For what seems like the 4th time in the past 2 weeks, Jose Jose Jose comes up to the plate in a key situation: a 7th inning at bat with a chance to even up the game. The Mets were losing 2-0, 2 men on, 2 out, and the first sniff of a rally since the 3rd inning. