No, didn't QUITE get the ball thrown properly to first yet Mr Wrong...
Otherwise there'd be all sorts of recriminations, finger-pointing and bile spilling from every corner about our ace, Johan Santana, losing to the ace in Derek Lowe the Mets COULD have signed but decided to decide the shit-canned Ollie Perez instead.
Yes, a rotation of Santana, Lowe, Pelf, Maine and Livan would have been one of the best in baseball and instead of signing Lowe to that exhausting contract and making that rotation come to life, the Mets signed Perez and the instead of greatness they continue to struggle to find the strong and consistent Number Two starter in their rotation.
But it wasn't the starting rotation that ailed the Mets last night. Both pitchers did their jobs and the game was knotted at 1 each after 6 innings.
Sort of the way you might have expected it. Ace and against ace.
Sort of the way you might have even hoped for, given that ace against ace was going to lead to the bullpen and the bullpen, by god, is what Omar spent all his bloody budget on this winter in lieu of starting pitching and the bullpen at least, even if the starting rotation can't always be relied upon, is the bloody anchor of this great vessel of a baseball team.
So where were JJ Putz and Frankie Boy, the transcendent set-up man and closer whilst the Mets bullpen was busy putting the game out of reach looking very much like the Mets bullpen of 2007?
Did Jerry Manuel fall asleep in the 7th?
D'oh!
Why wasn't Jose Reyes facilitating Pedro Feliciano's tepid foray into the sublime by allowing that grounder Pedro had induced Brian McCann into, what should have been an inning-ending double play, to be played with style and competence and should have ended the god-damned inning before it had a chance to get worse?
And why for that matter, once Reyes blew it, WHY was the lefty Feliciano still out there to face the righty Diaz with the entirety of the bullpen available to stem the bleeding?
(I'm sure Jerry will have an answer, like the lefty Kotchman due up after Diaz and no more lefties in the bullpen...)
But forget about all that.
Johan contemplates Wright's wrong throw in the first
What is disquieting about this loss is that is like so many others that Johan has started in and that these losses are the games the Mets are supposed to be winning, the ones with their ace, the best pitcher in the National League, on the mound.
Instead, and perhaps eerily reminiscent of the candor of Jose Reyes' admission the other day that they don't always try their hardest or give their most, the Mets seem to stop playing when Johan is pitching, content to stand or sit there watching him in action, not hitting to give him run support and not fielding to give him defensive support.
These are all games, with their ace on the mound, that the Mets should be winning and they add up instead to losses that might, as the season wears on, mean the difference between winning the NL East again finally and finishing yet again as also-rans.
*****
Another Mets article from yours truly up today on Flushing University. Thanks, chaps.
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6 comments:
well it's not all bad, at least we're still in first place.
always look on the bright side i suppose
Reyes is a mechanical fielder who, like Wright, gets too much credit for defense. Did you see that awful throw from Wright in inning one? Reyes is limited goinf to his left as well. Our infield defense is severely limited range wise, as is our outfield. And our catching is a little shoddy as well. Add to that we play in a par that screams for defense. Omarm ar eyou listening? Jerry is in love with pitching switches. I leave Parnell out there. Anything is better than Flopciano.
yes, sanchez and MMAVu, the 7 game winning streak makes the loss a little more palatable but so will taking the next two from the Braves.
jdon, I think someone pointed out a few weeks ago on one of the broadcasts that when he throws over hand instead of side arm, has no problem getting the ball to first. You'd think such a simple, correctable flaw would have been long ago sorted out but no, it continues to be a problem. Not like Zimmerman. Wonder if the Nats would be dumb enough doing a one for one trade. As for Reyes, he's just too stupid. I mean fielding isn't rocket science and it's his bloody position, as a professional so I'm not quite sure what the issue is here.
And look, if Omar got proper fielding players he's end up getting them at the cost of bats so we'd end up having good defence, a rubbish middle relief staff and a mediocre starting rotation just to end up losing the same games anyway. Too bad these hitters aren't as adept at producing runs as say, the Phillies. And has no one still figured out - hitters park or pitcher's park? Yes, you can let opposing batters swing away but really the gaps and the funny bounces and sun and bloody airplanes flying overhead must be well distracting to everyone. Maybe that's why they're all in the food court!
Awesome blog you have heere
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