Category Archives: Mets

Aug 27

It Can Only Go Up From Here

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From NY Mets Fans Tumblr

RYAN LIVIEM

Strike three called. Wainwright arches a wicked curveball while Carlos Beltran and the Mets nation watched their stellar run come to a devastating end. That 2006 NLCS game 7 at Shea was the last semblance of any glory this franchise an it’s beleaguered fan base would enjoy for…well we still don’t know how long.Gone are those days. Long gone. Enter the new look Mets (aka Triple A Buffalo 2.0). In the early part of the season we were proud to field a lineup that was entirely home grown. Now we shamefully bow our heads for the same reason. This team is now in the doldrums. On a torrid stretch of losing since the all star break, mets fans continue to wonder when this seemingly never ending torture session will finally be done with. It’s stifling to think a team consistently over the $100M threshold in payroll can produce such awful results year in year out. Continue reading →
Aug 10

Series Wrap: Mets Avoid Sweep From Marlins

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The Mets slide continues. Losing 2 of 3 to the laughing stock of the league the Miami Marlins. Lets break down the misery for you:

1. Niese and Chris Young is Inconsistent

Once again Jon Niese has shown his inconsistency. He has 3 innings of dominant baseball then gives up 4 runs in one inning, leaving the Mets with nothing left. He is a big part of the team’s future and it would be nice to see some consistency from him.

Chris Young on the other hand had nothing working for him. His fastball was flat and Mr. Stanton killed two homers against him. For Young it is all about placement and when he has a bad start it is mainly due to the poor placement

2. David Wright Is Struggling

Part of the reason the Mets have “collapsed” since the break is because David Wright is slumping. It seems like he is trying to do too much with the bat, and trying to carry the team on his back. The Mets do not need that from him. Rather the team needs what he was giving us in the first half which was taking whatever the pitching gave him, and if that means a whole lot of walks its okay.

3. Ruben Tejada is Good

Ruben Tejada continues his hot streak. He is the ideal leadoff hitter because he is always on base. Love his bat and he is also a big part of our future, so it is nice to see him doing well

What’s Next: The Atlanta Braves come to town tonight. The Mets “last chance” to make something out of this season would be a sweep of the Braves but I highly doubt that would happen

 

 

Aug 02

Series Wrap: Mets Take 3 of 4 from Giants

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Today the Mets beat up on Barry Zito to take 3 out of 4 games series vs the Giants. Lets break it down:

1. Ladies and Gentlemen, Ronny Cedeño

The player of the game for today was Ronny Cedeño. He had 5 RBI today and another 2 RBI in the first game of the series.  Nice to see some offensive production from him. Maybe the platoons are not that bad.

2. Starting Pitching Wins Games

In all games the Mets won this series they had great pitching performances. Hefner kept the Mets in the game in the first game by leaving with giving up just 4 runs. Yesterday Jon Niese gave up 1 earned run and outdueled Matt Cain. Today Chris Young was dealing. If the Mets want to continue success they will need solid pitching performances from their starting pitchers

3.  Hairston Is Hot

This whole series Scott Hairston has carried this offense while others have been struggling, specifically David Wright and Ike Davis. He finshed the series with a .462 average 2 homers and 4 RBI. Glad we did not trade him

What’s Next:  The Mets take their talents to San Diego next series looking to get back to .500

Jul 31

Why It Was Smart For the Mets To Hold At The Trade Deadline

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So today was a dissapointing day for a lot of Mets fans. The fans were hoping for a trade to improve this roster, or a trade to sell Hairston and get a prospect. It could be said the Mets should have taken a chance on the prospect that the other team would have given to get Scott Hairston, but at the end of the day holding firm was the right move because it keeps Sandy Alderson’s vision of our future intact.

Before the All Star Break, the Mets were 6 games over .500 and were leading the Wild Card race, but after the All Star break the Mets free-falled to 4 games under .500. How the second half has gone so far shows how much this team was overachieving in the first half. If you are Sandy Alderson, with that type of slide you see a team that is not one reliever or one right handed bat away from winning a championship. If there was a move that could have helped this team now and did not mortgage the Met’s future plans, Sandy would have done it in a heartbeat, but holding firm was the right move because it keeps the current team, that had so much chemistry in the first half of the year, together

I understand the argument about selling Scott Hairston as well. First off there was nothing the Mets were getting in return that would help the future plans. More importantly, selling Scott Hairston would mean that the GM is giving up on this bunch, and with the fight this team has shown you do not want to send the message that they don’t believe in this bunch.

