Monday, May 14, 2007
There's no such thing as too many Carloses
Another week, another four wins for the Mets. They slipped to second place, a half-game behind the Braves, and Moises Alou got hurt again but otherwise it was another good week for New York's leading baseball franchise.
It was a pretty ordinary week for the offense as they scored thirty runs in six games. Not so ordinary was the contribution of David Wright, whose bat seems to be finally coming alive. The Met third baseman had nine hits in twenty-four at bats including three doubles and a home run and he also stole four bases including three in Sunday's game. He's still hitting just .262/.358/.404 for the season, but at least he's starting to come around. Carlos Delgado is even further from respectable numbers at just .209/.287/.328, but at least he hit a couple of home runs this week.
Not all struggling Mets will get as many chances to succeed as those two as Mike Pelfrey found out this weekend. After a Saturday start in which he gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks in five innings, Pelfrey was sent down to AAA New Orleans. In six starts he went 0-5 with a 6.53 ERA. He gave up 36 hits and 17 walks in 30.1 innings and struck out just twelve. I have little doubt that Pelfrey will be back in the majors at some point this season, but he clearly has a lot of work to if he's going to develop into a successful starter.
With Pelfrey in the minors the Mets are left with just four starters for the time being as they called up outfielder Carlos Gomez to replace Pelfrey on the roster. The twenty-one year old Gomez entered the season as one of the Mets' top prospects and held his own at AAA despite his youth, hitting .286/.363/.414 in thirty-six games. He got the start in right field on Sunday and wasted little time in making an impression at the major league level, hitting a double and a single, stealing a base and looking very good defensively. Gomez is probably not long for the Mets' roster as they'll need a starting pitcher on Thursday. He's better off playing every day at AAA than sitting on the bench in the majors anyway and he still needs to add some power to his offensive game before he'll really look like a major league corner outfielder. But what he showed on Sunday gave Mets fans a glimpse at a very promising future. The Mets have a rather old outfield now but there may be some very exciting reinforcements from the minors in the next couple of years with Gomez, Lastings Milledge and eighteen-year-old Fernando Martinez all looking like potential major league regulars.
Also giving fans something to be excited about on Sunday was Oliver Perez, who bounced back from a rough start earlier in the week in which he gave up eight runs in one inning thanks in large part to some awful defense behind him. With a terrific outfield of Gomez, Carlos Beltran and Endy Chavez backing him up, he flirted with a shutout, allowing just one hit to the opposing pitcher in the first eight innings. He allowed a solo home run and left the game with one out in the ninth but it was still a brilliant performance. In addition to the two hits, he gave up two walks while striking out six and lowered his season ERA to an even 3.00.
Up next for the Mets (23-13) is a four-game series at home against the Cubs (17-18), who lost two of three in Philadelphia over the weekend. Tom Glavine (4-1, 2.98), John Maine (5-0, 1.79) and Jorge Sosa (2-0, 2.77) will start the first three games for the Mets. Hopefully game four will not be a repeat of the Chan Ho Park experiment. For the Cubs it will be the inexplicably sucessful Jason Marquis (5-1, 1.70) along with Carlos Zambrano (3-3, 5.83), Rich Hill (4-2, 2.51) and Angel Guzman (0-0, 3.57).
Another week, another four wins for the Mets. They slipped to second place, a half-game behind the Braves, and Moises Alou got hurt again but otherwise it was another good week for New York's leading baseball franchise.
It was a pretty ordinary week for the offense as they scored thirty runs in six games. Not so ordinary was the contribution of David Wright, whose bat seems to be finally coming alive. The Met third baseman had nine hits in twenty-four at bats including three doubles and a home run and he also stole four bases including three in Sunday's game. He's still hitting just .262/.358/.404 for the season, but at least he's starting to come around. Carlos Delgado is even further from respectable numbers at just .209/.287/.328, but at least he hit a couple of home runs this week.
Not all struggling Mets will get as many chances to succeed as those two as Mike Pelfrey found out this weekend. After a Saturday start in which he gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks in five innings, Pelfrey was sent down to AAA New Orleans. In six starts he went 0-5 with a 6.53 ERA. He gave up 36 hits and 17 walks in 30.1 innings and struck out just twelve. I have little doubt that Pelfrey will be back in the majors at some point this season, but he clearly has a lot of work to if he's going to develop into a successful starter.
With Pelfrey in the minors the Mets are left with just four starters for the time being as they called up outfielder Carlos Gomez to replace Pelfrey on the roster. The twenty-one year old Gomez entered the season as one of the Mets' top prospects and held his own at AAA despite his youth, hitting .286/.363/.414 in thirty-six games. He got the start in right field on Sunday and wasted little time in making an impression at the major league level, hitting a double and a single, stealing a base and looking very good defensively. Gomez is probably not long for the Mets' roster as they'll need a starting pitcher on Thursday. He's better off playing every day at AAA than sitting on the bench in the majors anyway and he still needs to add some power to his offensive game before he'll really look like a major league corner outfielder. But what he showed on Sunday gave Mets fans a glimpse at a very promising future. The Mets have a rather old outfield now but there may be some very exciting reinforcements from the minors in the next couple of years with Gomez, Lastings Milledge and eighteen-year-old Fernando Martinez all looking like potential major league regulars.
Also giving fans something to be excited about on Sunday was Oliver Perez, who bounced back from a rough start earlier in the week in which he gave up eight runs in one inning thanks in large part to some awful defense behind him. With a terrific outfield of Gomez, Carlos Beltran and Endy Chavez backing him up, he flirted with a shutout, allowing just one hit to the opposing pitcher in the first eight innings. He allowed a solo home run and left the game with one out in the ninth but it was still a brilliant performance. In addition to the two hits, he gave up two walks while striking out six and lowered his season ERA to an even 3.00.
Up next for the Mets (23-13) is a four-game series at home against the Cubs (17-18), who lost two of three in Philadelphia over the weekend. Tom Glavine (4-1, 2.98), John Maine (5-0, 1.79) and Jorge Sosa (2-0, 2.77) will start the first three games for the Mets. Hopefully game four will not be a repeat of the Chan Ho Park experiment. For the Cubs it will be the inexplicably sucessful Jason Marquis (5-1, 1.70) along with Carlos Zambrano (3-3, 5.83), Rich Hill (4-2, 2.51) and Angel Guzman (0-0, 3.57).
Labels: Cubs, Diamondbacks, Giants
¶ joe | 12:25 AM |
