Monday, May 10, 2004
Brewers 6, Mets 4
Mets 6, Brewers 5 (11)
The Mets entered the weekend having just swept the Giants in dramatic fashion and hoping to finish up a six game homestand strong against a mediocre opponent in the Brewers. Instead, they wound up barely averting being swept themselves, thanks in part to some of the weakest starting lineups of the year. This offense is bound to have some trouble scoring runs without Shane Spencer on the field, and who'd've thought before the season started that that would be the case?
On Saturday, Tyler Yates had another poor start and got himself demoted to Norfolk. He went just five innings and allowed five runs on eight hits and four walks while striking out five. While the increase in his strikeout rate was a nice development, I am perfectly willing to accept the idea that Yates is in need of a little more time in the minors to develop, having been a starter for less than a year and a half. The Mets choice as to who should replace him, on the other hand, I don't understand. For a team alleging trying to get "younger and more athletic" this year, the Mets sure don't seem to have found a job being held by a youngster that some guy in his thirties who had a good year three or four years ago can't do better. In this case, the newest Met is the thirty-two year old James Baldwin. Baldwin started five games for Norfolk, posting a respectable 2.90 ERA in 31 innings. He struck out 24, walked just five and allowed 34 hits, three of them home runs. While someone like him might be of use to a team in contention and in need of a fifth starter just adequate enough not to ruin their chances, he doesn't make a whole lot of sense for a team in the Mets' situation. I suppose this could be another instance of the Mets hoping a veteran will get hot enough to acquire some trade value and fetch them some prospects, but given how well that strategy's worked out so far with Scott Erickson, who's now been moved to the 60-day DL, I find it hard to be very optimistic about that possibility. It would make a lot more sense to give Yates' spot to someone who's both performing well in Norfolk and young enough to have a chance of being around the next time the Mets are in the position to contend for something. While both Matt Ginter and Aaron Heilman have their downsides, Ginter's durability being the most obvious question mark, this team is eventually going to have to give a young player a chance to prove himself at the major league level if the alleged youth movement is going to get underway. Danny Garcia has acquitted himself well since the Mets were basically forced to use him when he clearly outplayed his veteran competition. Why couldn't Heilman do the same? Putting Baldwin in the rotation is just more standing still for the Mets, when they should be keeping at least one eye on the future.
On Sunday, the Mets got good starting pitching and some offense to go along with it. Steve Trachsel went six innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits and two walks while striking out five. And by the time he left the game, a Mets lineup without Spencer, Mike Piazza or Kazuo Matsui had managed to score three runs. But the bullpen, with a little help from Art Howe, managed to blow the lead after Trachsel left and only an unusually adequate offense could prevent the Mets from getting swept. Trachsel got into trouble in the seventh and John Franco managed to get him out of it, allowing only one inherited runner to score while recording three outs and preserving the lead. But in the eighth, when Franco put two runners on with two outs, Howe didn't bring in the best reliever in his bullpen, the only who hasn't allowed an earned run all year and hasn't had a save opportunity in weeks. No, he brought in David Weathers, who threw a wild pitch, allowed a walk and a hit, gave up the lead and failed to record an out before being relieved by Mike Stanton and by the time the inning was over, the Mets were down by two. Now, bringing in Braden Looper to start the inning might have been a little much, but if you're going to bring someone in with two on and two out while holding on to a one run lead in the eighth inning, why would it be anyone but the best guy you've got? A lot of Looper's inability to get save opportunities latest has been pure bad luck on his part, but in this case, it was pure Art Howe.
The Mets managed to tie the game up in the bottom of the inning as Jason Phillips and pinch hitter Mike Piazza drew walks and with two outs, pinch hitter Ty Wigginton drove in pinch runners Kazuo Matsui and Jae Weong Seo to tie the game. Using Seo as a pinch runner was an unusually creative move from Howe, but he didn't have much of a bench left at that point, so it's hard to give him too much credit. The Mets got more two-out heroics in the eleventh as Todd Zeile walked, Karim Garcia reached on an infield single and Matsui doubled over the wall in center to win the game. The Mets managed to win despite a lineup full of backups and some bullpen bungling, and hopefully this dramatic win will do a better job sparking the team to a winning streak than the last one did.
