Jonathon Niese and gopher balls, Valdespin’s PH magic, Bay’s return

After a brutal outing in his last appearance before the All-Star break, Jonathon Niese rebounded with, according to Game Score, his best outing of the year. Niese allowed just one run and three hits in seven innings and he fanned eight batters for a Game Score of 75, the 10th-best mark for the Mets this [...]

Is there any possible way the Mets can overcome these bullpen disasters?

Does anyone want this guy pitching in relief in lieu of what we have now? No, we won’t get that far, but at this point it has been becoming comical, hence the reason for the placement of a picture of third-string catcher Rob Johnson in this headline. Heck, Johnson does have the best numbers in [...]

Mets In July: Beginning Of The End Or Just A Bad Couple Of Weekends?

The Mets have looked awful the last six games. No sense being coy about it. Since the glorious Fourth, the Amazin’s have looked decidedly less so. In fact, four of the six games were a horror show. Listless hitting, shoddy defense, sub-par starting pitching, bad medical news, possible mishandling of a prized prospect – this [...]

Will Josh Edgin be a lefty reliever, rather than a LOOGY?

If you asked most people what they disliked most about modern bullpen usage, the most common answer would be managing the game with the idea of maximizing saves for one pitcher. There is no doubt that is a sub-optimal way to do things. But to me there is something even more revolting and that is [...]

Who’s more valuable: Ronny Cedeno, Omar Quintanilla or Justin Turner?

The Mets are on their heels after getting swept in Atlanta even with aces R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana taking the hill. One thing that has categorized the 2012 Mets is resilience and that trait will be put to the test now, with six games against the first-place Nationals sandwiching a set with the 48-42 [...]

It’s time for Terry Collins to forgive Ramon Ramirez

Friday night Terry Collins used both Josh Edgin and Ramon Ramirez for 1.1 innings each. Saturday afternoon the Mets used only Edgin. New York used five relievers, including three different pitchers in the decisive eighth inning. Yet Ramirez was not one of them, the bullpen imploded and the Mets lost a toss-up game they really [...]

Miguel Batista’s last shot, Duda’s reprieve, splits for Hairston & Rauch

In his last 10 games, Dillon Gee had a 3.11 ERA and a 3.0 K/BB ratio. In short, he was pitching great and giving the Mets a chance to win nearly every time out, as he had eight Quality Starts in that stretch. Now, with the horrible news about a blood clot, the Mets are [...]

Dillon Gee’s Blot Clot May Be As Bad As It Sounds

It’s late summer, the last week of July. It’s mad hot outside. A fella gets out of bed to go to work. He’s got a slight grabbing pain in his lower back. “I must’ve slept funny,” he says to himself. After showering and getting dressed, the fella finds himself a little short of breath. “I [...]

Devil’s Advocate: Mets should be sellers and trade Johan Santana

I’m playing the Devil’s Advocate and exploring a line of thinking that doesn’t necessarily gel with what I want the Mets to do or think they’ll do.  Instead, let’s see if there is any sense in the Mets looking at 2012 as a rebuilding and retooling year.  Now… the Mets can and should still look [...]