David Wright is About to Get Red Hot

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David Wright's 2011 campaign has already seen its fair share of ups and downs, but current signs point to an uptick.  Specifically, I am talking about how well he is seeing the ball of late.

Wright has now drawn a walk in 7 consecutive games and raised his OBP from .322 to .347 over that span.  In addition to the walks, he stroked seven hits and cut down on his K rate.  The downside is that the hits have not come at the most opportune times, and he has not driven in any runs over the last week.

A quick look through Wright's career stats show that this current consecutive games with a walk streak is the longest of his career.  The numbers also show that when Wright walks with frequency, the power numbers follow.

History tells us that this will be the case here, and that David will have a monster May.

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Hey peeps.  Yes, I've been away for a while--I've received a bunch of e-mails and here is the answer why:  work.  I had a pretty good year, OK, a great year, and managed to get promoted up within my company, and I am just now settling down and back in to some semblance of a social life.

So....anyone else going to the game tonight?  I am very pumped up after last night's big win.  It will be a treat to go see the Mets and RA Dickey.  The team has an excellent chance to extend the winning streak to 6.

The Mets visited Walter Reed Yesterday--I was going to cruise up there and take a look at the proceedings since I have access as a Vet and military retiree, but alas that work thing got in the way.  I was just very pleased at how the team went about its business and did what's important.

I know all of you know about the great Joe Petruccio and his website My Mets Journal.  Well, none other than little old me was lucky enough to win his latest contest for a free personally drawn and signed piece.  In fact, here it is:

So all in all a very good Mets week.  Win 5 in a row, guys hitting and pitching well, the team acting as a team, and on a personal note, I will be in some choice seats tonight thanks to Davey Johnson, and I win a piece of beautiful Mets artwork from one of my very favorite artists.

A good morning indeed.

I'm Not Going to Joke About K-Rod

Nope, not gonna do it.

• I won't say that he pointed to the sky after hitting his father-in-law.
• I won't compare Frankie's Golden Gloves to David Wright's Golden Sombrero.
• I won't say the Mets finally found their slugger.
• Not gonna tell you that the Mets have decided to cancel Family Day
• I won't sit here and wonder why Frankie got arrested after hitting his father-in-law on one occasion while Luis Castillo has been slapping things all year.
• I won't compare Frankie's hitting to Francoeur's...too easy, and as one fan on Twitter said, "If Francoeur swung at his father-in-law, he'd miss."
• Finally, I will not tell you that K-Rod doubled his team's hit total on the night.

2009 vs 2010 Mets

Let's compare some basic stats between the 2009 and 2010 Mets.

Fielding %:
2009:  19th
2010: 7th

ERA:
2009: 20th
2010: 6th

WHIP:
2009: 25th
2010: 20th

Starter ERA:
2009: 25th
2010: 6th

Saves:
2009:  20th
2010: 9th

Homeruns:
2009: 30th
2010: 19th

Stolen Bases:
2009: 6th
2010: 2nd

National League Position Player Rookie Crop Impresses

The NL has one of the better rookie crops in recent years.

Besides Jason Heyward, there are a dozen offensive players making their marks, many of them on potential playoff teams.

Ike Davis, the Mets cleanup hitting first baseman, continues to drive in runs and hit HRs in big spots. 

In perhaps his biggest contribution, Ike has settled down the Mets infield defense with his steady play, big glove, and imposing target.

Here are the top 10 NL rookies sorted by at-bats.

Rookie Batting
RK	PLAYER	TEAM	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Jason Heyward	ATL	229	38	61	12	3	11	44	4	4	39	61	.266	.383	.489	.872
2	Gaby Sanchez	FLA	227	32	64	14	1	7	28	2	0	26	40	.282	.359	.445	.804
3	Alcides Escobar	MIL	218	26	54	6	5	2	18	4	1	15	29	.248	.299	.349	.648
4	Ian Desmond	WAS	213	24	57	12	3	4	33	4	1	10	40	.268	.304	.408	.712
5	David Freese	STL	211	27	67	12	1	4	33	1	1	19	48	.318	.380	.441	.821
6	Ike Davis	NYM	192	33	51	13	0	8	25	1	0	24	51	.266	.349	.458	.807
7	Tommy Manzella	HOU	175	12	37	5	0	1	16	0	1	10	51	.211	.262	.257	.519
8	Starlin Castro	CHC	133	12	36	3	1	2	16	1	1	11	18	.271	.322	.353	.675
9	Roger Bernadina	WAS	128	14	35	6	2	4	19	5	2	11	28	.273	.343	.445	.788
10	Tyler Colvin	CHC	104	19	32	9	1	7	17	1	0	10	34	.308	.362	.615	.977

A Simple Fix for Jason Bay?

