David Wright's Stance: Part II

Back in the WBC and Spring Training I noticed that David Wright's stance had changed from last year. He was open and stood a bit further from the plate.

At the time I worried that he would struggle early as he didn't seem able to drive the fastball to the gaps and make good contact with breaking pitches.

Furthermore his swing became very upright and loopy as he tried to "re-plane" his swing from the more open position.

From the article I wrote on April 5th:

Have you noticed that David Wright has opened his stance up about half a foot?

I'm very curious as to why he would do this right before the season opens. His stance this weekend was more open than I've ever seen it, and it's changed even since the WBC.

Could this lead to a bad start by our superstar third baseman?

Anyway, no alarm bells here, just something I'll be keeping a close eye on this week and as the season progresses.

Well we are now one month into the season, and my worst fears have been realized.

2009 Season Stats
SPLITS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Season	21	82	15	23	4	1	1	8	12	27	3	2	.280	.372	.390	.763
Career	724	2732	479	842	187	11	131	497	352	526	95	24	.308	.388	.529	.917
Last 7	7	29	5	7	1	1	0	3	2	11	2	0	.241	.290	.345	.635
Projected	162	633	116	177	31	8	8	62	93	208	23	15	.280	.372	.390	.763

That is not a typo...he is on pace for 208 Ks and 62 RBIs.

DW has actually closed his stance back up to last year's position, but his early struggles have obviously gotten into his head and the loop is there. This has thrown his timing off, and the results have been disastrous.

Thankfully DW is extremely hard working, and he is battling to groove his swing back to keep the bat on the correct plane and recognize pitches early.

This leaves the question of when is he going to break out of this slump? For all Mets fans, the hope is that the work he has been doing with HoJo will pay off this weekend.

At some point he has to hit, and that time is now.

A Month to Forget

9 Wins and 12 Losses
David Wright: 27 Ks
Schneider, Delgado and Castillo: Injured
Gary Sheffield: .167 Batting Average
Oliver Perez: 9.31 ERA
Sean Green: 8.49 ERA and overworked
Leftfield Defense: Atrocious

Jerry Manuel: The Hot Seat is Burning

Starter Pitch Count and Bullpen Concerns

We began looking at this yesterday and decided to do an update today given that yesterday was a perfect continuation of the issues in discussion, including more on the overworked Sean Green and the pulling of Livan early.

Here's how the Mets starters have fared thus far:

Johan Santana- 4 Games, 403 Pitches, 100.8 Per Game
Apr 6: 99 (W) 5.2 IP
Apr12: 98 (L) 7.0 IP
Apr 18: 102 (W) 7.0 IP
Apr 24: 104 (W) 6.0 IP

Mike Pelfrey - 3 Games, 287 Pitches, 95.7 Per Game
Apr 8: 104 (W) 5.0 IP
Apr 13: 88 (ND) 5.0 IP
Apr 25: 95 (W) 5.2 IP

Oliver Perez - 4 Games, 374 Pitches, 93.5 Per Game
Apr 9: 100 (L) 4.1 IP
Apr 15: 90 (W) 6.0 IP
Apr 21: 92 (ND) 4.2 IP
Apr 26: 92 (L) 4.1 IP

John Maine - 4 Games, 392 Pitches, 98.0 Per Game
Apr 10: 83 (ND) 5.0 IP
Apr 16: 105 (L) 5.0 IP
Apr 22: 111 (L) 5.2 IP
Apr 27: 94 (W) 6.0 IP

Livan Hernandez - 4 Games, 361 Pitches, 90.0 Per Game
Apr 11: 99 (W) 6.2 IP
Apr 17: 92 (ND) 5.0 IP
Apr 23: 79 (W) 4.1 IP
Apr 28: 91 (ND) 5.1 IP

Nelson Figueroa - 1 Game, 91 Pitches, 91.0 Per Game
Apr 19: 91 (L) 6.0 IP

Totals: 20 Games, 1,908 Pitches, 95.4 Pitches Per Game

So we must ask the question, "are the starters working hard enough?" No, they're not. It can also be argued that Jerry Manuel has had an early hook and is something of an "over-rely on the bullpen" manager.

There have been several games in which the starter was moving along effectively, only to get pulled from the game a batter, an inning, or more, too soon.

Now obviously Jerry has his reasons, and they go far beyond my basic analysis here. My belief is that a major league starter should possess the ability to extend themselves at least into the 110-120 pitch range, and that a starter bears responsibility for saving his bullpen when he is able to.

In the Mets first 20 games, only John Maine has thrown as many as 110 pitches, and in 13 of the 20 games, the starter has failed to even reach the 100 pitch mark.

While there's no question that in many of those games an ineffective starter has forced the team to go to the bullpen early, that has not always been the case. We can look to John Maine's most recent game to see the early hook for a starter having a great game with a low pitch count.

