12 posts tagged “gary sheffield”
As the Mets continue to become more irrelevant in the postseason picture, that means the less games that FOX and ESPN are going to be televising with them involved.
If you believed in hexes or curses, one could certainly understand the troubled case of the 2009 New York Mets.
Written July 7:
The Mets have their next 6 at home going into the All-Star Break. 3 against the Dodgers, owners of the best record in baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds. Figure the Mets go 3-3 over that span, losing the series to the Dodgers, winning the series against the Reds.
Written July 7:
After the All-Star break, the Mets go on the road for 4 against Atlanta, 3 against Washington, 3 against Houston. If this were truly the 2009 Mets with all their healthy starters in the lineup, it would not be absurd to expect them to win 8-9 of those 10 games.
But without those starting players in the lineup and the team's inability to score runs at a consistent pace, the more likely outcome of that 10-game roadtrip is 4-6.
Written July 7:
The Mets will finish up July with a 4-game set at home against the Colorado Rockies, and a 4-game set that extends into August (1 game in July) against the dying Arizona Diamondbacks. Over those 5 games, I'll give the Mets a 3-2 record.
Written July 7:
Taking into account all the series remaining in the month, that would bring the Mets to a July finish of 12-14, and a total record of 49-53 through 102 games played.
Written July 7:
In a perfect world, you get back all your healthy players PLUS Billy Wagner in the bullpen by August 1, 2009. Maybe you already have some of then back already. But the Mets would then need to go around 39-14 over the rest of the season, and pray that other teams in the NL East encounter troubles of their own. While that's not impossible, it's certainly not very probable. Keep in mind that this is also assuming that the team doesn't suffer any additional injuries to major players.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4366267
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Mets general manager Omar Minaya said Thursday that he has apologized to a beat reporter for his critical comments during a bizarre news conference earlier in the week.
Minaya said he met with New York Daily News reporter Adam Rubin on Wednesday. But the GM was unclear when asked Thursday if he stood by his statements that questioned Rubin's motives and credibility for a series of articles about former player development executive Tony Bernazard.
Minaya has been sharply criticized since he said Rubin had "lobbied" him and Bernazard for a job in player development. Rubin denied he asked Minaya for a job and insisted he had merely sought career advice.
Minaya says he believes Rubin accepted his apology.
Good. That's what should have occurred after Monday's debacle of a press conference where Minaya seemingly lost his cool, if not his mind entirely.
Now to the interesting question... It's one day before the trading deadline, and the Mets are pretty much doing exactly what I predicted here. Though there are still 3 games left to play in July, so we'll have to see how those games end out.
The issue is this. The Mets haven't died a horrible death over the last month, and the current 4-game win streak they are riding is helping things. But they're still a long ways out of the wild card race with 6 teams in front of them, and currently 10 games behind the Phillies in the NL East.
The Mets can't really sell any players, because the few options they do have to trade, they either need for next year (Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green) or are on the DL (Gary Sheffield, JJ Putz).
At the same time, expecting the club to make a play for a major impact player at this point in time, is going to cost a significant amout of prospects out of an already-depleted farm system.
So it seems the best thing for the Mets to do before the trading deadline, is really nothing. That's not to say you don't have conversations with other GMs about trade ideas, but there just doesn't seem to be any major actions to take right now except hope that the injured players begin to come back as soon as humanly possible.
There isn't a great free agent class for the 2010 season, but that's likely where the Mets will have to focus their attention. Perhaps there will be offseason trades to be made that will allow the club to improve in areas they need to, instead of making desperation trades right now for a postseason berth that isn't realistic.
Right now, put out a good product, have a winning season, don't do anything stupid, and plan for 2010.
F-Mart (or K-Mart as I will be calling him the rest of the year) is clearly in a situation he's not ready for.