I am sure if the Mets had been able to be .500 since the start of the All-Star Break Sandy would have hurt the future a little to give this team a chance to win now, but guess what the Mets free falled after a nice first half. So Sandy Alderson was in the middle and ended up making the right decision by not adding or subtracting anyone

Jul 30

Series Wrap: Mets Split Series With Diamondbacks

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After free-falling through their home stand, the Mets “redeemed” themselves this weekend with a split of the series in Arizona. Lets break down the series for you:

1. Matt Harvey Was Ready

So in Matt Harvey’s first career start he strikes out 11 in 5.1 innings pitched. That is crazy. He was overpowering the opposing team with his fastball and using his breaking ball spontaneously and he was successful. Good for him

2. R.A. Dickey Escapes the Funk

After having 6 or 7 straight weekends without any quality starts R.A. Dickey may have turned a corner yesterday by pitching 7 innings of 1 run ball to help the Mets win. His knuckleball was working and hopefully this is a sign of things to come in the future for this team.

3. Ike Davis Is Hot

So Ike Davis now has 20 homers before the end of July. Although the average doesnt show it, Ike is good. He has shown resiliency by shaking off that slump and now is on his hot streak. Ike has shown this year that he is a player that the Mets should build around for the future.

What’s Next: The West Coast Trip Continues. The Mets take on the San Francisco Giants for 4 more.

 

Jul 28

Is it Time For the Mets To Give Up?

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With what has transpired for this Mets team since the All Star Break, a lot of rumors have started to surface about the Mets possibly being sellers at the deadline. The names that have been included in these rumors include Tim Byrdak and Scott Hairston. So the question now becomes: should the Mets give up on this magical season and plan for the future instead of the present?

The argument for people in favor of selling starts off with these past few weeks since the All Star Break and how miserable the Mets have been. This side of the argument continues by saying that the worst part of this team is not even the bullpen but the starting pitching that has an ERA way over 6 since the All Star Break. Finally, it ends with the fact that this team is not 1 relief pitcher away from winning a World Series. Although, this all makes sense I still think there needs to be a little more patience.

Yes I agree the first half of the year was something magical but to give up after a 15 game skid is ridiculous on so many levels. This team still has a lot of talent, and it is only natural to hit a funk like this at some point. At any point the Mets could just turn it around and be back to being contenders. This team should at least be given the opportunity to prove themselves on this 11 game road trip.

That is why I think the Mets should just hold firm at the deadline. They should not add or subtract. Part of me wants to believe that there is added pressure on the players from the possibility of trying to upgrade at the deadline so they’re pushing, but along with that the Mets are not going to get anything worthwhile that would help their team next year for Scott Hairston and Tim Byrdak so why even trade them?

Do you think the Mets should buy or sell at the deadline? Comments appreciated below

Jul 26

Series Wrap: Mets Get Swept By the Nationals

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AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Is it the end? No, but it sure looks like it. After getting swept by the Dodgers over the weekend the Mets ended their 6 game home stand without a win and fell to 4 games under .500 for the year. Lets break it down:

1. Ike Is Hot

I start with positive and this is probably the only one: Ike Davis is hot. Since the All Star Break he has had 4 homers and 7 RBI. Its such a shame that the Mets can’t win when he’s hot.

2. R.A. Dickey’s Mojo is Gone

After such a strong start to the season R.A. Dickey has been terrible in his last 5 starts, posting an ERA well over 5. The honeymoon period is over for him. It is time to perform.

3. Mets Bats Continue To Struggle

In the first half of the year the Mets were awesome with runners in scoring position and 2 outs. Where has that gone? It is nowhere to be found since the second half has begun.

What’s Next: The Mets take their talents to the desert in Arizona to face the Diamondbacks for 4 games. Matt Harvey pitches tonight. Lets see what he can do

 

Jul 23

Everyone Relax, the Mets Will Be Back

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These past few weeks have been a disaster for the New York Mets.  The struggle for the pitching along with their recent history of falling apart after the All Star Break, leads people to the conclusion that this is it for this Mets team and this is the last we will hear from them.

