems, and 15 pounds more of muscle. Lastings has had a great spring and is trying to earn a spot on this roster.

3.Fernando Martinez:
"Omar Minaya made the Mets a player in the Latin American scene by signing Carlos Beltran in the winter of 2004. In the summer of 2005, Fernando Martinez signed with the Mets, partly due to Beltran's signing. Given a $1.4 million bonus, Martinez had a lot to live up to.""Strengths: Martinez has an advanced approach well beyond his years. He has good pitch recognition, strike-zone awareness and power to all fields. He has slightly above-average speed, though he's better underway than down the line or as a base stealer. He has a strong outfield arm." "The Future: Martinez has the highest ceiling of any hitter in the system and will put himself into the discussion of the best prospects in baseball if he can build on his 2006 season. Even if he has to move from center field, his bat could make him an all-star. He should be back in high Class A to begin 2007."

4.Carlos Gomez:
"The Mets signed Gomez in 2002 out of the Dominican Republic, and he made his stateside debut in 2004""Strengths: Gomez' arm and speed both rate as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale. He's an above-average center fielder and he refined his base stealing technique to where he had 41 swipes in 50 attempts in 2006. His lightning-quick bat and natural swing path allow him to make consistent hard contact. His arm gives him yet another plus tool."

5.Phillip Humber:
"Humber was first drafted in the 29^th round of the 2001 draft by the New York Yankees, but chose to attend Rice University instead. Humber pitched 3 years for Rice University, compiling a 35-8 record and a 2.80 ERA. The Mets picked him as their #1 pick (3^rd overall) in 2004, where he received a 3.7mil signing bonus.Humber throws a 90-94 mph fastball that tops off at 97, a curve, and a splitter that he also uses as a change."

6.Mike Carp:
"Mike Carp was drafted out of Lakewood High in the 9th round of the 2004 draft, after putting up these stats as a senior: 32 games, 52 for 107, 14 2b, 8 3b, 11 HR, 60 RBI, 17 BBs, 11 Ks, .486/.557/1.075 with a 1.632 OPS."
~Carp had a huge year in 2006 and was named the orginaztions player of the year. Carp is most compared to David Wright in his hitting approach, as he goes to all fields with power. Looks to be the Mets future 1B

7.Joe Smith:
"Smith was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft out of Wright State, as one of the top college closers available. He put up 13 saves in 31 appearances, with a 0.98 era in 55 innings pitched. After drafting Smith, the Mets sent him to low A Brooklyn, where he dominated using a low 90s sinker (which hits 94), and an outstanding slider – both offered from a sidearm delivery."

8. Deolis Guerra:
"Guerra signed out of Venezuela in 2005 for a $700,000 bonus, and was challenged immensely, he was sent to the South Atlantic League as a 17 year old, by far the youngest player in the league. After getting off to a rough start, he recovered to go 6-5, 1.90""Strengths: Guerra stands out most with a feel for his changeup that's exceptional for a teenager. He maintains his normal arm action, setting up a fastball that sits at 88-90 mph and touches 92."

9.Kevin Mulvey:
"Originally selected by St. Louis Cardinals in 34th Round of 2003 amateur, but chose to attend college (Villanova) instead. Mulvey was 3-8 with a 3.61 ERA as a junior at Villanova. He logged 92.1 innings, and compiled 88 Ks against just 23 walks."""pitcher who always works around the zone and isn't afraid to attack hitters." Mulvey features a dominating fastball that has been clocked as high as 94 and consistently is in a range between 89-92. He sets that up with a slider to right-handed hitters and an improved curveball and changeup (82-84 mph) that he uses to get lefties out. The change-up comes out of his hand the same way as his fastball. That’s 4 quality pitchers. Mulvey is well known to consistently throw strikes and go after hitters."

10. Juan Lagares:
"Juan Mercado, the scout that found Jose Reyes, said in a Dominican newspaper that 16-year-old SS Juan Lagares is better than Reyes at the same age. Lagares was signed by the Mets in 2005"

As you can see The Mets have some depth in there minors that they are hoping will be able to fill out there MLB team sometime in the future. The Mets should keep a good minor league system because of the Latin connections they now have.

Mets 2010 Team (only with Reyes, and Wright on the team)

C-Pena
1B-Carp
2B-Lagares
SS-Reyes
3B-Wright
LF-Milledge
CF-Gomez
RF-Martinez

1.Pelfrey
2.Humber
3.Guerra
4.Neise
5.Mulvey

not a bad group of kids.

Thanks to
macksmets.com
metsprospecthub.blogspot.com
and baseballamerica.com for scouting reports

Great Milledge News

2007-03-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

No his Wrist isn't broken, or fractured. Milledge's X-Rays are in and all he has is a bruise on his wrist. He is Day to Day, and will be treated with Ice.

Willie confirms Pelfrey makes the team

2007-03-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

http://mets.lohudblogs.com/
"Mike Pelfrey walked into Willie Randolph’s office and less than five minutes later walked out with a smile and the announcement": ``They told me I made the team.’’

Can't say I didn't see it coming Pelfrey pitched great all spring (except for today) and really earned his spot in the bullpen. The most important things for Pelfrey from now to his first regular season start sometime in mid April, is him working on his off-speed pitches during bullpen sessions. Now Willie said he made the team, does that mean Pelfrey will work out of the pen? Or does it mean OK you made the team but until its your time to start go to AAA.

Pelfrey should provide the Mets a very good #5 starter if nothing else, and he was the best possible options. Congratulations Mike you earned it.

Mets lose Milledge hurt

2007-03-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Mets lost the Astros today 11-3 on a day where Lastings Milledge was hit hard in the 9th inning.

Mike Pelfrey:Started the game, the day after he found out he would be the #5 starter. Pelfrey had his worst outing of the spring pitching 5 innings giving up 4 ER 6 H while striking out 2. ERA 2.84

Jorge Sosa:Sosa must of been pretty upset he didn't make the team. He showed it today pitching .2 innings giving up 6 ER.

Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner both pitched 1 scoreless inning each both giving up 1 hit

Again the offense was quiet though

Jose Valentin: had a 2 RBI double with the bases loaded.

Lastings Milledge was hit by a pitch in the 9th inning on his hand. He was in a lot of pain and was forced to come out of the game. Lets hope it's not anything serious because that would just give the Mets another excuse not to start him.

