Mets Beast (and least) of the week

This really pains me because the Mets have played so badly the past week that, to be quite honest, there is no real “Beast.” This past week, the Mets collectively hit .214, 24th in Major League Baseball. The Mets ERA was 5.40, 26th in baseball. But I’m obligated to give the Beast of the Week distinction to someone, so here goes.

The Mets Beast of the Week is OF Nick Evans. After being promoted from Double-A, Evans doubled three times in his debut Sunday and has apparently won the starting position in left field for now. The 22-year-old will surely return to the minors as soon as either Angel Pagan or Moises Alou comes off of the DL. But for now, it’s a good story amidst a whole lot of bad ones.

Runners-Up: Cowbell Man, Mr. Met, SNY’s ratings

I’m tempted to say that the least of the week is the rest of the team, but that’s a bit too dramatic for my taste. So I’ll single out the biggest culprit in the abysmal play that has plagued the Mets of late, and that is pitching coach Rick Peterson. This is a first on NL Beast–giving the least of the week distinction to a coach. I’ve been a Peterson supporter, but the statistics do not lie; the Mets pitching staff is abysmal. For the week, the Mets pitching staff was 1-6 with a 5.40 ERA, walking 32 and striking out 29, allowing opponents to hit .281. The supposedly elite pitching staff has been mediocre to say the least, and was just plain awful last week.

Runners-down: Brian Schneider, Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey

-Jonathan Kraft

Postgame: Mets 7-Yankees 4

Johan Santana surrendered three home runs, but got the job done, combining with Billy Wagner to shut down the Yankees bats in Game One of a shortened Subway Series. Santana pitched 7.2, giving up 4 earned runs on 7 hits, walking three and striking out five on 100 pitches. Billy got the final four outs, racking up his ninth save of the year.

For the Mets, Jose Reyes and David Wright homered. Carlos Beltran, Brian Schneider, Luis Castillo, and Carlos Delgado also drove in runs.

For the Yankees, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, and Bobby Abreu homered. Andy Pettite took the loss, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7. Yanks goat Kyle Farnsworth gave up three runs in an inning of relief on two home runs.

Game two today features Oliver Perez against Chien-Ming Wang on Sunday Night Baseball at 8:05.

-Jonathan Kraft

State of the Mets

Every Mets blog seems to be publishing a novel today on the State of the Mets, so why not add my two cents. I understand that we just lost 3 of 4 at home to Washington (so much for that 5 for 7 in the homestand) and that we’re going in the Bronx as a .500 team, but all is not lost here. Sure, this was a hiccup. Sure, this was a missed opportunity. Sure, we’re in third place right now, 2.5 games behind the Marlins of all teams, but come on, all is not lost here. It’s only May. I understand that at some point the “it’s only [insert month here]” mantra turns into “yeah, but when are we going to start playing well,” but this team has nowhere to go but up at this point.

Postgame: Nationals 5-Mets 3 [BEAST-OFF]

Full recap in the morning, but suffice it to say that Aaron Heilman imploded tonight, giving up 3 runs in a third of an inning in the 7th after Claudio Vargas pitched very well (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO, 97 P).

Tim Redding pitched well for the Nationals, holding the Mets to just two hits, one of which was a Brian Schneider home run.

This loss sits squarely on the shoulders of Heilman. Any explaination from Willie should be entertaining, to say the least. My guess is that Aaron isn’t going anywhere, but how nice would it have been to have traded him when the chance arose so many times in the past. The guy is done.

Like I said, more to come in the morning once I’m done fuming.

-Jonathan Kraft

Postgame: Mets 6-Nationals 3 [BEAST-OFF]

Much better game for the Mets tonight, as John Maine pitched very well from the start (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR). Ryan Church picked up his 30th RBI and 8th HR of the season. Brian Schneider and Jose Reyes also drove in runs.

For the Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman homered off of Maine in the third for his sixth of the season. Rob Mackowiak also drove in a run. John Lannan wasn’t great tonight, going 6 innings with 4 earned runs off of 12 hits, with a walk, two strikeouts, and a home run. Luis Ayala continued to struggle, surrendering an earned run in the eighth on two hits and a walk.

