Down on the Farm

AAA Buffalo WON 6-1

• Jesus Feliciano - 4 for 5, R, 2 RBI, K
• Justin Turner - 1 for 4, BB
• Daniel Murphy - 2 for 5, R, 2B, RBI, K
• Mike Hessman - 1 for 5, 2 K
• Mike Jacobs - 2 for 4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI
• Josh Thole - 0 for 1, 2 R, 2 BB
• Ruben Tejada - 1 for 3, R, BB
• Dillon Gee - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
• Bobby Parnell - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, SAVE

AA Binghamton WON 2-1

• Kirk Nieuwenhuis - 0 for 3, RBI, K
• Nick Evans - 1 for 4
• Eric Campbell - 2 for 4, R
• Reese Havens - 1 for 3, R, 2B
• Brad Holt - 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• Scott Shaw - 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Roy Merritt - 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

A+ St. Lucie Lost 9-6

• Joey August - 2 for 5, R, SB
• Stefan Welch - 0 for 3, RBI, 2 BB, K
• Brahiam Maldonado - 1 for 5, R, 2B, RBI, 2 K
• Sean Ratliff - 1 for 3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, K, 2 SB
• Josh Satin - 2 for 5, 2B, RBI
• Richard Lucas - 0 for 3, RBI, BB, K
• Juan Centeno - 1 for 4, BB
• Scott Moviel - 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (why does he have a starting rotation spot when there are at least 3 SP's from Savannah who could do better and have more upside?)
• Jimmy Johnson - 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

A Savannah Lost 4-0

• Juan Lagares - 0 for 4, 2 K
• Wilmer Flores - 1 for 3
• Jefry Marte - 1 for 4
• Rafael Fernandez - 1 for 4, K
• Kai Gronauer - 0 for 4
• Nick Santomauro - 1 for 4
• Alonzo Harris - 0 for 3, K, E
• Brandon Moore - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K
• Brandon Sage - 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Four in a row is pretty damn good baseball, especially when those four wins came against the teams from last year's World Series.

The Mets are hot, and they have both their pitching and hitting to thank.  Let's start with the pitching.

Hisanori Takahashi is a big league starter...there is no question that he does what every manager wants his pitcher to do--throw strikes and keep hitters off balance.

In his second big league start Taktor K threw six innings of shutout ball and led the Mets to a shutout victory over the Phillies for the second straight game.

"He's a great pitcher with great instincts," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "He had great command of his pitches."

Manuel went on to add that Takahashi is now firmly entrenched in the rotation.

"It'd be tough to get him out.... I think his command is among the top pitchers in the league," said Manuel, who compared him to the White Sox's Mark Buehrle. "That means at any time in the count he can throw any pitch, and that's a huge advantage for a pitcher."

"I can do it," Takahashi said through a translator. "As a reliever or starter, I don't change much. I'm happy to be in the starting rotation here."

Takahashi is now 4-1 on the season with a sparkling 2.13 ERA and an astounding 44 Ks in only 38 innings.  Last night he gave up five hits without walking a batter and struck out six.

"To have a performance such as that especially against two very good teams, elite teams, it lengthens the opportunity for him," Manuel said about Takahashi's continuing presence in the rotation.

Takahashi may have been facing a struggling Philly club, but he certainly added to their misery with his array of pitches and pinpoint control.  He and Barajs were in perfect synch, and it was really fun to watch them work the hitters all night like a chess match.  I actually thought his fastball, which sat at 89-90 mph, was his best pitch of the night.  He relied on it early, and when the big spots came up later in the game he had the hitters set-up perfectly for his changeup and slider.  He struck out Ryan Howard in a huge spot with men on base.

"I know he's one of the biggest hitters in the game, and [Rod] Barajas had a good plan to get him out," Takashi said of Howard. "I stuck to the plan."

The offense was working as well.  Jose Reyes is now officially in super hot mode, with 5 multi-hit games in his last 6.  He hit his first homerun of the season, and it really lifted the entire club.

The New and Improved Rod Barajas "Now with even more A-Ha's!" had a two-run double and a sac fly in a three RBI effort and Jose Reyes had his fourth straight multihit game, with his first homer of the season for New York. Luis Castillo chipped in with two walks and two stolen bases, and Angel Pagan had two hits.

The "Strawberry Effect"???

Maybe the Strawberry talk had its desired effect after all?  It's been reported that some players didn't care for his comments, and it may be pure coincidence that the team has gelled, but it is interesting timing. Whatever the spark is, the Mets are playing very, very good baseball.  They are a hustling team, a very good defensive team, and they have removed some of the trouble spots from playing time.

Think about it--first base is now stabilized, centerfield is now stabilized, and with the addition of Takahashi to the rotation, it certainly appears more stable that it had been previously.  They have found something in Dickey as a wonderful rubber armed change of pace guy as well.