He can play the outfield just fine and dandy, and he did manage an RBI double during tonight's game against the Yankees. But in two key situations facing lefty Phil Coke and righty Brian Bruney, he not only struck out, but swung at pitches that were at the level of his neck or even higher up.
But it's not just these two ABs that have shown just how overmatched K-Mart is at the MLB level. He may very well be the next big thing in the Mets organization, but now that we've seen him play, it's clear that it won't be until 2010 at the earliest as to when he's truly ready for the bigs. It may even be longer than that.
Unfortunately, with no Carlos Beltran to play CF and the Mets organization refuses to believe Jeremy Reed is capable of being a full-time fill-in centerfielder, they're stuck with K-Mart until further notice.
I understand that Jerry Manuel doesn't want to overuse Gary Sheffield in the OF, and Ryan Church runs hot and cold, mostly cold against lefty pitching. And Fernando Tatis is on pace to win this season's "GO THE HELL AWAY" award after winning "Comeback Player" award last season, and Nick Evans has yet to prove he's any better than K-Mart, what can an MLB manager do with such unenviable options?
The NY Times article speaks of K-Mart's inexperience and youth working against him, but perhaps it's simply that his hitting skills have not fully developed at a level necessary when playing Major League Baseball. While he made a fantastic sliding catch in centerfield off a sinking liner from Chien-Ming Wang in today's 4-2 loss, he makes too many unnecessary one-handed catches, and doesn't consistently position himself properly on sac fly balls.
The Mets have hyped up Fernando Martinez as THE guy as the future of the franchise, but so far, the future looks bleak.
I'm not gonna lie.
This is going to be a pivotal game for the New York Mets in numerous ways. They've already lost the season series against the Yankees, having lost 4 out of 5 games so far. Will tonight be 5 of 6? Or can they escape with a 2-4 season record against the Skanks? If the Mets lose tonight, they'll have been swept at home by the Yankees.
The first Mets-Yankees game this year in which 2B Luis Castillo dropped what should have been the final out and put the Mets up 1-0 in the series, is looming larger than it has in a long while.
But it's more than the Yankees now. If the Mets win, they're going to fall to a record of 37-37, and 3 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies. Falling to .500 at this point in the season is only slightly palatable because the rest of the NL East (not including Washington) are all within 5 games of each other.
This is a Mets offense riddled with injury, and the reserves are not holding it together they way they need to. David Wright may lead the NL in BA, but his power numbers have dropped so far down, that he can't carry the team anymore.
The minor league callups like Argenis Reyes (2B) and Fernando Martinez (CF) have been perfectly fine in the field, and absolutely dreadful at the plate. The middle relief has become a little burnt out, and the minor league callups like Jon Switzer and veteran Elmer Dessens haven't helped any.
The key to the Mets winning games is that the "everyday players" need to step things up at the plate and begin to manufacture runs. You don't have to hit longballs to win games, but you do have to execute when runners are in scoring position. For a team to be 1-hit by AJ Burnett and shutout by the Yankees last night is discouraging. But the Mets only amassed 3 hits and 1 run on Friday night. So they've been outscored 14-1 by the Yankees in 2 games, and
40-15 over the 5 games played so far. Disgusting.
Tonight's pitching matchup pits Chien-Ming Wang (0-6, 11.20 ERA) aginst Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05 ERA). While Wang is winless this season, and hasn't won a game since June 15, 2008, he IS looking better than he did in the beginning of the season. He gave up 3 ER in 5 IP in each of his last two starts (Washington, Atlanta), and while that's nothing great, it's a lot better than the way he was pitching to begin the 2009 season.
Livan has become a solid #2 for the Mets. In his last two starts, he pitched 7 innings each game, giving up 2 earned runs each time out. However, he was the starting pitcher against the Yankees in the first game between these two ballclubs in 2009 in what is forever going to be known as "The Castillo game," and he got rocked hard in that outing for 6 ER in 5.1 IP.
