Written by Matt Ryan | 19 April 2010

As expected, the Mets recalled Ike Davis from AAA Buffalo and promptly penciled him into tonight's starting lineup.  He will wear #29 and bat in the six hole.  In related news, he also defriended me on facebook yesterday.  Not cool Ike.

For me, this is easily the most exciting call-up since David Wright made his debut in July of 2004.  When Fernando Martinez and Lastings Milledge were called up there was similar excitement, but those guys were raw and we expected them to struggle.  Ike Davis is a polished, major league ready slugger, and I fully expect him to contribute instantly.  I'm not saying he's gonna go Ryan Howard on us, but he will almost certainly be an upgrade over what the Mets have dealt with so far.

His professional career did not get off to a very good start in 2008, but ever since last June the kid has absolutely raked at every level.  He put together a strong 2009 campaign in AA and he finished the year with 13 HR in his final 44 games.  Then he absolutely dominated the Arizona Fall League, spring training, and the first two weeks of action in AAA.  Clearly the kid is ready, and its time to see what he can do.

Davis brings two plus tools to the table.  His defense, and his power.  Those are two areas where the Mets are seriously lacking, and I'm glad Omar decided to promote Ike sooner rather than later.  Who knows how he will perform on the big stage.  But this team is under a ton of pressure and they could definitely use a spark.  At the very least, I'm excited to see what Ike is all about.  This team is playing a very dull brand of baseball right now and we could use some fresh blood.  For a full scouting report on Ike Davis, check out this link from Toby Hyde of Mets Minor League Blog.

Added by Benny B.

I am not going to go all Ga-Ga after one game where the rookie goes 2-3 with his first big league hit & RBI.  But one simply can't not be impressed by what Ike brings to the table.  He has the ceiling of a David Wright, or he could end up just being a serviceable major leaguer. However, in the near term, this team went from barely watchable to I-can't-wait-for-the-game-tonight.  The Mets are more interesting today than they were before yesterday, and it is because of Ike and all the home grown talent this team suddenly has.  David Wright, Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, Jenry Mejia, Jon Neise, Mike Pelfry, Ike Davis....all home grown.  And this isn't even including Daniel Murphy, Fernando Martinez & Ruben Tejada; all of whom should see time with the team this year.

So yes indeed, We like Ike.  And it appears the team does too as I felt they were a little less tight last night...I guess that will happen when the idiotic Mike Jacobs experiment is put to an end.  Now all they have to do is cut GMJ, and bring up Carter & Tejada.  Look for D-Wright and Jay-Bay to have breakout games this week.  Go Mets!

Written by Mike Mariano | 19 April 2010

Heres' a double dip of Phillies and Mets talk for you on this Monday, but the Mets bloggers are slackers, so as usual I will be bringing all the fun straight to your brains.

Philadelphia: Last night, the Phillies dropped their third of four last night in a shutout loss at the hands of a divisional opponent, Marlins.  However, this is as much of a moral victory as you can find this early in the season because Cole Hamels was stellar.  Eight strikeouts in eight innings and only two earned is great work from Cole and something we need a lot more of.  So if the offense falls asleep and gives him a loss for this effort, shucks.  He's was crap in his first two starts and got wins in both.  Funny game this baseball is.

New York: Ike Davis is getting the start tonight!  Woo Hoo!  I think?  That's the reaction right?  That Ike Davis is a minor league monster and coming to light the world on fire in Flushing?  Well most likely not, but regardless Ike projects as a solid pro and good overall player in years to come.  If the Mets can get that from one of their better prospects, they've got to be happy.  Things haven't been going well in New York the past few years, hopefully for Mets fans Ike can start to move things in the other direction with a strong freshman campaign.  It starts tonight against Randy Wells and the Cubbies.

Written by Erica Bauwens | 18 April 2010

Last year, when Jamie Moyer lost his spot in the Phillies starting line up, I was the first person to rant angrily to anyone that would listen: he didn't deserve it, he's one of the best we have, blah blah blah.

Well, Mr. Moyer, I am sadly biting my tongue after tonight.

Moyer certainly missed out on his 260th career win last night, allowing five Marlin's runs in the first inning. He managed to hold the team down until he was retired in the sixth, but the damage was already done and the Phillies couldn't recover.

