Written by Benny B. | 25 May 2010

Here we go again!  The Phillies take on the Mets at Citi field tonight in the first of 3 games.

The Mets come in on an emotional high after beating the world series champ Yanks 2 out of 3 which was unexpected. Of course the bragging rights are great, but even more satisfying for me was watching the Yankee loving media have to say good things about the Mets--or rather say bad things about the Yankees.  Joe Buck & McCarver are the worst; possibly worse than the ESPN announcers as they now have Orel Hersheiser to balance out the idiotic things that Joe Morgan says.  But it was absolutely torturous for Buck & McCarver to have to watch the Mets outplay the Yanks as they were openly rooting for the Yankees to come back...almost expecting that they would win.  Sorry losers.

Something that Mike left out of his statistical analytic post of why the Mets stink is the fact that Sunday marked the first time ALL SEASON that the Mets took the rubber game in a 3 game series!  That is amazingly un-good.  Out of eleven 3 game series thus far, the mets have gone to a rubber match in 7 of them, and they have lost 6.  That is not a recipe for winning baseball.  Hopefully, the recent emergence of Bay & Reyes from their offensive slumbers is a sign of things to come to reverse this trend.

The Phillies are not without their own problems.  Jimmy Rollins is back on the DL after playing in only 5 games and Lidge is too.  Happ, Romero & Ruiz are also out.  But on the bright side, you guys got Schneider back! WOO HOO!  Furthermore, there has been a lot of criticism directed toward Manuel's handling of Halladay as he has been riding him too hard too early.  The start before he got shelled by the Red Sox, he pitched one shy of his career high (133 pitches) and has averaged 120+ pitches per start.  Yes, Doc is an ace.  Yes, he has always been a work horse, but that is too many pitches per start, even for him.  It has been a very cold spring and Doc has a lot of millage on that arm.  The Mets are no better as they have already worn out their pen, but when it comes to their aces, they protect them.  If Halladay goes down, the Phillies will be in serious trouble.  They must protect Doc at all costs.

I won't even entertain the thought of a sweep, but this is still a very, very, very important series for the Mets.  If they can take 2 of 3 from the Philths with the back end of their rotation, they will be in striking distance 4 games out which should give Manual & Omar a temporary reprieve of the incessant calls for their heads.  On the other hand, if the Mets lose 2 or more, we could see Bob Melvin at the helm on Monday.

Regardless of the outcome of this series, the Mets still have some glaring issues; and the Manager is very low on that list.  Here are some things the Mets can do immediately, and should do in order to be competitve this year:

• Cut Gary Matthews Jr.  NOW! Yes, I understand he is the backup center fielder, but he is not a defensive demon out there.  His bat is worthless and he supposedly is a divisive figure when he is not getting his playing time.  Worst case, Frenchy can play center field in a pinch and Carter can play Right.  Which brings me to:
• Platoon Jeff Francoer with Chris Carter. Frenchy looks lost at the plate and looks like the player the Braves couldn't wait to get rid of.  That being said, he still has good numbers vs. Lefties.  Sit Frenchy vs. righties, and let "The Animal" carter get his hacks at least until Jeff can show he some sort of semblance of plate discipline.
• Ollie Perez must accept a demotion to the minor leagues, or he should be cut. Hey Omar/Wilpon, google "Sunk Cost", you will see a picture of Perez as the definition.  You made a bad deal.  It happens.  He is getting that money regardless, so you can stop needlessly hoping he is going to turn into a pitcher he can't become. All he is doing is wasting a roster spot.  If he is going to have any value in the bullpen he needs to be converted into that role, and that is not going to happen at the big league level.
• John Maine, I love ya, but your time is up too. I will give you a little more rope than Ollie, but not that much. If you can't break 90 MPH and throw 97% fastballs per start, it's not going to work buddy.  I wish you the best, and hope you figure things out, but if it is not his body that is damaged, it's his psyche.  Even after a good start, he is just a downer.  I have to imagine it is not pleasant to be around him in the clubhouse.
• The Mets must trade for a legit starting pitcher. Oswalt & Millwood are the latest names to be floated around however there is a ground swelling of fans (mostly started by me) calling for Cliff Lee.  Oswalt is a great pitcher, but he has already shown signs of breaking down and the cost in prospects would be too high as the Astros would and should ask for a lot.  Millwood would cost a lot less, but you get a lot less.  That's why I come back to Lee.  The Mariners know that a) they ain't resigning him and b) he would most likely be a rental for whatever team that trades for him.  Therefore, the cost should be somewhere in between what Oswalt & Millwood would cost, and the Mets could handle that, even if they are unable to resign him as a free agent. Lee joining Pelf & Johan would instantly make the Mets rotation the best in the NL and bring more fans to the ballpark.  Plus you gotta think that Cliff would love to stick it to the team that traded him instead of paring him with Doc, as well as pitching in the spacious confines of Citi field.  Get it done Omar.  Your job may depend on it....

