Unhappy Recap: Nationals 10 Mets 4

I think the Nelson Figueroa experiment is just about over. As good as he was for a couple starts, and as nice a story as he is, he has been getting killed lately.
He's very hittable, he's been walking guys and there's no reason to expect him to turn it around.

On the bright side the offense pounded out double digit hits for the 5th time in the last 6 games. But after they gave Figueroa 3 leads, and he blew them all, the offense went in the tank, stranding a lot of runners.

Carlos Delgado went 0 for 5, stranding 6 runners. He also made a key error in the second inning leading to the Nationals first run. To repeat, he's not going to hit .160 all year, he will have his moments, but overall he's still going to suck.

Why couldn't the Mets get Odalis Perez out?

This was also another game in which the Mets were in it and had a chance to come back, until the bullpen came in.

I don't know what is wrong with Sosa but he sucks even more than Heilman does.

The Mets need to win at least 2 out of the next 3 against Washington to avoid having this homestand become a complete disaster.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 5 Mets 4

This was a hard loss to take because they had so many chances and couldn't convert. It was the typical Mets loss, bad starting pitching, failure with men on base, the only difference this time was that the bullpen didn't blow it.

But it still isn't anywhere near as good as the Dodgers bullpen. The Mets got 11 baserunners off Kiroda in the first 3 1/13 innings. They got 4 baserunners over the next 5 2/3 and struck out for 11 of the 17 outs.

Nelson Figueroa's novelty is over. He is a decent pitcher, but he can only really go 5 innings, and even though this was his worst start of the season, I'm not expecting a major rebound from him. But if the other Mets starters were better and pitching deeper Figueroa's problems wouldn't be as pronounced.

On April 19th the Mets won to improve to 10-6. During that span they were 6-2 when Perez, Pelfrey and Figueroa started. Since then they are 6-9 and 1-8 when those three guys start. I could break it down even more but that's telling enough.

Why wasn't Angel Pagan backing up Church on that inside the park home run?

I can't believe Moises Alou is credited with stealing home.

The big play in this game was the 1-2-3 double play Church hit into in the 2nd. The 1-2-3 is always a killer but this was particularly bad because you knew the Mets were going to need a lot more than 3 runs to win the game.

Overall the Mets were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position, and the 2 hits came in the first 3 chances. The last 6 chances were all strikeouts.

I know Delgado has been hitting better lately but if you saw him against Kuo you know that any pitcher with a good fastball can beat him inside. I honestly don't know why teams don't use this against him more often. Do they feel like if they overuse it he'll catch on and figure out what's coming. Is it guilt, like using a cheat code in a video game? Or do they not have confidence that they can get the fastballs far enough inside every time and fearing giving up a homer, like the one he hit off Webb that got too much of the plate?

After a good series in Arizona it would be very disappointing to get swept by the Dodgers and fall to .500.

Happy Recap: Mets 6 Braves 3

This was a huge win because the Mets never beat the Braves and after the way this series started to come back and beat Hudson and Smoltz in succession, and knock them out of the game. Awesome!

Carlos Delgado finally woke up. Two homers including a a shot off Smoltz to left field. He needs to start going to left field more because his bat is no longer quick enough to pull pitches with authority.

But when Delgado hit his first homer of the year I remember hearing Wayne Hagen on the radio say that this would definitely get him jump started. Didn't happen then and I don't think it will happen now. Sure he is not going hit .180 all season (we hope) but he's not going to suddenly snap out of it and hit .280 with 35 homers either.



It was also nice to see Raul Casanova come through with a couple of big hits including that blast in the second inning. He is 9 for 21 since becoming the de facto starting catcher.

I still like Nelson Figueroa even though this was his second subpar start in a row. I like the way he battles, I like the way he challenges hitters, I like the way his family has their own luxury box when he pitches, and I like the way he only gives up 3 runs per game giving the Mets a chance to win his starts. They are 3-1 when he starts.

Awesome catch by Church in the 7th. I think Beltran may have had a chance at it if Church hadn't been coming on so hard but once he saw Church, Beltran made the right decision to slide and avoid a collision.



Billy Wagner has been awesome this season. I hope we will remember this when he blows a save, because it's going to happen eventually.

Willie did a good job managing the bullpen in this game, getting an inning out of Schoeneweis and giving Feliciano a chance to get a right hander so Sanchez could get the day off.

Unhappy Recap: Cubs 8 Mets 1

As it turns out this was an exactly replay of the first game against the Cubs. Decent starting pitching, no offense at all and a bullpen that blew the game open.

The Mets have to do something with Carlos Delgado. He is absolutely killing them right now. If I were in charge I would bench him. Permanently. I'm not kidding. I knew at the beginning of the season he would be terrible and he's actually been worse than that. Teams are pitching around Beltran (even with 1st and 2nd) because they know, not think, know, that they can get Delgado out. And it's not going to get any better. He'll improve a little, but not substantially. He's old, washed up and teams know how to get him out. And his defense is horrible too. He made three bad plays in this one including a crucial mistake in the 4th. I have no idea what he was doing on that ball, he had no chance to field it and was out of position to take the throw from Easley.