Fox Sports #8 Prospect In MLB F-Mart

2007-03-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

From Foxsports.com

"8. Fernando Martinez, CF, Mets

Age: 18
Acquired: Non-drafted free agent, 2005, Dominican Republic

Martinez was tremendous in his full-season debut, but he scuttled a bit after a promotion to High-A St. Lucie. Still, his performance was thoroughly impressive for a 17-year-old. On the field, he's impressive on a number of levels. He's got speed, a quick and level bat through the zone, good range in center and a polished approach overall. The only question is whether he'll develop the power. Considering his success against much older competition and his natural hitting skills, the power will probably come."

Now I'm a huge F-Mart fan and I can't wait for him to be on the Mets.. But calling him a #8 prospect based on "He Should" and "He Will" is wrong. I love F-Mart and I do believe that he will become a big time player, but until he shows something in the Minors that proves he will hit these 30+ homeruns, I just don't think he should be ranked higher then guys like Mike Pelfrey, Andrew Miller,Luke Hochevar, and Andy Laroche. I guess this is why I'm not a scout rating top prospects. But either is Dayn Perry (sorry I had to)

Mets announce there opening day bullpen

2007-03-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

We all know that Duaner Sanchez, and Juan Padilla won't be ready for opening day. So the Mets are going to have make do with what they have. Today the Mets made some huge announcements about the starting rotation.

"With the first game of the season slightly more than a week away, the club has decided to use Chan Ho Park, a starter by trade, in short relief and to carry rookie Joe Smith and veteran Aaron Sele on the season-opening roster."

During today's game against the Orioles we were all wondering why the Mets took Chan Ho Park out after 3 innings. Well we got our answer.. The Mets have made the decision to put Chan Ho Park into the bullpen. And Park isn't sure if he will stick around.

Before meeting with his manager and pitching coach, Park said, "Obviously, if they ask me to be a reliever, I'm unhappy," and "If they ask me to be a reliever the whole year, I'll have to think about it."

"And a person who was in the clubhouse directly after Park's surprise removal from the game said the 33-year-old Korean pitcher was "really ticked off" about not being told of the plan before his start. "

The Mets bullpen will now look something like

Wagner
Heilman
Schoeneweis
Feliciano
Smith
Park
Sele

Smith really deserved the most out of everyone to make this bullpen. He showed great things this year and should fill the role nicely that was once owned by Chad Bradford. Kind of surprised both Park, And Sele are getting in the pen. The Mets will only need 4 starters to start the season which means there is possibly another 2 spots left in the pen, most likely one. The question now is will Mike Pelfrey be used in the bullpen until that time? Or will he stay in extended spring training/AAA? Then left is Jon Adkins Out Of Options, Jorge Sosa Out Of Options, and Burgos.
The bullpen doesn't look all that good right now, but once Sanchez,Padilla, and Mota all come back this will be one of the top bullpens in the league.

Its also a HUGE day for Mike Pelfrey. He should go out and have himself a party tonight hes earned it. He is now almost guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation. Pelfrey was the best option for this team, and lets hope we can see some Justin Verlander/Jered Weaver luck this year.

Mets lose both split-sqaud games

2007-03-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Mets lost to the Orioles today 2-1

Chan Ho Park:started the game for the Mets and pitched 3 scoreless innings

Joe Smith,Scott Schoeneweis,Jorge Sosa, And Billy Wagner all threw a scoreless inning in relief

Pedro Feliciano: gave up his first run of the spring and got the loss

Mets lost to the Marlins today 6-5

John Maine: started the game for the Mets and had his worst outing of the spring. Maine pitched 5.2 innings giving up 12 hits 4 ER and striking out 5

Urdaneta: pitched 2 innings and gave up 2 runs and got the loss

Lastings Milledge: Milledge just keeps on raking as he went 2-4 today with an RBI double

Ramon Castro: Castro keeps his good spring going as he went 2-4 with an RBI

Anderson Hernandez: Went 2-3 with an RBI

The Mets lost 2 close games today but guaranteed this is not what the talk in the clubhouse will be tomorrow.

Milledge doing his part to stay

2007-03-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.bergenrecord.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMTQmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcwOTgzNjYmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

"I've already proved what I can do," Milledge said Friday. "Personally, I feel I deserve a chance. It might fall into the numbers game. I did everything I can do to make it possible for me to make the team. It's all up in the hands of the front office now."

"It'd be great of course," Milledge said of remaining with the club. "But it might fall into the numbers. I just do what I do

"Now I think I'm ready, but you can't pay attention to figuring out where you fit. It is what it is. I've been looking at a lot of different possibilities. But I don't think they want me on the team until I'm ready to play every day. I'll just have to wait for that opportunity."

We all know my feelings on the Milledge situation I don't think I need to go into it again..

Mets 2007 Starting Pitching Outlook

2007-03-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

Alot is being said that the Mets huge weakness is starting pitching, and because of this starting pitching nobody will pick the Mets to repeat. Omar, has been getting all the blame for not signing a big name starting pitcher.. I'll tell you I was on the Zito bandwagon, and I wanted him a Met. But when I saw the number of years and the money he was getting, I had no problem that he wasn't signed. Same thing with D-Mat I would of loved for him to get signed, figured the Mets would get all the money they put into him back by the Japanese fans, but there was no way anyone knew a team would go past the $50 million mark. The guess around baseball was that probably 34 million wins it. Mets winded up bidding 38 million, and came well short of Boston's 51.1 million.
So now here are the Mets. A starting rotation that will consist of 2 40+ year olds at the top of the rotation, completed by a 26 year old with 1 year MLB experience. A 25 year old who had a 6+ era last year, and a rookie Mike Pelfrey who can't control an off-speed pitch. For any projection you look at for the Mets this is why you see them finishing with 80 something wins, and finishing in second place. But here I may be a bit optimistic but I see a chance for a good rotation that will take the Mets to the promise land. Rick Peterson has alot of work ahead of him with the Rotation. It all starts with Tommy Glavine...

Tom Glavine:This guy is a work horse, maybe he is not an Ace but he is a guy you can depend on to put up solid numbers, and to make all his starts. You would have to go back to 1995 to find a year which Tom Glavine didn't have at least 30 starts. Glavine revived his career after 2003 which was the worst year ERA wise he has ever had. Glavine in 2003 went 9-14 with a 4.52 ERA, and all it took for this soon to be hall of famer was a golf analogy by Rick Peterson. Rick taught Glavine to throw his fastball more inside, and more importantly spot his change up on the inside. This made Glavine harder to guess, and it worked in 2004 which Glavine had a 3.60 ERA. Glavine came up big for the Mets in the post season overall going 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA. Even at age 41 will give you performances deep into games with a chance to win every time out. In 2006 he put up some great numbers, and the only reason why he didn't have more then 15 wins was because of a dry spell in July, and August were he won just 1 game combined. Thus meaning a little fall off in the second half that he picked up in September, and definitely picked up in October. An overlook for Glavine for 2007 looks something like 16-17 wins and a 3.6 ERA this including his 300th win of his terrific career, and also 2500 strike outs.

