The Common Sense Mets Fan

“This ain’t about whether Collins was wrong to “insult” the fans. Nor does it have anything to do with what anyone thinks of Valdespin, the Mets’ latest incarnation of Lastings (High Five) Milledge.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/raissman-countdown-mount-st-collins-article-1.1346669#ixzz2TZVNrFpP

Valdespin isn’t a great player. But he’s one of the few who are actually contributing to this team. And the media is intent on running him out of town. Yes, he’s apparently an arrogant ass. But he’s hitting better than Ike and fielding better than Ankiel. So let him play. You’re not going to get anything more than a bag of baseballs for him anyway.

As for Collins “attacking the fans”, that’s a bunch of crap. He reports to one person, Sandy Alderson. The media can throw the blame on him all they want for his bullpen management. But he doesn’t answer to anyone but the guy who hired him.

Another week of watching terrible baseball here in Queens. Yeah, the players have problems. Terry’s management has been putrid. And the announcers have been absolutely brutal. 

As a fan, I know you’re supposed to pinch hit for the pitcher in a tie game with runners on. But I’m not pinch hitting for Harvey in today’s game. Not only can he swing the bat and at least give you the same weak out Turner did. But he’s also your best option for the 8th inning in a game where the manager has announced he only has four available relievers. And then he burned three of those relievers on the way to giving up the game winner. That’s poor, Terry. That’s poor. So yeah, the on-field play is atrocious. But they’re not getting any help from their field management staff either. 

But the worst part of this weekend has been Gary and Ron. With the exception of tossing Harvey’s salad, they naysayed every part of their broadcasts including the terrible “Intro to Sabrmetrics” segment. Yeah, it was cheesy and Kevin Burkhardt was kinda ridiculous. It could have been incredibly informative. But these two guys have been anti-sabr since coming on the air in ‘06. They argued against every stat they could and erroneously invoked Brian Sabean and the Giants as an example of a winning team who does it without sabrmetrics. Unsurprisingly, they missed Sabean on Clubhouse Confidential this winter stating his staff uses sabrmetrics and advanced stats in their daily operations. Sticking your head in the sand isn’t the answer. The stats have changed whether you like it or not. 

If that weren’t enough to grind your gears, talking up Wheeler like he’s the second coming and talking down Valdespin like he’s Lastings Milledge isn’t helping. It’s very simple, so let’s lay these to rest. Wheeler won’t come up until the Super 2 deadline has passed. And Valdespin actually has some talent. Yeah, he’s a grandstanding, uppity, annoyance. He’s still the best outfielder the team has next to Juan Lagares and might actually put the bat on the ball. 

Look, this is a bad team. Hopefully not as bad as the Marlins. But a bad team nonetheless. They’re likely to finish bottom 10 again. Remember, this is a 1982 reprise with Terry Collins as George Bamberger. There’s some talent in the farm system and it’s coming up slowly. But the idea that if they fix one guy or one element and they’re a contender just isn’t reality. 

dudabides:

Not a happy pie-facing

Ok, who thought that Valdespin was gonna hit it before it happened? Wall was throwing grapefruits up there. But there’s no way you can say with a straight face, “Yep. Called it. Grand slam. Put it in the books.”

Anyway, great game. It was kinda nice to see Lagares get pitched around in his MLB debut, only to have Harvey miss a home run by about three feet. Duda continues to make his case for being moved up in the order. I can’t tell if Tejada is starting to come around or if he’s just getting lucky. Ike won’t be getting much of anything if he doesn’t move closer to the plate (I know. I’m a broken record. You know I’m right). And Harvey battled. Whether he didn’t have his best stuff or the lineup just had his number, he still gave his team a chance to win. If that’s a bad day for Mr. Harvey, I’ll take it every time. 

Nice job at third by Jerry “Has” Hairston. He stole a double from Ike and then made that incredible catch by the dugout in the ninth. 

Oh, and Kevin Burkhardt, stop asking dumb questions like “do you like hitting game winning home runs?” Of course he does. Everybody does. That’s a clown question. Just let the guy get punched out by John Buck with some shaving cream on camera. That’ll do just fine. 

That was my kinda game. It was a pitcher’s duel for most of the game. The other guy blinks and then the Mets pile on against the bullpen. But what really got me was Harvey’s 6th and 7th innings. He had started to lose it, recomposed himself, and powered through. Kid’s got guts. 

Ike still worries me. As Keith keeps saying, he’s doing the same thing he did at the beginning of last season. He needs to stand closer to the plate. I’m glad his timing was back for those two monster home runs. But until he moves in, he’s just as likely to have a golden sombrero tomorrow as he is to repeat tonight’s display of power. 

Somebody make me a Duda shirt that says “Abide”. To cross references, he’s finally learning how to kill the bunny with his big bear claws. He murdered that second home run. 

Lastly, is it me, or does Bobby Valentine look like an Oompa Loompa? 

I didn’t know the score going into tonight’s SNY replay. But I still wasn’t surprised when the bullpen gave it up. And unsurprisingly, it was a group effort that really gave the Colorado hitters a chance to really inflate their stats. 

So, faithful reader, the annual question: Why do the Mets fail so miserably at building bullpens? 

I can’t say it’s their talent evaluation because they’ve done pretty well scouting prospects and pulling role players off the scrap heap. I can’t say it’s small sample sizes, because all relief pitching is small sample sizes. And I can’t say it’s dumb luck because it’s not just one or two relievers. It’s basically the entire pen. 

The thing that kills me is that this bullpen has been rebuilt three times in the past three years. And yet, the problem remains. I’d say, “well, wait for the kids to develop” but it’s not like Edgin and Familia have seen much success either. 

I dunno. Somebody sacrifice a chicken or something. Couldn’t hurt. 

It’s just how it happens. A couple of postponed games, then back to it in the freezing cold. And everything goes wrong. But the other team has to deal with it too. You can’t let them back into the game and certainly not on  throwing errors. 

Given the state of the Mets starting pitching staff, which was supposed to be a credit going into the season, I am completely unsurprised at the last two games in Philly. No matter how much he tries to minimize it, Gee is still on the comeback trail from surgery. Hefner was supposed to be the long relief in the bullpen. Additionally, Laffey was filler for Las Vegas. So not exactly the strength it was supposed to be. 

Ike. Sigh. Please, for the love of Keith, stand closer to the plate. 

Ruben. Keep your eye on the ball as you catch it in your glove. 

Duda. Keep on keepin’ on. 

Twins are next. Be on the lookout for injuries in the Arctic North. 

I think what impressed me most about Harvey’s start tonight was how he was able to get hitters to chase balls way out of the strike zone. There were at least three strikeouts where Philly hitters were just baffled. Whether Harvey “had his A game” or not is completely irrelevant. The Phillies couldn’t get comfortable against him all night. That’s what matters. 

It was also nice to see Muscles Tejada help bust the game open. With John Buck putting on an unsustainable offensive display in these first few games, it’s nice to see Ruben just do his thing. 

Conversely, and I’m sure you Mets fans aren’t going to like this, but if there actually is something wrong with Halladay (or if he’s starting his decline), it’s going to be painful to watch. Painful like it was to watch Pedro Martinez those last couple of years. To hell with the Phillies. But from a purely baseball perspective, you’d rather a guy go out on top. Not that I actually think that. But you know the Philly sportswriters are already typing out Halladay’s baseball obituary.