Matt Harvey has arrived. In his first three starts he has pitched marvelously, in tough luck and pretty badly, in that order. It would appear that Harvey is going through all the inconsistencies and vicissitudes that young pitchers not named “Walter Johnson” go through. In his last start, he was cuffed around pretty badly by [...]
I ain’t an athlete lady, I’m a ballplayer.” That’s the famous quote from John Kruk, after a woman questioned his conditioning after seeing him drinking beer and smoking cigarettes at a restaurant during Spring Training one year. Kruk’s listed height and weight over at Baseball-Reference is 5’10, 170. The former is likely right, the latter [...]
Not very often is an 11-game West Coast swing the cure for what ails a team but that seems to be the case with the 2012 Mets. After opening the second half with a 1-11 record, thanks to a bullpen that contributed mightily to an 0-4 mark in one-run games along with two other losses [...]
Although small in stature, Ruben Tejada (5-11, 187), Ronny Cedeno (6-0, 190) and Andres Torres (5-9, 198) have all been making some big contributions of late and have played a key part in the Mets winning five out of their last nine games (after the team dropped 12 out of their last 13). These diminutive, [...]
On Thursday, Chris Young rebounded from a poor performance in his previous start with a fine outing, as he hurled 7 IP, allowed 1 ER and earned a game score of 69, his highest mark in 11 starts this year. Young has come back from a shoulder injury to be a stabilizing influence in the [...]
When I was a small child, the Mets were contenders every year. From age four through age eleven – with the slight blip of 1974 – the Mets were always in the hunt for the division, almost guaranteed to finish over .500. Everyone knew why: pitching, of course. Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Jon Matlack [...]
I know what you might be thinking with the title of this post: “Yeah, but it’s too little, too late.” You would be correct and in full disclosure, I think the signing of Jon Rauch was a mistake. However, give credit where credit is due, as we should applaud Rauch for helping the stopping of [...]
Since his 3-HR game, Ike Davis is 0-13 with nine strikeouts. It seems like every at-bat features a lefty pitcher with a wicked breaking ball that Davis flails at helplessly. They say that one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while anticipating different results. Davis swinging at [...]
It has been noted here and elsewhere, the startling lack of activity by the New York Mets in the ramp-up to the trading deadline. If you’re reading this, you know the litany: the Mets were firmly “in it,” on July 6. The time would have appeared to be ripe for reinforcements – in the form [...]
The Mets used 19 players in Monday’s 8-7 win in extra innings over the Giants. The 18th player used was Mike Baxter, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the top of the 10th and delivered a key single. Thanks to some strong baserunning by Jason Bay, the hit established runners on the corners [...]
On July 23rd, Pedro Beato gave up 4 ER in 0.1 IP as the Mets dropped their second straight extra-inning game. From the 10th inning on in those games, the Mets were outscored, 11-0, and the bullpen looked like it has pretty much all season – in shambles. The following day the Mets demoted Beato [...]
There is a rumor that if you look up the phrase “sunk cost” in the dictionary, that there is a picture of Jason Bay next to the entry. That rumor may or may not be true but the sad reality is that Bay is that very thing and his continued presence on the roster is [...]