I love Nelson Figueroa. I loved the way he got out of a bases loaded jam in the second. Bases loaded no outs, yet he didn't get flustered he just got the strikeout and then the double play ball. If some of the other Mets pitchers who have much more talent had as much mental toughness, they could win Cy Young Awards.

He should have gotten out of the 4th with only one run. On a better hitting team Figueroa would be an excellent pitcher because he keeps his team in the game.

Right now the Mets have a major problem because they cannot hit. You might recall that last year the Mets got off to a hot start then played .500 ball for 100 games or so. Well, they are once again a .500 team. Their offense is so bad right now. There is only one player on the team hitting.

The Mets need to bat Church second and Pagan 5th.
The Mets are 5-0 when Church bats second, 3-1 when Pagan does and 2-8 with Castillo in the 2 hole. This was the first game they lost when Castillo didn't bat second. That's not a coincidence. This team is built around Reyes, Wright and Beltran. The bottom of the order sucks, so putting Castillo in the middle of the strong part of the order kills them.

The Mets are 7-0 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 3-9 Saturday through Tuesday.

Happy Recap: Mets 3 Nationals 2

The Nationals completely gift-wrapped this game for the Mets, who were so bad offensively, that they almost didn't take it.

Let's examine how the Mets scored their runs:
First inning: Reyes singles then scores on a double by Church. But the double should have been a two base error as Wily Mo Pena dropped a very catchable ball by closing his glove too early.



Eighth inning: With 2 outs Church reaches on an error by Belliard, a ball that definitely should have been fielded, an absolutely routine play. But this was the one time the Mets actually did something to create their runs because after that error, Wright walked and Delgado came through in the clutch with an RBI single, breaking and 0 for 14 stretch.

Fourteenth inning: Easley singled, reached second on a pitch dropped by the catcher (technically a stolen base), went to third on a throwing error (botched pickoff attempt) and scored on a wild pitch.



Obviously the Mets didn't earn any of those runs.

Now let's look at their missed chances:

First of all, after Church's "double" 16 Mets were retired in a row (10 strikeouts) by John Lannan, proving the old SUCKME (Some Unknown Chucker Kills Mets Everytime) accurate once again.

7th inning: Delgado walked, Pagan singled, Clark sacrificed, Casanova blooped out to third base and Castillo grounded out.

9th inning: Castillo singles and steals second but Beltran struck out. Not one of the more egregious offenses committed by the Mets in this game. You can't expect a 2-out hit every time.

10th inning: Church walked, Wright flied out, Delgado walked, Pagan lined out.

12th inning: Easley singled, Reyes got a bunt base hit on a horrible play by Ray King, so bad they really scored it an error, but it should have been a hit. Then Church made the biggest fuckup of the game. He bunted too hard, and right at the pitcher. You have to make the third baseman field that one. Yes, it was a bad call, Easley was safe at third but the play was very close and it should never have come down to that. Then Wright grounded into a double play to compound the problem.

13th inning: Sosa walked, Chavez walked, Casanova struck out, Castillo lined out.

But as bad as the hitting was, the pitching was awesome. Another great start for Nelson Figueroa who was damn near perfect other than that 2-run homer.



And even more impressive than Figueroa's 7 innings were the 7 innings turned in by the bullpen. 3 hits, 3 walks and no runs by 6 different pitchers.

The teams sacrificed (or tried to) 5 times in this game, and none of them helped produce a run. The sacrifice is usually a bad play. Trading a base for an out is a bad idea. The only time it should be used is when you have a man on second and none out late in a close game and a good hitter coming up next. Or when a pitcher is up. Most of the other times it just hurts you. For instance, in the 7th, the sacrifice was a bad move because Casanova and Castillo were up after Clark and Clark probably had the best chance of the three of them of getting a hit.

Happy Recap: Mets 4 Brewers 2

An excellent performance by Nelson Figueroa, 2 hits, 2 runs, 6 innings is probably the upper limits of his potential. So I don't think we should expect anything like this the next time he takes the mound. Also, he did get some favorable calls on strikes that the overhead camera revealed to be just off the plate.

I know it sounds like I'm really picking on Delgado but his RBI single should have been scored an error on Fielder. It was supposed to be a double play. But the Mets got good situational hitting from Easley (I will never complain about a sacrifice fly) and Raul Casanova.

And of course the red hot Angel Pagan got another key hit with men on base to bring home a very crucial insurance run.

But there is no situational hitting from Carlos Beltran. For the second day in a row he left a man on third with fewer than 2 outs. This time he did hit the ball hard, but it was right at the pitcher for an easy inning-ending double play.

I think Willie made the right move by trotting Heilman out there again. Now he can rest tomorrow and not have to think about all his bad performances.

It was nice to see Billy Wagner get a 1-2-3 save especially against Fielder, Braun and Hall.


But any game that includes Jose Reyes leaving early with an injury is worrisome. But I had a feeling something was wrong when he grounded into a double play.