The Mets will catch a break for their weekend series against St. Louis, as third baseman Scott Rolen is likely to miss a week after spraining his left shoulder on Tuesday against the Dodgers. He will undergo an MRI today. Too bad for St. Louis. Rolen is batting a lifetime .360 with 2 HR's in 50 at bats against Friday's starter Tom Glavine.
Quick ones:
Friday night: Tom Glavine vs. Jason Marquis.
Larry Walker is a lifetime .312 with 4 HR's against Glavine.
Mike Piazza is hitting 6 for 15 (.400) against Marquis.
Saturday: Pedro Martinez vs. Mark Mulder.
David Eckstein (!) is hitting .318 against Martinez.
Carlos Beltran is hitting .156 (5/32) against Mulder. Mike Cameron fares much better against the lefty, with a lifetime average of .381 (8/21)
Sunday: Aaron Heilman vs. Matt Morris.
Cliff Floyd is 7 for 21 with three HR's lifetime against Morris.
Getting Late: So far this season superstar Albert Pujols only has a .132 batting average (5/38) from the seventh inning on. Surprising when you consider the problems that closers have been having this season. In 2004, Pujols batted .341 with 16 HR's from the 7th inning on. The shakiness of the Mets bullpen could foretell a late inning barrage by Pujols at Shea, who is batting .338 with 9 HR's and 29 RBI's on the season.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
A True World Series
Major League baseball announced today the inagural World Cup of Baseball, to take place during spring training of 2006. It will be a sixteen team tournament, tentatively scheduled during March 4-20, with the finals to be held possibly at Petco Park in San Diego. This tournament is thought to complement MLB's eventual participation in the Olympics.
The World Cup of Hockey tournaments have produced some of the best played games in the history of the sport. It would be interesting to see how that format translates to baseball. When you think about a U.S. team that could possibly include Bonds, Helton, Jeter, Rodriguez, Giles, Edmonds, Clemens, Willis, and Brad Lidge, it would really generate a lot of interest in a tournament like this. And since star players don't play an awful lot of spring ball anyway, it would be a good excuse to have your stars play some meaningful baseball, while major league clubs have ample opportunity to look at their prospects.
The difference is this: For World Cup of Hockey, everybody played. You had 8 dream teams chock full of the best that hockey had to offer, which made for some great tournaments and some great games. NHL players understood that playing in this kind of tournament, even though it made for seasons that were 10 months long for some, were necessary to promote the sport. It was very rare that whole groups of star players would sit out. I wonder if you would get the same participation in a baseball World Cup. Major League Baseball doesn't have the problem of needing to promote their sport. So I'm not sure if the best players the United States have to offer would flock to something like this.
There's also the pitching problem. Managers are very particular about their pitchers' progression early in the spring. Do you think Ned Yost would be happy to see Ben Sheets pitching 7 innings in a March 5th qualifying game against Korea? Do you think that Bobby Cox and Leo Mazzone would be pleased to see Tim Hudson fade down the stretch in September because he logged 30 hard innings in March wearing a uniform that doesn't say "Braves"? And how legitimate would a tournament be if you put innings limits on pitchers for that very reason? Would you have glorified all-star games?
So who would teams make available to play these games? The 2000 Olympics featured a lot of up and comers who no one had heard of because they were the only players that teams would release. Now some of these players became legitimate major leaguers like Doug Mientkiewicz, Ben Sheets, Roy Oswalt and Brad Wilkerson, but would these players be made available by the teams that sign their paychecks? It would be up to commissioner Selig to put legislation in place to force these teams to let these players go and promise a limit on pitchers' pitch counts. But come on, they can't decide on a drug policy, you think they can get this straight?
My preliminary prophecy is more a guess. I think you'll see a bunch of fourth outfielders like Michael Restovich. You'll see some players who will or have missed significant playing time due to injury and use this World Cup as a good way to get back into the competitive flow. Nomar Garciaparra would fall under this category. You'll see a couple of 2000 Olympic holdovers who are enamored with the idea of playing for country like Mientkiewicz and Wilkerson. And you may even see a couple of players who retire from major league baseball after this season, but make the 2006 World Cup their swan song. Roger Clemens perhaps?
