Mets Notes: Capuano’s value and extra-base hits

It’s easy to overlook with his 4-6 record and 4.86 ERA but Chris Capuano has been a nice addition to the Mets’ staff. In his last 10 games, including nine starts, Capuano has a 3.98 ERA and is giving the Mets a chance to win nearly every time out. Not surprisingly, the only run he gave up last night came on a home run.

Capuano has been prone to the gopher ball (10 HR in 66.2 IP) and Milwaukee has both a good lineup and a home park that is conducive for homers. Still, everyone should be happy with his 6 IP, 1 ER performance.

Stamina is still an issue for Capuano. The first time through the order opponents have a .600 OPS and that rises to .763 the second time through. The third time opposing hitters have a .977 mark, meaning that the other team is getting to him late. Clearly, Capuano had nothing left in the tank last night when he came out, but a rested bullpen pitched three scoreless innings and the Mets emerged with the win.

Sandy Alderson signed Capuano to a one-year, $1.5 million, incentive-laden deal. According to FanGraphs, he’s already earned $1.7 million in value for the Mets. Capuano is on pace to finish with 178.2 IP and if the remainder can be as solid as the last 54.1 IP, this signing will be one of the best pickups of the year.

A Joy to Watch: Another day, another scintillating performance by Jose Reyes, who drove in both runs with a triple that seemed destined to be an inside-the-park home run except for a fine defensive play by former Met Carlos Gomez.

This was the first road triple for Reyes and his 30th extra-base hit of the season. In his last full healthy year in 2008, Reyes established a career-best with 72 extra-base hits. And that total came with 19 HR. This year Reyes has only 1 HR. He is on pace for 82 extra-base hits and 3 HR.

Not so much fun: And the opposite end of the Reyes spectrum is Jason Bay. In his last 27 games, Bay has just one extra-base hit in 112 PA. In that span he has a .191/.297/.234 slash line, being saved only by 14 BB.

All Mets fans are rooting for Bay, who has kept a positive attitude and hustled throughout his tenure with the club. But if the Mets stay in contention for the Wild Card and Bay continues to hit under the Mendoza Line, at some point the club has to put him on the bench. He probably has until the All-Star break to get it going, but I expect Terry Collins to go in a different direction if Bay is still struggling at that point.

Heating up in one-run games: Last night was the Mets’ fourth straight win in a one-run game. For the season the club is 7-9 in one-run contests. Most people think you can tell a lot by a team by its record in these games. However, it’s much more instructive to look at a team’s results in blowout games. Good teams will always have a much better record in blowout games than they do in one-run games. The Mets are just 4-8 in blowout games this year.

Here come the runs: And I say, it’s all right! From 5/16 to 5/24, the Mets scored just 14 runs in seven games. In 13 games since 5/25, the Mets have scored 61 for an average of 4.69 runs per game. The National League average rpg this year is 4.11 and overall the Mets are in sixth place with a 4.13 mark. Considering the injuries that have happened to this team and the virtual no-show by Bay, this is an encouraging sign.

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Finally, last night I did a video chat with Kerel Cooper of On The Black. I had a lot of fun doing it although I wanted nothing more than to scratch my nose the whole time. Click on the link to see the video.