Good Morning Mets Fans!

How sweep it is!

After taking the first two games in relatively easy fashion, the Mets used the hot bat of Jeff Francoeur, and the positive energy of skipper Jerry Manuel, to come back from a 5-0 deficit and complete the sweep of their Florida rivals.

The Mets fell behind on another sub-par outing by Takahashi, who gave up two long balls yesterday and  did not look sharp, especially after the first time through the order.  Not willing to quit, the Mets chipped away and benefited by Fredi Gonzales strange deicion to pull Ricky Nolasco after only 82 pitches.

That move ignited the Mets.

Jeff Francoeur is hot---boiling hot--at the plate, and he proved his mettle again yesterday with a tying, three-run homer in the seventh inning.  It was the big blow that keyed two rallies that put the Mets on top and upped their home winning streak to 8 games.

"I know this is a big yard but I knew I got that one," said Francoeur, who is batting .500 (18 for 36) during his 10-game hitting streak. "I was sure nothing was going to stop it."

Prior to the Francoeur bomb, Angel Pagan demonstrated why he has become one of the most valuable men in the lineup.  Pagan smoked a two-run single in the sixth and scored the go-ahead run when Ike Davis grounded into a double play in the eighth.

"Right now our offense is a lot better than three or four weeks ago," Pagan said. "We can do more things and I think this comeback helps us. ... We just kept fighting."

David Wright chipped in with 3 hits and continues to mash.  His strikeouts are down, and he is driving the ball with authority.

The Mets are now 18-4 in their last 22 games at Citi Field. They have the best home record in baseball, including 22 home wins.

"This was one of those games that tests your character," catcher Rod Barajas said. "That tells you what you're all about. That was an awesome win being down 5-0 early."

The Mets also received a big boost from their skipper.  I've been tough on Jerry all year, but he definitely out-managed his counterpart yesterday. Manuel kept the team positive, and he also put Angel Pagan in motion on a key full-count pitch to Bay, with great results as Bay stroked a single that sent Pagan to third, where he ultimately scored the key run.

"We've been taking chances and our baserunners are making good reads," Manuel said. "We felt like if it's a breaking ball we might get a stolen base. The only thing you worry about is hitting a line drive at somebody, but with people moving around it's a lot harder to hit a line drive at someone. If you do, you just tip your cap."

The bullpen, for the most part, did their job.  Igarashi had a rough time of it, but Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano and Frankie Rodriguez were all up for the task.

Feliciano got the win, to go 2-2 on the year, and Frankie picked up his 12th save of the year.

The Mets are off today and face the Padres at home tomorrow.  We all get a chance to breathe and enjoy our coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Florida (28-30)	0	0	0	1	0	4	1	0	0	6	10	0
N.Y. Mets (30-27) «	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	1	x	7	12	2

Player of the Game

New York
J. Francoeur	AB	4
	R	1
	H	2
	HR	1
	RBI	3

 Related articles

• Post Game: Mets 7 Marlins 6 (metsblog.com)
• Mets 7, Marlins 6: Mets Win With a Rare Display of Power (nytimes.com)

Ryota Igarashi has a Website, Does Figgy?

Since everyone is up in arms this morning about some of the cuts the Mets made, I decided to find out a little bit more about one of the culprits behind those cuts.

Ryota Igarashi has an 8.53 ERA this spring and zero major league experience--and it looks for all the world as if he has made the Mets.

Nelson Figueroa, Bobby Parnell, Kiko Calero and Elmer Dessens; infielder Russ Adams; and outfielder Chris Carter did not make the team.

While I do think Calero, Parnell and Nelson will still play a large role this year, it seems odd from a statistical (and eyes) viewpoint that the Japanese import got the nod.  Obviously his salary has a lot to do with it, as does the fact that Parnell has options and Calero needs to work on his arm strength.

Nellie is the odd man out, but truth be told he is a "second half big league pitcher".  By that I mean he's the type of guy a club brings up after the usual injuries occur.  His first half value is just not high enough.

Now back to Igarashi--he does have a pretty cool website, as evidenced by the picture at the top of this post.  That said, there is a disturbing link on his page called "Swallows Man".  I hope he didn't actually do that.

Igarashi can also pull a tire while running backwards--I seriously doubt Figgy could pull off such a superhuman feat:

Does Figgy have a website?  If not, does he need me to build him one?  Should we buy him a tire?  Maybe a bigger tire than Igarashi used, like a monster truck tire.