The one fun thing to come out of this is to watch the Japanese team. Japan considers baseball their national pastime and is borderline obsessed with it. I think you'll see the best that Japan has to offer because the country and their players would love a chance to stack up with America's best. Imagine a team whose outfield is Hideki Matsui, Ichiro, and Dave Roberts (yes, Dave Roberts was born in Okinawa), Norihiro Makamura at third, Tad Iguchi at second, Kaz Matsui at second, a starting pitching staff of Kaz Ishii, Hideo Nomo, Tomo Ohka, and a bullpen which features Shingo Takatsu, Akinori Otsuka, and perhaps even Kaz Sasaki, the former Mariner who might consider a comeback just for this tournament if he's still in shape. Think that team might win some games?
It certainly beats spring training.
The World Cup of Hockey tournaments have produced some of the best played games in the history of the sport. It would be interesting to see how that format translates to baseball. When you think about a U.S. team that could possibly include Bonds, Helton, Jeter, Rodriguez, Giles, Edmonds, Clemens, Willis, and Brad Lidge, it would really generate a lot of interest in a tournament like this. And since star players don't play an awful lot of spring ball anyway, it would be a good excuse to have your stars play some meaningful baseball, while major league clubs have ample opportunity to look at their prospects.
The difference is this: For World Cup of Hockey, everybody played. You had 8 dream teams chock full of the best that hockey had to offer, which made for some great tournaments and some great games. NHL players understood that playing in this kind of tournament, even though it made for seasons that were 10 months long for some, were necessary to promote the sport. It was very rare that whole groups of star players would sit out. I wonder if you would get the same participation in a baseball World Cup. Major League Baseball doesn't have the problem of needing to promote their sport. So I'm not sure if the best players the United States have to offer would flock to something like this.
There's also the pitching problem. Managers are very particular about their pitchers' progression early in the spring. Do you think Ned Yost would be happy to see Ben Sheets pitching 7 innings in a March 5th qualifying game against Korea? Do you think that Bobby Cox and Leo Mazzone would be pleased to see Tim Hudson fade down the stretch in September because he logged 30 hard innings in March wearing a uniform that doesn't say "Braves"? And how legitimate would a tournament be if you put innings limits on pitchers for that very reason? Would you have glorified all-star games?
So who would teams make available to play these games? The 2000 Olympics featured a lot of up and comers who no one had heard of because they were the only players that teams would release. Now some of these players became legitimate major leaguers like Doug Mientkiewicz, Ben Sheets, Roy Oswalt and Brad Wilkerson, but would these players be made available by the teams that sign their paychecks? It would be up to commissioner Selig to put legislation in place to force these teams to let these players go and promise a limit on pitchers' pitch counts. But come on, they can't decide on a drug policy, you think they can get this straight?
My preliminary prophecy is more a guess. I think you'll see a bunch of fourth outfielders like Michael Restovich. You'll see some players who will or have missed significant playing time due to injury and use this World Cup as a good way to get back into the competitive flow. Nomar Garciaparra would fall under this category. You'll see a couple of 2000 Olympic holdovers who are enamored with the idea of playing for country like Mientkiewicz and Wilkerson. And you may even see a couple of players who retire from major league baseball after this season, but make the 2006 World Cup their swan song. Roger Clemens perhaps?
The one fun thing to come out of this is to watch the Japanese team. Japan considers baseball their national pastime and is borderline obsessed with it. I think you'll see the best that Japan has to offer because the country and their players would love a chance to stack up with America's best. Imagine a team whose outfield is Hideki Matsui, Ichiro, and Dave Roberts (yes, Dave Roberts was born in Okinawa), Norihiro Makamura at third, Tad Iguchi at second, Kaz Matsui at second, a starting pitching staff of Kaz Ishii, Hideo Nomo, Tomo Ohka, and a bullpen which features Shingo Takatsu, Akinori Otsuka, and perhaps even Kaz Sasaki, the former Mariner who might consider a comeback just for this tournament if he's still in shape. Think that team might win some games?
It certainly beats spring training.
Chicago Yo-Yo
So the wild swings and streaks of the Mets 2005 season continues. Lose 5 to start, win 6 after that. Lose 4 in a row, win 7 of 9 after that. And now, two straight losses to the Chicago Cubs...this one a 4-3 ten inning heartbreaker on a Derrek Lee home run off of reliever Heath Bell.