The trick to Livan's success tends to be fiddling around a wider strike zone, and taking advantage of relatively inexperienced hitters who aren't easily fooled by his 80 MPH fastballs and 60 MPH curveballs. Livan has been enormously successful for the Mets against other NL East opponents this season, less so against the crosstown rival Yankees. We'll see if he can save this team from sinking tonight.
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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:
5:11pm: Not a good way for the Mets to start a ballgame. Derek Jeter pounds a shot to deep left-center field which bounces off the wall for a leadoff double.
5:13pm: Nick Swisher grounds a ball to 1B Daniel Murphy who is playing in a little. Murphy seems to have a little trouble getting the ball out of his glove. He throws to 3B David Wright to get Derek Jeter at 3rd base, but Jeter makes it in safely. I don't fault Murphy for trying to make the play, but the sure out at 1st was probably more wise. Swisher safe at 1st.
5:16pm: Mark Teixeira strokes a double down the leftfield line scoring Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher. 2 runs across so far. Yankees up 2-0 and still nobody out.
5:18pm: Alex Rodriguez walks. Livan Hernandez is looking pretty bad through 4 batters. He may end up settling down but he's gotta limit the damage ASAP.
5:21pm: Robinson Cano grounds into 2B Luis Castillo, who throws to SS Alex Cora, and then onto 1B Daniel Murphy for the double play. However, Daniel Murphy drops the ball out of his glove, and his foot was moving off the bag anyways, so it looks like Cano woulda made it safely to first base no matter what. Daniel Murphy can't afford any more mental mistake at 1B. Mark Teixeira to 3rd base. 1 out.
5:24pm: Livan Hernandez almost picks off Robinson Cano at 1st but he dives back in just ahead of the tag.
5:25pm: Jorge Posada hits a sac fly to CF Fernando Martinez. He finally makes a two-handed catch and makes a nice throw home to catcher Brian Schneider, but Teixeira is safe without a problem. Yankees up 3-0. 2 outs.
5:26pm: Robinson Cano is caught stealing by Brian Schneider who throws onto Alex Cora, getting Cano easily. 3 outs. Livan has GOT to settle down, and no more fucking errors from the Mets defense.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:29pm: Daniel Murphy leads off and flies out to CF Brett Gardner. 1 out.
5:30pm: They just showed footage of Livan Hernandez in the Mets dugout after the top of the 1st. Schneider told him he did well, and then Livan gave Castillo a pat on the back for his nice play in the inning. Livan then went into the clubhouse to vomit.
5:31pm: Alex Cora gets hit by a pitch from Chien-Ming Wang and takes his pass to 1st base.
5:34pm: David Wright strikes out at a slider in the dirt. Lovely. 2 outs.
5:36pm: Gary Sheffield singles up the middle, sending Alex Cora to 3rd base.
5:37pm: Fernando Tatis flies out to RF Nick Swisher. 3 outs.
Top of 2nd Inning:
5:42pm: ESPN shows an interesting stat about Livan Hernandez. During the 1st inning this season, Livan has posted a 6.00 ERA. The rest of the game? A far more manageable 3.90 ERA.
5:43pm: Melky Cabrera strikes out swinging. 1 out.
5:44pm: Brett Gardner flies out to SS Alex Cora in shallow leftfield. Cora uses two hands baby. 2 outs.
5:45pm: Fernando Martinez may suck with the bat, but he makes a superb diving catch in centerfield to grab a sinking liner off the bat of pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. 3 outs.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:50pm: Fernando Martinez grounds out to 3B Alex Rodriguez who is perfectly positioned in the 3B-SS hole, away from the line, makes a short dive to his left and throws to 1B Mark Teixeira for the easy out. 1 away.
5:51pm: ESPN shows a replay of A-Rod on the last play wincing a bit after the throw. Did he just hurt his hip a little? I FUCKING HOPE SO!!!!
5:53pm: Brian Schneider takes a 3-2 pitch low for a walk.
