How Fitting

Training camp opens today, and not a moment to soon. In a mere few days, there will be hockey played at Madison Square Garden, albeit the preseason variety. The way the Mets are going through the motions, just the sight of the Garden ice is something to look forward to.

I was not at Citi on Tuesday/Wednesday, but had the pleasure to be there Thursday, the most miserable of the three value dates. That place was dead (yet somehow in the middle of the game, the Shake Shack line was still wrapping around, just not outside the line barriers). If you wanted to go to the field seats late in the game, you could have. The staff almost felt sorry for us and were not checking tickets. Ah, the one benefit for your team stinking it up- good seats and small crowds. Still a few more home games to attend- is there anything to look forward to?

We can see Angel Pagan trotting out to the outfield day by day, with Jerry showing absolutely no discipline for each and every boneheaded mental mistake. I don't care if he's taking care of it in-house. Don't put him out there in the next inning. That's what we want to see. Are you worried about his confidence or that of Bobby Parnell, who continues to take a beating in his Bad Bobby starts. There were two Good Bobby starts, but a lot more the other way. He's making Oliver Perez look consistent.


Last night, you knew Cole Hamels would eventually shut down the Mets. The Mets knocked him around twice already this season. An outing like last night was bound to happen.

It's time someone just drills Chase Utley, making it count. This guy has been leaning over the plate forever and enjoys getting nicked on the elbow. What's there to lose? A pitcher getting thrown out? We have a deep (number of people, not talent) bullpen. Suspension? Who cares? Philly baserunners? We're going to lose anyway.

Are we done with the red hats already? Seriously. How about next season we bring back those navy blues and teams have options to wear the red or the blue.

Feast or Famine

This is what you get with Bobby Parnell. Lately, it's been a lot of famine, but here now are a couple of scoreless outings sprinkled in. He's been more up and down than Oliver Perez in his heyday.

Brian Stokes put up a crooked number for the third time in the last four outings. Crooked numbers are good for batters, not pitchers. Give a Mets pitcher the eighth inning and he wilts under the pressure. Elmer Dessens, anyone? In defense of Stokes, this outing was not completely his fault despite giving up two. Angel Pagan continues to prove he is not deserving of a starting position in the major leagues by not calling a popup that Jeff Francoeur and Luis Castillo were waiting for him to catch. There's more to a player than the numbers. Perfect example.

Watching Alex Cora talking to Mike Pelfrey in the dugout continues to show why the Mets have to bring this guy back. Intangibles. Alex needs to spend more time with Angel.

How can we forget about the player of the game, Cory Sullivan? A homerun to start the scoring, a beautiful catch in left, an intentional walk (forget for a moment Omir Santos was following him in the lineup), and another single in the inning that broke the game open.

Work In Progress

All right, kid. Bases loaded, two out. Tie game in the fifth inning. You're past 100 pitches and running on fumes. Let's see what you're made of. Swing and miss strike one. Swing and a miss strike two. Looking good. Finish him off.

Grand slam. On an 0-2 pitch.

Such is the growing pains we are experiencing with Bobby Parnell. That makes at least 8 runs allowed in two of the last three starts. Yikes. The ERA has skyrocketed to 5.80.

At least we got to see the debut of Lance Broadway. Exciting stuff. Gotta show something for that Ramon Castro trade. Between Brian Schneider's .188 average (boosted with a 2-for-4 performance) and Omir Santos' .300 OBP I miss big Ramon, no matter how much time he missed due to injury.

Boneheaded move by Fernando Tatis for even thinking about scoring on that bases loaded hit by Schneider in the 4th. To make matters worse later in that inning, Jerry has Parnell sac bunting with runners on the corners and one out. Are you that afraid of the double play?

Aaron Heilman needs to lay off the burgers and fries, either that or those socks make him look Heath Bell-like. We don't miss you.

Right Back at Ya

Eight runs in an inning? The Braves had an answer with an 8-run inning of their own the next night. Jeff Francoeur got three hits? Ryan Church had an answer of his own with a three-hit game the next night.

I pity those who were there for this one. Thank goodness I wasn't there as I would've gone nuts scoring this game. Anderson Hernandez started at short, moved to second, back to short, then finally back at second. Wilson Valdez was all over the place. It was spring training.

Did we warn you about Bobby Parnell's performance against the Giants last week? It was the Giants. OK, so they ended up whipping us the last game, but come on, Benji Molina is their cleanup hitter. It can only get better for Parnell after this one.

Let's Not Get Too Excited

These were the Giants we're talking about, an offense that's worse than that of our depleted Mets. However, the start by Bobby Parnell last night was very encouraging. A pitch limit of around 80 and he still manages to go six? That's efficient, but it helps with a free swinging team who's only threat is a guy by the name of Pablo. Bengie Molina's not hitting homeruns here and his groundballs are automatic outs as long as an infielder manages to stop it from going into the outfield.