Thankfully, Werth ended the possibility of a shutout with a solo home run in the ninth, but the Phillies sure didn't make anyone proud tonight. By the ninth inning the the Phils had only succeeded with four hits.

I know it wasn't just Jamie Moyer behind tonight's loss: it was a genuinely awful game all around for the Phils. As of now Moyer has a 1-1 record in 2010, so he isn't doing terribly. But his poor play tonight is only a painful reminder of what is missing in the Phillies bullpen. If it weren't for the stellar batting (with the exception of Saturday) and fielding this year, the Phillies would be in some pretty deep water.

Hopefully as the injuries begin to clear up and the season gets moving a little more smoothly the bullpen will start getting into the swing of things, but as of now its pretty frightening. One of the main reasons the Phillies struggled so much in the World Series was, without a doubt, poor pitching. And with (sorry, Mike, I gotta say it) Cole Hamels struggling in 2009 and now I'm looking for an end to this pitching disaster.

Well, I guess I have high hopes for 2010! Let's see what happens.

Written by E. Bauwens | 17 April 2010

I'm dying to hear reactions from Mets fans about tonight's game. True, the Mets did beat the Cardinals tonight, but it took them six hours and 53 minutes to do so.

The Mets now hold two absolutely insane records: the longest timed game in franchise history, being tonight, and the longest scoreless game in history, against the Houston Astros in 1968.

I managed to watch the last four or five innings, of the 20 the teams played, and I was surprised by how well the players were playing. Only 1/5 of the crowd remained, but they were still yelling and cheering like it was the bottom of the first. The longest game I've ever sat through was 13 inning Phillies-Red Sox game last June and I was practically falling asleep at the end.

I guess you can't hate the Mets for trying, and coming out on top. Play like that definitely takes some serious motivation, especially when it's only April. On the other hand, I kind of see it as a little reckless and stupid of both teams. I think there comes a time when a coach should throw in the towel and protect their pitchers for the rest of the season. And, jeeze, 20 innings has to do a number on your catcher's knees.

Either way, it's all pretty exciting. Let's hope this crazy night sets the stage for more excitement for the rest of the season.

Written by Benny B. | 17 April 2010

Yesterday, I started the day off by breaking my poor little pinky toe, then painfully throwing out my back, and then capping the night off with Mets loss.  Not a good day for I.  It's painful for me to type right now so I'll keep it brief.

The mets are 3-7 and while the whole baseball world is burying them only 10 games into the season, there have been some real positives and differences in their style of play.  However, the Mets have also exhibited some of the same follishness that lost them so many games last year as well.  So here are some of the Pro's and Con's after 10 games.

PROS:

• The Starting Pitching has been acceptable, and in some cases surprising.  Big Pelf finally looks like he is putting it together with 3 straight great outings.  He has added a new splitter that coupled with his hard sinker and 4 seamer is totally baffling hitters.  Jon Neise had an up and down 2 first starts.  None translated into wins, but he looks focused.  Technically he is still a Rookie, so he gets a little slack for learning on the job.  I like his potential and could be the Mets #3 starter for many years to come.  And Ollie Perez.  Ollie, Ollie Ollie.  He looked like Johan last night locked into a real pitchers duel with Carpenter going 6.1 innings (the first time he went over 6 innings in two years).  His velocity is down about 3-4 MPH, but that appears to have been the plan:  Sacrifice some of the speed for more control.  And thats what he showed last night.  He was up & down and In & out with his pitches all night.  He looked focused and controlled.  I hope this is the beginning of good things from Ollie, and not the good start/bad start Ollie we all know.  The last pitcher is John Maine who I am really worried about.  I think he is a head case, and he is in trouble.  Lets hope these other solid pitching performances inspire him...otherwise he should be sent to the minors
• The Relief pitching has also been stellar aside from a couple of recent hicups...but I don't blame the pitchers (more of this in the cons section).  The new additions add many different looks that the Mets have not had in a while; particularly Japanese imports Tak & Iggy.  Since there are a lot of new faces, the scouting has not caught up to them yet.  We'll see how they fair a couple months from now.
• There are fight in these Mets.  While it has not translated into wins, the mets have staged multiple late inning comebacks including scroring 2 runs in the 9th last night.  I like that this group isn't laying down.  If they can keep their confidence up through this rough patch, eventually it will equate to some comeback wins.
• Defense all around looks like it is improving.  D-Wright made web-gem like plays last night as did Frenchy.