Perhaps it will help his cause, and that's something I can get behind.

Mejia's Spring Numbers - Truly Amazin', or a Mirage?

New post from NY Sports Dog contributor Andy the Lawyer:

Jenrry Mejia may very well turn into the second coming of Mariano Rivera, but its hard to see how the Mets brass has settled on that prognosis for him based on just Spring Training.  Its true that Mejia has been very effective thus far (10 IP, 1.69 ERA, .184 average against), but if that sample size is enough to conclude that someone will be a great relief pitcher, the Mets are already in great shape.  Look at all the relief "studs" that the Mets already have (based on Spring training numbers):

• Pat Misch:  10 IP, 0.90 ERA, .182 average against
• Elmer Dessens: 5.1 IP, 1.69 ERA, .238 average against
• Nelson Figueroa: 8.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, .143 average against
• Hisanori Takahashi:8.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, .138 average against

Considering that Feliciano and K-Rod are locks to make the team, and given that its pretty likely that one or more of Parnell, Green, Nieve, or Igarashi will be allowed to stick around through April, why is it so important to convert Mejia into a reliever?  Seems pretty clear tht there are 4 other Mets pitchers who are pitching just as effectively as Mejia, and none of them have the potential to be ace starting pitchers, or are only 20 years old.  Are the Mets planning on using an 8 or 9 man bullpen to start the season?

The point is that Spring training numbers do not matter - but even if they did, the Mets should be just as happy to have any of these 4 guys pitching for the big club as Mejia, and simply let Mejia keep working on his command and secondary stuff in the minors.

Moreover, having Mejia work on being a starting pitcher in the minors is much more likely to pay dividends for the Mets - even this year - as not one of Pelfrey, Perez, or Maine has had a particularly impressive spring.  The Mets may need a reliable starting pitcher to add to the rotation in July much more than they need a 6th inning reliever in April.

Jerry Manuel Fails Baseball 101

I read with a chuckle how Jerry Manuel ripped his players after last night's disappointing loss. Jerry got on Angel Pagan for misplaying a Doug Davis line drive into a 2 run triple. He ripped Daniel Murphy for venturing too far off the bag on a potential double play ball. He also finally decided tonight to give David Wright his second day off of the year.

Jerry--look in the damn mirror. Who the hell intentionally walks the #8 hitter in the second inning of a game?

That incredibly bad decision set the tone for the entire game.

Augie Ojeda has a .328 slugging percentage on the season, yet you deemed him such a threat that he needed to be walked--in the second inning!

I'm all for this type of maneuvering later in a game where it could force the opposing manager to go to a pinch-hitter, but walking the #8 hitter in the second inning is just stupid.

You're telling your starter he can't get out Augie Ojeda.

Then, if that wasn't enough, you went back to the intentional walk again in the 5th inning.

At this point it was a 4-2 game, with one out and a man on second. Up comes Mark Reynolds--you know, the guy that has 151 strikeouts on the year.

Now is Reynolds an excellent power hitter? Yes, he certainly is. But again, it's a 2 run game in the 5th inning, and you have a strikeout king at the plate.

We now go to the seventh inning--it's 5-2 Diamondbacks, and who do you bring in to releieve?

38-year old journeyman Elmer Dessens.

Yes, in a 3 run tight game, in Arizona, you opt for Elmer Dessens to keep you in the game.

Never mind that your bullpen, with the exception of Frankie Rodriguez, had the day off on Sunday because of Johan.

Never mind that Pedro Feliciano has only pitched one third of an inning since August 4th.

No, let's go with Elmer freakin Dessens here.

Brilliant.

Moreover, when Oeltjen, a lefty, was announced as the pinch-hitter you could have automatically went to Feliciano, especially since Manny Parra, another lefty, was to follow.

So you could have had Feliciano face back to back lefty's. And oh by the way, after Parra was Reynolds, a righty, followed by Montero, another lefty.

So that was three out of four lefty's due up but you stuck with Dessens, who lefty's have hit for a .309 batting average in his career.

Brilliant.

After the 8th it was 7-2, and the Mets 9th inning comeback wasn't enough.

So sure Jerry, rip on the players for their effort....I'll rip on you for your brain's lack of effort.