Manuel’s Musing

“It’s all my crazy ideas.”

-Jerry Manuel on moving Bobby Parnell to the rotation, and other moves with a nod toward 2010

This sums it up nicely

After a great outing from Oliver Perez, Francisco Rodriguez blows another save (with an assist to the home plate umpire).  No thanks to the Mets bats, that went almost completely dead after the first inning.

Here is the FanGraph’s win probability graph, which pretty much sums up this game in one, single image. But hey, Bobby Parnell is starting tomorrow!

Game Chat: NYM @ SDP [Game 109]

Oliver Perez (2-3, 7.03 ERA) vs. Kevin Correia (7-9, 4.93 ERA)

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Lineup for Game 109

Oliver Perez on the mound, so Jerry Manuel is warming up.  Fernando Tatis is starting at second base.

1. Angel Pagan – CF
2. Alex Cora – SS
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Daniel Murphy – 1B
5. Jeff Francoeur – RF
6. Cory Sullivan – LF
7. Fernando Tatis – 2B
8. Brian Schneider – C
9. Oliver Perez - P

New screen at Citi Field that does absolutely nothing [Updated]

I spied this screen over in the right field corner during my latest trip to Citi Field on Wednesday. Throughout the entire game, it stayed off. Not one image of anything ever flashed on the screen. Ever.

So why is it there?

Beats me. My best guess is that it was something for Paul McCartney’s concert, but if it’s already up, why not use it? Very weird.

Update: Here’s the explanation, via NYMetsGrrl94, in the comments:

GKR discussed this during one of the broadcasts. They said it is going to play a feed of the game for the fans in left field seats that can't see all the action. They also said it will be used starting at the next homestand.

And there we have it. Thanks!

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Manuel’s Musing

“With Oliver, everybody might throw. 
I might throw.”

-Jerry Manuel on days Oliver Perez starts

What I missed while I was hugging the porcelain throne

Last night was terrible.  Hopefully it’s only a 24-hour bug.

Anyway, here’s what I missed…

- Bobby Parnell will make a start on Saturday, filling in for Mike Pelfrey.  Pelfrey will be back with the Mets in Arizona, starting on Monday.

I like the idea of seeing what the Mets might have in Parnell, but don’t you think they should stretch him out a little more?  Though he was on the mound for three innings on Wednesday, he only threw 30 pitches.  I guess the Mets are hoping to get just five innings out of him, as he will be held to a 60-75 pitch limit, reports Adam Rubin.

- Angel Berroa DFA’d to make room for Anderson Hernandez.

Oh, goody.

- Gary Sheffield and Luis Castillo may not be as injured as we all thought.

Sheffield was in one of the lineups for the Mets last night, but ended up sitting out.  Castillo may return as early as Saturday, said Jerry Manuel.

- Mets lose to Padres by a score of 8-3.

Not much to see here.  Livan Hernandez had a rough first inning, as usual, but couldn’t stitch together much after that.

Elmer Dessens promoted

The Mets have brought back Elmer Dessens to take the roster spot of Jon Niese.

Dessens pitched 12 1-3 innings for the Mets previously this season.  He has a 3.65 ERA and 1.135 WHIP over nine games.  He’s allowed two home runs, walked six and struck out five.

Adam Rubin notes that Dessens is closing in on his full pension due to 10 years of service time.

No Pelfrey in San Diego

Mike Pelfrey will miss his scheduled start on Saturday in San Diego for the birth of his first child.  Pelfrey did not make the trip to California.

That, coupled with Jon Niese’s injury, leaves two holes in the Mets rotation over the next week.  Here’s how the pitching matchups look for the next five games…

• Livan Hernandez, RHP (7-5, 4.77) @ Clayton Richard, LHP (4-3, 4.47)
• Oliver Perez, LHP (2-3, 7.03) @ Kevin Correia, RHP (7-9, 4.73)
• TBA @ Mat Latos, RHP (3-1, 2.66)
• Johan Santana, LHP (12-8, 3.10) @ Tim Stauffer, RHP (1-3, 3.12)
• TBA @ TBA (First game of Arizona series)

The way I see it, Pelfrey can work the first game of the Arizona series, slotting back in behind Santana.  That means the Mets will need just one pitcher to fill in on Saturday.

Nelson Figueroa was more than serviceable yesterday, coming off a disaster of a start against the Diamondbacks.  Bobby Parnell’s named has also been tossed around as a starter, so that could be an option.

And don’t bother looking down at the minor leagues.  No pitcher is near the “major league ready” level of Jon Niese, so don’t expect a call-up to fare well.