Less Words After Recap Days

I never really want to write that much more about a game I end up recapping, so this is the best I can do. I've got a few thoughts at the end of this Rising Apple Recap of the 7-6 loss at the hands of Milwaukee, so if you're dying to see what I had to say basically the moment the loss was sealed, head on over to the recap.

For now, I got a random song for all of you.

LET'S. GO. METS.

(That's not even my favorite Matt Harvey Meme from that ESPN the Mag tweet, but it's a good one. I saw one I can't find anymore that read, "For you, baby....I'll rub up a new one.")

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for the latest on a Brooklyn Baseball TV Series I am developing, Like the Bedford & Sullivan Facebook page, and follow on Twitter here.

Catching the Good Stuff

On Wednesdays, I get out of class at 10, with no moment to check the score before, mostly not to be rude.

Well, it seemed last night was easy peasy, eh?

(I'm sure it's not as little as I think, but how many 28-year-olds use the phrase, "Easy Peasy" these days?)

In another age, there is no way that Shaun Marcum doesn't get a complete-game shutout, or at least attempt to get a complete-game shutout.

We're not in that age, however, and Shaun Marcum, who, let's face it, was injured for a good portion of last year, might have lost it the way he did in the 20-inning game where the Mets had no pitchers left. Plus, Bobby Parnell hadn't pitched since Friday, and there in front of everybody was a save waiting to be had.

So, no surprise here of Terry Collins' decision. Though it would have been fun to see the man with 9 losses finish what he started for his 1st Mets win.

You know, I'm just realizing I haven't even seen one video from this game? I gotta get on that real quick...


Meanwhile, before the game, Dan Haefeli, Danny Abriano and I Rising Apple Reported about Zack Wheeler, Rafael Montero, and speculative trades, along with plenty of other things New York Mets.

Enjoy.

Listen to internet radio with Rising Apple Report on BlogTalkRadio

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And For the latest on a Brooklyn Baseball TV Series I am developing, Like the Bedford & Sullivan Facebook page, and follow on twitter here.

The 9th Loss

It's been a wacky season for Shaun Marcum. He now has 9 losses, bringing his career total to 57-45. It all hasn't been because of bad pitching, considering he should have been sent home with his 1st win in what turned out to be his 7th loss against the Marlins in 20 innings. He started out clearly ineffective because of no spring training under his belt. Now, though, it's just one of those things.

Whereas the two wins by Harvey and Wheeler on Tuesday had as much to do with the overall mood and direction of this franchise than improving 2013's record, last night, regardless of a win or a loss, was mostly about the short-term, while also analyzing new players such as Eric Young, Jr., who the Mets traded for with Colorado by sending DFA'd Collin "Shut the Rockies Down" McHugh out to the Mile High City after the games on Tuesday.

The doubleheader and the roster moves were discussed prior to The 9th Loss on this week's Rising Apple Report, which unfortunately got cut off a couple minutes early due to technical difficulties on Blog Talk Radio's part.

Listen to internet radio with Rising Apple Report on BlogTalkRadio

I'm tired of writing about loss after loss

So, I won't say much about last night's 6-3 loss at the hands of those Baby Bears.













Told you.

Well, that's not pleasant at all

Couldn't watch or listen but was subjected to Gameday.

There don't seem to be any mediocre starts from this rotation. Just great or bad ones. The Mets, because of solid starts, can be scrappy and turn those into 3-2 wins.

BUT, the Mets, because of horrendous starts, struggle to turn that scrappiness into a 7-run comeback. Those happen on occasion, but are rare, and the Mets are not being properly set up to succeed. Gee seems to be coming around, Harvey, well...Niese is struggling but should but should be fine over the course of the season.

But Hefner is better suited for longman and Marcum...

Well...he just seems completely out of whack right now.

Something has got to be done about this rotation. And something will likely get done reasonably soon.

even LESS attention

My morning started with a Bar Mitzvah at 10 that took me up till 1:50. Subconsciously, I guess, I had completely forgotten about the game that began at 1, even after thinking about it around 12:15 or so. Maybe there was a part of my sports fandom that was all of a sudden more respectful during the luncheon (even though before the speeches I was stepping out for a phone call.)