At the end of the day, the Mets starters are simply going to have to extend themselves into the 7th and even 8th innings of games for this team to consistently win in 2009. We saw a tired and rundown bullpen in 2008, and my fear is that the early signs are pointing toward a similiar fate in 2009.

Now let me add a little more fuel to this debate.

JJ Putz is on pace for over 85 innings. The most he has thrown in his career is 78.1, and remember he is coming off injury.

Sean Green is on pace for 95 innings. This is the guy that was overused last year, and he broke down because of it.

The pundits talk about not overworking your starters early, but it's just as important to not overwork your bullpen early.

Let's Talk Starter Pitch Counts

In a recent article in the USA Today, Gary Thorne talks about how Nolan Ryan is changing the way the Rangers think about pitch counts.

Under the leadership of club president Nolan Ryan, the Texas Rangers have embarked on a pitching experiment that could be called "back to the future on the mound."

The experiment may also have a major impact on the use of the dreaded pitch count which has been in vogue for perhaps too long in MLB

Ryan has banished the use of the pitch count in determining how long a pitcher stays in the game through out the organization.

Of course, every pitching coach will know that count, but that is no longer the criteria for when to pull a pitcher. We are primarily talking starters here, a role Ryan filled to HOF standards, going deep into games.

If a pitch count had been around when Ryan pitched, he would have been out in the third or fourth inning of most games with all the strikeouts and walks.

With that information in hand, I decided to take a look at how the Mets starters have fared thus far to see if we can answer the question, "are they working hard enough?"

Johan Santana- 4 Games, 403 Pitches, 100.8 Per Game
Apr 6: 99 (W) 5.2 IP
Apr12: 98 (L) 7.0 IP
Apr 18: 102 (W) 7.0 IP
Apr 24: 104 (W) 6.0 IP

Mike Pelfrey - 3 Games, 287 Pitches, 95.7 Per Game
Apr 8: 104 (W) 5.0 IP
Apr 13: 88 (ND) 5.0 IP
Apr 25: 95 (W) 5.2 IP

Oliver Perez - 4 Games, 374 Pitches, 93.5 Per Game
Apr 9: 100 (L) 4.1 IP
Apr 15: 90 (W) 6.0 IP
Apr 21: 92 (ND) 4.2 IP
Apr 26: 92 (L) 4.1 IP

John Maine - 4 Games, 392 Pitches, 98.0 Per Game
Apr 10: 83 (ND) 5.0 IP
Apr 16: 105 (L) 5.0 IP
Apr 22: 111 (L) 5.2 IP
Apr 27: 94 (W) 6.0 IP

Livan Hernandez - 3 Games, 270 Pitches, 90.0 Per Game
Apr 11: 99 (W) 6.2 IP
Apr 17: 92 (ND) 5.0 IP
Apr 23: 79 (W) 4.1 IP

Nelson Figueroa - 1 Game, 91 Pitches, 91.0 Per Game
Apr 19: 91 (L) 6.0 IP

Totals: 19 Games, 1,817 Pitches, 95.6 Pitches Per Game

The obvious answer to our question, "are they working hard enough?" is no. But there is more--it can also be argued that Jerry Manuel has had an early hook and is something of an "over-rely on the bullpen" manager.

There have been several games in which the starter was moving along effectively, only to get pulled from the game a batter, an inning, or more, too soon.

Now obviously Jerry has his reasons, and they go far beyond my basic analysis here. My belief is that a major league starter should possess the ability to extend themselves at least into the 110-120 pitch range, and that a starter bears responsibility for saving his bullpen when he is able to.

In the Mets first 19 games, only John Maine has thrown as many as 110 pitches, and in 13 of the 19 games, the starter has failed to even reach the 100 pitch mark.

While there's no question that in many of those games an ineffective starter has forced the team to go to the bullpen early, that has not always been the case. We can look to John Maine's most recent game to see the early hook for a starter having a great game with a low pitch count.

At the end of the day, the Mets starters are simply going to have to extend themselves into the 7th and even 8th innings of games for this team to consistently win in 2009. We saw a tired and rundown bullpen in 2008, and my fear is that the early signs are pointing toward a similiar fate in 2009.

Now let me add a little more fuel to this debate.

JJ Putz is on pace for over 85 innings. The most he has thrown in his career is 78.1, and remember he is coming off injury.

Sean Green is on pace for 90 innings. This is the guy that was overused last year, and he broke down because of it.

The pundits talk about not overworking your starters early, but it's just as important to not overwork your bullpen early.

Momentum Night Ahead for the Mets

The Mets, winners of 3 of their last 4 games, have some momentum now, and the opportunity for a lot more if Livan Hernandez can beat the Marlins tonight.

The Mets will be minus 2 starters, Luis Castillo and Carlos Delgado, both of whom are nursing minor injuries they suffered in recent games.

Tonight's lineup is as follows:

Reyes, ss
Cora, 2b
Beltran, cf
Sheffield, lf
Wright, 3b
Church, rf
Tatis, 1b
Santos, c
Hernandez, rhp

Of interest is the fact that Daniel Murphy is sitting out his second consecutive game.

Sheffield, who hit the ball hard yesterday, certainly deserves another start, but the Mets are facing off against a righthander in Ricky Nolasco, so the move is something of a gamble for manager Jerry Manuel.

Nolasco, who pitched his way to a 15-8 record with a 3.52 ERA in 2008, is off to a very rough 2009. He is currently 1-2 with a 6.86 ERA.

Tonight could very well tell the tale of the Mets April on into May:

• Win, keep the momentum going, see Johan Santana tomorrow, and have a chance to finish the month strong against a division rival.
• Lose, and face the prospects of a very difficult weekend on the road in Philly.

Good Morning Mets Fans!

John Maine and Omir Santos--a dynamic duo.

John Maine needed a good game--his team needed for him to have a good game--his manager and pitching coach asked the baseball Gods to let him have a good game--and he didn't....instead, he had a great one.

Maine started the game by doing something very smart....pound the fastball. He threw it, and threw it, and threw it, and threw it.

Once the fastball was established, he began working in his other pitches, but for the most part, he was a fastball pitcher yesterday.

All told Maine allowed no earned runs in six innings, threw 94 pitches, and earned his first victory since August 13, 2008.

"I concentrated this time, in my bullpen session and even on my off days, on really slowing myself down and staying under control," Maine said. "It's something I was doing when I was pitching well last year and the year before, but for some reason I just get a little excited out there, and that hurts me."

"It's a start," Maine said. "It's good to get the first win, but I still need to keep working. I think there's still a lot of areas I need to improve on. But like I said, it's a start and I have to go from there."

The hitting star of the night was backup catcher Omir Santos, who hit his first major league homerun, and it just happened to be a Grand Slam. In a great moment, JJ Putz nailed him with a perfect shaving cream pie "strike" as he was being interviewed after the game.

His effort helped propel the Mets to the win and sent the Marlins to their seventh straight loss.

After his blast, a jubilant Santos was called out for a curtain call by the nearly packed house...it was surely a thrilling moment for Santos.

On CBS, they ask: Why did the native of Puerto Rico sign with the Mets in January?

"It's a winning team, a great city," he said. "You feel like home, because every corner that you stand, everybody speaks Spanish."

Santos' homer came in his 28th career at-bat and made him just the third player to hit a slam for his first big league homer while with the Mets, following Jack Hamilton and Jose Reyes. When Schneider is activated, the Mets likely will decide whether Santos or Ramon Castro will be the backup.

The bullpen once again did their job and finished the game in fine style, allowing just one hit in 3 innings.

Carlos Delgado's hip is hurting. According to the NY Daily News, he is going for a "Hip Check" today. "It's a little sore (yesterday)," said Delgado, who didn't foresee a DL trip.

Metsradamus has a funny piece on Omir Santos, complete with a picture of him with the shaving cream pie to the face in his post-game interview.

All in all a great game for the Mets, and it sure is starting to feel like momentum is coming our way.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Florida (11-8)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
N.Y. Mets (9-10) «	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	x	7	9	1

Players of the Game

New York O. Santos AB 4 R 1 H 1 HR 1 RBI 4

New York J. Maine IP 6.0 H 1 ER 0 BB 3 K 4

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose Reyes, SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.300
Luis Castillo, 2B	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	.370
Alex Cora, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.154
Carlos Beltran, CF	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.397
Gary Sheffield, LF	4	1	1	1	0	1	0	.154
J.J. Putz, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Francisco Rodriguez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
David Wright, 3B	4	2	2	1	0	0	0	.284
Ryan Church, RF	3	0	1	1	0	2	2	.356
Fernando Tatis, 1B	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.267
Omir Santos, C	4	1	1	4	0	1	2	.286
John Maine, P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a- Daniel Murphy, PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.313
Sean Green, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jeremy Reed, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.222
Totals	32	7	9	7	2	5
a-tripled for Maine in the 6th
Batting
3B - David Wright (1, Pinto), Daniel Murphy (1, Sanchez)
HR - Omir Santos (1, Sanchez)
SF - Ryan Church (1)
RBI - Gary Sheffield (2), David Wright (7), Ryan Church (8), Omir Santos 4 (4)
2-OUT RBI - Omir Santos 4 (4)
Team LOB - 4
Fielding
E - Gary Sheffield (1, Dropped line drive)

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
John Maine (W,1-2)	6	1	1	0	3	4	0	5.40
Sean Green	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.91
J.J. Putz	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	2.70
Francisco Rodriguez	1	0	0	0	2	2	0	2.35
HBP - H. Ramirez (by John Maine)
Pitches-Strikes - John Maine 94-54, Sean Green 11-7, J.J. Putz 21-14, Francisco Rodriguez 24-14
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - John Maine 6-9, Sean Green 1-2, J.J. Putz 2-1, Francisco Rodriguez 1-0
Batters Faced - John Maine 24, Sean Green 3, J.J. Putz 5, Francisco Rodriguez 5

Minors Stuff - April 27, 2009

The Herd:

879-year old Ken Takahashi was called up to the Mets Sunday afternoon. At the same time, the Mets DFA’s Casey Fossum, who we assume will pass through waivers and be back in Buffalo this week. I just can’t seem to understand these “call up for one game then DFA the pitcher” antics that have gone on with Figgy and Fossum. For now, the Herd is operating with 6 relief pitchers.

Connor and David Robertson have known each other for a pretty long time. They're both professional pitchers who have made it to the major leagues. They're both from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They both played for Coach John Cameron in high school. And, oh yeah, they're brothers. April 13th at Coca-Cola Field was unique for the Robertsons. With David already in the game for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Connor trotted out from the Bisons bullpen in the seventh inning. The brothers were pitching against each other...for the first time. "He's been with three different teams and he finally just got into the league I was in," David said. "He's always been a lot of years ahead of me. I haven't really seen him play really in probably four years. To run into him here is kind of a coincidence." The duo combined to throw four and two thirds shutout innings that day, all the while Bisons batters asked Connor how to attack his brother's pitching. "He throws a fastball, curveball and changeup," Robertson told his teammates. "I don't know which one he's going to throw to you." Connor is more than three years older than David. The elder brother was born in September 1981. David was born in April of 1985. When the Bisons hurler was a freshman in college, his brother was a freshman in high school. When Connor was being drafted to the pros, David was heading to play at the University of Alabama. But they did have plans of facing one another all along.

http://buffalo.bisons.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090426&content_id=570858&vkey=news_t422&fext=.jsp&sid=t422

B-Mets:

Ruben Tejada’s three-run double with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh provided the punch needed to overcome a 3-1 deficit and propel the B-Mets to a series split with New Hampshire, 4-3. Mike Antonini was the benefactor of the three-run seventh recording his third straight win. In a tie game, 1-1, in the last of the sixth, New Hampshire (11-6) finally got to Antonini. With two outs and a man at third, the B-Mets’ starter hung a 3-2 curveball that Adam Calderone laced over the right field wall for a home run, giving the Fisher Cats a 3-1 lead. Binghamton (9-6) was quick to respond, however, loading the bases in the top of the seventh when Shawn Bowman was hit by reliever Celson Polanco to open the inning, which was followed by a Carl Loadenthal single and a Caleb Stewart walk. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Polanco proceeded to strikeout Matt Bouchard and Emmanuel Garcia. The next hitter was Tejada, who got behind in the count 0-2 before working it back full. With a full count, Tejada hammered the game-winning double over the head of Fisher Cat leftfielder Jonathan Diaz to clear the bases and give the B-Mets the lead, 4-3. Relievers Tim McNab, Edgar Alfonzo, John Madden and Roy Merritt made the slim lead stand with three scoreless innings of relief. Merritt threw the final 1.1 innings to notch his eighth save in as many chances, which leads the Eastern League. In his fourth start of the season, Antonini went a season-high six innings and picked up his third win giving up three runs to record a quality start. Polanco took the loss throwing 1.2 innings surrendering three runs. Shawn Bowman had a terrific day at the plate going 2-3 with a solo home run and a single, scoring two runs. Tejada added a single to his three-run double for a 2-5 day with 3 RBI.


Lucy:
-by this time of the year someone usually leaves a post asking me why my coverage on Lucy is so piss poor… sadly, is the same reason year after year. For whatever reasons I’ve never got anyone to explain to me, the people at Tradition Field simply don’t send out many press releases. I do get them when players are on the move, but they do not update their website very often with results from the game, nor do they send out a recap press release or a pre-game “notes”. They simply don’t do it.

Keeping in line with the way things are done down there, the local newspaper, TC Palm, competes heavily with the team on who handles the team more sucky. Their daily blurbs are usually a a paragraph long, if that. Occasionally you get a feature story on a player, but that’s about it.

Reese Havens made the BA Hot List this week:

No. 7 REESE HAVENS, SS - Why He's Here: .333/.462/.714 (7-for-21), 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBIs, 7 R, 5 BB, 0 SO - The Scoop: The second of two Mets' first-round picks last year (22nd overall), Havens has been one of the FSL's most productive hitters thus far. A lefthanded batter with a grinder mentality, he leads the league with seven extra-base hits as part of a .320/.407/.600 start as St. Lucie's shortstop. The fact that he's playing the field again is just as encouraging as his hitting, after he spent his time DHing with short-season Brooklyn in his debut last season. Havens lacks classic shortstop actions, though, and already has committed five miscues in 13 games

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2009/268006.html

Gnats:

SS Wilmer Flores didn’t play either Friday or Saturday, but no worry, he’s just resting.