There are still issues--that is a given--but when you have professionals doing their jobs in key roles, the stars will help lift you the rest of the way.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia (26-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
N.Y. Mets (24-23) «	0	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	x	5	7	0

Players of the Game

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

New York H. Takahashi IP 6.0 H 5 ER 0 BB 0 K 6

Related articles:

• Link: Takahashi Embracing New Challenge as Starter (nj.com)
• Mets deal Phillies second consecutive shutout (cbssports.com)
• Mets-Phillies:Tak Terrific Leads New York Past Philadelphia (bleacherreport.com)
• Takahashi, Mets Shut out Phillies Again (abcnews.go.com)

Mejia to Minors--Mets Fans Rejoice

Adam Rubin is reporting that 20-year old Jennry Mejia is headed back to the minors to stretch his arm out in hopes of giving the Mets another starting pitching option.

Though Mejia has pitched well, there is something clasically wrong about taking a top starting prospect and using him in meaningless relief games in April and May.

Mejia is currently 12th in all of MLB in appearances.

From Rubin:

The Mets should have a new starting pitching option within a month.

Top prospect Jenrry Mejia, whose dazzling Grapefruit League performance prompted the Mets to place him on the Opening Day roster as a reliever, is expected to head to the minors to resume being used as a starting pitcher. That could be timed with R.A. Dickey’s activation before Wednesday’s start, a team source told ESPNNewYork.com.

The decision is believed to have been affirmed during Monday’s meeting at Turner Field that included chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, GM Omar Minaya, assistant GM John Ricco and manager Jerry Manuel.

The Mets could be facing major rotation issues behind Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey, so stretching out Mejia for starting work makes sense. Oliver Perez has been dispatched to the bullpen, John Maine -- while largely producing of late -- doesn’t have the zip he had in 2007 and Jon Niese has a mild right hamstring strain. The Mets will have Dickey face the Washington Nationals on Wednesday and use Hisanori Takahashi in place of Niese on Friday.

It will take Mejia some time to be ready to return to the majors in a starting capacity. It should, in fact, be comparable to a spring-training build-up, when a pitcher throws two innings, then three innings and so on until he’s up to a 90-100 pitch count.

Mejia is 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA, with 14 strikeouts and eight walks, in 17 1/3 innings spanning 18 major league appearances.

Warming to the Idea of Jon Garland

Mets need pitching, and there just aren't a lot of options.

If I were King, my priorities would be, in order:

Oliver Perez: 4 years at $52M
Derek Lowe: 3 years at $42M
Jon Garland: 3 years at $25M (incentives to $30M)
Braden Looper: 2 years at $14M

That's my rack and stack and what I think would get the deals done. Unfortunately, there just aren't many quality FA starting pitchers out there this year.

You know why I only like those 4?

Innings--all four of these starters go out and put up at or near 200 innings year after year.

The rest of the FA list is all over the place--very up and down, with injury histories throughout.

The Mets should spend money smartly on someone who will be able to take the mound every 5th day...we were burned by Pedro, sadly, and it just puts a huge amount of pressure on a team when you have starters go down for any length of time. We see this all over baseball--Mark Prior, Carl Pavano and on and on and on. Losing a starting pitcher is one of the most damaging things that can happen to a team in the pennant hunt.

People mock inning counts, but to me it is one of the best measuring sticks for a starting pitcher.

A starting pitcher who goes 200 innings year after year after year is a very, very valuable resource--it takes pressure off the bullpen, takes pressure off of the other starters, and it keeps the team grinding throughout the long season by not disrupting flow and momentum.

How many times last year did the Mets go into panic mode because yet another unknown entity was taking the hill in a key game? How much pressure did it put on middle relief, and then the domino affect into the closers and even the offense?

So yes Mets fans, I'm warming to the idea of Jon Garland, much to the chagrin of several of my fellow bloggers.

Sure, he was semi-bad last year on a good team, but let's go back to his 2007 splits:

RH: .281 BA, .315 OBP, .426 Slg
LH: .259 BA, .321 OBP, .401 Slg

That's pretty good....and yes, he threw 208.3 innings with a 112 ERA+ in 2007.

And again, going back to my requirement for an innings-eater, he certainly fits the bill.

Over the last 7 years, he has started 33 games twice, and 32 games 5 times. During that stretch, his innings counts were:

193 IP
192 IP
217 IP
221 IP
211 IP
208 IP
197 IP

Let's bottom line this: 10.5% of all Mets starts last year (17 to be exact) came from Nelson Figueroa, Brandon Knight, Claudio Vargas, Jon Niese, Brian Stokes and Tony Armas.

The Mets must make a reliable innings-eating starter a priority. If not Derek Lowe, Jon Garland is the most reliable guy out there.

Pretty scary, no?