The remote got a workout last night as two of my favorite teams were playing – and ultimately beating – two of their biggest rivals. The Knicks bounced the Celtics from the playoffs with help from greybeards Pablo Prigioni, Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin. Meanwhile, the Mets beat the Braves in no small part because senior citizen LaTroy Hawkins, one of just seven active pitchers in his 40s, came on in a crucial situation and limited the damage.
The Mets had staked Shaun Marcum to a three-run lead but he was unable to handle success. The Braves pulled within a run and had the bases loaded with one out when Hawkins entered the game. He got Justin Upton to hit a sac fly and escaped further damage when he fanned Freddie Freeman to end the inning. Hawkins stayed on to pitch a scoreless sixth inning and end his night with 1.2 IP, 0 ER and 2 Ks.
It was the ninth straight appearance where Hawkins did not allow an earned run. After being knocked around pretty good in his first five outings, Hawkins has limited batters to a .207 AVG and a .469 OPS in his last 8.2 IP. Overall for the season, the 40 year old has a 2.77 ERA and a 1.231 WHIP. Yet again, this is pretty much the same guy Hawkins has been since he became a reliever in 2000.
Hawkins came up as a flamethrower in the Twins organization. He made his major league debut the same day as teammate Brad Radke in 1995. Radke had a 12-year career in the majors but threw his last pitch back in 2006. Radke spent his career as a starter while Hawkins moved to the pen after five years as a SP. Now in his 14th year as a reliever, Hawkins has a lifetime 3.35 ERA and a 1.279 WHIP as a reliever.
HR METS – The Mets hit four home runs last night, giving them 32 round trippers in 27 games played. New York is fifth in the league in HR and it has hit 16 both at home and on the road. The four-homer game was the most by the Mets since 9/30/06 when they hit five against the Nationals. With last night’s win, the Mets are 12-8 in games when they have hit a homer and winless in seven games where they’ve failed to hit the ball out of the park.
WALK THIS WAY – If the season ended today, the Mets would have new leaders in both highest and lowest BB/9. Lucas Duda has a 20.4 BB% – which would eclipse John Olerud’s franchise record of 17.3 set in 1999. On the other end of the spectrum, Justin Turner has a 2.3 BB% – which is even worse than Mookie Wilson’s 2.7 mark rate set in 1983. Collin Cowgill’s 1.9 BB% is even worse than Turner’s but with him no longer on the team, Turner takes this dubious honor.
PINCH-HITTING IS NOT AS EASY AS VALDESPIN MAKES IT LOOK – In 52 PA as a pinch-hitter this season, the Mets have a combined line of .174/.250/.283 for a .533 OPS. While Jordany Valdespin gets the kudos for his work coming off the bench, the player on the Mets with the top OPS in a PH role is Mike Baxter, who has a 1.000 OPS in 8 PA. Meanwhile, Turner checks in with a .268 OPS in the same 8 PA.
ONE WAY TO KEEP RALLIES ALIVE – The hidden killer for offenses are ground ball double plays. The good news is that the Mets have hit into the fewest GDPs of any team in the National League. With just 13 GDPs, the Mets have fewer than half of the GDPs of the league-leading Cardinals, who have hit into 30 twin-killers. Yet somehow, the Mets have one of the league leaders in GDPs on their squad. Daniel Murphy has hit into five GDPs, which places him tied for fifth in the NL.
As bad as Wheeler has been I think it’s time to bring him up and make Marcum your long reliever/ fill-in spot starter. He’s so ineffectual that it’s just a waste of a roster spot. He’s only going to be here for one season. Murphy is going to hit into a lot of double plays simply because he makes contact and doesn’t strike out. Just have to live with that. How ironic that because Ike strikes out so often he doesn’t hit into too many DP’S. What a silver lining!
Marcum has only made 2 starts, and generously volunteered to pitch in relief(he could have just been selfish and said no). He didn’t have any rehab starts either, so all things considered, you should really cut him some slack.
At the end of the season, he’ll put up his usual 3.60-3.80 ERA and a positive win-loss record and a key contributor on our pitching staff. Just give him a chance.
Last night’s game was so enjoyable – too bad it was such an anomaly. Big home runs, clutch hitting, great relief pitching, shrewd managerial moves, beating the hated Bravos, all on a Friday night… If only this was how the Mets really played!
TC would solve a lot of his bullpen problems if he would abandon Rice as a LOOGY and have Rice and Hawkins as the set up men. The matchups would determine which inning (7th or 8th) that the pitcher would pitch in. Let these two start and complete their innings. Makes too much sense.
I loved the strategy TC employed with “take” bunting Parnell but after some thought it really was pretty obvious that Freddie Gonzalez was caught napping because a pitch out should have foiled it.TC actually stole the win.
Best win of the year.
I thought that “take” bunting Parnell was so ingenious. It seemed so stupid to leave him in that it bewildered almost everyone. It certainly doesn’t make up for all the bullpen blunders(such as the previous inning when he used Rice as a LOOGY) but it’s nice knowing that TC still has a few tricks in his bag.
I said this on the chatter and i’ll say it again, I think that Parnell stranding the runner at 3rd will probably turn out to be the turning point of the year for the Mets.