Tomorrow, Seo (1-3, 4.91) resumes his normal role of starting pitcher, apparently having put his fingernail issues behind him to take on Casey Daigle (1-1, 6.75) and the Diamondbacks, fresh off a weekend sweep at the hands of the Phillies. ¶ joe | 2:09 AM |
Mets 6, Brewers 5 (11)
The Mets entered the weekend having just swept the Giants in dramatic fashion and hoping to finish up a six game homestand strong against a mediocre opponent in the Brewers. Instead, they wound up barely averting being swept themselves, thanks in part to some of the weakest starting lineups of the year. This offense is bound to have some trouble scoring runs without Shane Spencer on the field, and who'd've thought before the season started that that would be the case?
On Saturday, Tyler Yates had another poor start and got himself demoted to Norfolk. He went just five innings and allowed five runs on eight hits and four walks while striking out five. While the increase in his strikeout rate was a nice development, I am perfectly willing to accept the idea that Yates is in need of a little more time in the minors to develop, having been a starter for less than a year and a half. The Mets choice as to who should replace him, on the other hand, I don't understand. For a team alleging trying to get "younger and more athletic" this year, the Mets sure don't seem to have found a job being held by a youngster that some guy in his thirties who had a good year three or four years ago can't do better. In this case, the newest Met is the thirty-two year old James Baldwin. Baldwin started five games for Norfolk, posting a respectable 2.90 ERA in 31 innings. He struck out 24, walked just five and allowed 34 hits, three of them home runs. While someone like him might be of use to a team in contention and in need of a fifth starter just adequate enough not to ruin their chances, he doesn't make a whole lot of sense for a team in the Mets' situation. I suppose this could be another instance of the Mets hoping a veteran will get hot enough to acquire some trade value and fetch them some prospects, but given how well that strategy's worked out so far with Scott Erickson, who's now been moved to the 60-day DL, I find it hard to be very optimistic about that possibility. It would make a lot more sense to give Yates' spot to someone who's both performing well in Norfolk and young enough to have a chance of being around the next time the Mets are in the position to contend for something. While both Matt Ginter and Aaron Heilman have their downsides, Ginter's durability being the most obvious question mark, this team is eventually going to have to give a young player a chance to prove himself at the major league level if the alleged youth movement is going to get underway. Danny Garcia has acquitted himself well since the Mets were basically forced to use him when he clearly outplayed his veteran competition. Why couldn't Heilman do the same? Putting Baldwin in the rotation is just more standing still for the Mets, when they should be keeping at least one eye on the future.
On Sunday, the Mets got good starting pitching and some offense to go along with it. Steve Trachsel went six innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits and two walks while striking out five. And by the time he left the game, a Mets lineup without Spencer, Mike Piazza or Kazuo Matsui had managed to score three runs. But the bullpen, with a little help from Art Howe, managed to blow the lead after Trachsel left and only an unusually adequate offense could prevent the Mets from getting swept. Trachsel got into trouble in the seventh and John Franco managed to get him out of it, allowing only one inherited runner to score while recording three outs and preserving the lead. But in the eighth, when Franco put two runners on with two outs, Howe didn't bring in the best reliever in his bullpen, the only who hasn't allowed an earned run all year and hasn't had a save opportunity in weeks. No, he brought in David Weathers, who threw a wild pitch, allowed a walk and a hit, gave up the lead and failed to record an out before being relieved by Mike Stanton and by the time the inning was over, the Mets were down by two. Now, bringing in Braden Looper to start the inning might have been a little much, but if you're going to bring someone in with two on and two out while holding on to a one run lead in the eighth inning, why would it be anyone but the best guy you've got? A lot of Looper's inability to get save opportunities latest has been pure bad luck on his part, but in this case, it was pure Art Howe.
The Mets managed to tie the game up in the bottom of the inning as Jason Phillips and pinch hitter Mike Piazza drew walks and with two outs, pinch hitter Ty Wigginton drove in pinch runners Kazuo Matsui and Jae Weong Seo to tie the game. Using Seo as a pinch runner was an unusually creative move from Howe, but he didn't have much of a bench left at that point, so it's hard to give him too much credit. The Mets got more two-out heroics in the eleventh as Todd Zeile walked, Karim Garcia reached on an infield single and Matsui doubled over the wall in center to win the game. The Mets managed to win despite a lineup full of backups and some bullpen bungling, and hopefully this dramatic win will do a better job sparking the team to a winning streak than the last one did.
Tomorrow, Seo (1-3, 4.91) resumes his normal role of starting pitcher, apparently having put his fingernail issues behind him to take on Casey Daigle (1-1, 6.75) and the Diamondbacks, fresh off a weekend sweep at the hands of the Phillies. ¶ joe | 2:09 AM |
