Mets on the Wrong Side of the Game of Inches; Lose to Braves 3-2 on St. Patrick’s Day

(When I said yesterday I would get this write-up posted around midnight... I, uh... I meant, uh...after  noon.)

The Mets played arguably their crispest game yet, but lost a 2-0 lead in the 8th inning to lose to the Braves 2-3.

Our orange and blue boys were decked out in their St. Patty’s Day best, wearing green jerseys and caps. They are kinda snazzy (I've warmed up to them), but there are two things I would change. I would add a green Mets patch to the left sleeve, and take away the New Era logo on the left side of the cap (which I wish they’d do with all the on-field hats across professional baseball, but I know they never will.) These are particulars, however, that don’t really make that much of a difference for a one-day uniform. The bases were also covered with lucky clovers. Cute.

Both teams pitched very well, with the game clocking in just over 2 hours and 30 minutes long. Jon Niese was sharp, working quickly and showing off his 85 mph cutter he added to his repertoire this off-season. It looked real good, and should be something that makes him that much more lethal in 2012. The fast pace he set allowed him to pitch into the 6th, clocking in just over 70 pitches.  Jon said during an in-game interview that his goals are to pitch the entire season and mix all his pitches in more than he has in the past. This will most certainly be a welcome sight to all us Met fans.

There was no real threat for either team till the bottom of the 6th, when Murph plated a two-run single to the right side of the infield. It looked as if the Mets would practice taking a 2-run lead into the top of the 9th, but Chuck James (who has a crazy shoulder surgery story) couldn’t keep runners off the bases, and the Braves plated their first run while he was still on the mound. Ramon Ramirez, who has struggled so far this spring, came in to relieve James and provided none whatsoever with fastballs the trailed upwards. According to a graphic from SNY, he was good at stranding inherited runners last year. Not today. The Braves scored two more runs on a double down the 3rd base line, taking a 3-2 lead. I know it is relatively early in the spring, but this was silently (based on last year’s numbers) Sandy’s best relief move and Ramon’s lack of sharpness is one of the more concerning things so far this spring. I’m sure he will sharpen up a bit, because we clearly need his past awesomeness.

The Mets had an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the 8th with two men on, no out and The Duda pinch-hitting for Ike. He ripped a line-drive down the right field line that looked as if it would fall in to give us a 4-3 lead. But alas, it was inches foul, and Duda struck out on a great slider that cut inside, a hard pitch to lay off. We continue to increase our LOB numbers as the Braves were able to silence the threat. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out we lead the league in runners Left On Base over the last 5 years. I’ll do some research.

Some other takeaways from the game:

• Right-handers hit .292 off Jon Niese last year. This number clearly must go down.
• Jordany Valdespin, 24 years old, is a very talented player and looked good at shortstop during this game. If he had matured earlier (immaturity has apparently slowed him down) he would probably already be a major leaguer.
• The Mets were in green jerseys but still wore the blue helmets. What? The Wilpons couldn’t afford green ones? (I try to stay away from LOLMets financial jokes, but I couldn’t help myself when I saw that color combination.)
• SNY cut to Zack Wheeler pitching in a minor league game on Field 4, where a nice crowd was watching the Mets farm hands. Man, the fastball they showed him pitch was electric. Looking forward to his progress.
• Mike Baxter is playing hard and trying to increase his versatility by working a little bit in center field, knowing we lack depth in that department. The battle for a bench spot between the Whitestone native and Adam Loewen is a nice little storyline of the spring.
• Speaking of Adam Loewen, he made a fantastic catch running into the foul territory bullpen in left field. Looks like he is getting sharper on defense. He’s fast for such a big guy.
• Murph continues improving at 2nd base. He looked sharper on every ball hit his way, and his double play prowess is much tighter. Keep working hard, Murph (which is redundant to say ‘cause he will always work hard. Glad he’s on our side.)
• Ugh. Jason Hayward looks healthy.
• Both Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch looked sharper during this game.
• Omar Quintanilla is a hustler who swings a good bat and plays some good defense. Should he be back-up infielder over Ronny Cedeño? (Cedeño’s really good defensively though. Turned a good-looking double play in the 9th playing 2nd base.) I’m sure if Quintanilla keeps hitting, we’ll see him up at some point. Glad to see more depth this year.
• Interesting spring tidbit. The starters taken out in the middle of the game get their jogging in along the warning track, during game-play.
• Kevin and Keith were having fun talking to Braves' player Matt Diaz during the 8th inning. Seems like a stand-up guy, outside of the whole playing for the Braves thing.
• Is Lucas Duda growing a beard? I will continue to monitor this possible development daily. 

