The fall of Daniel Murphy

Last night, with the bases loaded and one out, Jerry Manuel pulled Daniel Murphy from the on-deck circle in favor of Angel Pagan.

Murphy, who was 0-2 with a walk, would have faced Jeremy Affledt.  Murphy has a career .375 batting average and .414 on-base percentage against left handed pitchers in his small sample size of at-bats.

Pagan, who was called up on Saturday in place of an injured Carlos Delgado, has a .224 career batting average as a right handed batter facing a left hander, as Sam Page pointed out on Amazin’ Avenue.  On top of that, Pagan has a .170 career batting average as a pinch hitter.

Pagan promptly grounded into an inning-ending double play, magnifying the move by Manuel.

But I’m not here to talk about that questionable swap.  What I’d like to look at is Murphy’s playing time that is quickly drying up.

Murphy has seemingly fallen out of favor with Manuel.  Here’s a chart of his plate appearances, complete with a linear trendline. 
His plate appearances have dropped, though he’s making the best of his pinch hitting opportunities, picking up four hits in nine at bats for a .444 AVG.

Why has Murphy’s playing time dropped?  Manuel has favored Gary Sheffield in the clean-up spot with Delgado on the DL.  Sheffield has seen most of his time in left field, Murphy’s main spot.

Manuel has said that Murphy would get a start (or two) at first base during this road trip, opening up another position to get Murphy in the lineup.

Also, as the Mets are set to face Boston this weekend in the first interleague matchup of 2009, Sheffield will likely shift to the designated hitter position, opening more playing time for Murphy.

I’m pretty intrigued to see what Murphy can do at first base.  He may very well be the first baseman of the future if he can flash a decent glove at that position.

He’s been struggling a bit lately, most likely due to decreased playing time.  If Murphy gets back into an everyday role, I think his mechanics will come back.

Steve Phillips puts Mets bloggers over the edge

Here is a sampling of comments from around the Met-o-sphere on Steve Phillips’  words in the booth during last night’s New York Mets / San Francisco Giants baseball game.

Faith and Fear in Flushing…

The only problem was I somehow forgot (or more likely blocked out) that Sunday night means Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips.

Speaking of Gitmo.

The Eddie Kranepool Society…

What you’re shocked that Steve Phillips sounded like a total d******g last night during the ESPN telecast? Whoever came up with the idea to add Smarmy Steve to the booth needs to be fired. Still smarting over getting canned by the Mets eh Stevie boy ? Well you sucked as a GM and you suck as a TV analyst.

Brooklyn Met Fan…

The only thing I had real beef with last night was that clown Steve Phillips who rocketed himself passed Miller, Morgan, and McCarver on BMF’s list of most hated announcers.

I’d almost rather listen to Suzyn Waldman and Sterling than Phillips… almost.

Metstradamus…

Okay, for those of you who became fans in 2006, let me give you a lesson in recent history. You see, Steve Phillips was the GM of the Mets. And while he was the GM of the Mets, he allegedly offered Jose Reyes to Cleveland for Robby Alomar, and also allegedly offered David Wright to Toronto for Jose Cruz Jr. So of course he would think about trading Beltran. He couldn't trade the other two when he had the chance.

The Mets Police…

Phillips claims that Beltran is not the "perfect" player even though he has all the tools. He pointed out every mistake Carlos has made this year and said as a GM when it comes to 17 million a year he wasn't worth it. At least Joe Morgan was smart enough to disagree with him.

Amazin’ Avenue…

Perhaps the most telling part of the whole broadcast was when Phillips had to deliver an obviously prepared presentation on Carlos Beltran being a five-tool player, after ripping him. Needless to say, he wasn't too convincing.
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"Carlos Beltran doesn't always exemplify a strong mental game" or something like that, cue video of him not sliding into home. Forget the preponderance of statistical evidence showing Beltran to be one of the smarter baserunners ever. At that point, however, I just turned off the TV.

MetsBlog…

Steve Phillips makes my head hurt.

I’m sure there are many more blogs out there ticked off against Phillips after last night.  If you have any of your own to share, please hit the comments.

This could get ugly, and that’s just how I want it to be.

Game Recap: Giants 2 – Mets 0

Three balks.

The San Francisco Giants (19-18) beat the New York Mets (21-16) by a score of 2-0.

