Mets Pitching the Obvious Culprit In Latest Loss

After reading about how the Mets top prospect, Zack Wheeler, struggled in his last AAA start, my concerns regarding the future and current state of the Mets pitching staff have begun to grow worrisome. With RHP Shaun Marcum's return to the starting rotation in limbo and current fourth and fifth starters, RH Jeremy Hefner and LH Aaron Laffey, respectively, unable to show any signs that they belong at the major-league level, the thought of a strong Mets pitching staff this season is a definite long shot.

Earlier today, Hefner and Laffey's sub-par performances against the Washington Nationals pretty much reinforced that point. Hefner was lifted for a pinch-hitter, Ruben Tejada, in the bottom of the fourth after giving up 3 runs on 4 hits, two of those hits being home runs, raising his earned run average on the young season to 7.07. The decision to pinch-hit for Hefner paid off for manager Terry Collins. Tejada would eventually work out a walk and prolong the inning allowing Tejada to score one of the Mets five runs that inning that gave the Mets a 5-3 lead.

With the Mets now on top, Collins would hand the ball off to Laffey hoping to keep the game in check.That theory would prove to be wishful thinking as the southpaw would go on to surrender a three-run homer to Nats first baseman, Adam LaRoche, in the top of the fifth inning, putting Washington up 6-5. (Laffey's pitching line today, 0.2 IP - 2 hits - 3 runs - 3 ER - BB - HR - 7.20 ERA)

The Mets would go on to tie the score at six in the bottom of the seventh on John Buck's 21st RBI only to see that lead evaporate when reliever Josh Edgin coughed up a solo shot to Bryce Harper in the top of the eighth inning putting the Nats up to stay, 7-6.

Matt Harvey Deserves A Nickname

With all the comparisons of late that Matt Harvey has the mental make-up and talent to become the next Tom Seaver, Mets fans are beginning to wonder if perhaps their current young hard-throwing right-hander is ready for a nickname. Tom Seaver earned himself two nicknames throughout his Hall-of-Fame-career: "The Franchise" and "Tom Terrific". Another dominating Mets right-hander, Dwight Gooden, eventually was known simply as "Doc" or "Dr. K."

There have been many others, popular Mets pitchers, who adopted creative monikers that stuck. David Cone was referred to as "Coney" and Sid Fernandez earned the right to be called "El Sid". There was "El Duque" for the age-less Orlando Hernandez and "Kooz" for Jerry Koosman, who without a doubt was part of that one-two punch along with Seaver of those late-sixties, early-seventies Mets teams.

Francisco Rodriguez enjoyed a hyphenated alias as "K-Rod" and the originator of "Ya Gotta Believe," Tug McGraw, was known to fellow teammates simply as just "Tug,"- how he arrived at that nickname is another story altogether.

There were also others like John Candelaria who started just three games for the Mets back in 1988, having acquired the nickname "The Candy Man," and Frank Viola, who enjoyed some success as a member of the Mets as well as one of the more clever nicknames with "Sweet Music." For the more contemporary New York Mets fan, there's "Big Game Ollie" for the enigmatic left-hander Oliver Perez and "Big Pelf" for 6'7" Mike Pelfrey.

So I ask you, what nickname would you give to Harvey? I have already toyed with, "Matt the Magnificent." Not bad? Let me know in the comments.

Santana's Farewell May Be Sooner Than Expected

Coming into the 2013 season, we all knew that this would most likely be Johan Santana's last year with the Mets. However, the likelihood of the left-hander's presence on the Mets Opening Day roster has taken a crucial blow this weekend. You can pretty much sense it by what's been written about in the last 24 to 48 hours.

No telling when Mets Santana will be ready to pitch again...NY Post (Dan Martin)

"I just don't know when I'm gonna be pitching again, coming into Spring Training I felt great...I was very excited about it and then everything changed in whatever, a few days."

Martin writes that Santana had no regrets about stepping on the mound March 3, the day after GM Sandy Alderson doubted his offseason workout program.

Johan unsure when he'll return to the mound...mets.com (Anthony DiComo)

Santana insisted that he is not worried about missing a significant chunk of the regular season. "It's not as strong," Santana said of his shoulder, "I'm just building up my strength."

DiComo writes that Santana's decision not to participate in any pitching activity after the offseason, opting instead to rest his shoulder may have led to the present state that Santana now finds himself in.

