Thursday, August 17, 2006

Maine-iac on the floor

Gotta love this kid.

The middle of the order busted out today too. Delgado had 11 total bases in 4 ABs and Beltran went 4 for 5 with a HR and a double.

Wright's the only one who seems truly mired. He took another collar, going 0-for-4 with 3 K's. Even the radio announcers picked up the cue from the TV guys last night: David looks tired. The kid needs a couple of games off here or there to refresh him for the post-season.

It also makes you wonder if the home-run derby is unhealthy for these guys. Abreu's power never returned after his outburst in '05. This year Wright went off in the first round, but you have to wonder if he just beat his obliques into submission swinging for the fences 50 times in a row. It's a bit like asking a pitcher to throw his fastest pitch 200 times in a row just for the sake of wowing the crowd.

3 comments:

dark commenteer said...

John "Me Maine-Man" has rapidly moved up to become my #2 Met, behind the guy at 3rd base that I have taken to calling "Rally-Killer."
I'm starting to sound like SheaHey here...
Anyways, I can't remember the last time that I saw a young, non-power pitcher attack batters this fearlessly. Unfortunately I only got to listen to yesterday's game on the FAN but they gave the impression that even the pitch that Howard muscled out had beaten him and Howard was just able to heave it out (damn, this kid can hit!).
All I keep hearing about is the competition for the #3 spot in the playoff rotation coming down to Trax or Duque. To this I emphatically state "BEARS!" Let's give the kid a chance to kick some playoff ass.

SheaHeyKid said...

Trax stinks, if his name is even being thrown around as part of a playoff rotation, we're done!

Maine looks awesome. Let's hope this new trio (Maine, Bannister, Pelfrey) can produce a little better for the Mets than the last "second coming" of Ryan-Koosman-Seaver (Izzy, Pulse, Wilson). If two of them pan out, and we add a veteran arm in offseason, we are in unbelievable shape for the next 3-4 years.

Interesting point about HR derby, no doubt it takes a lot out of you as anyone who has spent a day at the cages knows. However, Howard has not lost a step since winning derby. And wright went through a 10-game slump earlier in the season, before all-star break. I'd guess it's probably just general fatigue from season (he hasn't rested much) and mental.

Fredo said...

True, and I guess it's probably a little simple to try to blame it on the Derby. But a guy like Howard just drops the bat on the ball to hit it out. Wright's home run swing is a full-body experience: closing his upper body, and then uncorking his whole torso to generate bat speed. He's a much smaller guy than Howard is.