Savannah scored first but Charleston answered with a six-run third inning that propelled them to an, 8-4, win over the Sand Gnats Sunday evening at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston. D.J. Mitchell (3-0) worked six innings for the win while Elvin Ramirez (2-1) lasted just 2.2 innings and suffered his first loss. Jordany Valdespin hit a weak fly ball to the outfield grass just behind second on a drawn in infield that fell for a base hit in the third to score Juan Lagares and give Savannah a short-lived, 1-0, lead. In the bottom of the inning, Charleston sent 11 men to the plate and scored six runs to open up a, 6-1, advantage. Charleston’s offensive output chased the starter Ramirez, who gave up six runs on five hits along with four walks. The Sand Gnats were able to cut the lead to three when Eric Campbell hit a three-run home run off Mitchell in the sixth to make it, 7-4. Charleston’s bullpen entered in the seventh and did not allow a Gnats base runner the rest of the game. Campbell led the offense with his home run and three RBI as six of nine Savannah starters registered hits. Jimmy Johnson pitched two scoreless innings of relief


Clones:

Joaquin Rodriguez’s first two games with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2006 were two games he’d like to forget, especially considering the fact that he fell while covering a bunt and went hitless in two plate appearances. In 2007 however, J-Rod was a solid contributor to the team, hitting .273 with 11 RBI in 28 games, while playing first base for the first time in his career. In this interview done in September 2007, Rodriguez talks about the transition to first base and the interesting way he planned to improve his footwork at the position. As always, you can listen to the interview here @

http://media.switchpod.com/users/dembrooklynbums/TheLostInterviewsJoaquinRodriguez.mp3


Draft:
It is becoming like a broken record, but Stephen Strasburg improved his record to 9-0 in leading the 19th ranked Aztecs to an opening 4-3 win over number 16 ranked TCU. Strasburg lasted 7 innings, walking one and striking out 14. He only gave up four hits. TCU scored all three runs in the seventh on a 3-run homer by Bryan Holaday to close a 4-0 gap to 4-3. Brandon Decker drove in three runs to lead the offense, contributing a 2-run single in the second and then an RBI single in the sixth. Addison Reed came in with two outs in the eighth with the bases loaded and struck out Jimmie Pharr looking to end the inning. He retired the side in order in the ninth, two via the strikeout to pick up his 14th save. Addison leads the country in saves and his 0.52 ERA will have scouts paying attention to not only Strasburg.

http://myworldofbaseball.com/wordpress/?m=200904

Ollie and the Mental Game

Oliver Perez is struggling--that is a given.

But what is the cause?

Why did his fastball, once consistently in the 93-95 range, top out at 88 mph yesterday?

Why does his curveball, once a kneebuckling breaker that gave lefty's fits, sit out over the plate as if on a tee?

Do we blame the WBC? Did playing for his country affect Ollie's psyche?

Do we blame the lack of a true spring training? Was Ollie in terrible physical shape when he arrived, as Dan Warthen alleged?

Or is it possible that Ollie is just a head case until he gets it going and gains confidence?

That's my theory anyway.

Let's look at last year.

By Day/Month	ERA	W	L	SV	SVO	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG
April	4.03	2	2	0	0	6	6	0	29.0	28	18	13	1	21	26	.257
May	5.58	2	1	0	0	5	5	0	30.2	22	19	19	8	20	24	.206
June	5.28	2	2	0	0	6	6	0	30.2	31	19	18	7	11	26	.263
July	1.38	1	1	0	0	5	5	0	32.2	23	6	5	2	15	36	.197
August	3.52	2	1	0	0	6	6	0	38.1	30	16	15	3	17	34	.219
September	5.79	1	0	0	0	6	6	0	32.2	33	22	21	3	21	34	.260

Early in the season Ollie had a terrible time. He was walking a ton of batters, giving up homeruns in bunches, and he didn't have very good command of his breaking pitches.

Now we know that Rick Peterson got the blame, because right after he was let go, Ollie really turned it on and had a very nice 10 game stretch.

But was Peterson truly to blame, or did something just click with Ollie, giving him confidence?

If it truly is a mental issue and not a physical one, what can the Mets do to get him back on track?

Is sending him down for a few minor league starts the answer?

I would say yes. It's early enough in the season to give him two weeks in AA or AAA to get his pitches worked out and find his spots.

Brian Stokes seems perfectly capable of starting a few games, and Figgy is now back in the mix. He's usually good for 5 or 6 innings of decent baseball, and right now Ollie isn't capable of even that.

It's time Omar--have that heart to hear with Ollie, send him down for a few weeks, and let's get him back on track.

Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Ah yes, the Washington nationals, the tonic for every team in need of some wins.

Big Mike Pelfrey came back after missing a start due to tendinitis and pitched effectively. His ground ball to fly ball out ratio was an astonishing 12 to 1.

