Early Morning Madness: Injuries edition

Luis Castillo might be heading to the disabled list.

Castillo injured his left quad a few days ago and Damion Easley has been starting in his place. If Castillo was to go on the DL, do the Mets really call up AAA second baseman Anderson Hernandez?

Sure, he's got a glove, but the kid just can't hit a lick. He's batting a miserable .185. And looking even lower to Binghamton, Emmanuel Garcia is hitting a cool .225 and Jonathan Malo is stroking a tepid .233 in limited time.

So second base is practically depleted for the Mets and the current starter is signed to a four year contract and is slow, injured, and slaps at everything. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a trade.

** * **

Ryan Church could be back by next weekend, and I couldn't be happier.

I'm assuming once Church is ready to go again, we've seen the end of Trot Nixon, but as much as I thought I'd love Nixon, his .167 average just isn't cutting it for me.

If Church can come back, even at 80 percent, he'll be a huge addition to this club. Church hasn't played since June 5th, and since that time the Mets have gone 7-9. They're really missing his bat in the lineup, as the offense usually goes flat past the 4th inning.

I miss this guy and so do the Mets.

** * **

Things are lining up in Yankee-ville that the Mets will probably face newly acquired Sidney Ponson during their series at Shea Stadium (and Yankee Stadium) this weekend.

Stay sober, Sidney.

I beat an 8 year old; I now feel special

This link was passed along by a new blogger and friend, Andrew (great name) from Twins Fix:

Baseball know it all

Watch the video, it's pretty cool. I didn't start watching baseball until I was 11 or 12, so this kid has a bit of a head start.

I named all the players and I beat the little tike to naming the second baseman for the Houston Astros. A big accomplishment, right?

Any self respecting Mets fan who doesn't know who that player is, well, they're much better at putting bad signings behind them than I am.

Can you beat the 8 year old? I did, and for some reason, it's making me very happy. Hey CNN, come do a video on me!

TSTDIA: Mets 3 -- Rockies 1

While it wasn't an offensive explosion or a dominating pitching performance, the Mets took two out of three in Colorado, and will now head home to take on the worst-in-the-majors Seattle Mariners.

Manuel assigns roles to relievers

I can honestly say, this is something I've been waiting to happen for years. Jerry Manuel has finally assigned defined roles to the bullpen.

Of course, Billy Wagner will stay as the teams closer. Duaner Sanchez has officially been assigned as the teams setup man, always pitching in the 8th inning.

Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano have been assigned as the lefty and righty specialists.

Aaron Heilman has been demoted to not pitching in "as many pressure situations."

It's about time. I think it's beneficial that the pitchers know when they will usually appear in a game, instead of having to wait and guess what inning they'll appear in. It allows them to psych themselves up for when they know they will enter the game, instead of waiting for the phone call.

I know I sound like a sap, but I really like the way Manuel has carried himself and made decisions in his short time at the helm.

The Stache presses pause

Jose Valentin, slowly "making progress" on the rehab trail, has suspended his season.

He's not retiring, but he will no longer play this season.

Why he's not just up and quitting, I don't know. Maybe he thinks next year it will work out, I guess. Good luck, Stache. You're going to need it.

TSTDIA: Rockies 7 -- Mets 1

The Mets were stifled by Ubaldo Jiminez. How cool is that?

Manuel vs. Manuel

Just a random thought that popped into my head:
I wonder if there was ever a time when there were two managers with the same last name coaching in the same division?

Obviously I'm talking about Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel and new Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

I guess that's an interesting little tidbit to think about.

The Mets want to hear from you!

Do you want your team to hear your voice? The Mets want to hear your opinions and viewpoints in an upcoming meeting! Here's the gist:

The Mets front office is looking for feedback from at least 300 Mets fans for an upcoming meeting. It would be GREATLY APPRECIATED if you and your friends (and their friends) could e-mail me with thoughts on the last few days, whats been going on this season, thoughts on the players, organization, etc...

Please use the subject line: Fan Feedback!

Messages will be summarized and addressed during a meeting when we return, please send before we fly home after the Colorado series, thanks & Let's Go Mets!!
-Kelli

Get e-mailing!

Again, that e-mail is stylz917 at aol dot com. (She uses AOL on the road to avoid firewalls, I asked.)

Early BP pays off

Yesterday, I wrote about how the Mets were taking early batting practice on a more regular schedule. Last night, the batting practice paid off to the tune of 15 hits and seven runs.

Jeremy Cothran fills us in on Jerry Manuel's new approach:

The Mets normally go with four shifts of eight swings each, and then rotate groups. Manuel has chopped those in half after noticing a lot of tired swings in games.

"Pitches that we normally put in play or put in play with authority, we're popping up and doing those types of things."

So true. Without looking at statistics, and just going on info from recent memory, almost every game seems to go the exact same way.

• Mets score runs early. They look good, and show no signs of stopping through the first three innings.
• The fourth inning comes and now they can't hit.
• Mets pitchers can only do so much, and the early lead begins to shrink.
• The lead is gone, and the Mets bats are completely asleep.

Tired bats could definitely be to blame. With this new approach, the Mets might be able to keep their bats going past the first few innings.

I always remember the story about how in the minors, they would have to stop David Wright from working out too much, because he would wear himself down just by training and working out. Of course, he's at all the early batting practice session.

I like the way this team is going.

So far, so good with the new manager. These next five games can change the season.

TSTDIA: Mets 7 -- Rockies 2

The sentences that define it all...

Arguably the strongest game of the season so far. The Mets dominated on every side of the game to claw back to .500 on the season.