Orlando Hernandez: El Duque was traded to the Mets mid May for Jorge Julio. El Duque was another great trade for Omar Minaya, as he pitched to a 4.09 ERA as a Met. El Duque thrived pitching in the big time New York, and loved pitching in a great pitchers park in Shea where he pitched to a 3.00 ERA. But Hernandez's injury problems hurt him in 2006. After a great September when he had a 2.01 ERA, Hernandez was running in the outfield getting ready for his start in October when he hurt his calf muscle that took him out for the rest of the playoffs. Nobody knows how old El Duque really is, but we would have to guess around 40. El Duque's 2007 outlook depends on health, because when healthy he is a dominating pitcher, with some of the best off-speed pitches in the majors. For El Duque you would have to guess around 13 wins, and a ERA around 4.2.

John Maine:25 year old John Maine was just a throw in for the Kris Benson for Jorge Julio trade. But this kid showed great promise in 2006. In his rookie season John Maine pitched to a 3.60 ERA and a 3.28 ERA after the all-star break. But this rookies season was not done, because of the Injury to Orlando Hernandez before the playoffs started John Maine was now the Mets #2 starter in the playoffs, and he shined. Maine was 1-0 in the playoffs with a 2.63 ERA. But no start in the playoffs more important then his game 6 start against the St.Louis Cardinals where the Mets were facing elimination, and Maine was there last hope. Maine had to face off against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter one of the best pitchers in the MLB. Maine came up huge for the Mets throwing 5.1 innings striking out 5 giving up 0 RUNS. And still after a great Rookie campaign, and Maine coming up big in the playoffs, nobody thinks he can do it again. A 2007 outlook for John Maine futures a much better change-up then he had in 2006 that he can control and throw more often so he doesn't have to keep throwing fastballs. Also a improved Slider which should make him tuff to hit. John Maine did have trouble with the homerun ball in 2006, he'll look to overcome that in 2007 where he will be around 15 wins and an ERA of close to 3.8

Oliver Perez: Oliver Perez was traded from the Pirates to the Mets near the trading deadline in 2006 in a deal that included Xavier Nady for Roberto Hernandez. It didin't matter where Perez was pitching he was AWFUL in the 2006 regular season. He combined for 3-13 and an ERA of 6.55. But once Perez was traded from the Pirates the true story came out. Perez's pitching coaches in Pittsburgh were trying to take this 25 year old fire baller, and turn him into a Tom Glavine finesse type pitcher. That didn't work, and when Perez got the the Mets Rick Peterson threw all that stuff out the door. Perez showed signs of being great for the Mets in 2007 as he returned throwing his mid to high 90's fastball, and a slider that when was on made him seem like Randy Johnson. Perez like Maine came up big in the playoffs, though he only pitched during the NLCS, and the Mets didn't want to put Perez the situation that would come about. At the time Perez was an untamed beast, he threw hard and didn't exactly know where the ball was going half the time. His first start during the NLCS he pitched 5 innings giving up 3 runs. But his second start would come after John Maine gave the Mets a huge win in game 6, Perez was the only starter that could throw game 7, and it was on 3 days rest. Perez came up HUGE for the Mets in game 7 giving them a chance to win the NLCS he threw 6 innings giving up just 1 run (Thanks to Endy Chavez) Perez struck out 4 walking just 2. Willie showed faith in Perez as he came out of the dugout in the middle of the 6th everybody in the stadium thought he was going to take Perez out, but Willie showed faith, and confidence in Perez that came through in the end. The Mets hope Perez's success in game 7 of the NLCS will give him all the confidence he needs to get over his horrid 2006 season. A 2007 outlook starts with Perez's spring training where he has a 2.70 ERA, and has looked great every time out. The most important thing Perez is doing this spring is not walking batters. I expect a much improved season from Perez, though with this kid he will make me look like an idiot, or a genius. Perez could win anywere from 5-17 games, and have either a 3.0 ERA or a 6.5 ERA.. I just think this kid, has to much potential to go to waste. And Perez already has all the good stuff it's just putting it together, and repeating his delivery. Who else better to help then Rick Peterson?.. Perez should have a much improved 2007 season.

Mike Pelfrey:2006 was Mike Pelfrey's first full year in the minors, and during that year Mike Pelfrey got his call up the MLB. At first Pelfrey looked great, but towards the end it was evident that Pelfrey did not have the off speed pitches necessary to be a starter at that time in the majors. After the season Pelfrey went to play winter ball, where he drooped his curveball and went to the slider. Also Pelfrey worked very hard on his change up. One scout from USA today calls Pelfrey a right handed Randy Johnson. Pelfrey's repertoire now consist of a 4 seam fastball, a heavy sinker, a slider, and a chang eup. Not many people thought Pelfrey would make the team out of spring training, but Pelfrey has put together a great spring pitching to a 1.0 ERA. Pelfrey showed in his start vs Detroit this spring that if he doesn't have his good fastball he can rely on his off speed pitches to help him get out of trouble. Something he could not do last season. This Spring Pelfrey has dominated people with his Sinker, and his Strike out numbers have been down, but he has solidified a spot in the rotation. Pelfrey should make his first start for the Mets around mid April because of off-days the Mets still don't know if there going to carry Pelfrey in the pen until that time or put him in AAA. A 2007 outlook for Mike Pelfrey features around 13-15 wins, and somewere around a 3.8 ERA. Pelfrey has been compared to Justin Verlander, and Jered Weaver and scouts say they wouldn't be surprised to see Pelfrey put up a rookie year like them. A rookie of the year award is not out of the question.

Bullpen Tomorrow?

Mets beat the Cardinals 2-1

2007-03-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

Orlando Hernandez:Answered any questions about his health pitching 6 Innings giving up just one unearned run on 3 hits walking 3 and striking out 3. He is now on schedule to be ready for his first start during the season. 5.25 ERA

Damion Easley:hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning, that proved to be the game winning hit.

Jon Adkins:Scoreless Inning

Aaron Heilman:Scoreless Inning

Pedro Feliciano:Scoreless Inning

~Now that El Duque had this great start if he has another good one to end spring training, I'm guessing Mike Pelfrey will be in extended ST/AAA or start the season in the bullpen because of the off-days..