5:55pm: Luis Castillo grounds into a 4-6 forceout. 2B Robinson Cano to SS Derek Jeter to get Schneider. Castillo is safe at first as there was no throw from Jeter since Luis can still move.
5:56pm: Livan Hernandez swings at the first pitch he sees from Wang, grounding it to SS Derek Jeter who tosses to 2B Robinson Cano for the force. 6-4. 3 outs.
Top of 3rd Inning:
5:59pm: Derek Jeter hits a solid and hard line drive into the glove of CF Fernando Martinez. 1 out.
6:01pm: Nick Swisher crushes a ball off the FOXBusiness.com sign just on the foul side of the rightfield foul pole.
6:02pm: Swisher hits a line drive on the next pitch into the glove of RF Fernando Tatis. 2 outs.
6:03pm: Mark Teixeira lines out to LF Gary Sheffield. 3 outs. Livan looks like he settled down. But this Mets offense needs to come alive and not allow Chien-Ming Wang to get his shit straight today of all days.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:06pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging at a low pitch in the dirt. Posada drops it so Murphy runs but Posada completes the strikeout by throwing down to 1st. 1 out.
6:09pm: Alex Cora works out a walk.
6:10pm: David Wright hits into a 6-4-3 motherfucking double play. 3 outs. Wang can walk everyone he wants as long as the Mets keep grounding into these fucking DPs.
Top of 4th Inning:
6:14pm: Alex Rodriguez rips a ball into CF for a single. That makes him 12 for 20 off of Livan Hernandez.
6:15pm: Robinson Cano hits into a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play. Castillo to Cora to Murphy. 2 outs. Whew!
6:16pm: Jorge Posada grounds out to 2B Luis Castillo. 4-3. 3 outs.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:22pm: Gary Sheffield takes a leadoff walk.
6:37pm: Melky Cabrera crushes a 3-2 pitch to one of the deepest parts of right-centerfield, but Gary Sheffield makes a nice catch on a 400-ft flyball. 1 out.
- Daniel Murphy's fumfering in the 1st inning. He attempted to get Derek Jeter at 3rd base on a groundball, and it was close. But it was the wrong play. I won't kill him on that only because it was close, and it would've been great had he nailed him. However, dropping the ball on the Cano double play AND having your foot off the bag when neither of those things should have occurred.
- Manager Jerry Manuel. Despite needing to make a couple of moves, having lefty Fernando Martinez face lefty Phil Coke in the 6th inning was a bad call. Martinez can't hit lefty pitching, and looked like a fucking joke doing so in this AB where he struck out at a ball at eye level. The right move was pinch-hitting for him using Nick Evans, and then either moving him into CF, or then putting Jeremy Reed into CF instead. I can understand not wanting to sub in 2 bench guys for one, but it had to be done, and Jerry didn't.
The other ridiculous managerial call was pitching to Derek Jeter in the 9th with Mariano Rivera on deck. Even Jeter thought this was retarded. Seriously! While ultimately the Mets lose the game either way, the fact that Jerry didn't call for the intentional pass to Jeter immediately was one of those huge "Is this guy for real?" moments. The only defense I can imagine Jerry Manuel might have for not walking Jeter initially was a reluctance to put Melky Cabrera on 3rd base, capable of scoring on any wild pitch or passed ball that got away from catcher Omir Santos.
Now, if you want to go with that defense, fine. Well, not fine, but... I get it. But then on a 2-1 pitch, he changes his mind and gives Jeter ball 4.
- Frankie Rodriguez. Despite Cora and Castillo not figuring out who should make the catch on Jorge Posada's flyball into the Bermuda Triangle, he's given leadoff hits before and gotten out of jams. However, walking Brett Gardner couldn't happen here, and walking Mariano Rivera was unforgivable. The only saving grace was that they were already losing the game 3-2, so what's another run at that point?!! Still, tough to take.