Mike Pelfrey did not have a bad game, but three balks and some timely hitting by the Giants doomed the 25-year-old pitcher.  Pelfrey gave up runs in the first and the fifth, both runners that scored were moved over by balks and scored on RBI singles. 

Pelfrey pitched six innings, allowed six hits and two walks, while striking out two.  He threw only 78 pitches and induced 10 ground balls.

Ken Takahashi and Sean Green each pitched an inning in relief.

The Mets had the bases loaded, once with none out and another with two outs, and failed to score any runs.  Matt Cain issued five walks in five innings, three in a row in the second inning, but a 1-3-1 double play and a ground ball ended the inning.

With the bases loaded in the top of the 8th, Jerry Manuel decided to pinch hit Angel Pagan for Daniel Murphy.  Pagan promptly grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Don’t get that move at all.  If someone could explain that one to me, it would be quite helpful.

The Mets had way too many chances to score and let them all slip through their fingers.

Live Mets Chat: NYM @ SFG

Sunday night baseball!  Join in and chat with some fellow Mets fans.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Lineup set for finale in San Fran; No Reyes (tendinitis)

Jose Reyes has been diagnosed with tendinitis in his calf by SF Giants doctors, according to Adam Rubin.  He will miss his fourth straight start.

Here’s the Reyes-free lineup…

1. Alex Cora – SS
2. Luis Castillo – 2B
3. Carlos Beltran – CF
4. Gary Sheffield – RF
5. David Wright – 3B
6. Daniel Murphy – LF
7. Omir Santos – C
8. Jeremy Reed – 1B
9. Mike Pelfrey – RHP

Live chat starts at 8 p.m. tonight as the Mets are on ESPN to finish out the series in SF.

Live Mets Chat: NYM @ SFG

Enjoy some Saturday baseball with fellow Mets fans.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Delgado to DL, Pagan called up

The Mets have finally put Carlos Delgado on the disabled list with a right hip impingement.

Angel Pagan has been called up to fill the roster the spot.

Pagan was arrested a few weeks ago for unpid driving tickets in Florida while rehabbing from his shoulder injury. Hey Pagan, I would suggest hiring a driver, as long as it's not the same guy that drove Duaner Sanchez around.

Weekend away

I’ll be heading down to the Jersey shore for a weekend with some friends.  I’m leaving my quickly dying computer behind, so posting will be sparse if at all.  I have my BlackBerry, so if anything super-important breaks, I will try and post it.

Enjoy two scheduled game chats for today’s afternoon game and tomorrow’s night game.

Feel free to use the comments to chat about the Metsies this weekend.

Thanks and let’s go Mets!

-Andrew Vazzano

Game Recap: Mets 8 – Giants 6

Just call them The Comeback Kids.

The New York Mets (20-15) beat the San Francisco Giants (18-17) by a score of 8-6.

Livan Hernandez, making the start for the Mets, got roughed up early.  Hernandez allowed four runs in the first inning and another in the fifth inning before settling down.  He pitched five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. 

Sean Green allowed a run on two hits in the sixth inning.  Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes each turned in scoreless innings.  Francisco Rodriguez turned in a 1-2-3 9th inning to notch his 11th save of the season.

Facing Tim Lincecum, the Mets had a stiff task ahead of them.  David Wright drove in one in the first inning with an RBI single.  Down 5-1, the Mets got two more in the sixth inning on an Omir Santos sac-fly and another Wright RBI single. 

The Mets got two on to start the seventh inning, chasing Lincecum.  With the bases loaded and none out, Wright hit a bases-clearing double to left field to tie the game. 

In the 9th, Ryan Church attempted to bunt over two runners.  Brian Wilson fielded and threw to third, trying to get the lead runner, but his toss went wide and Gary Sheffield scored, giving the Mets the lead.  Santos added another run on an RBI sac-fly.

Wright went 3-5 with 4 RBI and a stolen base tonight.  He has absolutely dominated over the last two games.

What a win.  Hanging in against the 2008 Cy Young winner and then exploiting the Giants bullpen and their mistakes.  I tweeted that this win might be season defining.  What do you think?

Live Mets Chat: NYM @ SFG

Join in to chat about game two of the Mets / Giants matchup by the bay.

(Chat removed, as usual.)