Being A Mets Fan=Major Stress
By now, regular readers to The Huddle know that I am a big Mets fan. Lolita, Chris, Caroline & Matt are all aware that I do my best to stay calm and maintain a proper sense of decorum watching the Amazin's play. How many times have I said on this blog that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint? But the last few Met losses have left even little mild mannered me frustrated.
Saturday at Citi Field, Jerry Manuel decides to play the "C" team against the Florida Marlins. No Sheffield, no Wright, not even Castillo ON TOP of already no Reyes, Delgado and an ill Beltran. Jerry, what are you thinking? He can spin all he wants that "guys need rest." That makes sense when your team is healthy, but this team isn't. Bad job by Manuel, particularly when Tim Redding is your starting pitcher. I realize that Redding has NOT been great. But when the team and manager is intimating that he may lose his spot in the rotation, Redding NEEDS to know he has the full support of the club with the best guys out there. One of Manuel's supposed strengths is handling players. The Mets' skipper missed the boat here, and it cost the team any chance of a sweep of the Marlins with Jason Johnson throwing for the Fish.
Here's a thought for Manuel: Rest guys ON THE ROAD-when the wear and tear of travel takes its toll on a team. At Citi Field, guys play. Period.
Meanwhile, J.J. Putz is suddenly the new Aaron Heilman. If he's hurt, get him on the DL (assuming the Mets medical staff has arrived on a proper diagnosis and doesn't have J.J. use frequent flyer miles). If Putz can't handle being 'only' the 8th inning setup guy (which he KNEW would be the case when he got here) then the Mets need to trade him. Just what Mets fans need when the only significant moves that Omar Minaya made in the offseason was to try to fix the back of the bullpen. K-Rod has been great. Otherwise, the pen still has the potential to look an awful lot like 2008. The club needed to beat the lowly Pirates-even with one hit after the third inning last night.
I should call Davey Johnson and ask for Rolaids. He used that stuff a lot-and his clubs won two divisions, a world title and 90 plus wins a season. Fans of the 2009 edition don't have that luxury-we have only disappointment most of this decade, especially the last three seasons. Thank the Lord I stopped drinking, though this team gives you plenty of reasons to consider becoming intimate friends of John Daniels. Yes, it's Jack to most, unless you're a long suffering sports fan, The Mets are right up there in the NY sports fan suffering chain-and there's a LOT to go around.
UPDATE TONIGHT: Duke holds the Mets to one run, Johan can't be great all the time. The coup de grace: Ramon Martinez, "a backup to a backup" in Manuel's words, goes down with a dislocated pinky. Omar, do I need to call Monty Hall to play "Let's Make A Deal?" It's only June 2nd. UGH!!!
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Comments: 5
The depleted Mets lineup may be catching up to them. The injury to Angel Pagan really hurts the Mets as they are currently consituted. He and Luis Castillo were on base constantly during the recent homestand. That is why Gary Sheffield drove in so many runs, because Angel and Luis were always on base.
Career, what we call, AAAA players will play to their history. Career bench players or minor leaguers can give you a bump for a short period of time, but they are not established major leaguers and it eventually catches up on the Mets.
Jerry Manuel's lineup on Saturday was curious. We understand that players need a rest, but being depleted already, the last thing that Jerry should have done was sit healthy regulars.
I feel J.J. Putz is not healthy. His decrease in velocity and lack of bite on his split displays to me that he may not be healthy. I do not think we should compare him to Aaron Heilman, who by the way lost a game for the Cubs last night in Atlanta. We need to be patient with J.J. He is a large part of the bullpen puzzle. We need to get him right. Sean Green is pitching better. Pedro Feliciano, despie giving up a few homers, has been solid as the lefty specialist. K-Rod is literally perfect in 2009 (14-14). The mets need to finish this road trip strong and then get going next week against the Phillies and Yankees. Remember, the Mets are very unpredictable. Just when it looks like they are ready to bottom out, they rise and surprise.
The Mets really need to make some trades other than Ramon Castro to the White Sox for Lance Broadway, they need make some more trades like Mike Pelfrey to the Royals for Gil Meche. They also need to give J.J. Putz some days off/
The Mets really need to make some trades other than Ramon Castro to the White Sox for Lance Broadway, they need make some more trades like Mike Pelfrey to the Royals for Gil Meche. They also need to give J.J. Putz some days off/
The Mets really need to make some trades other than Ramon Castro to the White Sox for Lance Broadway, they need make some more trades like Mike Pelfrey to the Royals for Gil Meche. They also need to give J.J. Putz some days off/
The Mets really need to make some trades other than Ramon Castro to the White Sox for Lance Broadway, they need make some more trades like Mike Pelfrey to the Royals for Gil Meche. They also need to give J.J. Putz some days off/