Monday, April 26, 2004
Cubs 4, Mets 1
The Mets sent out a lineup on Sunday basically begging to be no-hit, and Matt Clement very nearly obliged, not allowing a hit until Karim Garcia's home run with one out in the seventh inning. Even when Cliff Floyd was healthy, the Mets had nothing resembling depth in the outfield. Shane Spencer has been a nice surpise early in the season, and has in fact been the best hitter among the outfielders, aside from Floyd. So when minor hamstring troubles forced him out of the lineup, you'd think Art Howe would send out the best of what's left of his outfield. But instead, Howe, apparently not overly concerned about minor issues like winning this game, decided this was the right time to give Mike Cameron a day off, too. In the end, the Mets scored one run on two hits and two walks.
The Mets offense has been a disaster early in the season, and while the outfield has been a weakness, and Mike Piazza has struggled recently, it's been the infield that's really doomed the team. Kazuo Matsui's played well, and ranks second among National League shortstops in Runs Above Replacement Position. But looking around the rest of the infield, you see the worst first baseman in the majors, the two worst second basemen in the league and the fourth worst third baseman in the league.
Jason Phillips has been terrible playing first base and catching, hitting just .130/.254/.204. Mike Piazza has given the team some offense out of the first base position, although all three of his home runs this season came as a catcher. A lot of people, myself included, figured that Phillips might have been playing over his head somewhat last year. But no one could have predicted this complete collapse, nor, I think, can we expect it to continue all season. First base was never going to be a huge strength for the Mets this year, but Phillips looked like a good enough placeholder while we await the arrival of the two minor league catchers who might push Piazza to first base on a more regular basis. The Mets didn't do a great job acquiring a backup in case Phillips faltered, with Todd Zeile and Vance Wilson being the guys most likely to step in. But the team had no reason to prepare for a disaster of this magnitude, and by the time the season is over, the Piazza/Phillips combination should wind up a reasonably productive first base/catching tandem.
The mess at second base, on the other hand, was easily forseeable. While most people figured that Jose Reyes would be in the lineup by now, anyone who thought that, if given a chance to start, Joe McEwing wouldn't be among the worst players at whatever position he was playing, obviously hasn't been paying attention to the last two years of his career. McEwing hasn't been anything but terrible with the bat since 2001. That was pretty much the last year Ricky Gutierrez was worth anything, too. That there are people in the Mets front office that thought these guys would be more useful than Marco Scutaro is seriously depressing.
The third base situation isn't too surprising, nor is it anything to be too concerned about. Ty Wigginton isn't hitting, but no one should have expected anything else. And the Mets had no real reason to rush out and find a replacement in the offseason. They could have perhaps found a better backup than Todd Zeile. But any kind of replacement starter they might have found would have needed to sign on for one year and then get out. For a team unlikely to make a run at the playoffs this year, finding such a guy wasn't a priority. They've given Wigginton a shot, and if he works out at all, they'll know he can be a useful part of their bench next year of perhaps useful trade bait. While the situation at second base makes you wonder what this team is thinking, the situation at third reassures you that they're looking toward the future.
So while these three positions provide reason for concern in the short and long term, there's really nowhere to go but up. Jason Phillips isn't this bad. McEwing and Gutierrez very well may be, but Jose Reyes will be back someday. And Ty Wigginton may be nearly this bad, but even he can probably get his average above .200. And even if he can't, we won't have to worry about him dragging down the next good Mets team.
And hey, at least the Yankees suck, too.
Tomorrow, Tom Glavine (2-1, 1.00) and this black hole of an infield take on take on Hideo Nomo (3-1, 6.55) and the Dodgers. ¶ joe | 6:57 PM |
The Mets sent out a lineup on Sunday basically begging to be no-hit, and Matt Clement very nearly obliged, not allowing a hit until Karim Garcia's home run with one out in the seventh inning. Even when Cliff Floyd was healthy, the Mets had nothing resembling depth in the outfield. Shane Spencer has been a nice surpise early in the season, and has in fact been the best hitter among the outfielders, aside from Floyd. So when minor hamstring troubles forced him out of the lineup, you'd think Art Howe would send out the best of what's left of his outfield. But instead, Howe, apparently not overly concerned about minor issues like winning this game, decided this was the right time to give Mike Cameron a day off, too. In the end, the Mets scored one run on two hits and two walks.
The Mets offense has been a disaster early in the season, and while the outfield has been a weakness, and Mike Piazza has struggled recently, it's been the infield that's really doomed the team. Kazuo Matsui's played well, and ranks second among National League shortstops in Runs Above Replacement Position. But looking around the rest of the infield, you see the worst first baseman in the majors, the two worst second basemen in the league and the fourth worst third baseman in the league.
Jason Phillips has been terrible playing first base and catching, hitting just .130/.254/.204. Mike Piazza has given the team some offense out of the first base position, although all three of his home runs this season came as a catcher. A lot of people, myself included, figured that Phillips might have been playing over his head somewhat last year. But no one could have predicted this complete collapse, nor, I think, can we expect it to continue all season. First base was never going to be a huge strength for the Mets this year, but Phillips looked like a good enough placeholder while we await the arrival of the two minor league catchers who might push Piazza to first base on a more regular basis. The Mets didn't do a great job acquiring a backup in case Phillips faltered, with Todd Zeile and Vance Wilson being the guys most likely to step in. But the team had no reason to prepare for a disaster of this magnitude, and by the time the season is over, the Piazza/Phillips combination should wind up a reasonably productive first base/catching tandem.
The mess at second base, on the other hand, was easily forseeable. While most people figured that Jose Reyes would be in the lineup by now, anyone who thought that, if given a chance to start, Joe McEwing wouldn't be among the worst players at whatever position he was playing, obviously hasn't been paying attention to the last two years of his career. McEwing hasn't been anything but terrible with the bat since 2001. That was pretty much the last year Ricky Gutierrez was worth anything, too. That there are people in the Mets front office that thought these guys would be more useful than Marco Scutaro is seriously depressing.
The third base situation isn't too surprising, nor is it anything to be too concerned about. Ty Wigginton isn't hitting, but no one should have expected anything else. And the Mets had no real reason to rush out and find a replacement in the offseason. They could have perhaps found a better backup than Todd Zeile. But any kind of replacement starter they might have found would have needed to sign on for one year and then get out. For a team unlikely to make a run at the playoffs this year, finding such a guy wasn't a priority. They've given Wigginton a shot, and if he works out at all, they'll know he can be a useful part of their bench next year of perhaps useful trade bait. While the situation at second base makes you wonder what this team is thinking, the situation at third reassures you that they're looking toward the future.
So while these three positions provide reason for concern in the short and long term, there's really nowhere to go but up. Jason Phillips isn't this bad. McEwing and Gutierrez very well may be, but Jose Reyes will be back someday. And Ty Wigginton may be nearly this bad, but even he can probably get his average above .200. And even if he can't, we won't have to worry about him dragging down the next good Mets team.
And hey, at least the Yankees suck, too.
Tomorrow, Tom Glavine (2-1, 1.00) and this black hole of an infield take on take on Hideo Nomo (3-1, 6.55) and the Dodgers. ¶ joe | 6:57 PM |