The Mets take on the Astros in Kissimmee today at 1:05 pm today. The game is not televised but is on The Fan 660.

Recap of Yesterday's Mets Stuff and the 2011 Photo of the Day "Bonus Round": New. York. City.

“Today (Jose Reyes) came up right handed. That told me something. It told me he is either not as comfortable from the left side (against the knuckleball), or that’s just the side he feels stronger from. That tells me something – that gives me information I need.” --RA Dickey

Jose Reyes faced his former team for the first time yesterday, and while he did not swing through the knuckeball, he did ground it weakly to RA in his only plate appearance of the day (because of rain.) It will be interesting to see if batting from the right side against the righty knuckler was just an experiment, or if he recognizes early on that he will be more successful against the knuckle from that angle. Regardless, I look forward to Dickey making Reyes look silly swinging through that 76 mph knuckleball of his.

The Mets lost to the Marlins by a score of 3-1 yesterday. Jason Bay and Ike Davis both swung the bat well, but an Adam Loewen error in left field led to two runs scoring. It is clear that Adam can swing the bat well for a pitcher converted to an outfielder, but he has a lot of work to do before being compared defensively to Rick Ankiel. His body-type says that he most likely won't be Ankiel with the glove, but use two hands, Adam. Use two hands.

The Mets also made their first cuts, and nobody was surprised to see Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia reassigned to minor league camp. They both are very close, but as I've said before, they need a little Wallyball before they make it to The Show.

The Mets will take on the Tigers at the Domain today on SNY at 1pm.

**********************************************************************************

I love New York City. I love the many pockets. I love discovering new pockets. I love the food. I love the people. I love looking down streets like Downtown Broadway and feeling as if you're in the Grand Canyon of Steel and Concrete.

I love baseball. I love the Mets.

And I love the view you get of the Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn, Queens, and the Citi Field upper deck smoking section.

New. York. City.

Lets. Go. Mets.

The Southpaw Chronicles Pt. 2

The weekend in terms of Mets stuff got away from me, and this is the first chance I have had to write about Johan’s second outing. I thought about skipping the game (since life can sometimes get in the way of capturing every waking moment of the evolution of the 2012 New York Mets) but the fact it was a 2-4 Mets loss in 5-inning rain-shortened game, coupled with the Johan factor, left me no choice but to see the innings through. 

Was that enough of a run-on sentence for you?

It continues to be lovely to see Johan as jovial as he has been. He’s as bubbly and as bouncy as any player I’ve ever seen. He’s all business on the mound, however. Instead of working mostly on his fastball as he did his first game (which was still around 90), there began to emerge his repertoire of pitches, some which will get more screen time now that he has had his shoulder repaired. With Johan’s pitching acumen, I am beginning to envision as overtly effective of a pitcher post-surgery as there was pre-surgery. Check out this pitching sequence to right-handed batting Emilio Benefacio:

• 0-1  Fastball up and inside
• 1-1  Low inside fastball
• 1-2  84 mph slider down and low check-swing foul
• 2-2 High Fastball
• 2-2 Slider foul upstairs and in
• 2-3 78 mph change-up low and inside; swung on and missed

Even if he doesn’t improve the fastball speed, it still has enough bite to be a great set-up for his improved off-speed pitches. The change-up has slowed down as well, but that’s a good thing, since it needs to be around 8-12 mph less than the fastball. This kind of pitch sequence shows off Johan’s high pitching IQ. While I know the league hasn’t even come close to adjusting to the new Johan (which looks awfully similar to the old Johan), Johan will clearly have the intellect to adjust right back. Here's to his good health.

