Really, I don’t even know what to say after last night’s Mets fiasco. Certainly we have further evidence that, while Duaner Sanchez has looked good at times this year, he’s nowhere close yet to being a reliable clutch reliever; there are still too many days he has nothing at all. But the Mets’ hole has gotten enormously worse now that they are chasing the Phillies rather than the Marlins. It has started to get late early.
14 thoughts on “Despair”
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I think Willie is once again a few bad days away from having a lot of time on his hands.
No question that it’s probably already too late for these Mets. They must play close to .700 ball in order to even catch the Phillies, who are playing .600 ball. The Phillies are on a course to win approximately 98 games, and the Mets must play .680 to tie! And that’s not even considering the Marlins and Braves who are presently ahead of the Mets. Wait till next year???
No question that it’s probably already too late for these Mets. They must play close to .700 ball in order to even catch the Phillies, who are playing .600 ball. The Phillies are on a course to win approximately 98 games, and the Mets must play .680 to tie! And that’s not even considering the Marlins and Braves who are presently ahead of the Mets. Wait till next year???
In no way will I defend the Mets – I’ve made myself sick watching them this past week – but lets ease off the doom and gloom a bit. I doubt the Phillies will win 98 games. 91 to 93 will take the division – which is still 62-37 (.626) for the Mets the rest of the way. Nothing the past two months makes me think they can do that, except that they clearly have the “talent” to make a run. I do remember making all these calculations last year for the Yankees … attempting to declare them dead when they were 14 games behind … and they made the playoffs. So, it can happen. I’m losing faith rapidly, but I’ll still watch (most of) the next 99 games to find out.
Some suggested tinkerings. 1. Cut Easley, Tatis, and Endy. No really, they all suck and badly. Replace them with the likes of Chris Aguila, Val Pasucci. 2. Never allow Schneider and Delgago to start against lefties. They suck badly at that. Pasucci and Casanova are far better hitters vs. southpaws. 3. Trade Schoenweis while his superficial ERA is good. The Mets bullpen is way too lefty heavy, and obviously needs one more righty arm in light of Sanchez’ struggles, so…..4. Put Pedro in the pen and give him the high leverage setup role as a way to maximize his importance and save his arm. You can always reinstall him in the playoff rotation if you get there. 5. Yank Pelfrey from the rotation and replace his spot and Pedro’s with Tony Armas and Figueroa who are doing well at AAA. No way they pitch worse. 6. Platoon Ollie and Pelfrey in the 5th slot depending on matchups. If one is shaky early, you’ve got the other to come in early and take advantage of the opposing lineups platoons. If either regains his upside performance, you scale back on Armas and Figueroa’s innings. 7. Don’t panic. The Phillies have a lot of pitching holes and its still early. 8. Vote Obama. Just kidding, kind of.
“7. Don’t panic. The Phillies have a lot of pitching holes and its still early.”
You are right, there are holes. But they’re playing .600 ball DESPITE those holes. Wait ’til the entire line-up is hitting.
baseball adversary, political ally.
Pedro’s problem in his last 2 years with the Sox (and if I am correct is a problem that persists to this day) aside from injuries was a Tom Glavine-esque problem with the first inning he pitched. I believe in his last year with the Sox his Inning 1 ERA was over 10 and all other innings combined were under 2. I realize that the mentality would be different for coming in to pitch an inning or 2 but the physicality may just be an issue where he just has a hard time getting loose and feeling comfortable.
“they’re playing .600 ball DESPITE those holes. Wait ’til the entire line-up is hitting.”
That’s rarely a compelling argument. The entire line-up will never be hitting at the same time for more than a game or two. Other than Howard, who is significantly underperforming? On the other hand, both Burrell and Utley are well above their previously established levels, at ages where that shouldn’t be expected to continue. They’re on a pace to score 854 runs – how much better do you expect them to perform?
Though I am hardly confident in the Mets’ abilities right now, even if we concede that they might not catch the Phillies, ever heard of a thing called the Wild Card? Does anybody see a second place team in the Central or West really running away with the Wild Card?
I would not have wanted to be around Crank last night when Wagner gave up yet another homer. Luckily Beltran redeemed him. As a Wagner fantasy owner I’m starting to feel the Mets fans pain more and more. Still, he’s the least of their concerns.
…They’re on a pace to score 854 runs – how much better do you expect them to perform?
As a Phillie fan, my expectations are extremely low to begin with. Now, hopes are a different matter. That being said, Burrell is merely performing as had been hoped for in years past (final year of contract, too). While Utley is indeed having a career year, Howard’s performance to date is underwhelming. The enormity of Howard’s bat in the line-up was more to which I was referring. These guys have the potential to be a record-breaking Phillie team, offensively. Of course, they’ve done little in the past couple of games to support that contention. One can hope, however.
I don’t see Pedro holding up well as a setup man, not with the kind of workload Heilman has carried in the past.
Omar should leave with Willie, not at the end of the year. The roster is packed with garbage, and his unrelenting pursuit of Delgado sickens me to this day. Willie is not up to the challenge, Omar is a failure. If either man attains an equal position in the future the hiring party should be mocked at every turn.
Actually Omar did a great job until that damn SI cover story a couple of years back. I knew then there would be problems.