The Mets can hit, just not in the clutch

I’m just going to present you with a few statistics, sans commentary, for you to take a look at and make your own informed decision on.

	#s	MLB Rank	NL Rank
AVG	.279	2nd	1st
OBP	.359	2nd	1st
SLG	.409	14th	4th
	#s	MLB Rank	NL Rank
RISP AVG	.278	4th	1st
RISP OBP	.386	2nd	1st
RISP SLG	.421	10th	4th
	#s	MLB Rank	NL Rank
RISP+2 out AVG	.232	24th	11th
RISP+2 out OBP	.364	14th	8th
RISP+2 out SLG	.324	27th	13th
	#s	MLB Rank	NL Rank
Bases Loaded AVG	.211	28th	15th
Bases Loaded OBP	.256	28th	15th
Bases Loaded SLG	.342	28th	14th

Manuel’s Musing for June 17

“Our thing is to bob and weave and jab, and they be hitting us with body blows.”

-Jerry Manuel on…something?

Game Recap: Orioles 6 – Mets 4

A game they could have won, but didn’t.

The Baltimore Orioles (28-37) beat the New York Mets (33-30) by a score of 6-4.

Tim Redding was, in a word, “meh.”  He seems to pitch well, but not when it counts.  He allowed four earned runs on seven hits in 5 1-3 innings, including Matt Wieters first career home run.

A typical fifth starter start.  Too bad he’s “third” in the rotation. 

Bobby Parnell relieved Redding, and ended up throwing a hitless inning.  Pedro Feliciano came on in the seventh with one out and allowed a single to Nick Markakis before serving up a hanger to Aubrey Huff, who crushed it over the right field wall to break up the tie.

Can’t expect Feliciano to be perfect all the time.  He just wasn’t hitting hit spots tonight.

Brian Stokes (yes, really!) came on to pitch 1 1-3 innings, allowing one hit but no runs.

The 5th, 6th, and 7th batters in the Mets order had big nights. Ryan Church, batting 5th, went 2-4 with a double and a run scored.  Gary Sheffield went 2-4 with a solo home run.  Daniel Murphy went 3-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

The game changer came in the sixth with the bases loaded.  Alex Cora had just walked, driving in a run, and Fernando Tatis was at the plate.  On a 2-0 pitch with one out, Tatis, who was pinch hitting for Fernando Martinez swung and grounded a ball to second base, setting up an easy double play to end the threat.

Trying to do too much.  Let him pitch to you.  He just walked in a run and was behind you in the count, Tatis.  Baseball fundies!

This PH move will come into question tomorrow.  Hindsight is 20/20, but I didn’t like the move when Jerry Manuel pulled the trigger.

The Mets then got a one-out ground rule double from Tatis in the 9th inning.  With Carlos Beltran and David Wright coming up behind him, the Mets looked to have a shot at scoring.  Both players swung at the first pitch and both flied out to the outfield. 

Yargh.  Wright’s hitting streak ended at 11 games.  Bad timing?  I can’t complain though.  He’s just been too good lately.

Game Chat: NYM @ BAL [Game 2]

Weather permitting, the Mets will take on the Orioles for the second game in Camden Yards.

Join in for some barstool banter with some fellow Mets fans.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Lineup for game two in Baltimore

The tarp is on the field and the weather doesn’t look too promising, but here is the Mets lineup for the second game against the O’s…

1. Alex Cora – SS
2. Fernando Martinez – LF
3. Carlos Beltran – CF
4. David Wright – 3B
5. Ryan Church – RF
6. Gary Sheffield – DH
7. Daniel Murphy – 1B
8. Brian Schneider – C
9. Luis Castillo – 2B

Tim Redding is on the mound.

Bobby Parnell gives up a lot of hits

Lefty or righty, batters seem to be able to hit well off of Bobby Parnell.

Parnell vs. LHB: 18-62 (.290 AVG), 5 BB, 12 K
Parnell vs. RHB: 14-39 (.359 AVG), 6 BB, 9 K

Parnell is sporting a 3.20 ERA in 2009, but has seen that rise over his last three appearances. 

Entering the series against the Phillies last year, Parnell had a 1.96 ERA.  After letting in four earned runs over his last 2 1-3 innings (three appearances), his ERA has jumped over a full point.

Yikes.

First base has been a black hole since Delgado went down, right?

Carlos Delgado last played in a game on May 10.  Since then, Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy have taken over at the bag. 

At the bag, they have been able to hold together the infield and perform well above expectations.

At the plate, let’s just say they’ve been pretty awful.  Or have they?