This was a wasted opportunity to capitalize on a surprisingly strong start by Victor Zambrano. Zambrano had a hellish inning in the second (and not the first, if you can believe it), giving up three runs and comitting the cardinal sin of walking the pitcher (Mark Prior) which cam back to haunt him. But all you can ask of 5th starter Zambrano at this point is to keep the Mets in the game, which he did. Zambrano and Roberto Hernandez kept the Mets close until the ninth when the Cubs bullpen blew yet another save. Ryan Dempster, who had his issues against the Mets on Monday, walked Doug Mientkiewicz with one out, and gave up a single to David Wright which sent Mientkiewicz to third. After Victor Diaz struck out, pinch hitter Eric Valent singled home the tying run as Dempster put a pitch on a tee.
Heath Bell came into the game in the ninth after Mike DeJean and Dae Sung Koo struggled (they seem to be making a habit of that), and got Neifi Perez to ground into the 1-2-3 double play to end the threat. Bell then started the 10th and challenged the best hitter in the league with fastball after fastball after fastball. On the 11th pitch however, Derrek Lee finally got a hold of one after fouling pitch after pitch back. Lee hit one into a stiff wind and barely got it in the left field basket to give the Cubs the series win.
It is tough to blame anyone today, especially after the way Bell saved the Mets bacon in the ninth and fell victim to a heck of a hitter in the 10th, but this was a wasted opportunity to take advantage of a struggling team, and to win a game with your shakiest pitcher starting. And now comes a huge test...sixteen games starting with a nine game homestand against the Cardinals (the N.L. Champs), the Reds (who are swooning but swept the Mets to open the season), and the Yankees (the Yankees), then on the road for the Braves (who are in first place and who consistently kick the Mets' tail), and the Marlins (Willis, Beckett, and Burnett. Oh Joy.)
The Prophecy: To me, the magic number is nine. The Mets have to take 5 out of 9 on the homestand, and 4 out of 7 on the road against the division leaders. Going into this homestand with their second loss in a row leaves them vulnerable to another losing streak against the Cardinals. Martinez winning Saturday's game would take the pressure off the Mets for the rest of the homestand. Winning two of three from the Cards would be a huge step forward for the Mets confidence. This stretch is a chance for these new Mets to prove they have arrived as a contender, and to prove they can beat the Braves (for once). Nine out of 16 (just over .500) is a good step forward.
This was a wasted opportunity to capitalize on a surprisingly strong start by Victor Zambrano. Zambrano had a hellish inning in the second (and not the first, if you can believe it), giving up three runs and comitting the cardinal sin of walking the pitcher (Mark Prior) which cam back to haunt him. But all you can ask of 5th starter Zambrano at this point is to keep the Mets in the game, which he did. Zambrano and Roberto Hernandez kept the Mets close until the ninth when the Cubs bullpen blew yet another save. Ryan Dempster, who had his issues against the Mets on Monday, walked Doug Mientkiewicz with one out, and gave up a single to David Wright which sent Mientkiewicz to third. After Victor Diaz struck out, pinch hitter Eric Valent singled home the tying run as Dempster put a pitch on a tee.
Heath Bell came into the game in the ninth after Mike DeJean and Dae Sung Koo struggled (they seem to be making a habit of that), and got Neifi Perez to ground into the 1-2-3 double play to end the threat. Bell then started the 10th and challenged the best hitter in the league with fastball after fastball after fastball. On the 11th pitch however, Derrek Lee finally got a hold of one after fouling pitch after pitch back. Lee hit one into a stiff wind and barely got it in the left field basket to give the Cubs the series win.
It is tough to blame anyone today, especially after the way Bell saved the Mets bacon in the ninth and fell victim to a heck of a hitter in the 10th, but this was a wasted opportunity to take advantage of a struggling team, and to win a game with your shakiest pitcher starting. And now comes a huge test...sixteen games starting with a nine game homestand against the Cardinals (the N.L. Champs), the Reds (who are swooning but swept the Mets to open the season), and the Yankees (the Yankees), then on the road for the Braves (who are in first place and who consistently kick the Mets' tail), and the Marlins (Willis, Beckett, and Burnett. Oh Joy.)
