So today I’m going to talk to you about the New
York Mets. The ‘other’ team in NY. This was supposed to be the year the Mets
turned the corner after two heart-breaking collapses in back-to-back years. The
finger was pointed directly at the bullpen and the Mets took steps to shore
that weakness up by bringing in not one, but two star closers in Frankie
Rodriguez and JJ Putz.
They also play kissy-face before every home game.
Sadly, neither Putz not K-Rod can hit clean up. Things
have just not worked out the way the plans were drawn up. After another embarrassing loss, this one an
8-0 snooze fest to the Dodgers, left the Mets at a decidedly mediocre 39-43
record, 4 ½ games behind the first place Phillies. Additionally, the Mets are
now 2-8 over their last ten games, have been shut out in back-to-back games,
shut out six times total this season and have a scoreless streak going of 22
straight innings. They last scored on July 4th.
The offense is killing Mr Met. Literally.
The Mets have hit just 50 homeruns this year,
good for dead last in the National League. They’re also 10th in
fielding, 9th in runs scored and 8th in earned run
average. Their own all world third baseman, David Wright, had this to say after
the 8-0 loss: “We stink right now. We’re
just not very good.”
The Mets replacements for Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran.
Looking at their starting lineup, it’s not hard
to see why they stink. Trash pile free
agent pick up Gary Sheffield leads the team of starters with just 10
homers. The lineup is downright
atrocious:
C Omir
Santos .262
1B Daniel Murphy .241 5 HR 26 RBI
2B Luis Castillo .275
3B David Wright .322 but only 5 homers and 42 RBI
SS Alex Cora .259
OF Gary Sheffield .282 10 HR 31 RBI
OF Ryan Church .286 2 HR
OF Fernando Tatis .248 3 HR
Emergency
call up Fernando Martinez hit just .176 before being mercifully injured and
another trash heap find, Jeremy Reed is hitting .280 with no power and no rbi’s.
The
pitching is not much better, as Johan Santana has struggled of late, seeing his
record drop to 9-7 and his ERA rise to 3.29. Their #2 starter is currently
Livan Hernandez, who just became eligible for Medicaid. He’s got a 5-4 mark and
a 4.56 ERA. Next up is Mike Pelfrey, at 6-4, 4.52 as their 3rd starter.
They don’t really have a 4th or a 5th starter, but for
now, rookie Fernando Nieve has posted a decent 3-2 mark with a 2.73 ERA, but he’s
struggled recently as the league is figuring him out. The most frequent 5th
starter has been the woeful Tim Redding who’s 1-3 with a ghastly 6.89 ERA. But not to worry Met Fans! Oliver Perez is on his way back, riding to
the rescue on a 9.97 ERA!
Heeeere I come to saaaave the daaaay!
Now,
the big reason/excuse most Mets fans will give you for their woeful first half
has been injuries. Actually, their injuries have been pretty staggering. Looking
at the injured players and the numbers they produced in 2008, it is easy to see
how crippling the injuries have been:
Carlos
Beltran: .284-27-112 and 25 stolen
bases. He was hitting .336 with 8 HR before going down
Carlos
Delgado: .271-38-115
Jose
Reyes: .297-16-68 and 56 stolen
bases. Plus 19 triples.
Oliver
Perez: 10-7, 4.22 ERA
John
Maine: 10-8, 4.18 ERA
JJ
Putz: 6-5, 3.88 ERA 15 saves
That’s
a massive amount of production to lose from your lineup. Your cleanup hitter.
Your #5 hitter. Your 2nd starter. Your 3rd starter. Your
setup guy. And last but not least, your leadoff hitter and spark plug to your
entire offense.
Man,
that is harsh. Add to that fact that your only remaining star, Wright, is
obviously pressing and is on pace to set a career low in HR and RBI. Your ace,
all world, starting pitcher has just 9 wins. Your bullpen is a mess (except for
closer Frankie Rodriguez, who has been a standout – except for walking Mariano
Rivera). You can’t hit, can’t field, can’t pitch. The season is fast
approaching total collapse for the Mets. They’ll limp into the All-star break,
having the Sisyphusian task of needing to win all of their remaining 5 games to
avoid going into the break with a losing record.
Mr. Met curls into a fetal position as he readies himself for 2010.
Depending
on how the Mets finish going into the break and how they start up the second
half, they could very well be in sell mode before the end of July. Of course, if they keep Wright, Reyes, Johan
Santana, Beltran and K-Rod, that’s a solid nucleus to enter 2010 with. Provided
Minaya doesn’t screw it up again.
As
for this season, let’s hear from David Wright one more time:
"When you don't pitch, you don't hit, you
don't play defense, you're not going to win very many games. We're not playing
very good baseball. ... I don't think anybody's having very much fun right now."