Jon Adkins is finally starting to pitch but is it to late? he has no more options that might land him on a spot on the team.

Feliciano 0.00 ERA enough said

"Wagner Stinks It Up"

2007-03-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Mets lost to the Braves today. Today's Boxscore is from MikesMets.com

"Aaron Sele started the game against the Braves today. Surprisingly enough, he only gave up an earned run in 5 innings of work. Considering that, after a terrible first inning, he pitched 5 shutout innings last time out, he is on somewhat of a roll. While the fifth starter's job would seem to be a long shot, the long reliever spot in the bullpen is still open.
Sele's final line: 5IP, 1ER, 2H, 1K, 2BB

Scott Schoeneweiss relieved Sele in the sixth and was touched up for a run on doubles by Chris Woodward and Larry Jones.

Billy Wagner came into the game with the Mets down 2-1 in the seventh and proceeded to nail it down -- for the Braves. After retiring Craig Wilson leading off the inning on a called strike 3, Wagner allowed consecutive singles to immortals Doug Clark and Bill McCarthy. Martin Prado doubled home a run, and another run scored on a fielder's choice. Tony Pena's 3-run homer capped the inning off, and Wagner finally settled down to get the last 2 outs. I wonder if Wagner was throwing his split change today?

Joe Smith pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the Mets, striking out two.

Orlando Hernandez takes the hill for his third start of the spring tomorrow in St. Lucie against the Cardinals. We should get a better idea about where he stands after that one. The game will be televised on SNY at 1 PM. "

Somethings Mike left out

Jose Reyes:keeps on raking 2-4 today raising his average to .386 on the spring

Jose Valentin:2-4 with a RBI today, Valentin has looked terrific this spring hitting .333

Uhm nothing very interesting besides Sele making a bid for the LR spot in the bullpen. Wagner got ruffed up a bit..

The run that Schoeneweiss gave up was his first of the spring..

And Joe Smith another perfect inning 2 k's, ladies and gentleman your Right Handed Specialist for the 2007 New York Mets JOE SMITH

~Mikes Mets is a great website, Mike is a terrific writer and if you don't know about his site then go there immediately as he has done a great job on Bullpen and Starting Rotation previews..

2007 Mets Offensive Outlook

2007-03-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

The Mets 2007 season looks bright, I don't pay attention to these beat writers that try to put down everything the Mets are doing. For example "Is Omar overselling his Mets?" The Mets in 2007 are likely to have one of the best offensive lineups in the league. That should carry a starting pitching staff which experts don't expect to be to good. It all starts with the lead off hitter Jose Reyes

Jose Reyes is a complete 5 tool player. He is one of the those players that just make you say "WOW" offensively Reyes will hit around .300 and steal around 65 bases. But Reyes has added a new dimension to his offensive game. Last year Reyes showed his power hitting 19 homeruns, and some like ESPN fantasy say that was a fluke. But I'm here to tell you this is no fluke. Reyes coming to camp even bigger then he was last year will hit somewhere in the range of 23-26 homeruns. Reyes is one of the best players in the league and at age 24 will have a chance to win a MVP this year if he stays healthy. A definite all-star

The Mets also have one of the best 3-4-5-6 combo's in the majors today, with
Carlos ² David Wright, and Moises Alou.

Carlos Beltran another 5 tool player looks to do better at home this year then he did last year when he hit just .224 with 15 homeruns and 38 rbi. Beltran has said repetitively this year that he wants to be a .300 hitter and steal more bases. He has been working with Ricky Henderson this spring on stealing more bases. Last year Beltran stole 18 bases, and it was pretty obvious he did not want to steal bases in front of Delgado. For Beltran to complete his goals he is going to have to hit MUCH better at home, but also a problem that was not talked about last season alot was Beltran batting Right Handed hit just .247 with 8 homeruns.
A 2007 outlook for Beltran should be somthing like .285-.292 average around 33 homeruns and 118 rbi. As for Beltran stealing bases, he's still going to be a little gun shy stealing in front of Delgado, 25 stolen bases should keep him happy.. In total another great year. A Definite all-star

Carlos Delgado had a horrible month of April which really killed his average, to go along with the elbow problems Delgado had throughout the season which turned this 300 hitter in 2005 to a .265 hitter in 2006. Delgado is still one of the most feared hitters in the game today, and when hes going good he can carry a team on his back for weeks. Delgado also like Beltran has to hit better at home at Shea Delgado hit .226. (Tell me the Mets can't wait for Citifield) The 2007 season for Delgado looks like a healthy one expect a higher average (.280-.285) and about the same Homerun Production (around 35) and provide a power bat to get Beltran pitches to hit. Might have a hard time making the all-star team in a league that consist of 2 of the best hitters in the game playing his posistion. (Pujols and Howard)

David Wright had an AMAZING MVP type 1st half of the season. Until he entered the homerun derby, now whether it be the homerun derby him getting tired or him having problems with his mom, Wright was not the same player in the second half, though he hit .360 in September he just didn't have the same power. What I think was Wright's main problem was that Cliff Floyd was just never healthy. Wright did not have that big power bat to protect him, and Wright became vunerable to the slider on the outside corner. With the addition of Moises Alou this should change.Wright has come to spring training and is more leveled out (Body) he is having a great spring training hitting .340+ and I expect Wright to be the player of the first half this season. 2007 outlook Wright to finally get to 30 homeruns. Also 120 rbi, and an average around .315. What people don't notice about Wright is that David Wright gets his stolen bases, which makes him key in fantasy leagues. Wright stole 20 bases last year, look for around the same this year. Definite All-Star

Last year one major problem with the Mets lineup was ability to hit Left Handed pitchers. Especially in the second half when David Wright struggled. But this signing of Right Handed hitter Moises Alou who absolutely crushed Left Handed pitching will change this(349 last year against leftys). Moises Alou signed with the Mets for a 1 year 8.5 million dollar contract with a team option for 2008. Alou insisted he had guaranteed 2 year deals from other teams but wanted to come to the Mets because it was his best chance to win. Alou only played in 98 games in 2006 (about same as Cliff Floyd) but in this 98 games he hit .301 with 22 homeruns and 74 rbi in just 345 at bats (a little more then half a season) The Mets know that Moises Alou is getting up there in age (41) and the Mets will give Alou his rest against mostly Right Handed pitchers, where Endy Chavez or David Newhan will fill in. But Alou is a major part to the offense this year, as he provides protection to David Wright, which last year Wright had none of when Floyd was hurt which could of caused to Wrights decrease in the second half. 2007 outlook without Injuries Moises Alou will still only play around 120 games for the Mets getting his rest. He should be around a .290-.300 average, around 24 homeruns and 90 rbi. Again this is only if he does not get hurt, this is alot to ask of a injury prone player. (last 3 years Moises Alou has hit 2006-.301 2005-.321 2004-.293) Alou has an OK chance to make the all-star team at this point its probably not likley.