CONS:

• Jason Bay is not right.  He is pressing and it shows.  While he has hit in almost every game, they are weak hits.  I am not worried about him.  He will snap out of it eventually...he is too good of a hitter not to.  However, if Jason Bay was hitting like Jason Bay these past 10 games, our record would be a lot better than it is today.
• The Mets are still running themselves out of innings.  It happened in Thursday's game when Wright came up to bat with no outs and two men on, and by the time his at bat ended with a strikeout, the inning was over as those two men on base were each caught stealing.  It also happened in yesterdays game, and if it wasn't for a defensive mishap, it would have resulted in an out as well.  If I haven't seen this before I would just chalk it up to early season rust.  But it isn't.  This is a problem that needs to be corrected.
• Jose Reyes--regardless of what he says--is not 100% yet.  I would say he is 80-85%.  He is not running at full speed and his arm is not throwing at full speed.  We saw two examples of this yesterday when he was thrown out on an infield dribbler he usually beats out, and when he failed to gun down a runner which sparked the 8th inning rally for the Cards.  Nevertheless, I am not worried about him either.  One can't expect someone to be out of baseball for almost a year without any rust.  I would say give him a few more weeks and we should start seeing the Jose of old.  The good news is that he is hitting.
• And the biggest CON that I see is a continuation of last year...only this time the excuse "I don't have the players" can not be used: Jerry Manuel is NOT putting his team in the best position to win.  Over the last few years in sabermetric circles there is the idea of "High Leverage" situations.  In short, it says you should use your best pitcher when the situation calls for it; So if your closer is your best pitcher and the bases are loaded in a 1 run game in the 8th, you bring your closer in in the 8th not the 9th.  I won't fault Jerry for not bring in K-Rod in the 8th after Nieve hit and walked a batter to load the bases (that after getting ahead of each hitter 0-2); not many managers employ this strategy.  But I will fault him for bringing in arguably the WORST pitcher on the staff in a super high leverage situation.  Valdes was only activated after Green went on the DL.  HE HAS NO BUSINESS BEING IN THAT SPOT!  Felicano was unavailable due to sickness.  But there was another lefty available in Tak, who is much farther up on the depth charts...and he is just the other lefty.  I am sick of the idea that the lefty-lefty, righty-righty matchup must be followed blindly.  Mejia & Iggy are throwing 95-97 MPH darts out there with sick movement.  They are certainly better options than what is clearly your worst option.  Full disclosure: some have said that Ollie should have stayed in there to finish the 7th.  But I don't have any problem with Jerry pulling him there.  But that was a horrible horrible decision Jerry.  For shame...

Ok, off to ice my toe and heat my back.  Santana goes today, and when Johan pitches you expect to win....so I am wondering how the Mets are going to blow this one.  I kid, I kid.  But seriously, if they Mets don't find a way to win both of these next to games to salvage this road trip, Jerry may find a Red Card in his locker when he returns....and in all honesty, that is not a bad thing.  I am perfectly willing to sacrifice these next two games if it means Jerry is replaced by a manager who puts my team in the best position to win.

Written by Mike Mariano | 16 April 2010

PHILADELPHIA -- A New Jersey man is facing charges after police say he intentionally vomited on an 11-year-old girl and her father in the stands during a Philadelphia Phillies game.

Twenty-one-year-old Matthew Clemmens, of Cherry Hill, N.J., was arraigned Friday on charges stemming from his behavior at Wednesday night's Phillies-Nationals game.

Police say Clemmens made himself vomit on an off-duty police captain and his daughter after a companion was kicked out of Citizens Bank Park for unruly behavior, which included cursing, spitting and spilling beer by Clemmens and a friend.

Even better:

"It reminds you of the type of behavior you used to hear about at the 700 level in Veterans Stadium," Philadelphia police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore, according to the Daily News.

Well the lesson here as always, the Phillies as an organization are just on another level.  Other places you get hit with beer maybe.  You get a few shouts maybe.  You got shoved maybe.  Not in Philly baby!  Here we've got Chunk from the Goonies yakking on people.  That's why we're the class on the National League -- it's an honor earned, not just given.