I disagree with that assessment and I believe that the Mets will be back to their winning ways  soon.

This Mets team is different than they were in past years. In the past they were not as united as a team as they are now. When getting beat up in the early innings Mets teams in the past would give up hoping to fight another day, unlike this Mets team that fights until the very last out. With the worst bullpen in the MLB, today is the first day that the Mets are under .500. That in itself is amazing.  Overall you see the unity and heart that this Mets team has and that is a part of the reason I cannot fathom this team’s season being over.

Along with that this Mets team has responded to every low point that they have had this season. Everyone thought it was over when they got swept by the Yankees but instead of hanging their heads they came out and swept the Rays the week later. Furthermore how many times has this team lost the first two of a series and come out on the third day and made sure that they come out with a win to avoid the sweep? For example against the Nationals twice, against the Cubs, against the Blue Jays. The Mets dont give up and I don’t see a reason why this thing is over just because of a bad stretch of 10 games.

The first half of the season was a joy ride for the Mets, with a few bumps along the road but no long term struggle for this team. The MLB season is 162 games long and to believe that the roster the Mets are throwing out there would consistently be winning throughout the whole season is a fantasy. Every team goes through a little bit of  a slump and that is whats going on with the Mets right now. The Braves lost 8 straight in the month of May to put them in dead last in the NL East, but look at them now, only 1.5 games out of taking over the division. The beauty of baseball is that there are so many games left for this team to turn it around, and I think the Mets will do that.

There is a reason that it is so tough for Sandy Alderson to remove the “buyers” tag from this team. Because like us he has come to believe that this Mets team could make it somewhere. So if the bandwagoners want to give up on this team let them because when the Mets are back in the thick of things in September it will be that much sweeter

 

Jul 22

Series Wrap: Mets Get Swept By Dodgers

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Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

So this is rock bottom (I hope). The Dodgers completed the sweep of the Mets today by winning in extra innings. This loss also put the Mets under the .500 mark for the first time this season. Lets break it down for you:

1. Starting Pitching Needs to Pick It Up

The life of the Mets rode on their excellent starting pitching in the first half of the year. This team has a lot of fight but when Miguel Batista and Johan Santana pitch a combined 6 innings it will usually end up in a loss. the Mets need to get back to getting production from their starting pitching, or there is no chance for a turnaround

2. The Bullpen Is Showing Signs of Life

Up until the 12th inning the Mets bullpen was actually holding it together. Byrdak got 2 huge outs after Niese exited in the 8th. Parnell pitched 2 good innings. Ramon Ramirez pitched a good inning before it fell apart in the 12th. Relievers are not made to go 2 innings so I was pretty sure Ramon was going to give up the game in that situation.

Furthermore in the two games that the starting pitching was terrible the bullpen held their own up until the 9th. Its a start, at least

3. Lucas Duda Has Gone Silent

I don’t remember the last time Lucas Duda did something positive for this team . He is 2 for 15 since the break and was struggling even before the break.  He is continuously looking at pitches he should be swinging at and that puts him in a terrible hole. The Mets need him to get hot if they want more production from their bats.

What’s Next: A 3 game series at home vs the Nationals. If they don’t turn it around this weekend, its possible that the season is over.

Jul 20

Series Wrap: Mets Win One vs Nationals

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Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images

The Mets avoided the sweep yesterday by beating on the Nationals 9-5. It was a desperately needed win and I hope its a sign of things to come. Lets break it down:

1. The Mets Bullpen Sucks

This is a known thing at this point, but giving up the lead on Tuesday was unacceptable and the Mets luckily survived yesterday. As Gary Cohen said, the Mets play two games every night: vs the opponent, and their own bullpen

2. David Wright is Hot

The Mets need Wright to take on the role that Andrew McCutchen is taking on the Pirates team. He needs to carry the Mets and I think he is capable of doing that. A little help from Ike, and dare I say Jason Bay would help his cause as well.

3. R.A. Dickey Does It Again

It wasn’t pretty giving up 10 hits but he did his job as an ace. He stopped the bleeding and led the Mets back in the right direction

Whats Next: The Mets come back home for a six game home stand vs the Dodgers and the Nationals. This is a big week for the team