Starting Staff, And Bullpen tomorrow?

Sanchez feels a "Pop" in his shoulder

2007-03-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

SANCHEZ UPDATE http://njmg.typepad.com/springtraining/2007/03/sanchez_scare.html#more
The initial assessment was that it scar tissue and adhesions from the surgery, which included adding a piece of his hamstring over the shoulder, tearing. But Omar Minaya said that while that appears to be the problem, if it does not respond well in the coming days that the team will then send him for an MRI.
Sanchez believes that will not be necessary.
“I just felt a tingle all the way down to my hand,” Sanchez said. “Nothing major. It’s not a ligament, not a tendon, nothing like that.
“I set myself back today because I don’t want to risk everything that I’ve been doing for another two weeks. I set myself back and (will) relax for today and see what happens tomorrow.”

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/mets/2007-03-22-sanchez_N.htm

"New York Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez felt a pop in his right shoulder Thursday and cut short his first bullpen session in eight months after 11 pitches."

also~

"Another reliever, Juan Padilla, won't throw for two weeks after experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow"

The Mets might be getting a little bit worried right now.. So far they have 4 locks in there pen. And The rest of the guys consist of a guy who had a 5+ ERA for the royals (burgos) a guy run out of Atlanta (Sosa) a rookie who hasn't played a full year in the minors (Smith) and a guy with an inifiti era (Urdaneta)

3 of these guys unless Park/Sele beats out Sosa for the LR spot in the pen will make the team.

Now I don't think its that bad of a problem but if Sanchez, and Padilla aren't going to be back until lets say Mid May, with Mota out 50 games (suspension) the main 4 in the pen might get overworked...

Pelfrey like Jered Weaver?

2007-03-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Mark Hale of the New York Post wrote an article on Mike Pelfrey, and how some people in baseball think Pelfrey can be the Next Jered Weaver.

"He's very, very close to being really dominant," the Mets catcher said yesterday. "I think he's on his way."

One major-league team executive, who watched Pelfrey pitch Tuesday, said he could have a solid season. "He's got more than enough stuff. He could be Jered Weaver of last year."

Pelfrey hit 94 mph, and his slider and changeup are at the point, according to Lo Duca, "where he can throw 'em for a strike when he wants to."
The catcher said Pelfrey's changeup has improved. "[He] has made unbelievable strides from what it was last year."

For the rest of the article on Pelfrey go to http://www.nypost.com/seven/03222007/sports/mets/five_alive_mets_mark_hale.htm

I have seen Pelfrey compared to Justin Verlander alot but this is the first time I have seen Pelfrey compared to Jered Weaver. Pelfrey has come to spring looking great, and a positive is he is not walking batters, but he also is not striking anyone out.

I think Pelfrey will come through big for the Mets this year, and he will be a major reason why this team goes were it goes. Ill be ready to see Mike Pelfrey make his first start in the regular season for the Mets whether it be the 4th game of the season (El Duque DL or #5) or Mid April.

I wouldn't say Pelfrey would have a season like Jered Weaver lets remember Weaver went 11-2 with a 2.56 ERA. But I do think if Pelfrey can be a 16 game winner on this team with a great offense. With the talent Pelfrey has he should be around a 3.7 ERA (Rookie of The Year?)

Mets beat Dodgers 6-2

2007-03-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Game Recap by Metsblog

"Oliver Perez was outstanding, pitching 6 innings, giving up just 1 run that was unearned, 4 hits and 2 walks. He was nailed in the right thigh by a hard hit one-hopper off the bat of Olmedo Saenz in the first inning, but remained in the game and showed no signs of being injured.

Jose Reyes was 3 for 3 with 4 runs scored and a walk. He made a error on a ball that hit the palm of his glove and bounced out. Reyes stole 3 bases in the game, giving him 10 total this spring.

Ramon Castro hit a 2 run homer, and was 1 for 3

David Wright was 2 for 4 and made an errant throw to first that bounced before the bag at first for an error. He was thrown out at home in the 7th inning.

Carlos Beltran hit a double and was 2 for 3. He drove in two runs.

Carlos Delgado was 1 for 4 and drove in a run.

Lastings Milledge hit a double and was 1 for 4. He also scored a run.

Ambiorix Burgos pitched the seventh inning. He gave up 3 hits and had a run score off him on an infield hit that ricocheted off his foot. He was uninjured and completed the inning.

Lino Urdaneta pitched a scoreless eight, giving up just 1 hit. His ERA this spring is an impressive 2.25 in 8 innings of work.

Jorge Sosa pitched a perfect ninth, striking out 1."

~Reyes just does not stop hitting, lets hope he can keep this going through the regular season..
This spring he's hitting .377 with 10 stolen bases in 16 games (53 at bats)

Oliver Perez got his second win of the spring, Perez didin't have his great stuff last night like he did against Boston, but unlike the Perez of last year instead of a early shower, Perez got through it and pitched 6 scoreless. ERA now 2.70

Carlos Beltran is starting to hit which is a good sign

Urdaneta is very intresting, Ive said it alot about him being in the pen opening day. I truley believe the Mets will put him in the pen he has got ALOT of work this spring and has pitched terrific.

Who is Urdaneta?

"Urdaneta, 27, spent most of the season recovering from "Tommy John" surgery on his right elbow which occurred in September, 2005. He began pitching for the Mets' Gulf Coast (R) League team in August and had a 0-0 record and a 1.29 ERA in six games. The 6-1, 170-pounder was also 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in five games for New York's Binghamton (AA) team of the Eastern League. Urdaneta was acquired by the Mets from Cancun of the Mexico League on June 29, 2005. He pitched one game for the Detroit Tigers in 2005."

"Urdaneta was originally signed as a free agent by the Dodgers in 1996… played minor ball through the Dodgers system until 2003, then joined the Detroit Tigers system. In 2004, made one appearance for the Detroit team, officially 0 IP, gave up 6 ERs and has a lifetime major league ERA of 540000000.00 to show for it. Yes, that’s correct… 540000000.00 ERA. Joined the mets organization in 2005 and pitched for St. Lucie (1.93 ERA) and Binghamton (5.40). In 2006, he continued his success, both at the GCL Mets and Binghamton, with a combined record of 0-1 in 11 games, and a 1.64 ERA."

