Reyes Third and Santos Out

It looks like Jerry is serious in having Jose Reyes bat third until Carlos Beltran returns from injury. Everyone is in an uproar over this. If Jose can't mentally handle batting third, then he should not be in the big leagues, plain and simple.

Does Reyes lead off an inning all the time? No. The leadoff batter in a lineup leads off the 1st inning, and in some cases, that's it. Think of the flip side to this. Half the time, Reyes will come up in the first inning with two out and no one on. If he reaches first base, you have a good situation to go for the stolen base- two out, bases empty. On the other hand if someone ahead of him reaches base, then he can actually drive them in with one of his league leading (and assuming he stays healthy in Citi it will be league leading) triples.

As for Omir Santos, yes, he provided us with some bright spots last season- well, I count only two. However, his constant swinging at the first pitch and on base percentage of below .300 will not be missed. Barajas is not much better, but at this point the more mediocre catchers there are competing for a spot the better.

Vintage

Pedro had all of his good stuff last night. 8 shutout innings with 130 pitches. Getting out of a couple of late jams. Too bad I'm not typing this at this time in 2008, 07, or even 06. It's 2009 and Pedro Martinez is a Phillie. And he was doing this against the Mets. For what it's worth he did it in a game that officially eliminated the Mets from playoff contention.

Daniel Murphy bailed him out in the eight inning and continues to prove why the Mets should look to find another first baseman until Ike Davis is ready if they plan on contending. Youth is no excuse for his aggressiveness in trying to go to third on a pitch that barely bounced away. You're down a run in the 8th. You are already in scoring position. Ground ball specialist Jeremy Reed maybe just maybe finds a hole that can drive you home. As Torts said about the Dubi situation, "It's stupid." Murph can work as hard as he wants in the cage, on the field, and in the video room, but he's not the answer at first base.


It was nice to see John Maine in action in the first game of the doubleheader, albeit for only three innings. How about Josh Thole going 4-for4? Could he be the answer at catcher next season? Keep it up kid- if Omir Santos and his sub .300 on base percentage is our starting catcher next season, we're in trouble.

Both games saw the Mets not go quietly in the 9th against first Brad Lidge, then Ryan Madson in the second. Lidge was a bit shakier and Madson gave up a hit to Brian Schneider in what was an impressive at bat by him considering his situation. Angel Pagan unfortunately made the final out in both, more unlucky the second time, roping one down the line right where Pedro Feliz was standing.

8th Inning Help Wanted

OK, maybe that's not fair to Brian Stokes, who has been very consistent all season and really has had only a couple of stinkers, today included. However, you have to think Elmer Dessens (Elmer Dessens!) is knocking on the door to take over the 8th when the Mets have a lead. After all, he probably has been in more high-leverage situations, being the closer in Buffalo. Eh, the Bison's record stinks, maybe there were not that many high-pressure situations for him.

How about Pat Misch? Seven innings of one-run ball. Ollie, so far we don't miss you. It could be a while if we ever do.

I thought the Mets were coming back for sure in the 9th when Omir Santos led off with a walk. If Santos is walking, you know things are going your way. Unfortunately, Carlos Marmol, Chicago's Wild Thing, found the strike zone and quickly dispatched the Mets after that.

Welcome Back Johan

Now that was the type of outing from the Johan Santana we all know and love. He threw strikes, made it look easy right throughout, then hung in there when things were getting dicey and he was well over 100 pitches.

Jeff Francoeur contributed in his first at-bat with a 2-rbi single, not the prettiest of hits, but a hit nonetheless. The Mets are 1-0 with him in the lineup, what's not to like?

Maybe, just maybe a reserve player can step up to be a solid player who deserves to be an everyday player. Angel Pagan, can you possibly be the one?

After ragging on Omir Santos a couple of posts in a row, he comes out and gets three hits. Who should I trash today? That Pelfrey kid has been horrible, how many innings will he last today?

The Omir Show

You are one of two catchers on the active roster with a third catcher ready to come off the disabled list the next day. You are tabbed to start the game. What do you do? Be responsible for just about all of the team's offense, with a solo homerun to tie the game in the 5th and the game winning walk-off hit in the 11th. Omir Santos is here to stay. Sure enough Ramon Castro was traded to the White Sox not long afterward.

Now we just have to hope this clutch stuff keeps up. Did you see the graphic SNY showed comparing the numbers between Ramon and Omir since Schneider went down? Aside from the clutch hits, Castro had the slightly better numbers. Jerry seemed like he had a thing for Ramon like he had for Church. Tough love? Either way, you hope this does not affect team chemistry too much as Castro was a class clown in the clubhouse.