Very impressed by the improvements at Citi Field last night. The giant screens in the right field corner and the Promenade food court were now working. Here's to being able to eat there an watch the game. Not too be too picky, but another one in the bullpen plaza would be the icing on the cake.

Although I am not a Promenade row 1 ticket holder you have to feel good for them now that they are starting to lower those LED ribbon boards, which previously obstruct your view if you sit comfortably in your seat. Only left field is done, but they'll get to the rest.

How can we forget about the presence of the championship banners on the big wall in the outfield? There is so much space there you would think this would have been a no brainer in the initial design. I guess they were saving the space for advertising but thought better of it.

Finally, I have to get to games earlier so I can finish eating before the first pitch. The Omir Santos grand slam, David Wright's first opposite field homer of the season, and Angel Pagan's leadoff shot last night, all homeruns missed. I guess it's nice that the Mets like to jump on the board early.

Finally, A Petco Win

Not before the Mets lost two more.


Friday:
Up by a score of 2-1 in the 9th, K-Rod arrives in a save situation, promptly walks the leadoff batter and all hell breaks loose. Some questionable balls and missed home plate calls aside, he still gave up the walks and the hits that made this one a 6-2 loss. If you can't throw strikes, you have no excuse.

Oliver Perez actually looked dominant through six, but it started to fall apart in the seventh. Encouraging signs? Maybe. That hesitation in his delivery could be just the thing he needs mentally, sort of like that change he made last season when Peterson was let go.

Why are both Cory Sullivan and Jeremy Reed on this team? They are two of exactly the same type of player. Good defense, a lefty bat, can play all three outfield positions. Move one of them for something.


Saturday:
Ah, this is the type of snoozer you are looking for from a team that's out of it following a crushing defeat. Alex Cora pulls a homerun into Julio Franco territory and that's that.

It was positive to watch Bobby Parnell get the start, but he was throwing way too many pitches, thus reaching his limit for the evening in the third inning. Perhaps he can get a little deeper next week. Nelson Figueroa and Tim Redding were okay, but how screwed up is the staff right now with a short guy starting and two long men pitching in relief? I think we're all done with Sean Green, who had no control on this day once again.

We get a blown call at the plate go in our favor this time, but to no avail. How bad have the umpires been this season?


Sunday:
Johan was just what the doctor ordered. Luis Castillo actually returned to the lineup. Anderson Hernandez had two hits. You know things have to be turning the corner when that happens.

Who was that guy pitching the ninth for the Mets? I like his stuff, and he can bring it up to the mid-90s- we haven't had a guy like that in the ninth since Billy Wagner last season.

Why Watch?

You know things are bad when you let the lowest scoring team in the league score 8 runs in their cavernous ballpark. The Mets, if they haven't already, have become irrelevant. It was like the perfect storm: the Mets go out West and the Yankees are playing the Red Sox. The Mets might get as much airtime as the Rangers do during the winter in the next few days.

Livan Hernandez continues to be what we expected him to be out of spring training. The occasional decent start with the occasional clunker.

I like the move to put Bobby Parnell in the rotation. Why the hell not at this point? The starting pitching beyond Johan could use any possible contributors they can, especially those with potential. I just about done with Ollie and resigned to the fact that Maine is done, and not just for this season.

Angel Berroa being designated for assignment was a long time coming, and he was not here that long. No wonder Livan was offended when they pinch hit Angel for him back in that Arizona series. Unfortunately Anderson Hernandez will probably not be much better.

David Eckstein is still a pain in the ass.

N.Y. Killer

John Lannan has now won three straight vs teams from New York, going into the 9th each time. Two of those games he went the distance in which he gave up 0 earned runs. Can you take a guess which games were against the Mets and which were against the Yankees?

Oliver Perez was...ugh. Instead of Bad Ollie or Good Ollie, let's just say we're seeing Typical Ollie. Six innings, six more walks. He has walked 8.84 batters per nine innings this season!

Despite getting a hit, David Wright is falling into one of those slumps again. When that happens, the Mets put up zeroes. He should have had a couple of hits today though, as Nyjer Morgan made a nice play to take away an extra base hit.

Newsflash: Bobby Parnell faced three batters and retired all of them.

Ranger players report to training camp for physicals on September 12.

If you're not a fan of bacon in every meal, avoid St. Hubert's in Montreal.

7 1/2 With 76 to Play

Hey, if 7 1/2 with 17 to play can be overcome, 76 games left is plenty of time. That's where the Mets are at after another loss, the first in the Jeff Francoeur era. What's next, Ryan Church getting a game winning hit in one of the next two games?

We got the "state of the injured" address from Omar yesterday. While it's encouraging to see Jose on the field, he's still a few weeks away and by then it could be too late. He's the one we need the most. Alex Cora has hit an absolute wall and is just about an automatic out in the bottom of that lineup.