~macksmets.com

What the Mets like about Urdaneta is his fastball.. He throws 98-99 MPH but unlike Burgos, and Sosa Urdaneta can keep the ball which gives his ball some more movement and he gets alot of ground balls to go along with K's

Willie Randolph said that after the off-day (tuesday) the Mets would start to get serious.. and so far they are 2-0

In Game Update

2007-03-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

Oliver Perez
6 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 2BB 2 K: ERA FOR THE SPRING 2.70

Jose Reyes has 3 stolen bases

~Rest of the boxscore later
This is a good sign for the Mets, if Oliver Perez can have a good year the Mets are going places.

Lastings Milledge 2007 Prediction

2007-03-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

Lastings Milledge

Average:.284

Homeruns:21

RBI:79

Doubles:24

Stolen Bases:15

~These are the stats if Lastings Milledge is the starting RF in 2007 like he should be. Milledge has come to camp in the best shape of his life. Milledge was heavily scrutinized for not going to Winter Ball. But Milledge said he wanted to go home and lift weights. The Results? Milledge comes back with 15! pounds of muscle, and a new healthy diet. All this? Milledge is hitting .381 in spring (Yes I know its spring training but that's alot better then Shawn Greens .161?)
Lastings Milledge doesn't have to be the 20+ 100+ rbi guy to make this team better.. This team has enough offense that Milledge would be batting 7th. It's more important that Milledge does something Green can't do, and that's play defense. This takes a heavy burden off Beltran's shoulders, and makes the OF defense alot better. Also Milledge provides speed at the bottom of the lineup.

Mets beat the Orioles 6-1

2007-03-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Mike Pelfrey started the game for the Mets, and got the win. here's the boxscore

NY Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Pelfrey 5.0 7 1 1 0 1 0 1.29 (W1)

Feliciano 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00

Smith 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.93

Schoeneweis 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00

That might be a little hard to follow, but all you really need to know is that mets pitching was solid last night.. Feliciano and Schoeneweis keep up there perfect spring, and Joe Smith is on his way to making the 25 man roster.

Beltran: 1-3 with a homerun and 2 rbi

Anderson Hernandez:1-1 with 2 rbi

Jose Valentin: 1-2 1 tripple 1 rbi

Lastings Milledge:1-2 (Now batting .381)

Shawn Green: 0-3 (Now batting .163)

Good to see Beltran hit a homerun, he has been struggling this spring. Jose Valentin just keeps the great spring going... and again Shawn Green has another 0-, I don't see how it can be anymore clearer on who the starting RF should be.

~Pelfrey talked to reporters after the game, and asked about if he was throwing only fastballs Pelfrey said that he didn't have good control of his fastball last time out, and couldn't locate it. This time he had good location, and the fastball after fastball can be seen in the 7 hits in 5 innings.

(sorry it took so long for the post, basketball game last night)

Shawn Green 2007 Prediction

2007-03-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

Shawn Green:

Average:270

Homeruns:15

RBI:63

Doubles:27

Stolen Bases:6

~These stats are if Shawn Green is the starting RF in 2007, and never loses his job. Shawn Green has had some great years. Years that great players will never achieve, but those days are over.It should be expected Shawn Green at age 34 should start to decline fast. Last year when Green came to the Mets he hit .257 in 113 at bats.. Predicting an entire year playing for the Mets at Shea, you can expect Greens power numbers to go down even more then last year.

Realistically Green should not be the starting Right Fielder going into the season. Even if you believe these stats are fine, they are empty numbers. Green does not hit with runners in scoring position. Green is not the clutch hitter you want up in a late inning game.
Also these offensive stats don't show how much the team loses on defense with Green in the game. Green has ZERO range, and NO ARM. Thus making Carlos Beltran try to cover LF (Moises Alou 41 years old) and Right Field. All this means is horrible DEFENSE that will cost the Mets some games.. Lastings Milledge should be the starting RF, and Milledge will be the next player predicted.

Spring Training: Sweet And Sour

2007-03-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03202007/sports/mets/sweet__sour_of_grapefruit_mets_mark_hale.htm

Over at this Newsday Metsblog Mark Hale writes about the good, and bad so far about mets spring training.

In the sweet section:Fernando Martinez
"Tony Bernazard regarding Martinez's signing, "The number you gave him, you got him cheap!" "I was very impressed with his poise and his presence at the plate," Manuel said. "It wasn't the presence of an 18-year-old. It was the presence of a major league hitter."

Scott Schoeneweis:"who has tossed 6.2 innings in six appearances, giving up no earned runs and surrendering only three hits and four walks "

Pedro Feliciano:"who has fired eight shutout innings, striking out nine. "

Joe Smith:"The sidearmer has given up two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. "

Mike Pelfrey:"Pelfrey has become the leader to earn a spot in the rotation, thanks to his three terrific spring training outings. "

And the Sour:
Mets bullpen without sanchez

El Duque:Orlando Hernandez has dealt with neck arthritis and on Sunday suffered a right hamstring cramp."

I thought it was weird how he says the main guys in the bullpen are doing well, but then says the bullpen is doing bad. The people in the pen that are having bad springs are most likley the one's not to make the team..

He could of put Lastings Milledge in there as Sweet.

For more of the article go to the link :)

Jose Valentin 2007 Prediction

2007-03-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Jose Valentin

Average: .270

Homeruns: 12

Rbi: 55 RBI

Doubles: 24

Stolen Bases: 8

~Jose Valentin did a great job for the mets last year when nobody expected much from him. I expect Valentin to have a worse offensive year, but a similar average because Valentin will not play much if at all against Left Handed pitchers thanks to the acquisition of Damion Easley. Which means Valentin will only face Right Handers which will give him a better average. Less homeruns, and RBI just because not playing in entire games vs Lefty's. And another year older. My fear with Valentin is that he will wear down to quick, but with Easley he will get alot of days off. It was just a bad sight seeing Valentin in September, and October were he was absolutely horrible.

Stats to back it up?

in 288 at bats vs right handed pitchers last year Valentin hit .288 with 16 homeruns and 51 rbi
Figure Valentin to have close to 400 at bats vs mostly Right Handers, I'm actually saying he is going to have a pretty big decline.

My Mets Player Predictions

2007-03-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

I will be doing 1-2 mets player predictions a day. Each prediction will be accompanied by a picture, and some info on why I believe the player will have that type of season.

Im going to start with the starting lineup.. then go to starting rotation and then to the pen, and bench. But to make the lineup, and starting rotation seem like its going in order (top to bottom) im going to start with Jose Valentin and work my way up to Jose Reyes.

