Making the case for and against Johan Santana pitching this year

For roughly five months, the Mets have been plugging along without their ace Johan Santana in the rotation. This much was mostly expected. Sure, the Mets have struggled to find any consistency when it comes to starting pitching, and lord knows they need all the help they can get. Between injuries, Mike Pelfrey's  regression, and [...]

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Mets’ Second Half: It’s Either Sadness Or Euphoria

A Billy Joel lyric never seemed so apt. Tomorrow night (7/15), the season re-starts with a half-clean slate. This is when baseball takes on a different hue: more serious, less romantic, more about action than speculation. The stakes get raised in the second half, and the surprises of April, May and June are usually worn [...]

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Where Do the Mets Go From Here?

“Walk right side? Safe. Walk left side? Safe. Walk down middle? Squish, like grape.” – Mr. Miyagi to Daniel-san in the original KARATE KID So they’ve hit a season’s high in terms of winning percentage, climbing the dizzying heights of three games over .500. So they’ve taken a second step on the way to what [...]

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Talking Mets and ZiPS with Dan Szymborski

Fans tend to be either overly optimistic or pessimistic. That is why it is important to look at unbiased, systematic approaches to projections. One of the best sets available are the ZiPS projections from ESPN Insider and Baseball Think Factory Editor-in-Chief Dan Szymborski. Recently Szymborski, an Orioles fan, agreed to a Q&A about his projections [...]

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Johan Santana is the most essential Met

With the 2011 season likely shaping up to be growing pains for the future, most agree the New York Mets chances of seriously contending are minute. But whether you’re talking World Series or a long playoff run, who is the single most important Met this season? This is no 80 mph meatball floating over Main [...]

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Christmas wishes for the 2011 Mets

The Mets have already had their team Christmas party but they must have decided this year not to exchange gifts. Now, you may be wondering what millionaires give as gifts or what millionaires want to receive as gifts. I cannot answer that question. But I can tell you what players on the Mets really need. [...]

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Should the Mets break up their core?

Each year that the Mets fail to reach the playoffs, critics say the solution is to break up the core of the team. If the Mets cannot advance to the post-season with Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana and David Wright, the belief goes, then the team should trade one or more of them to [...]

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End of season report card for the Mets

For a season that opened up with hope, and which was carried to the All-Star break, the Mets once again flamed out and disappointed their fans and had their second consecutive losing season (79-83). Change is now on the horizon as GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel were given their pink slips on Monday. [...]

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Should Reyes & Santana be shut down?

As the season mercifully comes to a close, the Mets have two cornerstone players in Jose Reyes and Johan Santana that are battling nagging injuries. Perhaps the best course of action calls for shutting them down for the season. That course of action may not be a popular one, but it may be the right [...]

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Pelfrey closing in on rare feat

With a little over a month left in the 2010 season, Mike Pelfrey is closing in on a feat last accomplished in 2003. He has a legitimate chance to be the team leader in wins on a pitching staff that includes Johan Santana. Pelfrey turned in eight scoreless innings on Friday night to match a [...]

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Mets pitchers and Quality Starts

The Mets’ offensive troubles have become the story of the season and have overshadowed some terrific pitching performances. How many times have pitchers ended up with no-decisions in games where they pitched brilliantly? Here is a chart of all Mets starters, their Quality Starts and decisions in those games. Name Quality Starts QS Record Johan [...]

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