It’s Oliver Perez day

Break out the Tums and the Rolaids.

Oliver Perez will face the Washington Nationals at 1:10 p.m. as the Mets look to sweep the series.

Perez is 1-1 in 2009 with a 7.80 ERA. 

In his first start, Perez failed to get out of the fifth inning, letting up eight earned runs.  When he faced the San Diego Padres at home on April 15, he threw six innings and allowed only one run.  In his last start, against the Cardinals, he again failed to complete the fifth inning.  He allowed four earned runs and walked five.

In his career against Washington, he is 3-3 with a 6.53 ERA.

How do you think Perez will pitch today?

Game Recap: Mets 8 – Nationals 2

A comedy of errors by the Nationals and a nice start out of Mike Pelfrey.  What a Saturday.

The Mets (8-9) beat the Nationals (3-13) by a score of 8-2.

The Mini Recap

Pelfrey, coming off a skipped start, pitched effectively and surprisingly well.  Almost six innings out of Pelfrey must be encouraging for the Mets.  The bullpen turned in 3 1-3 solid innings.

Thanks to three errors and a handful of other bad choices by the Nationals, the Mets scored eight runs, only four of which were earned.  Ryan Church drove in three runs while Carlos Beltran picked up three hits.

For the full recap, head over to Baseball Digest.

More on the Figueroa signing

Nelson Figueroa will be in Buffalo today and will likely start for the Bisons on Tuesday.

According to my source, Figueroa did have other offers but decided to return to the Mets.  The team told him “they would like him back.”

Figueroa will be up soon, I think.  Casey Fossum has been all right, but I think someone is going to be demoted to work on mechanics soon.  Be it Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez or John Maine is yet to be seen.

Figueroa is the versatile arm the Mets need.  The bullpen is going to be overworked at this rate and they need a good arm to pitch two or three innings when needed.  When the starting pitcher can only last four decent innings, having Figueroa in the bullpen is necessity.

Mets sign Lamb

As the Buffalo Bisons get off to a 2-12 start, the Mets have added veteran Mike Lamb to the Triple-A roster.

Lamb, a nine year veteran of MLB with four years in the Houston and Texas organizations. last played with Minnesota and Milwaukee in 2008.  He’s a career .277 hitter.

His best year came with Houston in 2006 when he hit .307/.361/.475 while driving in 45 runs and hitting 12 home runs.

A good, veteran signing for the minor leagues.

Source: Figueroa returns to the Mets

Nelson Figueroa, who recently declared free agency after being designated for assignment then clearing waivers, is coming back to the New York Mets.

A source who wishes to remain anonymous, the same source that had him fleeing for free agency, tipped me off this morning.  Figueroa was clearly angered at the team after they DFA’d him after his quality start last weekend.

It is unknown at this time what the contract and numbers may be.  Figueroa will report to Triple-A Buffalo.

This is a good move for both sides.  It brings the Brooklyn native back as possible starting option for the Mets, especially as Jerry Manuel uses scare tactics to try and motivate his pitchers.

The Mets made right with this move, even though it took a little too long for them to figure it all out.

Game Recap: Mets 4 – Nationals 3

A nail-biter from start to finish as the Mets fail to come through in the clutch but still eek out win over Nats.

The Mets (7-9) beat the Nationals (3-12) by a score of 4-3.

The Mini Recap

Johan Santana did his thing, striking out out seven of the first nine Nationals to face him.  He allowed one run on six hits.  He walked one and ended up striking out 10 in his six innings.  Francisco Rodriguez had to make it interesting by allowed a two-run home run in the 9th inning, but was able to close it out.

The Mets scored runs on a misplayed ball by Elijah Dukes, Luis Castillo RBI single, Austin Kearns error and a walk with the bases loaded.  The team left 13 runners on base.  Carlos Beltran knocked in his 1,000th career RBI.

For the full recap, head over to Baseball Digest.

Live Blog/Chat: WSH @ NYM – Join in!