The big righty didn't have his 'A' game, but he certainly had his 'B' game and induced ground ball after ground ball. The Mets #2 starter had his sinker working, generating 14 consecutive outs on grounders before Elijah Dukes' RBI triple chased him with two down in the sixth.

"I just felt like, a little dead. But I was able to make pitches when I had to and the guys behind me played great," Pelfrey said. "I think we need to get on a little streak. I think if you look at our losses so far, most of it's been because of starting pitching. We all know that. We're going to get this thing turned around and figured out."

"I saw good stuff. I didn't see great stuff," Jerry Manuel said. "He's nasty right now, but he's not filthy."

All told he pitched to 2 outs in the 6th before manager Jerry Manuel lifted him for Sean Green, who promptly got the third out of the inning.

Ryan Church drove in three runs, Carlos Beltran added 3 more hits to raise his average to a gaudy .415, and the Mets took advantage of sloppy play by the Nationals in what was basically a rout.

"You've just got to keep beating a team when it's down," Church said. "You're supposed to win these games."

Carlos Beltran is on fire. He leads the NL in hitting, is on an 8-game hitting streak, and drove in his 1,000th run of his career Friday--on his 32nd birthday.

"I'm hitting better. I prepared the same way, it's just I'm starting with a good April," said Beltran, who recently was switched with David Wright from fifth to third in the batting order. "I was swinging the bat good when I was hitting fifth. Right now I have the opportunity to drive in more runs, and I like that."

Helped by solid glove work behind him, Pelfrey (2-0) allowed two runs, six hits and three walks while striking out one. Sean Green, Bobby Parnell and Brian Stokes followed with scoreless relief before 39,960 fans on a beautiful afternoon.

As Bart Hubbach of the NY Post reports, David Wright had a banner day in the field.

What David Wright isn't providing with his bat the All-Star third baseman is providing with his glove.

Just days after picking up a Gold Glove for his third-base handiwork last season, Wright turned in two highlight-reel plays at third base in the second inning of an 8-2 win over the Nationals. Wright has just one error in his first 17 games this season and seems to be in a zone defensively after three memorable assists Friday, too.

"Everything that's coming down there, he's putting a glove on and making a good play and a good throw," Jerry Manuel said. "The work he's doing every day early is really paying off."

One key to yesterday's game was the Mets ability to drive in runs with men in scoring position--it's been a huge problem this season, but yesterday was much better. They finished 4-for-11 with RISP on the day, improving their season average in those situations to .253.

"The last couple games we've been terrible -- pretty much the whole season," Church said. "Everybody knows that we're a good team. I think once it clicks, it's not going to stop."

Today they go for the sweep.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington (3-13)	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	9	3
N.Y. Mets (8-9) «	3	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	x	8	9	0

Player of the Game

New York
C. Beltran	AB	5
	R	2
	H	3
	HR	0
	RBI	1

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose Reyes, SS	4	0	1	0	1	1	0	.315
Daniel Murphy, LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	5	.317
Jeremy Reed, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.222
Carlos Beltran, CF	5	2	3	1	0	0	3	.415
Carlos Delgado, 1B	3	1	0	0	2	1	2	.250
David Wright, 3B	3	2	0	0	1	1	3	.288
Ryan Church, RF	4	0	2	3	0	0	0	.358
Omir Santos, C	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.308
Luis Castillo, 2B	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.380
Mike Pelfrey, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Sean Green, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Bobby Parnell, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a- Alex Cora, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.182
Brian Stokes, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	34	8	9	4	5	5
a-popped out for Parnell in the 7th
Batting
SH - Mike Pelfrey (1)
RBI - Carlos Beltran (14), Ryan Church 3 (7)
2-OUT RBI - Carlos Beltran (4), Ryan Church 3 (7)
SB - Carlos Beltran (1, 3rd base off Bergmann/Nieves), David Wright (2, 2nd base off Rivera/Nieves)
Team LOB - 8
Fielding
Outfield Assists - Daniel Murphy 1
DP - Murphy-Delgado, Wright-Delgado, Castillo-Reyes-Delgado

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mike Pelfrey (W,2-0)	5.2	6	2	2	3	1	0	6.32
Sean Green (H,3)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.52
Bobby Parnell	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.86
Brian Stokes	2	2	0	0	2	2	0	0.00
HBP - Nieves (by Bobby Parnell)
WP - Mike Pelfrey (1)
Pitches-Strikes - Mike Pelfrey 95-54, Sean Green 3-2, Bobby Parnell 17-13, Brian Stokes 35-19
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Mike Pelfrey 12-1, Brian Stokes 2-2
Batters Faced - Mike Pelfrey 23, Sean Green 1, Bobby Parnell 5, Brian Stokes 10

Pelfrey Needs a Confidence Start

He doesn't need to Dominate, he doesn't need to throw a shutout, but he does need to pitch well.