There you have it.  There's nothing else to say but LETS GO METS!!!  And that Shane Victorino is a little rat lying sissy punk.  Leave the binoculars at home Philly!

2010 WTTTB Season Series: Mets 1, Phillies 2

Update:

As much as last nights game was fun for me, it must have been conversely torturous for Phillie fans; like death by a million paper cuts.  It was easily the cleanest, most fundamentally sound game the Mets have played all year, and not a moment too soon.  Here's a stat for all you Reyes haters:  The Mets win over 80% of their games when Jose Reyes scores at least two runs....and you saw some vintage Jose last night.

2010 WTTTB Season Series: Mets 2, Phillies 2

Update 5/26/10

Reyes goes sky high to keep the Phillies scoreless for 18 straight innings and hits his first home run in over a year to secure the series.  Look out, Mets offense is heating up!  Big Pelf on the mound tomorrow to go for the sweep which would bring the Mets to 2 games back.

2010 WTTTB Season Series: Mets 3, Phillies 2

Written by Mike Mariano | 24 May 2010

As it stands, the Phillies walk into Citi Field tomorrow night with a 5 game lead over the Mets who're a game under .500 at 22-23.  The Mets faithful are understandably, check that (because I can't do strikethrough on here), incomprehensibly are jumping ship... in May.  Suddenly the whole team sucks.  David Wright is a bum.  Shit is literally and figuratively hitting the fan.  I'm not sure why, but that's precisely the impression the Mets faithful are giving me.  Then again, if the Mets somehow sweep the Phillies this week, then it'll be all "woo hoo" and "world series" just like it was in March.

Let's pretend for a second that the Mets are completely out of it and a crap ball club from top to bottom.  What's the problem?  Seeing as they seem to be fine on the surface it must be a deeper, underlying issue that we're not seeing.  Let's go to the statistics to try and figure this one out.  I'm sure it's something you'd have to watch day in and day out to notice.  So let's give Mets fans the benefit of the doubt -- their team sucks -- and we'll search for the answers as to why in the National League stats...

The Mets lead the league in pitches per plate appearance! [3.98]

That's a good start, more pitches almost uniformly means more problems.  Starters getting pulled early leads to bullpens being overworked leads to end of game implosions.  It's science.  Maybe their throwing a lot of junk to get guys to chase, but they're taking them.  Maybe the catchers are calling terrible games and the pitchers can't get into a groove out there.  More pitches per appearance means more waiting time in the field and guys get bored and complacent and make errors.

The Mets have the third lowest batting average on balls in play! [.287]

Maybe it's bad luck.  Maybe it's bad hitters.  I never know what to make of this stat.  The SABRE guys love it because it seems to account for good and bad luck when you're hitting.  However, when things aren't going good you don't make good contact.  You're making outs because you're hitting everything off the end of the bat or the handle.  However the Mets fans already cleared this one up -- it's not bad luck, it's bad team.  Gotcha.

The Mets are second in the league in four pitch walks issued! [34]

This one is inexcusable.  You can't walk guys on four pitches, ever.  Unless of course it's Albert Pujols or Mega Barry Bonds circa 2003 or "The Kid" Griffey Jr. circa 1998 -- then it's encouraged, if not mandatory.

The Mets lead the league on percentage of plate appearances with platoon disadvantage while pitching! [58%]

So either, the Mets simply have the least amount of switch hitters in the league or Jerry Manuel isn't playing his match-ups correctly or at all.  The latter is very possible, which leads to wonder if "the latter" applies when there are three options... I ... am going to let them one fester a little.

The Mets allow a lead high percentage of line drives hit against them! [22%]

This one is never good.  Basically, guys are hitting piss missiles all over Citi Field which explains a lot when things aren't going your way.

The Mets lead the league in strikes for which detailed information is unknown! [2]

The who? The what? The where now?  Classic Mets.