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METS: Tell me when it’s over – the reincarnation of “Full Pack”

bobsikes — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:51:11 +0000

Davey Johnson didn’t play for the Orioles anymore in 1979 when they won the AL East and eventually lost to the Pittsburg Pirates in the World Series. But he was still close with some of the players. two of his former teammates in Mark Belanger and Elrod Hendricks were on Manager Earl Weaver’s staff. It was probably from one of these two where Johnson got the story of “full back.”

Johnson often told the story of Orioles reliever Don Stanhouse. It seems that while it usually ended well with Stanhouse, his appearances were filled with drama. So much drama in fact that Weaver would cover his eyes and tell one of his coaches to tell him when it was over. And Weaver, a legendary chain smoker during games would have to go to the smokes even more during a Stanhouse outing. The creation of the nickname, “Full Pack,” was an easy thing.

Political correctness and the change in societal morals today don’t allow us to make light of such stories, but the comparison to what Oliver Perez must put his manager through every night.

Last night was a “good Ollie” night. Even in the loss, the Mets looked like a good club against one of the league’s best starters on team that will probably will be playing in October.

You get to play 162 games over half a calendar year, and each season ends up being a different story from the past. While the New York media often seems to want this season to be like last year, it’s just not. And yes, there are so-to-speak moral victories. Perez’ terrific six innings were sqaundered, but the Mets’ valiantly made a run at getting it back in the ninth. Last night in St. Louis can be one of those night’s in which a club gets it’s moxie.

METS: Rotational Pissings

bobsikes — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:44:21 +0000

Apologies to Nirvana. But when in doubt, why not turn to the king of angst, Kurt Cobain, for, um, perspective:

Gotta find a way, find a way, when I’m there
Gotta find a way, a better way, I’d better wait

The morning reality check needs to remind us all that Jon Niese is really still a rookie and that growing pains occur when developing a major league starter. Unfortunately for the Mets, they are already saddled with a couple of drama queens. Any club, good or bad, could live with starts like last night from a talented and polished kid like Niese. But even Wally Backman on steroids couldn’t make the current situation work.

Keep your head. Make sure nobody is considering the Kurt Cobain final solution.

METS: So how soon really will the Mets make a decision about John Maine?

bobsikes — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 10:26:31 +0000

Ugh. 2-5. Andy Martino writes that organization will not be dragging it’s feet.

I’ve been maintaining that Jeff Wilpon will not allow the club to go through failure without making moves. I believe that Maine will get one more start, but that will be it.

METS: Not good Sunday – the Mets have to win games that Santana starts

bobsikes — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:26:33 +0000

We’re in the basement folks, but we’re not that bad. But we cannot lose series at home to the Nationals.

It’s going to get better. We’re better than this, and I expect the team to play better on the road. The road would have been a better place to start as it is.

METS: A Pelfrey shot in the arm

bobsikes — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:27:26 +0000

Aside from last night’s two home run evenings by Jeff Francouer and Rod Barajas, Mike Pelfrey’s performance was the best news. Lets go inside his numbers.

1. 94 pitches in 6 innings, with 57 strikes. That’s around 61%. Considered another way, 6 or every 10 pitches were strikes. Pretty good.

2. 16 of 26 first pitch strikes. That’s about 62%. Or again 6 out of every ten. So more simply said, 16 out of 26 Nats saw a strike first pitch. I’d like 70% or higher, but I’ll take it as Pelfrey will get ground balls.

3. ESPN provides an interesting stat on strikes: Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes. Pelfrey was 21-5-14-17. To be candid, I’m not sure what to do with this stat except to say that it’s indicative of the Nats’ scouting report. They wanted to make Pelfrey throw strikes. They only took 5 called strikes in 6 innings.

4. But 6 innings is an inning too short. For the Mets to be successful, they will need Pelfrey to be more of an innings eater. If they have a six run lead, he needs able to keep the bullpen in their jackets by being more economical with his pitches. If he shows NL advance scouts that he continues to throw a significant number of first pitch strikes, it can get Pelfrey much more consistently into the 7th and 8th innings.

5. The 4 Walks: He’s been pretty good over the past two seasons in that he’s averaging about 3 per nine innings. But as he’s been giving up a hit per inning or work, it will be indicative of a pitcher who will not be able to get more innings of work. This is the downside to the previously mentioned upside.

6. Outlook: Pelfrey’s starting to compare favoribly with former Mets Ron Darling and Walt Terrell, although he’s been giving up more hits than did either of the two. If Pelfrey shows that he will be around the strike zone more consistently early in the count, he’ll get more contact earlier. This will get his pitch counts and base hits numbers down.

On another note, another very good job by the Mets bullpen (Takahashi, Nieve and Mejia). All the outs over three innings of work were ground balls outs or strike outs. No hits either. But lets not wear them out like we did last year. We need Pelfrey and Jon Niese to consistently get further into to the games we’re winning.