Another rousing round of live blogging on The ‘Ropolitans.  Join in to talk Nats, Mets and anything else we care to dish about.

The State of the Mets [Video – 4/24/09]

Here is another edition of my weekly web show, The State of the Mets.

Topics covered: Miserable pitching, untimely hitting and the outlook from here on out.

(It’s working.  Just hit play.)

Scare tactics by Jerry Manuel

A headline in the NY Daily News today reads: Slumping Mets eye major shakeup: Coaches on firing line; Pelfrey, Perez or Maine may get demoted.

The Mets are off to a 6-9 start.  Their starting pitching, outside of Johan Santana, has been nothing short of miserable.  The offense apparently decides what days it feels like showing up to the ballpark.

That leads Jerry Manuel and the Mets to shift gears from positive motivation to scare tactics.

A team insider later elaborated that no one, aside from Johan Santana, has immunity. Translation: Perez or Pelfrey, who can be optioned to the minors without passing through waivers, could be ticketed for the minors, while Livan Hernandez's standing as fifth starter could be on shaky ground.
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While nothing is imminent, dialogue about coaching changes already has begun, a source told The News.
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The more interesting question would be whether to pull the plug on Gary Sheffield, who went 0-for-5 Thursday as part of Manuel's rejiggered lineup, dropping his average to .111.

Manuel has been the king of saying one thing and doing another during his tenure here in New York.  Right now, this just seems like the next form of motivation before they actually start to do something about it (i.e. roster moves and coaching positions).

I’m not glad it has come to this, but I’m glad this is what they’re doing.  Nothing scares a player more than getting demoted and/or cut.

Let Manuel talk this talk and walk this walk for a while.  If it doesn’t work out though, he might be the man out of a job.

Twitter Poll: If you had one roster move to make on the New York Mets…

The Mets have lost four games in a row.  They’re 6-9 on the season and can’t seem to get in sync.

Last night I asked my Twitter followers if Omar Minaya granted them one roster move on the current Mets team, what would it be?  I got some very different answers.  There is one that want to look into cloning Johan Santana, another who is offering their services and a few who would like to swap out the entire team.

Here are their responses…

• benmyerson said: does "swap rosters with Buffalo" count as one move?
• letsgoduke said: trade castillo for ruben gotay.
• samtpage said: Fire Omar Minaya. Does that count? If not, release Sheffield.
• Retire31 said: Clone Johan Santana four times.
• ByronBrewer said: Honestly... I don't even know where to begin. Is a team-swap considered 'one move?' :)
• Section518 said: It's a tough one, because one move isn't going to get it done. Another starter? Maybe Cliff Lee? Not really sure...
• ambilevous said: sign manny
• BigLeagueWIFFLE said: Hire Tommy Lasorda to coach
• dmoneymania said: Sign me up. I'm a co-ed softball league superstar. I pick it like Olerud, stroke it like Alfonzo. I'm pure stud.
• soxanddawgs said: sign pedro
• cselland said: Sign Manny - we need a left fielder. Oh, wait...
• Section518 said: Sign Manny - we need a left fielder.
• acesigma said: Fire Omar. Oh wait that's not a roster move.
• metgirl4ever said: nothing until May...knee jerk moves/reactions usually make u worse, not better...
• gmo418 said Pick up Pedro off junk pile, place John Maine and Dan Murphy/Ryan Church on trade block for young front line starter
• JTKrycek said: sign jake peavy
• fullnelson said: Gary "Iron" Sheffield, not Pinch Hitter, need many At Bats. what is da use of F. Tatis?
• thebrowncoat said: If I trade the whole team at once, does that count as one roster move?

Quite and interesting array of answers if I do say so myself.  It seems as though many Mets fans have turned to humor to try and forget about their team’s on field performance.

Not on Twitter?  Hit the comments to toss in your 2¢ about the one roster move you would want to make.

Follow me on Twitter to participate
in the next Twitter Poll!