The Prophecy: To me, the magic number is nine. The Mets have to take 5 out of 9 on the homestand, and 4 out of 7 on the road against the division leaders. Going into this homestand with their second loss in a row leaves them vulnerable to another losing streak against the Cardinals. Martinez winning Saturday's game would take the pressure off the Mets for the rest of the homestand. Winning two of three from the Cards would be a huge step forward for the Mets confidence. This stretch is a chance for these new Mets to prove they have arrived as a contender, and to prove they can beat the Braves (for once). Nine out of 16 (just over .500) is a good step forward.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Picket Fences
The Chicago Cubs needed this game a ton more than the Mets needed it, and they played as if that were the case as Greg Maddux pitched the Cubbies to a 7-0 victory at the Friendly Confines.
Kris Benson made his second start of the season and was victimized by the long ball. The Cubbies overtook the Mets for the N.L. team home run lead with solo shots by Corey Patterson in the third (7), Jason Dubois in the fourth (4), Patterson again in the 5th (8), and a two run shot by Burnitz in the 6th (6). The Cubs sandwiched those with a run in the second and a run in the seventh for the 6 inning picket fence. Benson gave up 6 runs in 6 innings to raise his ERA to 6.75 in 10 and 2/3 innings so far. The bright spot for Benson was no walks in his six innings. But this outing comes on the heels of the war of words between Benson and former Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, who said that Benson had "no heart".
Greg Maddux befuddled the Mets and proved that they signed the wrong Braves icon as a free agent. In 6 and 2/3 innings tonight, Maddux struck out 10, walked Mike Cameron twice and gave up 3 hits, two of which were by Chris Woodward who played third tonight for David Wright. So Mets regulars got one hit in the entire game. Michael Wuertz and Mike Remlinger were nearly flawless out of the 'pen, giving up only one walk and no hits in their 2 and 1/3 innings of work.
Tomorrow afternoon it's Victor Zambrano (2-3, 5.63) vs. Mark Prior (3-1, 3.09). Unless the Mets can gear their bats better towards Prior's heat than they did towards Greg Maddux, it doesn't look good for a series win.
Kris Benson made his second start of the season and was victimized by the long ball. The Cubbies overtook the Mets for the N.L. team home run lead with solo shots by Corey Patterson in the third (7), Jason Dubois in the fourth (4), Patterson again in the 5th (8), and a two run shot by Burnitz in the 6th (6). The Cubs sandwiched those with a run in the second and a run in the seventh for the 6 inning picket fence. Benson gave up 6 runs in 6 innings to raise his ERA to 6.75 in 10 and 2/3 innings so far. The bright spot for Benson was no walks in his six innings. But this outing comes on the heels of the war of words between Benson and former Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, who said that Benson had "no heart".
Greg Maddux befuddled the Mets and proved that they signed the wrong Braves icon as a free agent. In 6 and 2/3 innings tonight, Maddux struck out 10, walked Mike Cameron twice and gave up 3 hits, two of which were by Chris Woodward who played third tonight for David Wright. So Mets regulars got one hit in the entire game. Michael Wuertz and Mike Remlinger were nearly flawless out of the 'pen, giving up only one walk and no hits in their 2 and 1/3 innings of work.
Tomorrow afternoon it's Victor Zambrano (2-3, 5.63) vs. Mark Prior (3-1, 3.09). Unless the Mets can gear their bats better towards Prior's heat than they did towards Greg Maddux, it doesn't look good for a series win.
Spelling Lesson At Wrigley
Here's your ironic twist of the day: Doug Mientkiewicz has double the home runs of Carlos Delgado so far this season.
Oh sure, Carlos' average is about 70 points higher and he has a few more RBI's as Mientkiewicz, but Delgado was supposedly the number one off-season option at first base because of his power. Not only does Mientkiewicz has double the HR output as Delgado, his homers have been coming at opportune times. First he hits the winner on Saturday against the Brewers in the HR derby game, now he hits the winner in the 8th on a first pitch fastball against former teammate and embattled Cub reliever LaTroy Hawkins to give the Mets a 7-4 victory. The Mets (18-15) have now won 7 of their last 9 games.