Like many of you, I'vebeen watching Jason Bay very closely this season, and there seems to be one very obvious thing wrong with his approach:

He is standing too far off the plate.

His timing is off, and he is positively lunging for balls that are only a few inches outside.  His plate coverage is terrible.

Here are two photos of him from his time with the Red Sox. 

I ask you this--does he look closer to the plate in these photos than he does now?  I would say yes.

The New Mets: Young and Hungry

Baseball is a young man's game.

Sure, you can win with an older team, but it doesn't last, and study after study has shown that the peak years for a ballplayer are between ages 25-31.

The Mets have a young core that could carry this team to big success for the next 5 years, and I would love to see them continue with this model vice previous attempts at finding lightning in a bottle with aging vets.

The current starting team is as follows:

• C-Rod Barajas, age 34
• 1B-Ike Davis, age 23
• 2B-Ruben Tejada, age 20
• 3B-David Wright, age 27
• SS-Jose Reyes, age 26
• LF-Jason Bay, age 31
• CF-Angel Pagan, age 28
• RF-Jeff Francoeur, age 26

That is an average age of 26.9.

When we look at the pitching the story gets even better.

Pelfrey  is 26, Niese is 23, Mejia is 20, Johan is only 31, and Frankie Rodriguez is 28.

While the Mets may not make the playoffs this year, their is a fantastic young core of players to work with.  We're seeing the results in the field, and the youthful energy is something that will carry this team through the dog days of summer.

Baseball, a young man's game, is on display in Queens, and it sure is fun to watch.

Mets Have Good Numbers vs Ricky Nolasco

Looks like Jerry is paying attention....Cora gets the start today.  DW and Jose could have big days.

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GDP
David Wright	44	41	14	4	0	3	10	3	14	.341	.386	.659	1.045	0	0	0	0	1
Jose Reyes	36	35	14	1	1	3	5	1	6	.400	.417	.743	1.160	0	0	0	0	0
Jeff Francoeur	28	26	8	3	0	2	7	1	3	.308	.321	.654	.975	0	1	0	0	1
Jason Bay	18	17	4	1	0	0	0	1	1	.235	.278	.294	.572	0	0	0	0	1
Angel Pagan	10	8	3	1	0	0	0	2	1	.375	.500	.500	1.000	0	0	0	0	0
Alex Cora	9	8	4	1	1	0	1	1	0	.500	.556	.875	1.431	0	0	0	0	0
Fernando Tatis	9	9	2	0	1	0	1	0	2	.222	.222	.444	.667	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Pelfrey	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Rod Barajas	5	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.250	.200	.250	.450	0	1	0	0	0
Johan Santana	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Henry Blanco	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Carter	3	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667	0	0	0	0	0
Ike Davis	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.333	.000	.333	0	0	0	0	0
Omir Santos	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathon Niese	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	2.000	0	0	0	0	0
Total	181	169	53	11	3	8	26	10	36	.314	.348	.556	.904	0	2	0	0	3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/6/2010.

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Hey, the kids are alright after all.

Jonathon Niese was absolutely dominant yesterday in leading ythe Mets to their 9th win in the last 13 games.  In another good sign, David Wright went yard, and Ike Davis smoked 4 hits.

When it was all said and done, the Mets had a 6-1 win over the rival Marlins, and the energy level of the team appears to be peaking.  It was the Mets seventh straight home victory.

David Wright has 3 RBIs on the day and looked extremely comfortable at the plate.  His homerun was an absolute bomb and sent the Citi Field faithful into a frenzy.   Jeff Francoeur, who has really hit the ball well of late, chipped in with an RBI single and newcomer Ruben Tejada, who looks like a real talent, stroked a run-scoring double.

The real story of the day was Jonathan Niese.  He had pinpoint control, changed speeds, and was locked in on every batter.  He worked quickly and looked like he could have easily completed the game if not for the fact that he was coming back from injury.  Fox cut to a camera angle of Niese and Jerry Manuel in the dugout after Jerry let Niese know he was done for the day, and you could see Niese plead for one more inning...the kid is a gamer.

The struggling bullpen came on and finished it off in fine fashion.  Jenrry Mejia and Fernando Nieve each tossed a scoreless frame, and Mejia had great life on his pitches.

The Mets are the best home team in baseball.

"If you watch us play at home, I expect us to win the division," Francoeur said. "We've accepted we're going to play to our advantage with this field."

David Wright now has 10 HRs on the year, and if not for the high K rate, we'd be talking about his solid numbers.  He is back on a hot streak and pulling the ball with authority.