It wasn't until, probably 2:30, that I put the gameday on at my aunt's surprise Birthday party at Friends of a Farmer, and after my dad had just texted me that it was 3-1, the score was INSTEAD 3-2. I announced to some family members who were curious what was going on.

But, uh....Eeeeeesh.

I guess it seems that, if we're caring about superstitions, I need to be following it via TV or Howie for the Mets to not completely lose their cool against Philadelphia in Citi Field.

The offense....has completely disappeared.

And Robert Carson today....

I haven't watched or read anything about today's game yet (and might never.)

What happened?!

COME. BACK. OFFENSE.
LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.

A Metsian Rundown with 6 Days Left

All of you might very well know all the information I am about to spew, but I figured as the days to opening day dwindle down, I would give an up-to-the-minute rundown of what's going on with our Metsies.

The Mets informed Pedro Feliciano that he would not be on the Opening Day team, and because of new Collective Bargaining rules, Pedro could have either accepted the Minor League assignment or opted out of his contract and looked for a Major League job. Luckily for our left-handed depth, he has accepted the assignment.

David Wright has been swinging the bat well in the cages and will hopefully be playing in Grapefruit games at some point this week, and if all goes well he'll be running out on that field come Monday against the Padres in Flushing.

Daniel Murphy has been playing in Minor League games, and will continue to do so with the hopes he can trot on out there come Monday. He will not play in any Grapefruit games because if he reaggravates the oblique in those then the DL stint cannot be retroactively dated. Hopefully he is out there on Monday, but it is still disappointing that Murph couldn't have a normal spring for a change, now that he has settled into 2nd base.

Travis d'Arnaud, whom I thought the Mets might consider heading north with had Wright and/or Murph not been ready for Opening Day, was finally sent back over to the Minor League side yesterday. I GUARANTEE if he continues to play as well as he has been playing that we will see him by the end of April. Hopefully it all goes smoothly out in Sin City...

Matt den Dekker unfortunately broke his wrist, so any talk of him joining the roster gets thrown out the window (he needed more hitting seasoning anyway.) Luckily he will not need surgery and just has to wear a brace for 6 weeks.

It's Orange and Blue.

With Shaun Marcum's status in limbo, it makes sense that the Mets would look at our old friend Chris Young, who has opted out of his Minor League deal with the Nats.

Yesterday, Dillon Gee, after a few rocky spring starts, fine-tuned himself and kept the Braves hitters extremely off-balance, giving up no runs and striking out 7 in 6 innings of work. I recapped the Mets 7-4 win over at Rising Apple.


And there you have it- some of the more important information coming out of the Metsian universe with 6 days left before Opening Day. 

It's lovely to say that.

It'll be even lovelier to say "5 days..."

And so on and so forth...


Tune into SNY at 1 today for the Mets and the Cardinals.

Here's the Song of the Day.

FIVE. MORE. DAYS. NOW.
LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.

A Couple Wins...But More Importantly - Baseball

I've been going on and on how awesome it is baseball is back so early, and of course I forgot it was a 12 'o Clock start time on Saturday. So, I missed Ruben Tejada's 1st inning home run off Stephen Strasburg. I DVRed the rest of it, and crazily (like I'm sure so many other Mets fans) didn't fast forward (once the DVR stopped glitching.)

I'm not gonna elaborately recap it for you or jot down my notes like I did last year (but that was just me settling into blogging.)

For a recap of the first spring game of the year, check it out at Rising Apple here.

And for a recap of Sunday's Split-Squad games, here is where you'll want to click.

........ok, I slightly lied. I'm gonna over-analyze the first games a bit.

Marlon Byrd is a real sleeper in my eyes. He looks determined and ready to win a job after a lackluster 2012, which included a 50-game suspension for PEDs. A Quote From Ted states that Byrd started training with Victor Conte, and was a firm advocate for Conte's changed way, or something along those lines. And then he got busted for PEDs. Though, according to this USA Today article from when Byrd got suspended, Conte might have had nothing to do with it and it was all one of those "careless" moments that we never factor into our thinking when it comes to these 50-game suspensions being handed down. The Human Element and how stupid and absent-minded we can sometimes be (sorry, MANY times) gets completely thrown out of the equation when these news items pop up.