Mientkiewicz said after the game that it was the most guilty he's ever felt hitting a HR. But while mindful of the struggles that Hawkins is going through, he noted that his batting average isn't the highest, and that Hawkins isn't the only one out there struggling. He also said that the fact that they were teammates definitely helped him out on that at bat.
The resurgent Mike Piazza started the fun in the first with a three run HR, his 6th of the year off of last minute starter Jon Leicester. Leicester started in place of new closer Ryan Dempster, who had his own problems tonight. Then in the second, in between two rain delays which lasted about an hour and twenty minutes, Kaz Matsui had his first extra base hit since April 6th, a home run to left field in a driving rainstorm. It was the last pitch before the second rain delay.
Mets starter Aaron Heilman pitched through the delays and was brilliant for 5 and 1/3 innings. The seminal moment came after Neifi Perez worked out a 13 pitch walk in the third to set up Derrek Lee with two runners on down by 4 runs. Heilman, conjuring the spirit (not to mention the arm angle) of Don Drysdale, came back to strike out Lee to end the threat. It was tapes of the former Dodger Drysdale which helped Heilman find the right arm angle and make him the dominant pitcher that he's becoming.
The bullpen failed Heilman's bid for a win, as Dae Sung Koo inherited two runners in the bottom of the sixth. He let one score on a Jeromy Burnitz single, and then let them all score on Michael Barrett's 4th HR of the year, a three run shot to left field. If looks killed, then Heilman would be in central booking for murder right now because he had murder in his eyes as Barrett rounded the bases.
From then on the bullpen held the Cubs at bay, with Koo and Mike DeJean keeping the game tied to set up Mientkiewicz's winner in the 8th. DeJean goes to 2-1 with the victory, just a day after taking his first loss against the Brewers in the ninth. Piazza and Mientkiewicz added insurance in the 9th off of new closer Dempster with RBI singles. The two hitters had a combined 6 RBI's tonight.
Yo quiero Heath Bell: Heath Bell, beginning his pitch to become the new Taco Bell spokesperson, pitched a solid 8th to earn a hold.
Where'd the picture go? Fox Sports' first televised game for Time Warner Cable customers was almost a disaster in that bottom of the 8th, as a block of commercials interrupted the live feed for about 90 seconds. Mets fans wondered if the blackout had returned, but the signal came back without any significant action missed.
Looper saves the day: Braden Looper gave up a leadoff double to Jose Macias, and surely, there was hand wringing. But it may be an issue of concentration for Looper. Looper's opposing batters have an average of .276 with the bases empty. But in late inning pressure with runners on, Looper has an OAV of .227. That means you should keep the Tums handy. Looper retired the next three batters for his 8th save of the season.
Bartman lives: The Cubs disappointing 2004 and their shaky 2005 start has made sure that Cub fans remember the Steve Bartman debacle from the 2003 NLCS. The Wrigley faithful booed any and all foul balls that were remotely near that row, including one line drive caught by a fan who sat near the spot of the Bartman incident. No Cubs player was remotely near the foul ball, but that was of no importance to an increasingly bitter Cub fan base. It was bad enough the offending ball was blown up...then it was eaten. But now every foul ball in a certain section gets booed, and somehow Alex S. Gonzalez gets off without a scratch. Interesting...
Oh sure, Carlos' average is about 70 points higher and he has a few more RBI's as Mientkiewicz, but Delgado was supposedly the number one off-season option at first base because of his power. Not only does Mientkiewicz has double the HR output as Delgado, his homers have been coming at opportune times. First he hits the winner on Saturday against the Brewers in the HR derby game, now he hits the winner in the 8th on a first pitch fastball against former teammate and embattled Cub reliever LaTroy Hawkins to give the Mets a 7-4 victory. The Mets (18-15) have now won 7 of their last 9 games.
Mientkiewicz said after the game that it was the most guilty he's ever felt hitting a HR. But while mindful of the struggles that Hawkins is going through, he noted that his batting average isn't the highest, and that Hawkins isn't the only one out there struggling. He also said that the fact that they were teammates definitely helped him out on that at bat.
The resurgent Mike Piazza started the fun in the first with a three run HR, his 6th of the year off of last minute starter Jon Leicester. Leicester started in place of new closer Ryan Dempster, who had his own problems tonight. Then in the second, in between two rain delays which lasted about an hour and twenty minutes, Kaz Matsui had his first extra base hit since April 6th, a home run to left field in a driving rainstorm. It was the last pitch before the second rain delay.