It's an afternoon matinee (or on the West Coast, morning baseball) between the Mets and Yankees. The rubber game between the injury-riddled Mets and the steroid-riddled Yankees. These two teams will meet again in less than 2 weeks, next time at CitiField, the very antithesis of the home run launching pad that is the new Yankee Stadium.
Losing 15-0 to anyone, sucks.
Losing 15-0 to the Yankees, sucks more.
Losing 15-0 when Johan Santana has the worst start of his entire career, sucks the most.
The summary for this New York Mets loss to the L.A. Dodgers is a LOT simpler than the debacle on Monday night in the 11th inning.
Chad Billingsley was shaky early on, throwing a plethora of pitches through 4 innings but was able to right himself after giving up 3 earned runs to the Mets. Billingsley also helped his cause with a walk and two base hits off John Maine, one of which was a double that scored Casey Blake.
John Maine was a little iffy at start, although he wasn't helped out by another Daniel Murphy error in leftfield. Juan Pierre hit a sinking line drive to the opposite field, and while Murphy tracked it down, it went off his glove and Juan Pierre made it to second base with ease. He eventually scored to give the Dodgers the early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the 1st inning, Daniel Murphy got picked off of 1st base in one of those baserunning mistakes that shouldn't happen, as he broke for 2nd far too soon.
The Mets got the lead back in the 2nd inning thanks to a surprising bases loaded hit up the middle from John Maine that scored David Wright and Jeremy Reed.
The Mets tacked on another run in the 3rd when David Wright singled in Carlos Beltran, although Wright got caught trying to take 2nd base on the throw into the infield from CF Matt Kemp.
That's all the Met offense was able to muster as far as runs in this game. The Dodgers got back a run in the 4th when Billingsley hit the aforementioned double.
But the big blow came on Pitch #101. With two men (Loney and Kemp) on base and one man out in the bottom of the 6th, Casey Blake blasted a home run into the leftfield bleachers to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead which they held onto for the W.
The Mets' best chance to fight back came in the top of the 8th against reliever Cory Wade. Beltran led off the inning with a single, and David Wright then walked. Ryan Church flied out to leftfield. At this point, 2B Ramon Martinez was up at the plate. While it was only his 2nd game, Martinez had already struck out three times (all against Billingsley) and was probably not the best guy to be hitting in this position. So of course, I wondered why Jerry Manuel wasn't using Luis Castillo in this spot as a pinch-hitter. It's possible Castillo was unavailable, but I don't know. There's of course, no guarantee that Castillo is able to do the job in this spot, but he does have very good RISP numbers this season, and he's certainly a better hitter than Ramon Martinez.
Martinez ended up grounding into a 4-3 double play.
Big John Broxton pitched an easy 9th inning against the bottom of the order for the Mets (Reed, Santos, Pagan) and that was the ballgame.
Any bright spots for the Mets? Sure. The bullpen didn't let the game get out of hand once Maine left. Ken Takahashi gave up a Juan Pierre single before getting Furcal to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to get the Mets out of the 6th inning. Sean Green pitched a perfect 7th, and Frankie Rodriguez pitched a perfect 8th.
At the plate, David Wright and Carlos Beltran continue to hit extremely well. The problem is, they're currently the only ones doing so, but neither are doing it with the longball.
While the New York Mets curently lead the majors in hitting with a .291 BA, they also have the 4th fewest home runs as a team, with 26 total. While you can definitely win games without the longball, the lack of Delgado's power bat in the lineup is going to start becoming more and more noticeable if no one else (Tatis, Sheffield) is able to step up in the SLG department.
I've been watching the Yankees-Angels game this morning, and what a fantastic pitcher's duel between CC Sabathia for New York, and Matt Palmer for the Angels. I linked a NYTimes.com profile of Palmer in a post earlier this morning.
And the Angels just went up on the Yankees 5-1, with Palmer pitching 3-hit ball into the 7th inning. I'm just concerned about the Angels' bullpen having another implosion like yesterday, but Palmer ain't going all nine.