An early return for Pedro, or no return at all?

2007-03-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/blog/2007/03/the_pedro_show.html

"I know the Mets are predicting an early August return for Pedro, but I'm betting it's going to be earlier than that." Martinez is zipping his throws with surprising ease, popping Correnti's glove from about 75 feet away, and judging from his demeanor, he could not be feeling much better. He even playfully snapped off a couple of soft curve balls when Correnti closed in to about 12 feet.

~This is weird, everybody close to Pedro (his trainers, and the Mets) say Pedro will be coming back with added velocity, and is going to be ready to pick up where he left off. But people for ESPN don't think Pedro will come back at all, or won't win more then 10 games if he does come back.
I would want to believe Pedro's trainers more then ESPN, because his trainers are with him everyday. About Pedro coming back early, its definitely possible but I believe its Pedro who doesn't want to rush back. In my opinion I think Pedro wants to take as much time off as possible for his arm to be 100%. And he wants to be ready for a playoff push as soon as he gets back. But if Pedro is really looking as good as this writer made him out to be its a definite possibility that Pedro comes back before August. (Mid June-Early July?)
According to his trainers and Pedro, Pedro might be coming back with more velocity. Pedro lost alot of his velocity because of the arm troubles when he dropped arm angle to deal with the pain. Maybe with the fixed shoulder, Pedro goes back to the old arm angle, and can be in the low 90's consistently.

Here is the link to that ESPN Article
www.sportsworldny.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9760
Scratch that its not insider, its a forum where somebody post exactly what the article says.

Individual Mets Leaders ST 2007

2007-03-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

As Of March 19th

(Minimum 25 at Bats)
Average:
1.Lastings Milledge .375
2.Endy Chavez .361
3.Jose Reyes .340

Homeruns:
1.Jose Reyes 4
2.Beltran,Green,Johnson,Valentin 2

RBI:
1.David Newhan 9
2.Jose Reyes 8
3.Carlos Beltran 6

Hits:
1.Jose Reyes 16
2.Lastings Milledge 15
3.David Wright,Endy Chavez 13

SLG:
1.Jose Reyes .660
2.Jose Valentin .630
Lastings Milledge .550

OBP:
1.Lastings Milledge .468
2.David Wright .415
3.Jose Reyes .392

Pitching
No point to do wins..

ERA: (SP)
1.John Maine 1.00
Mike Pelfrey 1.00
2.Tom Glavine 1.29
3.Oliver Perez 3.86

ERA:(RP)
1.Scott Schoeneweis: 0.00
Pedro Feliciano 0.00
2.Joe Smith 2.16
3.Billy Wagner 2.57
Lino Urdanetha 2.57

Strike Outs:Top 5
1.Oliver Perez 13
Chan Ho Park 13
2.Ambriox Burgos 11
3.Pedro Feliciano 9
4.Joe Smith 8
5.John Maine 7

~Just think this shows how much Milledge belongs on this team. He's doing everything right, getting hits driving in runs and WALKING. He's looking alot better then Shawn Green right now. Also this shows how much of a BEAST Jose Reyes is.
The starting pitching looks pretty good here dosn't it?

Im actually very surprised to see Jose Valentin having such a good spring. I hope he can put up numbers that come close to last year. He would be the best #8 hitter in the league.

Q+A with Joe Smith

2007-03-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

Scout.com Article

Inside Pitch Magazine: What was your winter like?

Joe Smith: Winter was nice. I didn’t do much; they didn’t really want me to do anything since I pitched so much last year. I took a month and a half off from everything. Then in November and December I got running and starting throwing and went on from there.

Inside Pitch: What in your repertoire has progressed and what do you continue to struggle with?

Smith: This whole winter I worked on my pitches hitting both sides of the plate. My problem last year was that I was only hitting the right side of the plate. Now, I’ve got a lot better and I can move to the ball to both sides of the plate.

Inside Pitch: What have the coaches focused on with you?

Smith: They stress keeping the ball down in the zone and throw strikes. They want me to go out there, get ground balls and let the defense work. The guys I’ve got behind me are real good and now how to play.

Inside Pitch: What did teaching in Binghamton last year teach you?

Smith: It doesn’t matter if you throw 86 or 94, if you get up in the zone they are going to hit it. Again, as you keep moving up you have to be able to hit both sides of the plate. At that level you have to able to do it and I couldn’t. I had a good start and than I struggled, I was all over the place and couldn’t hit my spots and throw strikes consistently.

Inside Pitch: How did you recover physically after a year in which you pitched more than ever before? How are you getting ready for another long haul?

Smith: In terms of recovery they just have to gear down and get some rest. I didn’t even pick up a ball from the beginning of September until the beginning of December. I really just gave my arm and my body a break. I stopped lifting for a month and half. Come January I really kicked it into high gear. I think I’ll be alright this year. I don’t think I’ll break down as easily.

Last year I added up 80-something innings, for a guy how I’m going to be used, at whatever level, if I get to 80 innings again, I’ll be amazed. I talked to a few guys they said I’ll probably get to 60-70 innings. At around 75 innings last year is when I started to wear down.

Inside Pitch: What have you picked up from being around the big leaguers?

Smith: Everyday I’m talking to somebody whether it’s the mental or physical side. I talked to Pedro Feliciano to see how he handles left-on-left and I try to take that to right-on-right. I try to pick guys’ brain. There is so much experience in our clubhouse I would stupid to not take advantage of it. It’s a great learning things and taking what I learn into my own game.

Inside Pitch: What kind of pitcher do you want to be?

Smith: I want to be a guy that can be stopper. I want to be that guy can come in with a man on second and third, one out, or first and second, one out, and the coach says “go get a groundball and get us out of the inning”. I want to come in and not let those guys on base score. Coming in a big game situation and being relied on to get your team back in the game is a great feeling.

Inside Pitch: Does the middle relief / set up role suit you for the future?

Smith: I just want to get to the big leagues. If they want me there as a righty specialist, as a longer relief guy, whatever, I just want to get there. I may get picky after a few years but for now I just want to get there.

Inside Pitch: Tell us a little more about your arsenal.

Smith: Some days my changeup is there, other days I don’t know what the heck is going on. For the most part it’s there, now it’s getting it consistent and throwing it for strikes. Everything else is going well. I’m rotating the ball well. I’ve backed off my fastball a little for the sake of better location and that’s helped me tremendously. My slider is there.

My confidence level is much higher with those pitches and I feel I can throw them in any count, any situation. Now it’s my changeup that I have to get to that level. As soon as I can do that, it’s about how many strikes can I throw and making guys beat the ball into the ground.