Mets starter Aaron Heilman pitched through the delays and was brilliant for 5 and 1/3 innings. The seminal moment came after Neifi Perez worked out a 13 pitch walk in the third to set up Derrek Lee with two runners on down by 4 runs. Heilman, conjuring the spirit (not to mention the arm angle) of Don Drysdale, came back to strike out Lee to end the threat. It was tapes of the former Dodger Drysdale which helped Heilman find the right arm angle and make him the dominant pitcher that he's becoming.
The bullpen failed Heilman's bid for a win, as Dae Sung Koo inherited two runners in the bottom of the sixth. He let one score on a Jeromy Burnitz single, and then let them all score on Michael Barrett's 4th HR of the year, a three run shot to left field. If looks killed, then Heilman would be in central booking for murder right now because he had murder in his eyes as Barrett rounded the bases.
From then on the bullpen held the Cubs at bay, with Koo and Mike DeJean keeping the game tied to set up Mientkiewicz's winner in the 8th. DeJean goes to 2-1 with the victory, just a day after taking his first loss against the Brewers in the ninth. Piazza and Mientkiewicz added insurance in the 9th off of new closer Dempster with RBI singles. The two hitters had a combined 6 RBI's tonight.
Yo quiero Heath Bell: Heath Bell, beginning his pitch to become the new Taco Bell spokesperson, pitched a solid 8th to earn a hold.
Where'd the picture go? Fox Sports' first televised game for Time Warner Cable customers was almost a disaster in that bottom of the 8th, as a block of commercials interrupted the live feed for about 90 seconds. Mets fans wondered if the blackout had returned, but the signal came back without any significant action missed.
Looper saves the day: Braden Looper gave up a leadoff double to Jose Macias, and surely, there was hand wringing. But it may be an issue of concentration for Looper. Looper's opposing batters have an average of .276 with the bases empty. But in late inning pressure with runners on, Looper has an OAV of .227. That means you should keep the Tums handy. Looper retired the next three batters for his 8th save of the season.
Bartman lives: The Cubs disappointing 2004 and their shaky 2005 start has made sure that Cub fans remember the Steve Bartman debacle from the 2003 NLCS. The Wrigley faithful booed any and all foul balls that were remotely near that row, including one line drive caught by a fan who sat near the spot of the Bartman incident. No Cubs player was remotely near the foul ball, but that was of no importance to an increasingly bitter Cub fan base. It was bad enough the offending ball was blown up...then it was eaten. But now every foul ball in a certain section gets booed, and somehow Alex S. Gonzalez gets off without a scratch. Interesting...
Monday, May 09, 2005
Well Nostradamus was wrong a couple of times too, wasn't he?
As soon as the question was asked, Willie Randolph answered it. Pedro Martinez will get a couple of extra days off this week and pitch on Saturday against the Cardinals rather than Friday. Tom Glavine will pitch with 4 days rest on Friday. What this means is that Pedro will pitch on Friday, May 20th against the Yankees.
Why did Willie do this?: Mets coaches thought that Martinez's arm was dragging a bit after Saturday's Brewers start. We knew that the Mets would take every precaution with Pedro this season, thus the move is made. If Randolph and co. had waited until the next turn to flip flop starts it would have looked like an attempt to get Martinez a Yankee start. However, this switch was made for the right reason, and shouldn't be looked at as anything more than a chance to get Pedro some more rest. Even if it made me look stupid (not a difficult thing to do), and even though it costs Martinez a start against a top tier N.L. East team, it was done for the right reasons.
Why did Willie do this?: Mets coaches thought that Martinez's arm was dragging a bit after Saturday's Brewers start. We knew that the Mets would take every precaution with Pedro this season, thus the move is made. If Randolph and co. had waited until the next turn to flip flop starts it would have looked like an attempt to get Martinez a Yankee start. However, this switch was made for the right reason, and shouldn't be looked at as anything more than a chance to get Pedro some more rest. Even if it made me look stupid (not a difficult thing to do), and even though it costs Martinez a start against a top tier N.L. East team, it was done for the right reasons.
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