Am I advocating PEDs? No.

All I'm saying is that not every case is the same.

Anyway, Byrd seems like s perfect candidate for, maybe not Comeback Player of the Year, but something along those lines. I pose a question to you all.

What kind of production would be worth Marlon Byrd as the starting right fielder?

If I were to see a line of .260 15HR 75RBI at the end of the year, that would be MORE than enough production out of that spot. And for those of you who are already calling the outfield "devastating," I'm sure you would take even less than that from of a starting Marlon Byrd.

He will certainly be a very interesting storyline to follow throughout the Spring.

Here's a Kevin Burkhardt interview with the man.




Then there is the case of Collin Cowgill.

Another sleeper for sure.

He's got speed, he's got aggression, he's got determination and he's got guts. Sandy might have pulled off quite the under the radar trade that the people who haven't been paying attention will find out soon how under the radar it actually was. With a lack of opportunity at his fingertips in Oakland, the timing might just be right for him to blossom as a New York Met.

Here's Metsblog's Michael Baron interviewing Cowgill.



Anyway, there were of course many other takeaways from the weekend that was the first taste of Mets baseball we have gotten in a while. But I'm going to stop with the potentials for the outfield. No need to go on about The Duda's 0-7 or Matt Harvey's Spring Debut, or Cory Mazzoni's solid outing, or Dillon back from the shoulder surgery.

Let's just soak up the early baseball...

And love the amount coming up next several months.

For those that weren't able to watch the televised game, watch the following videos for no other reason than to see Mets uniforms on grass once more.

There's Ruben's home run.

And Shaun Marcum's Mets Debut, with a snazzy Ike Davis defensive play to boot.

Not to mention Wheeler's ML Camp Debut.

And of course Cowgill's heads up play.

INHALE. EXHALE.
BASEBALL'S. BACK.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.

The First Ted's Quote of the Year

Hey!!! There was some actual news yesterday!!!

As we were learning of the Shaun Marcum signing and I was inspired to question the knowledge the rest of the NL East has on our Mets rotation, I decided to text my Phillie Friend Ted to tell him what I thought of the Michael Bourn rumors.

A warning to all of you: Some of the symbols that replace letters may be inappropriate for young readers...

Me: I think Michael Bourn seriously may become a Met. This is a move I endorsed weeks ago so I so hope they follow through even though its another lefty.

Ted: I don't really care
It'd be better for me if he didn't
But in general there is a lot of other shit that concerns me way more

Me: I can tell you as a friend you *$^@#ing asshole. I could give two &%$# when u send me phillies stuff
%$#& u haha

Ted: Honestly it's the braves and the Nats division.  We're both looking up

Me: I don't expect to win the division

Ted: So who cares if we're even with you or better there is no prize for 3rd
That's my logic

Me: I only care in the season starting. And enjoying 162 games.
Your logic allows for less fun no matter what happens

Ted: My standards are higher based on recent successful years.  Do we return to relevance or fall further from it.
That's the unfortunate story line of our upcoming season
Our team is in a tough year age wise

Me: (Nothing to do with standards. everything to do with loving baseball.) You could easily win the division, btw. But probably Nats. And u are one of wild cards. I fully believe in what I see on paper from ur team.
And u will probably do a better job bouncing back from nagging age injuries.

Ted: Hopefully.

Me: Ur the phillies. U finished 3rd and almost squeezed ur way back in, then in offseason made nice moves.

Ted: It's just the Nats are good and Young

Me: Yep. They prob take division.
But I'd bet on you in playoffs.

Ted: But the other teams made better ones

Me: Justin upton is sick

Ted: Yeah

Me: We could have packaged something. There's was bull

Ted: And I bet he makes inconsistent BJ much better
Not to mention heyward

Me: Yeah oh $%#& that's right!!!!!
The braves
They both make each other better. Including better lineup

Ted: And thats what I'm saying.  The braves are %&$#ing scary

Me: Both uptons protected better

Ted: So sign Bourn...I still think we're both kind of in trouble

Me: Creepin' and crawlin' like a sniper in the null...

YEAH...MORE. STAR. WARS.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.