Written by Benny B. | 13 April 2010

Jon Heyman is reporting that there is a good chance that Jimmy Rollins ends up on the DL.

So Lidge, Romero, Blanton and possibly Jimmy on the DL?  Has Phillie caught the Met's injury bug?

Added by Mike:

No worries.  I'd rather have the injuries now, than later in the season.  We can argue April wins versus September ones all day, but momentum matters.  So, sit and get healthy now and we'll run at full strength later in the year.

UPDATE

Rollins has been placed on the 15 Day DL with a "mild to moderate calf tear".  The recovery time is expected to be between 2- 4 Weeks.  However, I think the Phillies are dishing out a little "Mets spin" on this one.  I don't see how an athlete can come back that quickly from any muscle tear.

In other news, Jason Werth was scratched from the lineup today with "hip soreness". Is he destined for the DL as well?

Written by Mike Mariano | 13 April 2010

The Phillies won yesterday 7-4 over the Astros to improve to the a tie for the best record in baseball.  Life is good here.  Really good.  And better yet, it's infinitely better than it is there (in NY).  So why I ask, are we booing Cole Hamels?  I wasn't at the game, but apparently Phillies phaitful felt it necessary to stand and boo Hamels after he allowed a solo home run to Josh Willingham in the top of the first inning.

Mets fans around the site (cough... Benny... cough) must be happy as hell about this because we scream about the rights and wrongs of booing your own all the time.  However, in this instance I'm not putting up a fight.  Booing Cole Hamels in his second start of the year makes little to no sense and will do vastly more harm than good.  Crashburn Alley put together a great piece on exactly how stupid this decision was that is well worth your reading time.  But, let's talk about it some more here.

Cole Hamels is two years removed from being the WORLD SERIES MVP and possibly the most important piece of the best Philadelphia sports team in three decades!  Fast forward to the end of his career, is there anything else he can or needs to do from there to be a Philadelphia icon and hero?  No.  So, what's the problem?  Expectations are the problem.  After his World Series performance, Cole Hamels the ace looked poise to make the jump to Cole Hamels the Cy Young.  To join Johan and Roy and Sabathia as the best around.  But something funny happened, he regressed.  Not only in the regular season, but he carried his sluggish performances into the '09 playoffs and his entire '09 campaign got filled immediately as a colossal disappointment.

Philadelphia reaction:  "What the fuck man."  And that was completely justified.  What in the hell happened to our ace, but more importantly will he ever truly figure it out and recapture that '08 October splendor? All off-season the Philly optimists and pessimists waged war, ultimately settling to wait for the season.  Then after two sub-par pitching outings, patience has been throw to the wind and we're booing.  In the first inning of his second start.

Wake up people, it's a long season and we have the most potent offense in the National League bar none and arguably the entire MLB.  If he gives up three first inning home runs, it sucks, but there's plenty of game left.  Should you be pissed off -- of course, but control yourself.  Is booing him going to reboost his lost confidence?  Is booing him going to get his fastball down or make his curveball more useful?  No.  Booing your own players only serves one purpose -- telling management that you don't want to watch the crap in front of you anymore.

That leaves one question, do you want Cole Hamels out?  If yes, get a hold of yourself.  He's a 26 year old pitcher who shows flashes of brilliance and already has a World Series MVP award.  Is he occasionally soft, annoying, and weird?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Does he occasionally pitch like Johan and occasionally pitch like a beer leaguer?  Yes and yes.  But this is Philadelphia and we don't do anything the easy way, so deal with it.  You have been your entire life.

Written by E. Bauwens | 12 April 2010

It’s been a year since Phillies fans all over the world lost our favorite fan, Harry Kalas, but he’s definitely not gone.

Harry Kalas’ voice isn’t something that you can just forget. His charisma was contagious, and he captured everyone’s hearts with his energetic commentary and hilarious interjections. Even when the Phillies weren’t the hot shots they are now (AKA most of the 1990’s) Harry found a way to win over fans and boost the energy of a crowd. I for one think it takes a really amazing person to get short-tempered Phillies fans to come back year after year, always with the belief that “This is our year.”