Tatis, since May 11: 16-75, 6 BB, 6 K, 4 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBI … .213 AVG / .302 OBP / .307 SLG

Murphy, since May 11: 11-73, 11 BB, 11 K, 1 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI … .151 AVG / .259 OBP / .205 SLG

I can’t get beyond Murphy’s slugging percentage since May 11.  .205?  Wow.

Combined: 27-148, 17 BB, 17 K, 5 2B, 2 HR, 19 RBI … .182 AVG / .280 OBP / .256 SLG

That’s 30 combined games at first base.  Delgado, through 28 games before going down with injury, had 28 hits, 12 BB, 20 K, 7 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBI … .298 AVG / .393 OBP / .521 SLG.

Delgado got off to a quick start, slowed down, but was coming on before the injury.  Surprisingly, the RBIs are quite close between Delgado and his replacements.  For all the struggles we’ve seen at first, the run production has been quite close. 

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such terrible numbers drive in as much.  It could be a lot better, but I guess it could be a lot worse, too.

Wright shows fire, excites Mets fans everywhere

Even if the Mets lost last night, I think a lot of fans would still be pleased at one thing that happened during the game.

OK, maybe not.  But they should still be (and are) very excited to see David Wright stepping up and getting vocal.  Sure, it was with one of his best buddies on the team, Mike Pelfrey, but it still counts for something.

After the sixth inning ended, an inning Pelfrey just couldn’t finish, Wright was shown jawing at the pitcher in the dugout.  Things looked heated, but positive, and ended with a nice slap on the rear, meaning things were well.

Sure, Wright is the King of Cliché, and if you caught his interview on Joe Buck Live earlier this week, you know what I mean.  Still, he never trips up and always has the right things to say about himself or the team.  I just wish he would be negative once in a while.  Seems we got something of that sort last night.

A lot of fans, myself included, would like to see Wright step up as more of a leader on the Mets.  With Carlos Delgado, the unnamed leader on the team, out with a hip injury, someone needs to step up in his place.  Wright, the young stud third baseman, would be perfect for the role.

He’s already the face of the franchise, why not be the leader in the clubhouse?

It may be only one incident that the cameras were lucky enough to catch, but it’s a sight for sore eyes for some Mets fans.  If Wright can step up and become a leader that other players rally around while putting up spectacular numbers at the plate, he will cement himself as the MVM (Most Valuable Met).

Manuel’s Musing for June 16

“I don't laugh at those.  It's a nightmare and I wake up sweating.  But it's a part of baseball. In the course of 162, everybody gets their breaks and all those things even out, for the most part.”

-Jerry Manuel on Aubrey Huff’s error (similar to Luis Castillo’s error a few days earlier)

Game Recap: Mets 6 – Orioles 4

It’s never, ever easy.

The New York Mets (33-29) beat the Baltimore Orioles (27-37) by a score of 6-4.

Mike Pelfrey set down the first 11 batters that faced him before giving up a single to Nick Markakis in the fourth inning.  Pelfrey got into trouble in the fifth, but struck out Brian Roberts with the bases loaded before any damage was done.

Pelfrey let up two runs over 5 2-3 innings, both coming on a Markakis home run to right field in the sixth inning.  Pelfrey allowed five hits, walked three and struck out two.

Not a spectacular start, but Pelfrey did just enough.  He needed 109 pitches as he worked through the last few innings on the bump.

Sean Green relieved Pelfrey and threw 1 2-3 hitless innings.  Green hasn’t allowed a run in his last 14 innings.

In May, Green was awful.  In June, he’s been spectacular.

Bobby Parnell entered for the bottom of the ninth and allowed two hits to lead off the inning before being removed in favor of Francisco Rodriguez.  K-Rod walked in a run and induced a ground ball, allowing two runs to score, before striking out Adam Jones to end the game to notch a win for the Mets and a save for himself.

Whewwww.  Is anyone else worried about Parnell?  I am.

Fernando Martinez started the Mets off in the fourth inning with a walk.  After Brian Roberts booted a would-be double play ball by Carlos Beltran, the Mets strung together four hits and a sacrifice fly to plate four runs against Jeremy Guthrie.

The Mets again got on the board in the seventh, with what ended up being the winning runs.  The bases were loaded with two outs for David Wright.  Wright skied a ball to shallow right field, which send first baseman Aubrey Huff back.  Huff attempted to make an over the shoulder catch, but the ball fell to the grass, allowing Alex Cora and Martinez to score.

Cora, Wright and Schneider each had multiple hit games.

Again, whew.  Wright didn’t bust out of the box on the ball, as he should have been standing on second when this play was done.  There needs to be a better attention to detail.

It shouldn’t have been this close, but a win is a win.