"This really is a park that you have to be able to hit the ball down the lines," Wright said. "I don't really consider myself that good of a pull hitter. I like to try to stay up the middle. It felt good to be able to pull the ball and then the next at-bat be able to stay on the ball and go up the middle. So hopefully that's a good sign."

Ike Davis was actually using Jeff Francoeur's bat in the game, and the results were spectacular.

"I just felt good today swinging the bat," Davis said. "Been working on some things, just slowing it down a little bit. Happened to find the barrel a couple times. It feels good to find some grass out there." 

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Florida (28-29)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	7	0
N.Y. Mets (29-27) «	0	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	x	6	10	0

Players of the Game

New York I. Davis AB 4 R 3 H 4 HR 0 RBI 1

New York J. Niese IP 7.0 H 6 ER 1 BB 1 K 6

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• Niese, Davis Lead Mets to Win Over Marlins at Citi Field (bleacherreport.com)
• Mets 6 - Marlins 1 June 5, 2010 (metsreport.com)
• Jon Niese Returns to Mound, As Mets Go for Series Against Marlins (bleacherreport.com)
• Niese sharp in return from DL for Mets (cbssports.com)

"Give Rod the Nod" Campaign

Mets fans want to see Rod Barajas in the All-Star game, and we can certainly help by going here to vote.

The 34-year old Barajas has been a revelation for the Mets, both with his bat and his glove.  He currently leads all catchers in homeruns and RBIs, and his slugging percentage is second only to Miguel Olivo.

That said, the most important contribution he's making just might be with his personality.  Barajas has developed exceptional relationships with his pitchers and the amount of "shaking off" from last year to this year is noticeably less.

If you look at the stats, Barajas is certainly above average defensively, with the 9th best CERA in MLB to go along with the 4th best RF in the NL.  He does fall short in terms of throwing this year, but he commands the game from behind the plate, works well with the staff, and I have not seen him make a bad decision all year. 

Speaking of throwing--Barajas has an excellent arm and has thrown out 33% of baserunners in his career, and 34% just last year.  His totals this year are down, but they are also not running on him very often.  By season's end I fully expect that stat to normalize back toward the mean.

NL Catcher Sortable Fielding
RK	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	GS	FULL	TC	PO	A	E	DP	FPCT	RF	ZR	PB	CSB	CS	CS%	CERA
1	Geovany Soto	CHC	43	39	340	327	312	14	1	1	.997	8.64	3.012	1	30	8	.211	4.46
2	Russell Martin	LAD	46	45	404	387	357	25	5	1	.987	8.52	2.972	3	23	10	.303	3.99
3	Bengie Molina	SFO	40	37	320	303	281	21	1	1	.997	8.49	2.931	1	37	7	.159	3.29
4	Rod Barajas	NYM	41	39	349	328	314	12	2	3	.994	8.40	3.021	1	15	2	.118	4.23
5	Miguel Olivo	COL	38	38	335	303	274	26	3	2	.990	8.07	3.083	3	13	16	.552	3.46
6	Brian McCann	ATL	41	39	331	294	273	16	5	3	.983	7.87	3.170	1	23	9	.281	4.08
7	Yadier Molina	STL	46	45	403	350	323	25	2	5	.994	7.78	3.237	2	10	13	.565	2.52
8	Chris Snyder	ARI	41	39	345	286	260	26	0	0	1.000	7.47	3.395	2	25	11	.306	5.93
9	Carlos Ruiz	PHI	39	38	334	272	247	24	1	2	.996	7.30	3.463	1	24	7	.226	3.55
10	Ryan Doumit	PIT	44	42	367	299	276	21	2	1	.993	7.28	3.485	4	41	4	.089	5.09

There are certainly some great choices for all-star this year at catcher, but for many reasons, it's time for Mets fans to get out and vote to "Give Rod the Nod".

The current popular vote totals for National League catcher are:

1	Yadier Molina, Cardinals	316,795
2	Carlos Ruiz, Phillies	259,227
3	Ivan Rodriguez, Nationals	247,998
4	Brian McCann, Braves	203,377
5	Russell Martin, Dodgers	160,698

Barajas 2010 Season Stats
SPLITS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Season	42	149	22	40	8	0	11	30	4	20	0	0	.268	.291	.544	.835
Career	855	2670	321	641	157	1	103	385	147	464	2	2	.240	.284	.415	.699
Last 7 days	5	18	2	5	1	0	1	6	0	0	0	0	.278	.263	.500	.763
Projected	151	536	79	144	29	0	40	108	14	72	0	0	.268	.291	.544	.835