Matt Wise allowed a run in the 7th, but was still credited with a hold, as was Duaner Sanchez, who apparently still has the confidence of Willie Randolph. Billy Wagner notched his eighth save of the year.

Maine continues to be the Maine man, as the rest of the Mets pitching staff remains a wild card. Other than Johan Santana, there’s no one I’d rather see on the mound for the Amazin’s. Should be interesting tomorrow as Claudio Vargas goes against Tim Redding.

-Jonathan Kraft

Postgame: Mets 12-Reds 6 (Game 1)

WP: Johan Santana (4-2, 3.10)

LP: Matt Belisle (1-3, 7.45)

Johan Santana gave up 10 hits, but it didn’t matter, as the Mets bats came to play today at Shea. Carlos Beltran drove in a season-high 5 RBIs, going 2-3 with a walk. Joining him in breaking out of offensive slumps were Carlos Delgado, who went 3-4 with a home run, and Brian Schneider, who went 2-4 with a long ball as well. Moises Alou drove in two runs, and both Ryan Church and David Wright also drove runs in.

Santana was not his dominant self, but he was still effective. Johan allowed 3 runs on 10 hits, walking 1, striking out 5, and giving up a home run to Edwin Encarnacion. Reds starter Matt Belisle did not pitch very well, pitching just 5 innings, allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, on 7 hits, walking 3 and striking out 2.

The Mets’ bullpen did not pitch well today. Aaron Heilman threw 32 pitches in the 7th, and gave up an earned run on a hit and a walk. Pedro Feliciano followed, giving up 2 earned runs on 3 hits. Jorge Sosa shut the door in the 9th, however, and did not surrender a hit.

It’s going to be a different team that takes the field tonight when Mike Pelfrey faces Bronson Arroyo in game two of this doubleheader. The possibility remains that Matt Wise will rejoin the bullpen for that game, which would require a roster move. I’m guessing that the two possibilities are a demotion for Joe Smith, which would be a shame, or a retroactive move of Angel Pagan to the DL. I’d prefer the second, but wouldn’t be surprised if Smith got sent down.

-Jonathan Kraft

Mets Pregame: 5/7 at LAD

The Game: New York Mets (16-15) at Los Angeles Dodgers (19-14)

The Matchup: John Maine (3-2, 3.48 ) vs. Brad Penny (5-2, 3.19)

The Story: After an extremely disappointing night in which the Mets left 13 runners stranded on base, New York looks to bounce back and take one last game to go .500 on the roadtrip. Losing today means that the third-place Mets would fall to .500 on the season. Don’t expect many cheers at Shea on Friday night if the Dodgers bring out the brooms today.

John Maine looks to assert himself on the mound today after a somewhat disappointing start to the year. The glaring problem with Maine’s pitching right now is the amount of walks that he is giving up, which is unlike him. His K/BB ratio stands at 1.53 this year, down from 2.40 last year.

Brad Penny is the ace of the Dodgers’ staff, and has pitched well so far this year. He faces a weaker Mets lineup than the one that stranded 13 runners on base last night (how many times can I bring that up today?), one without Moises Alou, Brian Schneider, and Carlos Delgado, who are all getting the day game off after last night. Carlos Beltran will start today after missing most of last night with “flu-like symptoms.”

Rafael Furcal will not start again for the Dodgers. Apparently he’s resting his sore back for the weekend.