Mike Pelfrey and a rookie pitcher by the name of West were outstanding tonight. Pelfrey came close to completing eight innings but could not finish off some guy who's name sounds like Tom Coughlin. Bobby Parnell finished the job.

Pelfrey will probably hit or come close to hitting Cody Ross at least once every game (although tonight was more of a uniform brushing). Wonder when Ross will snap like he did last season when he got hit by Pelf.

We saw another leadoff walk by J.J. Putz.

Did you notice they put a camera in the left field corner? Maybe it will clear up the next controversial homerun touched by a fan in left field.

5-5 Trip

If you were told the Mets would go 5-5 on the long road trip just completed, you would take it. It was against three of the best home teams.

Omir Santos shocked everyone with a go-ahead two-run homerun in the 9th inning off Jonathan Papelbon on Saturday. After issuing a leadoff walk, Papelbon had struck out David Wright and Jeremy Reed. It was over. He was blowing everyone away. Santos saw that he was throwing nothing but dead-red, looked for it and nailed it.

J.J. Putz can thank his defense for his second save of the season. Every ball was hit hard. We need a few outings of dominant J.J. before we can restore our faith in him.

Ramon Martinez had the game of his life defensively. He still has no arm and needs to replaced at shortstop ASAP.

Mike Pelfrey settled down and was on cruise control after a rough first inning. No case of the yips in this one.

Papelbon blows his first save of the season, and over in the Bronx, Brad Lidge blows one for the Phillies. The Mets and Yankees really helped each other out on Saturday. However, there was still a part of me that was disgusted the Yanks came back with a dramatic 9th inning victory. I can't help it, no matter what the standings say. It's May, for crying out loud. I know, I know, but what if we lose by a game in the standings...

Sunday was a different story. Tim Redding looked like the Steve Trachsel he initially reminded me of in that first inning in L.A. Failing to get the final out in the 5th, he handed the ball to Sean Green, who in one pitch managed to blow a Met lead.

Brian Stokes has come back to earth. 1.1 innings, 6 hits and 5 runs. Yikes. Hey, the ERA is still a respectable 2.89.

Ramon Castro hit a pop up to left field that was a homerun. Only in Fenway park.

David Ortiz is on the interstate with a .195 batting average. Amazing. OK, now it's time for Big Papi to heat up.

Mets 8, Pirates 4

Livan Hernandez did not have his best stuff early, and this looked to be an all-too-familiar third game of a series where the Mets fail to put the hammer down. But this is the Pirates we are talking about.

In the 4th, Carlos Delgado his another bomb, although this one off the wall, and the Mets started to chip away. Omir Santos had another key opposite field hit, scoring two. Brian Schneider, take your time returning. You couldn't ask for anything better than what your getting from Castro and Santos.

You would've liked to see David Wright bust open that game in the 7th. Bases loaded, two out and he struck out again.

Sean Green will be continued to be used in mop-up duty.

Rare mistake by Gary Cohen, who not once, but twice said that Eric Hinske, the fifth batter of the game, was the first batter who Livan did not fall behind 2-0. Two batters earlier, Nate McLouth hit a sac fly behind 1-2 in the count. It's OK Gary, we forgive you.

Third String Catcher?

Shake Shack line time last night: arrival 6:40, order placed at 7:20. Was it worth it? For the first time sure. You gotta have this burger eventually. Next time, maybe I'll stop by after trying everything else and the line is not as long. Will it ever happen? Who knows?

The bullpen is a good place to hang out and eat if you don't mind missing an inning or two. There are all these picnic tables there and no one's using them. Unlike most places of the stadium, there is no audio of the game, no viewing of the game. You really get a feel for how crappy the visitors bullpen is. The Marlins relief core were either huddled on chairs in front of a flat screen or just loosening up and not paying attention to the game. Get rid of the ad covering the bullpen fence, please. While it's nice that they are making it as inconvenient as possible for the opposing relievers, they are also doing a disservice to the fans, taking away what would be a very cool area to hang out and heckle some relievers while still following the game.

What did I get for peace and quiet while downing a burger by the bullpen? Missing the highlight of the game, an Omir Santos grand slam. What will be of the catching situation when Brian Schneider returns to action? I think we are seeing the last of Ramon Castro.

How about that one week wonder, Emilio Bonafacio? Welcome back to Earth Emilio, and welcome back to Earth the Florida Marlins.