NY Mets ace Johan Santana sounds resigned to an extended rehab in Florida, admits shoulder 'not feeling good'...NY Daily News (Kristie Ackert)

"Every day we make sure that we have a good day so tomorrow we come back and do it again until we can do it without any problems."

Ackert writes that Santana is only doing loss toss at 90 feet. Before he would get on a mound, he would need to feel strong at almost double that distance.

"It is slower but I am making progress, we'll see," Santana said. "Right now I'm just building up and go one day at a time."

Byrd Could Be Answer for Mets Outfield in 2013

At 35, Marlon Byrd has accepted his mistakes and can only hope that his next opportunity with the NY Mets will be one of redemption and not of folly. Byrd's career took a humiliating turn when it was found that he had dabbled in the not-so-glamorous world of Major League Baseball's banned substances which eventually landed him with a 50-game suspension. Byrd was caught taking Tomoxifen which is not a performance-enhancing drug but aids in the prevention of breast tissue growth in men and also stops post-cycle crashes that stem from steroid use.

"It was something stupid," Byrd said. "Whether I was trying to cheat or was not trying to cheat, it was a banned substance. It was not a steroid. But, again, you take something on the banned list you're going to get caught. As simple as that."

Byrd technically didn't miss any major league games last year because he had been released by the Boston Red Sox prior to his suspension. MLB decided to honor his absence from the game as compensation for the suspension. Byrd will be allowed to play at the start of the 2013 season granted he makes the opening day roster for the Mets.

If he's able to return to the All-Star form of 2010 which produced 170 hits leading to a .293 batting average for the Chicago Cubs, Byrd could be a very interesting story line for the Mets this season. Byrd also had 39 doubles, 12 home runs, and a .346 on-base percentage that year while playing in 152 games.

For a team like the Mets who are desperate for veteran help in their outfield, Byrd could be the perfect match as an everyday player in right field or even center field. Mets manager Terry Collins doesn't just see Byrd as a platoon player, he feels that the veteran outfielder could very well land a spot as an permanent fixture in his outfield.

"If you're talking about a guy who's in this camp who has a chance to make a huge difference, it might be Marlon Byrd," Collins said. "This guy was one of the best players in the National League not too long ago. If he's the same player he was in Chicago, we may have found ourselves a right fielder."

Piazza's Rep Takes A Hit with Recent Admissions

In a recent post in Mets Blog entitled, Mike Piazza says he used androstenedione, but not steroids in upcoming book, I voiced my opinion on this subject in their comments section. See below. I have to admit, no pun intended, that other commenters, Mets fans perhaps, were not very pleased with my response.   

It really doesn't matter if the substance he took is or isn't a steroid or if that substance was or wasn't banned at the time...the telling point is that Piazza was looking for an edge and he was willing to find that edge through means that were frowned upon by his fellow peers, this has to come into play when judging his character, as for the HOF, if it's strictly numbers than he should go into the hall, no problem, but as we've seen from the recent HOF voting, this isn't the case

Michael Bourn, Not Interested

Not a fan of the Mets acquiring Bourn.

Some obvious signs that it's a bad idea, the Mets would have to backload the contract and fight to keep their first round pick in this year's draft.

Bourn is currently 30 years old and if John Heyman's facts are even remotely close (5 yrs/$13 M per year), the last two years of the deal would most likely be another salary dump.

Also, Bourn's positives are strictly speed, he doesn't hit for power, his RBI numbers tell me he's more of a complimentary player than a guy who's going to save your outfield, and "what-do-ya-know" he bats left-handed.

I say hold on to the draft pick, you've already convinced your fan base that 2013 is a pipe dream.

Lack of Focus Throughout the Season Crippled Mets

the Mets this season just didn't have the right makeup to play consistent baseball throughout, to win 90-95 games, you have to commit yourself to the long haul, the Mets gave you three good innings, five good at-bats, four good innings, there were too many mental lapses on defense, on the base paths, from their BP, plus their offense was over-matched against LHP, no power, not much speed, and Collins eventually seemed complacent with the overall performance of his team, I remember after the Mets lost to the Phils, 16-0, Collins finally woke up, unfortunately, it was too little too late

Santana's Recent Struggles Have the Mets At A Crossroads

"My season has been a roller coaster, a lot of ups and downs, good days, bad days," said Johan Santana after last night's 6-4 loss to the Nationals in which he became the first Mets pitcher to allow six runs or more in five consecutive starts. "We'll see the next couple of days what they have to say or what they are going to do."