Inside Pitch: Are the comparisons to Chad Bradford fair?

Smith: No, I’m not a Chad Bradford right now. He’s probably the game’s best side arm guy. He’s done an amazing job with the Mets. The time I’ve spent with him has been great. I’ve talked to Paul LoDuca about (Bradford’s) strategies to see if I can put a little of what he does into my game. If I can be compared to him one day that will be a good sign that I’ve done a pretty good job.

Inside Pitch: What do you hope to achieve in 2007?

Smith: To be honest, it’s do everything I can in my power to not let them send me down. I can’t control where they are going to send me, but I can make it a very hard decision for them. If they feel I need more time in the minor leagues to develop some more, alright, then I’ll go to the minor leagues to work and do what I can to get back up. They’ve been honest with me. When they feel I’m ready, I’m confident they’ll give me the call. It’s a matter of showing them I can perform day in, day out.

I usually would not post every single question in a Q+A but I thought it would be appropriate for this, because it shows how hard of a worker Joe Smith is, and how he will take any role the team wants him to do as long as he can be on the team. I also think Smith gives a good scouting report about himself. I expect smith to be on the opening day roster.

Predicting The NL EAST 2007

2007-03-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Now I wrote this article a while ago, before Mike Hampton got injured, Before Josh Johnson along with seemingly the rest of the Marlins pitching staff got injured. Also before Chipper Jones got hurt. And for the Mets, Milledge coming to camp looking great, Pelfrey has command of off-speed pitches. And the starting rotation dominating (I know its only spring)
Mack (From Macksmets) seems to disagree alot with me on this. Lets see what you think.

Team Win Loss
Mets 94 68
Phillies 91 71
Braves: 85 77
Marlins 79 83
Nationals 68 94

The NL East in 2007 will be the most improved division in the NL. The league has tons of young talent and theres alot to expect from each team(besides the Nationals).

The Mets will finish first just because they are the most complete team. Although they don't have the starting pitching that a division winner would usually have,they have the offense that should be able to keep them in the high scoring games. Also, the Mets have a solid bullpen that should also help them in cases where the starter could only go 5 innings. SO overall, they are the most complete team who just needs a young pitcher to step up and establish himself as a starter.

Even though the Phillies completed tons of trades and signings for starting pitching its still hard to see that much better of an team ERA. This is because most of the pitchers they aquired are question marks. Add to that the fact that they will pitch half there starts at Citizen Bank Park which is one of the best hitters park in the game. Freddy Garcia will have some home run troubles here. The Phillies will also have some trouble finishing games because, like last year, their bullpen is not good at all. The saving grace of this phillies team is their solid offense and solid starter in Myers and Hamels (who I predict to have a huge year). The Phillies team in 2007 reminds me alot of The Braves 2006 team. Good starting pitching and a good offense but a horrible bullpen. So they are slotted second in the league with 91 wins and a Wild Card.

The Braves are finishing 3rd because even with the upgrade in the bullpen, they still have weak spots in their pen. They lost a major offense bat in Adam Laroche, and still have an aging, injury plagued Chipper Jones. The Braves offense will not be as good and the starting pitching led by the ace John Smoltz has many question marks. Also many Braves fans think Chuck James will be a big impact pitcher are mistaken, he really only has the potential to be a solid 4 or 5.

The Marlins are finishing 4th because you can't really know what to expect from such a young ball club. Seriously, what if they all go through a sophomore slump? They showed alot of potential last year but they lost a big part in manager Joe Giradi. The Marlins still have some question marks in the offense and have a bullpen that shows ton of holes. Also will Josh Johnson be able to pitch the entire season?

The Nationals are going to finish last just because they have nothing going for them. They lost a key part to the offense in Alfonso Soriano. The ownership made a huge mistake in not trading Soriano and the trading deadline for some top prospects to help them out now. The Nationals have Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearns. Thats basically it for Offense. They have John Paterson who when healthy is a good starter but thats basically it. They have a decent bullpen but are looking to trade away the key part to the pen in Cordero. The Nationals better get 2 top prospects for him. The worst part is that The Nationals have no top prospects that can make an impact either.

Mets Lose To Cardinals 5-4

2007-03-18T17:27:00.001-07:00

El Duque Update
"Orlando Hernandez left Sunday's game in the fifth inning with a cramp in his right hamstring.Hernandez felt the cramp running to first on a sac bunt, but it went away after a couple of minutes. He should be fine to make his next start. El Duque allowed two runs in four innings before departing."

~Just More reason to begin the season with El Duque on the DL, and Pelfrey as the #4 until mid April

Before I go into the box score (thanks to metsblog) I would just like to post what Burgos thinks his posistion on making the team is
"I don't have any doubt that I'm going to make the team."

"RHP Orlando Hernandez allowed 2 ER on three hits over 4 IP. He left the game as a precautionary measure in the top of the 5th inning after running out a sacrifice bunt.
In two innings of work,

RHP Ambiorix Burgos allowed 2 ER on four hits.

LHP Scott Schoeneweis pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

SS Jose Reyes hit his fourth home run of the spring.

OF Endy Chavez was 2-for-3, including a drag bunt single. He was caught stealing second base.

LF Moises Alou had an RBI single that plated two runs.

3B David Wright was 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

1B Shawn Green was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and 5 LOB. He also grounded into a double play."

~Lino Urdaneta got the loss for todays game giving up 1 run 0 ER. I still believe Urdaneta should get a spot in the pen to start the season over Burgos, or Sosa. Urdaneta lowerd his ERA to 2.57. Urdaneta along with Joe Smith, And Jason Vargas should get the remaning spots in the bullpen until Sanchez, and Padilla are healthy.

~Just how many homeruns will Jose Reyes hit this year? My prediction 24

~Nice to see Alou get a hit

~I actaully like to see Shawn Green struggle in ST. I think Lastings Milledge deserves the spot more then Green, and would be a better fit for the team. Green is now hitting .174 this spring while Milledge is hitting .374. How much easier can it get for Milledge?

~Same old same for Scott Schoeneweis another Goose Egg. Era now 0.00 for the spring

An Idea

2007-03-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Since the Mets won't be using a 5th starter until Mid-April, and El Duque is not 100%, and is just making his 2nd start this spring today. The Mets should DL El Duque and use Pelfrey as the #4 starter. Then after April 15th Take El Duque off the DL, and then go with the 5 man rotation. This way you get Pelfrey work, and you let El Duque build up strength for the rest of the season...

Inspiration LoHud Blog~