METS: About that rotation

bobsikes — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:33:21 +0000

I could hear fans thinking aloud last night: How did we not get this Robertson guy? And why didn’t we do something about the rotation during the off-season anyhow?

Answer: They couldn’t. And considering the market, they shouldn’t have. The conscience decision was made to see just what they had in John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez.

Fortunately, the Mets wanted Jon Niese to make the rotation and he did. He demonstarted last night that he is a fine alternative as a third or fourh starter. But unfortunately, the rest have shown no reason to feel they are even remotely worthy of a number two slot behind Johan Santana.

Maine’s start illustarted the concerns the club has had about him for some time. He couldn’t thrown many first pitch strikes and often fell behind 2-0. Coupled with less than desirable velocity, this is not a template for winning.

Fans have similar lack of faith in Perez and Pelfrey. More so the former than the later. We’ll see Pelfrey tonight and hopefully he performs much like he did in his last spring start. It’s going to be hard enough to withstand the early season failures of Maine and Perez as it is.

But the Mets may have anticipated this scenario and are prepared to make the year a psuedo rebuilding season. Are their replacements already on the current staff in Fernando Nieve and Hisanori Takahashi?
Tobi Stoner was effective in his rain-shortened start last night in Buffalo. It may be telling that he got the opening night start in AAA.

Still, the names Stoner, Takahashi and Nieve are not part of any reasonable calculus ending with a Mets play-off run this season.

METS: The Sand Gnats roster and a comprehensive look at phenom Bryce Harper

bobsikes — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:11:42 +0000

Mack’s Mets is a must addition to your favorites.

METS: Some Opening Day Magic and Hope

bobsikes — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:02:24 +0000

Why is that David Wright’s first inning two-run homer seem so familiar?The blue sky bathed the day in grace. John Santana got the win and Fernando Vieve held the Marlins scorless for two innings before Franciso Rondriguez closing act. Not a bad day all-in-all against a team that the Mets have had trouble beating the last few seasons.

Our ace beat their ace. Our stars contributed. The bullpen held the lead. And it was a beautiful day, but I still miss Shea.

Get well soon Jose and Carlos. Insert special blessings here for the rest of the rotation.

Anyhow, let’s go Mets

METS: It’s not THIS bad

bobsikes — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:07:41 +0000

George Vecsey‘s column today is written with it’s typical grace. He’s good. Real good. But even with my own reservations about the current club, I think that Vecsey has gone too cynical by half.

I sense change has come to the Mets. Much of the negative influences that brought the club down are gone and have been replaced by reasons for hope.

Jeff Wilpon’s hands on approach with personnel has improved the outlook. While roster changes did not occur as many of us would have hoped, the opportunities to do so this past off-season were not there. Moves were not made out of panic. The addition of Jason Bay was a good one and will prove to benefit the club this year and beyond.

It is true that if this club gets off to a poor start, changes at the top should begin to occur. But Wilpon has prepared for it with replacements already present within the organization. As the club perhaps struggling early on may already be anticipated, the only mistake that can be made is if the Mets do nothing and allow a cynical New York media to dicate the narrative.

METS: Oliver Perez? How long will the Mets go with him?

bobsikes — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:49:35 +0000

The Post’s Mike Puma says it best regarding Oliver Perez:

Oliver Perez finally has a healthy knee, but spent most of the spring serving up batting practice to opposing hitters, inspiring little confidence that he is about to get his act together and have a breakout year. Perez wasn’t wild, but didn’t fool many people, either.

Perez’ face can be posted in Websters by the definition for “enigma”. I’ve always hoped that Perez would one day find his inner Sid Fernandez. He never has and only rarely given anyone hope that he would. Fairness dictated that last season was a wash as he was saddled by an injured knee. Reportedly, he is in good shape after a productive off season.

But as Puma indicates, Perez wasn’t very good this spring. So it begs the question of just how long will the club go with him if he struggles.

The Mets won’t tolerate any Perez drama this year. He’ll probably get three starts to show what he can do. Two members of the bullpen are there now in Hisanori Takahashi and Fernando Nieve that they won’t hesitate to put in there.

But what then with Perez? The Mets may attempt to get him to go to Buffalo, but his agent Scot Boras won’t let that happen. The Mets may then attempt to deal Perez with the stipulation that they would pay the bulk of his remaining salary. There aren’t likely to be many takers as there weren’t when Perez was a free agent. Omar Minaya was probably bidding against himself in the first place. As Jeff Wilpon will be looking to be as drama free as possible, the Mets might just cut their losses and let Perez go in the event he struggles.

In many ways, Perez future is similar to that of Minaya and Jerry Manuel. Poor play over an extended period will prompt Wilpon to take action.