Let's start with the New York Mets.
They're 5-5. Not a great start, but it's still .500 ball. What is overlooked is that unlike another team in New York, the Mets have been in every single one of their losses until the very last pitch of the game.
They're not getting obliterated (like the Yankees were 15-5 by Tampa Bay when Nick Swisher had to pitch.)
Nor are they getting completely embarrassed (like the Yankees were at their home opener once CC Sabathia left the game and the bullpen gave up NINE RUNS in the 7th inning, leading to a 10-2 Yankee Stadium opening destruction.)
Of the Mets 5 losses in this early 2009 season, the Mets lost 4 of those 5 games by 1 run, 1 of them by 2 runs. You often have to judge teams not only by their wins, but by their losses. Are they in the game until the end? Are they playing exciting baseball? Is the game over in the 9th inning or the 5th? Teams that play until the final out are going to allow themselves a greater chance of success and comebacks, and so far the Mets are doing just that. Of course, it'd be much nicer for them to win more of those close games, but there are 152 games left to play.
Tonight's game against Milwaukee was another nailbiter for the Metropolitans that saw Gary Sheffield get his 500th career HR in a key situation with the team down by a run, tying the game and allowing the solid bullpen to keep them in the game until Luis Castillo became the hero in the bottom 9 by hitting an infield single with 2 out that scored Carlos Delgado from 3rd for the CitiField walkoff victory.
Of course had the Mets lost tonight, fans would somehow find a way to blame Willie Randolph again.
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It's still very early in the season, and most teams seem to have their fair share of problems right now except perhaps for the Florida Marlins. The Red Sox are in the AL East cellar, and a lot of the standings 10-11 games in, are a tad lopsided. But fans and media pundits alike have to remember that what happens in April rarely reflects the final results at the end of September.
Both the Marlins and Padres are off to very hot starts. Are both going to win their division? Not likely with the Marlins, and no way in hell with the Padres. Is Toronto going to win the AL East? Not a chance. But it always leads to a never-ending string of panic from each team's fanbase that "drastic actions" must be taken in order to right the ship immediately!!!!
Maybe these same people forget how hot the 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks were for most of the season, only to fade away when August (and Manny Ramirez) came around.
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One team that's already had enough problems both on and off the field, are my 2nd favorite team, the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim).
Three of their top starters in their pitching rotation began the season on the DL: John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar.
While Lackey began last season the DL as well (and Escobar spent the entire season on the DL), Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana stepped up to hold the team together along with Jered Weaver and Jon Garland, until mid-May when ace Lackey came back.
This season, it's even rougher, certainly off the field. The tragedy that all of baseball suffered with the loss of Nick Adenhart, which has affected both the team and fanbase on multiple levels.
Add to that the injury to slugger Vladimir Guerrero, who will be out for at least a month with a pectoral muscle tear injury. There's hope that Vlad can heal without the need for surgery, but losing the team's power bat for any length of time is never a positive, and could potentially shake things up in the AL West. As it is, the Angels are off to a slow start, and Seattle is on fire.
The Angels opened a 3-game series tonight in Minnesota at the MetroDome, and pretty much every one of their pitchers did horribly tonight with the exception of Justin Speier, who ironically enough, usually is terrible out of the bullpen. He pitched 2 IP, 4 Ks, no hits. Everyone else, an utter disaster.
That was capped off by a Jason Kubel grandslam in the bottom of the 8th off of Angel reliever Jason Bulger which took the Twins from down 9-7, to an 11-9 victory taking the opener.
The Angels' bullpen, usually one of their greatest strengths, has not been too strong this season ever since Frankie Rodriguez went to New York. Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields, normally rocks of this team's 7th and 8th innings, currently have 7.20 ERAs on the season. I'm confident things will normalize over the course of the next couple of months, but it does raise an eyebrow or two.