How about that bullpen? Bobby Parnell cannot get anybody out. The batting average against is in the .300's and rising. It's not supposed to go that way. I'm not going to go crazy on Pat Misch- he actually did a nice job and the only hard hit ball he gave up was an out. Remember this fella, who was on the roster earlier this season? Here's what one Dallas news columnist had to say about him:

O'Day has been one of the best stories of the season for the Rangers, pitching 28 innings (20 H, 7 BB, 28 K, 3 HR) in a legitimate setup role, rather than as a specialist. He hasn't dominated left-handed hitters, but he's collected enough big outs against them to succeed for full inning stints late in games.

Sounds like someone we can use right now.

Oliver Perez, was, eh. Not great, not bad. Not worth the money, though. It was nice to see him get out of that first and third one out spot.

As long as we're 7 1/2 with 17 to play we have a shot.

Excruciating

The game itself was a 3:55 affair, add to that an umpire and rain delay which gives you a very long Father's Day at Shea- I mean, Citi. Pick a random at bat in the game and there's a good chance the batter had a three ball count.

The downfall of Bobby Parnell continues. The very next inning after Brian Schneider hits his second three-run homerun of the series to give the Mets a lead, Parnell gives it right up, failing to retire a batter. Remember that stellar ERA he had just a few weeks ago? It's now up to 5.00 on the season. The Mets were fortunate the inning did not turn out to be worse had it not been for the boneheaded move by Carl Crawford trying to steal third with nobody out.

Sean Green also looked like the Sean Green of April/May, giving up two runs without getting a batter out. The bullpen has imploded. It seems as though the loss of Putz was indeed significant despite the way he pitched before the injury. Losing him has put everyone else in unfamiliar roles and with the exception of everyday Pedro and a temporary Green revival, everyone else has sucked.

Between the two teams, 13 pitchers threw in this one.

Pretty scary moment with the home plate umpire not feeling well out of nowhere early in the game, and it was actually good news that it was just a back injury. Thoughts of Eric Gregg and John McSherry were on many minds when that happened.

When the top of your lineup goes 11 for 16 like Upton, Crawford, and Longoria did today, you should not lose, period. Now that you are out of town, we would like to see more of that the next time you arrive via LaGuardia- in the Bronx.

Fernando Nieve, our #2 starter? After today's effort by Mike Pelfrey, that seems to be the case.

Giftwrapped

The Orioles allowed three earned runs and scored four. That was the difference. Aubrey Huff dropped a pop up, although this one was a little tougher than the one Castillo had to handle. His name is circulating in trade rumors involving the Mets. I don't know, looking at his numbers and his defensive play, is he something we really need right now?

After retiring 11 straight, Mike Pelfrey lost the perfect game/no hitter in the 4th. Yes, it was one of those you had to intently watch and not do anything else until he gave up that first hit. But how easily the Big Pelf gets unraveled? Settle down young man! If you haven't listened to Boomer and Carton on WFAN in the morning of Pelfrey's starts, then look for the clips here that contain songs about Pelfrey. A must listen. Also lookup the clip titled "Manuel Mouthful" from 6/1, another classic.

Sean Green! Lights out. And Pedro Feliciano continues to dominate, making lefties look foolish. Bobby Parnell, on the other hand, has been quite the opposite. Since hitting 100 on the radar gun in Boston, going into yesterday's game he's 0-2, and ERA of 4.50, a batting average against of .333 and on base against of .438. Add two more earned runs with 0 innings pitched. The ERA is slowly rising to match his batting average against, which is not good.

We'll Take It

It was not pretty, but it will end the streak, thank you very much.

Was there a full moon tonight? What the hell was going on with players and umpires in the first couple of innings alone? Carlos Beltran gets thrown at third with two out (I know, how positive of me, in a Met win, to post an image of that), David Wright does the same (except he was called safe by the umpire), Cristian Guzman does not go after a popup, and Fernando Tatis is called out on a play at first in which he was clearly safe. Everyone was having a rough go of it.

David went on to get thrown out at third for what seemed to be the rest of his at bats. I understand the one with one out. But trying to steal third with no one out after scoring a couple with the douple?? You can score on two outs, let alone a ball that finds a hole!

Keith's description of Guzman letting Adam Dunn go after that popup: "Shortstop's gotta know that's a strat-o-matic 4 out there". Or a ptp D. Whatever your flavor of tabletop, those games are addictive. I'm still shaking my head over Jose Rijo letting me down in a recent 1993 league.

With no J.J. Putz out for at least three months, we can only hope Bobby Parnell continues to pitch well. Even Sean Green looked like the Sean Green we were hoping for in the offseason, a very good sign. Yes, these are the Natioanls, but you have to remember, they are fourth in the N.L. in runs per game.