On last night's edition of NY1's Sports on 1, host Kevin Garrity read my email in which I felt that Santana's struggles of late were due to the fact that his fastball and changeup were essentially the same pitch.

Throughout his career, Santana has lived and died by his ability to fool hitters with his changeup. For the changeup to be effective, Santana's fastball would have to hit around 93 mph not 90.  Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen would most likely agree. After last night's game, Warthen proclaimed that Santana was not in "terribly strong pitching shape" and that his rehabilitation which began in mid-December was starting to wear on the veteran left-hander.

"It's just a matter of building that arm strength up, because we saw a vintage Johan for three innings," Warthen said.

Santana held the Nationals batting order perfect through the first three innings until the bottom of the fourth when he surrendered three consecutive singles that was capped off by a grand slam home run by Michael Morse that put Washington up, 4-2.

Are Wright's Current Strike Outs A Concern?

Mets fans are well aware of David Wright's propensity to strike out. Back in 2010, Wright collected a career-high 161 punch outs. For the most part this season, he has been able to keep that aspect of his game in check.

On last night's podcast, I had mentioned that David Wright went 0-for-10 this past weekend with five strikeouts. Furthermore, for the month of July, Wright struck out 27 times in 25 games. Looking back on the previous months of the season, April, May, and June, the Mets third baseman accumulated just 14, 16, and 11 strike outs, respectively, in about the same number of games.

SNY's Keith Hernandez has suggested that Wright's swing involves a little more of an uppercut that what Mets fans are used to seeing. From my standpoint, I've noticed that his plate coverage has diminished. Pitchers have been able to exploit the outside of the plate causing Wright to swing and miss.

Could this be a case of the dog days of summer taking its toll on the Mets slugger or are Mets fans in for more of Wright's strike outs in the coming days?

Pitching Bucks Trend, Mets Win

"We pitched very well tonight," Terry Collins after the Mets squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Giants last night. "That was the difference."

Jon Niese earned his eighth win of the season by allowing just one run in seven innings. Niese surrendered just three hits. He walked two and struck out five.

The bullpen led by Tim Byrdak, Jon Rauch, and Bobby Parnell held San Francisco scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings. Parnell earned his fourth save.

Just Another Loss That Could've Been Averted

On last night's 4-1 loss to the Giants....

It seems as if the Mets defense falters at inopportune times and I have to say that it's right up there with their shaky BP...last night's lineup w/Turner at third and no DWright, VSpin leading off (keep Tejada in the top spot! stop shuffling around your lineup!)...this is why I'm still not sold on Collins (plus, not sure of inning, VSpin on first no outs, Mets down 2-1, have Tejada bunt him over, instead, let's him hit, DP)

Also, why does Collins choose last night's game to give Wright a day off, the Mets were gaining some momentum with the two wins, plus you have Harvey out there who's still green. I would think it would be beneficial to have your marquee guy in Wright out there...plenty of time to rest in the off-season

Don't Think Chris Young Is the Answer

The Mets lost last night, 6-3, pushing them further and further from a possible post-season berth. However, if Dickey is able to get back on track on Sunday and earn his 14th victory of the season, the Mets can at least be happy with themselves for gaining a split of the four-game series with the D-Backs.

Below is a comment that I left on Mets Today which is in reference to Saturday's 14th loss in 16 games for the Mets.

Don't forget Tejada's web gem nominee in foul territory, when he had to avoid a lounging DWright to make a nice sliding catch...tonight's game was entertaining even though it ended with a loss...I agree with you on Young, maybe it's me, but I'm not getting it, I know he just came off of major shoulder surgery but he looks incomplete out on the mound and why would a ball club continue to send him out there every fifth day in that state, the Mets need wins not reclamation projects...maybe it's Alderson's way of feeling nostalgic, for his time on the West coast, particularly when he was with the Padres organization, help me on this, they release Batista without a care in the world, why not do the same with regards to Chris Young?

Mets Lose, Niese Regresses, I'm Pissed

Even though David Wright's 3-run homer brought the Mets within one run and got them back in the game in the top of the 3rd, Niese's throwing error in the 2nd was the worst play I've seen so far this season by a Met...what the hell was Niese thinking on that play, he should have to pay a fine or something!

that was a terrible decision, it just shows that this Mets team still has a lot of growing pains to overcome by fielding a roster of predominantly young players

thanks, Jon, Harvey pitches a great debut and you go out there and lay a big fat stinking EGG!