Mets gearing up for potential playoff run
While the Mets remain in a deep hole as a team, the same team that was quoted by newspapers as “reeling quickly” as recently as last week, have won three consecutive games and are currently winning 3-0 to the National League’s Wild Card leaders.
Anyone who has followed the Mets throughout the past few years would tell you that the team was built to succeed this season. All the places were in piece to overcome the recent late-season slides. The team was focused on making sure they didn’t make the same mistake three times.
However, bumps began to form in the road, and in a very short span of time, those bumps grew to mountains. The big-name players that the Mets were relying on began to drop like flies due to injury. Jose Reyes, also known as the Most Exciting Player in Baseball, was lost to injury, along with power hitter Carlos Delgado and Gold Glove outfielder Carlos Beltran. Setup man J.J. Putz came down with arm problems, and starter John Maine had a fatigued arm that kept him out for an extended amount of time.
Those were just a few of the injuries that the Mets have had to deal with. The injuries hurt the team so badly that the Mets slid down the ladder of the NL East in a hurry. Losing series after series, the team was losing momentum in the blink of an eye. As far down as this ship was sinking, it has not yet sunk to the ocean floor.
While the Mets have won three games in a row, all they need is a little more momentum and they will certainly be a candidate to contend in the National League playoff picture. If they are able to get that momentum they need, they will be perfectly positioned for when the starters return from injury.
The chances are not high, but the team has the potential considering they will only be getting better when the injuries are patched up…
…that is, if nobody gets injured.
Mets ship OF Church to Atlanta for young Francoeur, cash
Although I was a big fan of Ryan Church being a part of the Mets organization throughout his short tenure in New York, the Mets made a trade today that I would not refuse.
Ryan Church, an outfielder with a laser rocket arm and a solid bat to compliment it, was traded to the Atlanta Braves for 25 year old Jeff Francoeur and cash.
This has to be General Manager Omar Minaya’s best move of 2009, considering the Mets needed to shake up the roster somehow to fix some problems.
So far this season, Francoeur has hit .250 with five home runs and 35 RBIs in 82 games for the Braves this season. On the other hand, Church has batted .280 with two homers and 22 RBIs in 67 games for the Mets.
With Francoeur’s solid power and RBI numbers, the Mets hope that he will be a key contributor in bringing this Mets team out of their scoring drought. If he can help hold down the fort until every regular starter who is on the DL makes their way back to the team, the Mets can be a dangerous presence heading into the tail end of the season.
Perez returns, leads Mets to victory over Manny, Dodgers
Oliver Perez successfully held down the fort against the NL-leading Dodgers in his return from the Disabled List, giving up only two runs in five innings pitched.
The highlight of the night had to have been when Kevin Burkhardt caught up with Perez moments after he threw his final pitch of the night. Burkhardt asked the $36 million dollar man if he was nervous coming into the game, and Perez immediately admitted that he had some butterflies. Knowing how mentally unstable Perez is, we all knew that he was going to be nervous coming into this one, just didn’t exactly know he would admit to it.
As we switch from the mound to the plate, Manny Ramirez, who went deep in the final inning off of Mets’ closer Francisco Rodriguez, has had a wild series in his trip across the country. Having just returned in the week before flying to New York, the slugger was bombarded with questions from the New York media regarding his recent suspension due to testing positive for a banned substance.
The Mets’ bats woke up in a snap of a finger today. After being held for three games without an extra base hit and shut out in consecutive games, the Mets couldn’t have possibly gotten any worse at the plate. They bounced back tonight, as the streaky David Wright bounced back with a great day at the plate, and the struggling Daniel Murphy turned around and ripped two doubles.
While the Mets are still very banged up, the return of Perez may be a sign of good things to come. It was obvious that his return was much-needed, and with every player that returns, the chances for the Mets to bounce back and contend in the shaky NL East division increases.
While Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, JJ Putz, and others won’t be in a Mets uniform until after the All-Star Break, we have heard some encouraging news from Billy Wagner. The former closer is reportedly well ahead of schedule and is apparently close to or already has faced live batters.
The Mets could use any help they could get right now, so look for the team to be monitoring his situation closely.
New York concludes their series with Los Angeles tomorrow night when Livan Hernandez takes on Randy Wolf.
Talented and young, Twins’ catcher Mauer may be better than Piazza
At the young age of 26, Joe Mauer of the Twins has already won two batting titles and is clearly on his way to having another great season in 2009. Hitting a whopping .393 in 55 games this season, you don’t even need to watch this guy to know how much talent he brings to the table.
With Mauer consistently having this much success with the bat, it brings the question of whether he will end up better than Mike Piazza (my favorite Met of all-time), who holds the record for home runs as a catcher, at the conclusion of his career. Sure, Mauer has a long way to go in his career before calling it quits, but he hasn’t failed to impress up to this point.
At the same time, it may not be all that easy to compare these two catchers. Mike Piazza was a home run hitter, while Joe Mauer has hit 14 home runs this season and hasn’t been known for his excessive power at the plate. He certainly will never break Piazza’s home run record, but could beat him out as an overall hitter. Throughout his career, it has been clear that Mauer hits for average above anything else. He has hit well over .300 two out of the last three seasons and also hit .347 in 2006 in 140 games. Outrageous.
The question of whether Mauer is a better hitter, however, just may be too broad to compare. Piazza will have been the best home-run hitting catcher of all-time, but Mauer should easily outdo him in the average category.
Keep in mind here that Mike Piazza will always be my favorite Met of all time, but I have a great deal of respect for Mauer and his accomplishments. With so many different factors in place, I’m not at all sure these two are comparable. In the end, their careers will have been great in their own ways. You really can’t say Piazza or Mauer is better unless you value certain stats over the other.
Are Mike Piazza and Joe Mauer comparable? It’s up to you.
Mets on the brink of first as crucial series in Philly looms
Injuries kill a team, with the Mets being the best current example in Major League Baseball. You can’t win games without talent, which the Mets are desperately missing. When the Mets were pulled down like lead with large clusters of injuries in the recent months, their mindset immediately changed and their focus was to tread water before taking advantage of opportunities when the big-name players return from injury.
The Mets have won some ugly games lately, but that is perfectly acceptable when the team is in the shape it is today. When the bulk of your team is made up of minor-league injury-replacements, you should, at best, expect to win games that appear to be football or soccer scores. That is, either no hitting or no pitching.
The Mets need to continue to take advantage of any slight opportunities, because with the NL East being as close as it is, a lot could happen in just a week.
Especially when the Mets and Phillies meet up.