Tim Redding was solid I guess. I still don't expect much when he gets out there. Thanks to the rainout, we have Johan for the Phillies and Yankees, very important. The schedule overall is looking rough in the month ahead.

Mets 3, Marlins 2

Thankfully, John Maine lasted six innings before the stomach pains finally got to him. First Beltran yesterday, now Maine. Who's next? Something's going around and you know somebody's going to get it. My money's on Castillo or Wright, one of the final couple of regulars not miss any time due to injury recently.

Maine was on his game today. He was throwing strikes, very unlike what he's shown this season. Hopefully we'll see this type of performance in most of his outings the rest of way, minus the early exit of course.

J.J. Putz tried his best to blow one today, turning a 3-0 lead in the eight into a 1st and 2nd one out situation with the score at 3-1. Bobby Parnell eventually put out the fire, not before giving up a first pitch single to Hanley Ramirez to make it 3-2 with 1st and 3rd one out. Further damage was prevented with a big strikeout of Jorge Cantu and a flyout by Jeremy Hermida. Is Parnell slowly taking over as the eight inning guy? Putz is sliding down the depth chart and will continue to do so until he finds his command.

K-Rod continues to do his thing, striking out the side in the 9th, despite walking one. At least one half of our winter pen-bolstering duo is performing up to standards. K-Rod is still perfect on the year in save opportunities.

Angel Pagan, Spider-Man pictured on the right, left midway through this game after pulling up lame in the outfield. Looking at his reaction, you gotta feel for the guy.

That wraps a nice 5-1 homestand. Continue to take care of business on this upcoming road trip please. Seven games vs. the Pirates and Nats.

Detroit beats Pittsburgh in game 1 last night. Go Wings.

Home Sweet Reviewable Home

The Mets tried their best to give the Nationals a chance to come back and win the game, an affair in which the final three innings took longer to complete than the first six. It started with a video review and continued with a load of walks.

Gary Sheffield was saved by the lack of a camera in the left field corner that could show the trajectory of his homerun as it came down and eventually would have struck the wall below the orange line (barely) had a fan not interfered. The inconclusive replay was not enough to overturn the original call on the field, which was a homerun.

I don’t have a problem with instant replay on homerun calls. The problem is seats that allow a fan to reach over and interfere with a fair ball, especially homerun balls. You would think something like this would be remedied with new parks, but it has only gotten worse. There’s a simple fix for Citi Field. Get rid of the high wall in left. The park is deep enough already. Simply put an additional fence, about half the height of the current left field one, and put it a few feet in front of where the current one stands. No more controversial homerun calls in left field and half-hour delays in getting the call right.

Marquis Grissom has let it go since retirement. You wouldn’t have thought this guy was once a threat on the bases for the Expos back in the day.

John Lannan is a Ranger fan, but was also a Yankee fan. Boo.

Bobby Parnell had to know he hit 100 on the gun the other night. The fastball tonight was a. nowhere near the strike zone and b. not close to 100. You wonder if it affected him even a little bit.

Apparently a road trip of over a week is still not enough time for someone to install a camera in the visitor’s bullpen so SNY can give you a decent shot of whoever is warming up.

We’re still waiting for J.J. Putz version 2007. We’ll continue to wait if he keeps walking the leadoff hitter.

Walk- Phillies 6, Mets 5

August 30, 2008 and May 2, 2009, Aaron Heilman or Sean Green, the result the same. The Mets lose on a walkoff walk.

Awful performances by the pitching staff at the start and finish overshadowed what was an impressive effort in the middle by the bullpen, with the exception of a Pedro Feliciano pitch to Raul Ibanez. It was the second straight night our lefty specialist gave up a homerun to a lefty. Oliver Perez was a disaster again. Ken Takahashi was great as a long, going 2.2 scoreless. He could be making the next Perez-scheduled start on Thursday. Bobby Parnell and JJ Putz pitched three scoreless. Green was awful, loading the bases, then walking in the winning run in the 10th and that was it.

Just when it looked like the Mets were going to go another game without solving Jamie Moyer, Daniel Murphy and Ramon Castro hit back to back homeruns to tie the game in the 6th.

Jose Reyes is mired in a deep slump. After Alex Cora led off the 10th with a single, Reyes could not even get a bunt down. How long before we see Cora spot Reyes a game at short?

Luis Castillo made his return to the lineup and was removed in a double-switch in the 6th. If he keeps sliding like he slid into home in the 3rd, we're going to see a lot less of him. That was a tumble that looked like nothing but hurt for the 33-year old who looks like he's 43.

The Sportsync radio worked like a charm today. Fox's HD-feed was 8 seconds slower than the radio call, just enough to delay the handy radio to the max 8 seconds and be able to watch while listening to Howie on the Fan.