I think that Harry Kalas was everything I’ve ever wanted to be when it comes to sports news: he was a simple, brilliant guy that loved every single thing about baseball. He’s the type of person I strive to be, and he has made a profound difference in the world of baseball. Growing up in the Philadelphia area, I’ve come to realize that Philly fans can be fairly unforgiving, and that’s putting it nicely. I’ve always seen Harry as a calm and uplifting voice that somehow manages to ease the tension of a bad pitch or an unfair call. Sometimes he would remind of a really sensible grandfather in some after school special that always managed to solve the problem at the end of the day. At the end of the day, Harry Kalas helped baseball made sense to me. His commentary was what built the foundation for my love of the sport, and I will never forget him.

Harry Kalas, you are the man!

Written by Mike Mariano | 12 April 2010

I've been fairly busy this past week, so I haven't gotten to watch as much of this opening week of baseball as I would've liked.  That being sad, what is going on Mets-ville?  From the rundown of sports blogs and news articles I've browsed this morning, all hell is breaking loose in Flushing:

Santana is Flushing away his talent
Santana struggles, Mets hit rock bottom
Mets Unprepared After Months Of Preparation
New Year, Same Mets

If I'm not mistaken, and I frequently am not, we're only seven games into the season.  Granted, the Mets are 2-4 and have lost 4 of their last 5, but who cares! So there's some ribbing going on at the water cooler?  Get over it.  Seasons are not won and lost in April, if the Mets are truly a great team (like I'd been hearing all winter) then a slow start should be but a blip on the radar.

I'm sure not all Mets fans share this "always say die" or maybe "very quickly say die" attitude, but it's kind of embarrassing.  And that's coming from me, a Phillies fan.  In Philadelphia, we pronounce the Eagles dead long before the math does and when the Phillies suck we're not shy about telling them so. However, it's April 12th and Mets fans are looking like the awkward guy at the party who can't take a joke.  So if you're a Mets fan and level headed during this little rough patch, please announce yourself because your fellow compadres need some guidance.

Added by Benny B.

Here's my point of view...and I am an optimistic Mets fan.

It is true that pennants are not won in April.  However, this goes back to the whole "September games are more important than April Games" argument we had last year.  ALL these games count. All the loses that could have been wins add up and can cost a trip to the postseason (see 2007 & 2008 Mets seasons).  Mets fans--like me--are not booing an individual player like Santana or Wright (I would never boo them anyway).  What has finally become crystal clear even to the most optimistic fans is that our team is not being managed properly.  In other words, they are not putting our team in the best position to win.

It is Omar's job to get the players, and he has received a lot of flack the last couple of year...as he should: The Castillo Deal, Ollie Perez deal, etc.  There are a lot of bad deals that he has made that overshadow and outweigh the good ones (Yes, he has made good ones).  While Jerry gets a pass for the players on his roster, it is HIS JOB to put field those players that gives them the best chance to win....and he is flat out not doing his job.  Every time he pencils in Mike Jacobs & GMJ in the starting lineup, he is not doing his job.  Jacobs was cut by the worst team in the AL last year, and somehow was batting cleanup for the Mets the first series?  GMJ has gotten the nod over Pagan while Angel is a superior baseball player in every way. Yesterday, GMJ came up to bat with runners in scoring position 4 times, and 4 times he ended the inning and a potential rally.

It's not the players that we are venting our frustration on.  It's not their fault they suck as baseball players.  Evaluating talent, and utilizing new sabermetrical tools in place of "the gut" is what the Mets lack.  Johan Santana, Jason Bay & K-Rod are easy to evaluate.  They are stars.  It's forming a well rounded roster with role players that can step up in the event of injuries, and can contribute better than the replacement lever player that make the difference. When players like Nelson Figeroa get released & Chris Carter sent to AAA; Or Jesus Flores and Darren O'Day left unprotected last year, you can't help but see a pattern of bad decisions. There are many teams littered with valuable talent the Mets have discarded.  This is what has become intolerable.  This is why we "Boo".  This is why Mets fans don't spend $100+ to go to games (regardless of the whether), when they can watch it on TV (or not watch at all).

So yes, it is early.  There is plenty of time for this team to turn it around.  But the Mets could very easily be 4-2 (and should at least be 3-3).  Until the best players are put on field, until the GMJ experiment is ended, until Jacobs role is limited to power bat off the bench (or cut entirely), expect more of the same.  I have watched the Mets under the Omar era for a long time now, and the only way these changes are going to happen is from the top down.  That means Omar & Jerry need to go.  Go Mets...