Last season Mike Pelfrey turned things around, for himself, and for his team, en route to a fine year in which he established himself as a bona fide major league starter.

This year's forearm tendonitis is partially to blame for Pelf's bad start, but there is also the fact that he has not located his pitches well. What we don't know is if the injury is solely to blame, or if other factors are involved.

One thing is for certain: if the 2009 Mets are going to contend, Mike Pelfrey needs to pitch well. I would define well as averaging 6.0 innings per start, with an era somewhere south of 3.60.

He doesn't need to be an ace--we already have one of those--he needs to be "Mr Steady" in this rotation and give the team quality start after quality start.

Today would be a very good place for him to "really" begin his 2009 season with a confidence (quality) start because, as we saw last year, once it clicks back in, Pelf will smoothly sail to a fine year.

Career: | Pitching |
SEASON	TEAM	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	SV	HLD	BLSV	ERA
2006	NYM	4	4	0	0	21.1	25	14	13	1	12	13	2	1	0	0	--	5.48
2007	NYM	15	13	0	0	72.2	85	47	45	6	39	45	3	8	0	0	--	5.57
2008	NYM	32	32	2	0	200.2	209	86	83	12	64	110	13	11	0	0	--	3.72
2009	NYM	2	2	0	0	10.0	13	9	9	3	6	5	1	0	0	0	--	8.10
Total	--	53	51	2	0	304.2	332	156	150	22	121	173	19	20	0	0	--	4.43

1,000 Hits at Age 25

Jose Reyes, at age 25, needs 60 hits to reach 1,000. There are 45 more games until he turns 26 on June 11th. Some quick math tells us that he will get his 1,000th hit on or before his 26th birthday if he is hitting .312 or better.

Now none of this really matters, but it is fun to project what this man might one day accomplish before he hangs up those magical spikes.

Back in January, I wrote a piece about the possibility--the possibility--of Jose Reyes getting to 4,000 hits.

With another typical season, Reyes, who led the NL in hits last year, will finish 2009 with over 1,100 hits.

Batting Statistics

Career: Batting |
SEASON	TEAM	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2003	NYM	69	274	47	84	12	4	5	32	13	36	13	3	.307	.334	.434	.768
2004	NYM	53	220	33	56	16	2	2	14	5	31	19	2	.255	.271	.373	.644
2005	NYM	161	696	99	190	24	17	7	58	27	78	60	15	.273	.300	.386	.686
2006	NYM	153	647	122	194	30	17	19	81	53	81	64	17	.300	.354	.487	.841
2007	NYM	160	681	119	191	36	12	12	57	77	78	78	21	.280	.354	.421	.775
2008	NYM	159	688	113	204	37	19	16	68	66	82	56	15	.297	.358	.475	.833
2009	NYM	14	64	8	21	1	1	1	6	7	6	3	2	.328	.394	.422	.816
Total	--	769	3265	541	940	156	72	62	316	248	392	293	75	.288	.338	.436	.774

Without making the injury excuse, it's easy to believe Reyes could easily have another 100+ hits.

Let's put that in perspective. With about 220 more games until Reyes turns 27, we can project him at close to 1,200 hits before his 27th birthday. Where would that rank all-time?

Hits Before age 27

Rank	Player		H		PA
1.	Ty Cobb		1600		4844
2.	Mel Ott		1440		5328
3.	Al Kaline		1390		5071
4.	Vada Pinson		1381		4955
5.	Robin Yount		1363		5257
6.	Alex Rodriguez		1354		4972
7.	Freddie Lindstrom		1347		4617
8.	Rogers Hornsby		1323		4281
9.	Hank Aaron		1309		4530
10.	Jimmie Foxx		1307		4590

That is pretty elite company. With continued good health, his speed, and his athletic frame, Reyes has the potential to amass some truly amazing statistics. Though 45 games shy of his 26th birthday, he is already 8th in steals for age 25 players and just outside the top 10 in triples.

The scary thing is that Reyes is getting better. Many teammates predict he will one day lead the league in hitting. Now while I won't go that far, I will say that Reyes will continue to produce. With only similar production over the next few years he will go over 2,000 hits at age 30.

Hits Including Age 30 Seasons

Rank	Player		H		PA
1.	Ty Cobb		2361		7263
2.	Hank Aaron		2085		7216
3.	Rogers Hornsby		2083		6617
4.	Alex Rodriguez		2067		7774
5.	Mel Ott		2061		7802
6.	Jimmie Foxx		2049		7290
7.	Robin Yount		2019		7743
8.	Vada Pinson		2007		7393
9.	Joe Medwick		2004		6488
10.	Willie Keeler		1955		5788

That my friends, is something I look forward to watching.

And don't forget those hips.

Slumpbusters

We just received a copy of the following memo:

OK, there are actually very few individuals on this team in a slump, but make no mistake, the team itself is slumping. We are all slumping.