Some other takeaways from the short game:

• The boo birds are already out for Jason Bay.  In his first at-bat, we see the usual Jason Bay hustle lead to an infield hit. Then, when he strikes out the second time up, the boos rain down. Jason Bay is sucking not because of a lack of effort, and I appreciate seeing him run down the line every time. This is why I so desperately want to see him turn this thing around…besides it being an excellent thing for the Mets.
• Loewen’s got some good opposite field power, and I like how he stayed with Buerle’s outside breaking ball.
• Murph keeps putting his knee in the wrong place, as is evident on a pick-off play at 2^nd base. He’s gotta correct this otherwise his knees will keep getting taken out, taking him out for longer than any of us needs. He has such a great swing; A “Charlie Hustle” type swing.
• Schwinden has a good arsenal, but none of them have that much bite. He also fiddles with the ball a lot in his glove before pitching. Serviceable spot starter.
• Lagares, who crushed minor league pitching last year, had some serious pop in his bat, even though he grounded out to short.
• Rauch is very hittable right now. I like his arsenal, with a good slider and curveball, but he can’t seem to miss bats. He’s got an interesting tattoo on his neck, though.
• Thole is getting better at blocking the baseball
• Lucas Mayhem - #62
• Ruben Tejada’s got that focus in his eyes. I like this kid. His determination to succeed will be a fantastic thing to watch for Met fans.
• Nice exchange to end the game; Wally Backman, who was supposed to talk to the  booth during the 6^th inning: “Hey guys. See ya! (Takes his headphones off) Ron, I’ll see you at Duffy’s in a half hour.”

The Greatest Spring Training Game Ever

Well, that is most certainly an exaggeration, but it got you in here, right?

Yesterday's 4-5 loss to the Miami Marlins is certainly not the greatest baseball game ever played in March, but I enjoyed it the most, so far. It's spring training for us fans as well, as we practice rooting for our team again, and in the 9th inning, with our orange and blue squad down one run (as opposed to teal, black, orange and yellow), I found myself rooting hard for a come-from-behind victory. Also, what made it more enjoyable is that players seem to have their heads in the game and the situations, and that is translating to crispier play.

Unless you're Mike Pelfrey.

Look, I understand it was his first spring training start. Pelf hasn't normally done well in spring (or the regular season, for that matter) and this start should be taken with a grain of salt (4 runs in less than 3 innings, hard hit grapefruits the whole way through). But how more boring can you be as a pitcher? I will give Pelfrey his own write-up soon because I have a good amount to say about the hurler. Let me just say this for now: If Pelf can't get it together, you won't see him on the mound as a Met for very long.

Zambrano looked sharp early for the Marlins. He struck out the first two batters of the game with ease, and as Jason Bay walked to the plate, I said to myself, "Striking out isn't what Jason Bay's gonna do." Turns out my sarcasm was unwarranted because that's NOT what he did. Bay walked, as did Ike Davis, and up strolled Lucas May, a catcher brought in to compete for the back-up spot. May's numbers in AAA last year were quite solid (albeit Pacific Coast League), and a couple of pitches into the at bat, we soon found out why he was brought in here. Lucas May destroyed the baseball, and he slid into second base with a 2 RBI double. Lucas May tore the cover off the ball all day, a day that was the official beginning of what I have now coined as Lucas Mayhem (let the whole world know: you heard it here first). If he continues to hit the way he did today, we've got quite the competition for the back-up catcher on our hands.

Let the Mayhem begin.

Other takeaways from the game:

• Adam Loewen has a mighty cut. He is an interesting option for power off the bench if he continues to perform.
• There were horseshoe mustaches all around! Besides our Byrdak, Kevin Mattison and Chris Hatcher of the Marlins each have their own distinctive horseshoe 'stache. It would be awesome if this becomes an epidemic throughout baseball. David Wright should grow one.
• Quintanilla = nice depth at back-up infielder
• Miguel Batista = "The Handyman" (you heard it here first as well)
• Turner is a good option at third. Justin Turner is a solid piece for this team
• Den Dekker's got a good glove out there in center
• Spring Training might be competitive practice, but it is also the time for practicing winning, or put another way, practicing how NOT to lose. Valdespin hopefully will learn from his 9th inning mistake (He stepped in front of the catcher as the catcher was trying to throw down to second base. The ump called interference) He's got an immense amount of talent, but these are the same mistakes that have separated us from the good teams for too long now, and must be corrected before these players get to the big leagues.
• Mayhem. 

That is all.