"But I am throwing my fastball." -John Maine to Dan Warthen during a trip to the mound on Sunday night.Not that I necessarily trust the lip reading skills of Joe Morgan, but ...
Uh-oh.
And not for nothing, if there was ever a time to cover your mouth with your glove when you speak, that would have been it, no?
It's never a good thing when you have a Brewster's Millions moment on the mound where the pitcher throws his fastball and the announcer calls it a changeup, along with everyone on both benches. It sure isn't a good thing if your pitching coach thinks you're throwing a change-up. And you know what's really scary? Not only is it my second Brewster's Millions reference regarding that particular scene, but I'm not even the first person to make a John Maine/Brewster's Millions connection this week!
Yeah, uh-oh.
That Maine actually got through the fourth inning scoreless was something of a feat, much like the feat that Mets pitchers pulled off this weekend of minimizing Albert Pujols' damage. Think about this for a second: Pujols was 2-for-14 this weekend with four walks. And the Mets dropped two out of three. That's like getting Shakira's phone number and transposing two of the digits while putting it in your cell.
But the fifth inning was Maine's undoing as a walk, single and Colby Rasmus' three run dinger put Maine out to pasture. And once Adam Wainwright found his groove against a lineup that featured Frank Catalanotto in the clean-up spot, you knew it was over. You weren't sure whether it would take 8 and a half innings via a Ryan Ludwick home run, or 24 innings after Blake Hawksworth no-hits them for nine innings after Tony La Russa says he's not available, but eventually the Mets were going to be toast. That I was happy the game wrapped up promptly so that I could catch the Sharks/Avalanche game is a distressing sign on my part.
In a related story, the lineup probably isn't going to feature Catalanotto in the clean-up spot much longer as the club is doing the deed and bringing up Ike Davis. Something tells me that the Mets actually wanted to keep Davis down and let him dominate AAA for a little while longer. But that the sorry state of first base combined with the desperation of the front office and coaching staff to keep their jobs has expedited the process. I'll admit it. The recent rushing of prospects has made me gun shy about bringing these guys up too soon. But at least Davis is a college product and he's 23. And by all accounts he's projected in that "very good to special" category. I hate that Chris Carter is never going to get a chance with the Mets, which means that the Billy Wagner trade is now officially botched forever dooming Carter to Val Pascucci status unless they can now find a trade partner for him. But if Ike Davis is ready, then this is the move to make ... even if it is for the wrong reasons.
If ... he's ready.
Ike Davis: "The Stimulus"
Now as long as Davis isn't brought up to fall victim to a straight platoon with Fernando Tatis or a Snoop Manuel quadruple switch, he'll be fine.
6 comments:
Maybe you're watching the wrong movie:
"I held it like an egg."
"Yeah, and he scrambled the son of a (gun)."
Have you ever seen a more pathetic hitting display in your life? I'm sorry Frankie C is probably a nice person, but his hitting is worth shit. So is Jose Reyes', Jason Bay's, David Wright's, but who's counting? Maybe the Yankees can let us borrow Ramiro Pena so we can stick him in the number three spot in the order.
Now that the Mets have cut Jacobs, they need to cut these bums also
GMJ
Frankie C
Fernando Tatis
replaced with
F-Mart
Chris Carter
Ruben Tejada
What bothers me about this organization is how every decision is made from the seat of their pants and for all the wrong reasons. Is there any doubt that Ike is now being called up in large part to increase attendance at Citi Field? Make no mistake, our brain trust is alarmed at the pawlry ticket sales and has resorted to this.
Yes, I'd rather see Ike, F Mart, Carter and Tejada and lose than continue to suffer watching a line-up with four automatic outs, but I have no confidence Met brass has any real plan in putting together a contending team.
First comment after thoroughly enjoying your writing style and baseball mind for the past 2 years. On topic: Maine needs to be sent down now. F-Nyeh (whose arm is undoubtedly stretched) to take his starts in the short term...then either/or Tobi Ess or Dylan Gee if Nieve can't do it. Seconded on cutting Sarge/F-Cat/Tater for F-Mart/Animal/Tejada.
Tekno, thank you. And please come back.
I agree on Maine. There's no shame in taking a minor league assignment to straighten yourself out. It's like seeing a psychiatrist. There's no reason for stigma.
There's probably some Mets who need a psychiatrist more than a minor league assignment anyway.
while i totally agree on Maine, and on this enemic hitting team. I must again re-iterate my most dire concerns that are quickly simply turning into a hatred of Manuel.
Despite Maine's performance we were still tied at three When igarashi was broght in to replace Ffeliciano (our second best reliever behind K-rod) after he pitched to just one pitcher.
Now i find this dopey on two fronts...one feliciano is good enough to be more than a lefty specialist, i'd have rather seen him continue to pitch there than see igarashi, despite that igarashi has done well thus far....Two you have a tired pitching staff, you don't use a guy against one batter!
It just seems that even when we have a chance to win, Manuel finds a way to make a bad decision and blow it.
After reading Francoeur's comments i remember thinking, that's good of him to say, and part of me is with him, you can't question every move a manager makes after just ten games, but when in most of the losses, you had a chance to win, and in everyone of them, right before the death blow you have that...I can't believe he's doing this...what's he thinking...Well there goes another one...moment, before it actually happens...well...if the shoe fits, It stinks and it must be Manuel's!
-Thomas
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