Lineups:

Mets: Reyes (SS), Castillo (2B), Wright (3B), Beltran (CF), Church (RF), Pagan (LF), Anderson (1B), Casanova (C), Maine (P)

Dodgers: Pierre (LF), Ethier (RF), Kemp (CF), Kent (2B), Loney (1B), Martin (C), DeWitt (3B), Hu (SS), Penny (P)

-Jonathan Kraft

Mets Pregame: 5/5 vs. LAD

The Game: New York Mets (16-13) at Los Angeles Dodgers (17-14)

The Matchup: Oliver Perez (2-2, 4.03) vs. Chad Billingsley (1-4, 5.20)

The Story: The Mets head a little further west to take on Joe Torre and the Dodgers, who are hot, having won 8 of 10 after a very slow start to the season. The Mets are coming off of a huge series win at Arizona, and look to continue their winning ways with a “regular” lineup for just the second time this year. Oliver Perez makes his first start after last Wednesday’s embarrasment against the Pirates, and if he sticks to his one-on, one-off plan tonight might be a good night. He needs to find control, and if any catcher can help him keep his composure it is Brian Schneider, who makes his second start after being hospitalized.

No DL for Schneider

SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt reporting that Brian Schneider will back up Raul Casanova until he is healthy enough to start. Gustavo Molina looks to be headed back to New Orleans.

-Jonathan Kraft

Alou in lineup tonight

Moises Alou makes his return tonight. No word on whether Brian Schneider was placed on the DL or if Gustavo Molina was DFA’d. Here’s the Mets lineup for tonight:

Mets: Reyes (SS), Church (RF), Wright (3B), Beltran (CF), Alou (LF), Delgado (1B), Casanova (C), Castillo (2B), Maine (P)

Wow, Castillo is batting behind Casanova. I didn’t expect Alou to be in the 5 spot, but like I said earlier, he needs to re-energize this lineup, so hopefully that will work out.

-Jonathan Kraft

 

Schneider says he’s ready to play

According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, Brian Schneider said on WFAN today that while he’s not ready to start, he can come off the bench if needed. This means that the Mets should be able to send Gustavo Molina back to the minors in order to bring Moises Alou off the DL. Rubin says that Brian might not be able to start at all in Arizona, but can catch if asked to.

This is great news, hopefully Brian continues to progress steadily and we can have him back behind the plate early next week instead of missing another week, which would have happened if he had to be retroactively placed on the DL.

Mets Notes: Valentino and Valentin Edition

The Mets announced the minor league signing today of Valentino Pascucci, a 1B/OF who was recently granted his release from the Phillies organization. He was hitting around .230 for the AAA Ironpigs (amazing name, by the way), but his numbers last year were impressive (.284, .389, .577 with 34 HR and 98 RBIs) for the AAA Alburquerque Isotopes. He’s 29 and has never made it up to the majors, but you never know with a guy like this. Could he be the Mets’ Chris Coste?

Meanwhile, the ‘Stache is on his way back. Jose Valentin began baseball activities in PSL and says he hopes to rejoin the big club by the end of May. Doubtful.

Brian Schneider might land on the DL this weekend, according to David Lennon of Newsday. This would allow the Mets to reactivate Moises Alou. Take your time Brian, Alou’s bat is much needed and the last thing we need is for another catcher injury later this year.

Speaking of injuries to catchers, it appears that Ramon Castro will not be rejoining the Mets anytime in the near future after suffering a setback in his rehab assignment. Remember when Mets fans were calling for him to be the team’s starting catcher?

-Jonathan Kraft

 

 

NL East Injury Roundup

Mets catcher Brian Schneider was released from the hospital today and is expected to return to starting duty this weekend in Arizona.

Braves ace John Smoltz says that he would be willing to become the team’s closer, again, when he comes off of the DL. Smoltz recorded an NL-record 55 saves as the Braves closer in 2002.

Nationals closer Chad Cordero will be sidelined 4-6 weeks with a torn muscle under his shoulder (sounds like he tore it while compensating for tendonitis in his shoulder).

Alou to return, Schneider still in hospital

According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, LF Moises Alou is negative for a fracture in his ankle and will return for this weekend’s series against Arizona.

What a turn of events this has been. First he’s coming back, then his career may be in jeopardy, now he’s back for a crucial series against the D-Backs.

And according to Marty Noble, C Brian Schneider is still hospitalized with an infection in his left thumb. He is hoping to return very soon, meaning that it should be possible to send Gustavo Molina back to AAA once Alou comes off the DL.

-Jonathan Kraft