As such, I am issuing a mandate: every Met player, and that includes myself and all the coaches, will wear these until a 4 game win streak has been achieved.

-- Jerry Manuel

Mets 2009: Reasons for Concern?

My good friend Andy the Lawyer presents some excellent points---as he told me, "I am by no means an alarmist, but there have been a few early alarm bells."

I heard a very good interview with Jayson Stark from ESPN about a week ago, where he delineated the difference between what is "too early" to worry about in April of the baseball season, and what is worth worrying about. In general, he said, its silly to worry in April when very unlikely things happen. For example, Yankee fans shouldn't worry when C.C. Sabathia gets rocked in his first start, as you have to expect he will bounce back. On the other hand, if you came into April worried about your team's bullpen, and then the bullpen impodes through the first month, then its not too early to be concerned. With that guiding principle in mind, and in light of the positives I posted about last time, here are some areas for concern with the 2009 Mets:

1) The Defense Has Been Bad

One of the things that troubled me about the Mets decision to NOT give Murphy a shot at second base was the illogical, in my mind, view that his defensive liabilities at second base would be MORE impactful than his likely struggles in left field. Personally, it seemed to me that as a former third baseman, the main issue for Murphy would be turning the doubleplay - he wasn't likely to have issues with throws, and range at second base is more than a tad overrated in importance in my opinion. In contrast, we knew based on last year that Murphy had trouble picking up balls in left field, and it seemed unlikely that those would disappear over one offseason of fall league baseball. At the end of the day, the decision to not try Murphy at second base (a new position) and instead force him to play left field (a new position) seems more related to the Mets inability, or unwillingness, to deal Luis Castillo and thus free up second base.

Thus far, Murphy has made several catastrophic misplays in left field. While not all count as errors in the boxscore, they are important nonetheless. Its not an exaggeration to say that inexcusable defensive miscues by Murphy have cost the Mets two games already - pretty bad considering the Mets have only played 13 games. His drop of a pop-up fly cost Santana a win, and his miscue of a line drive right at him last night led to two runs being scored. Simply put, its hard to imagine that his defense at second could have cost us more than his defense in left already has. And its unclear how much better he is going to get. If an offseason of outfield practice didn't get him ready, is he going to improve this season? And if not, will it start to affect his offense? While Murphy is a very nice offensive player, its hard to argue that his value over a replacement remains clear if he's making a defensive miscue every 3-5 games.

Its also worth pointing out that the Mets overall defense hasn't been elite for several years now. Its been a long time since the Mets had one of the best defensive teams in baseball. Aside from Beltran in CF, Reyes and SS, and Wright at 3B, its hard to identify a single other Met who provides even above-average defense. I don't think its too early to worry about this - the Mets look like a sloppy defensive team, and there is little reason to think its a fluke.

2) Starting Pitching

Going into the season, Mets fans were probably more worried about the starting pitching than any other aspect of the team. After Santana (who looks like he's off to a Cy Young start) the rest of the Mets rotation all had question marks. Unfortunately, only one of those four question marks (Livian, of all people) appears to be answered positively thus far.

Ollie is being Ollie

Ollie Perez, notwithstanding his mulit-millionaire contract, looks every bit like the frustrating guy Mets fans have had a love-hate relationship over the last two years. He continues to create trouble for himself with inexcusable walks, periodic wildness, and terrible conditioning. Mets fans hoped that the new contract would mark an improvement in maturity for Perez, who now needs to act like a veteran pitcher rather than a promising young thrower with "stuff". Instead, we've actually seen regression thus far, almost suggesting that he has become complacent with his new contract.

Ollie has had 3 starts so far this year, and 2 have been terrible, so bad that he didn't even make it through 5 innings. While we all know that Ollie can turn it on at any time, you have to be worried about him given his up and down track record and history of immaturity.

Pelfrey's Workload

Pelfrey's Workload increased dramatically last year, far more than teams typically like to do with young pitchers, due to injury concerns. While Pelfrey came through great last year, if anything the pressure was greater on his this year, when he is clearly being anointed as the #2 pitcher behind Santana after the Mets failed to sign Derek Lowe. Unfortunately, Pelfrey had two relatively ineffective starts and then went on the DL. If he can't pitch 150+ innings this year at a high level (sub-4.00 ERA), the Mets will have a major problem on their hands.

Whither John Maine?

Maine remains an enigma to me, almost more confusing than Perez (whose immaturity and lack of discipline explain alot about his inconsistency). Maine seems to be dedicated, serious, wants to throw strieks, and has great stuff. But his results don't match up - often because it seems he doesn't know how to stretch the zone and get hitters to expand their swinging area. Its unclear why this is, but its disconcerting to see that a guy alot of people picked to win 15 games a year ago now seems to struggle getting through the 5th inning. Hopefully we get a good start out of Maine today that gives Mets fans some confidence.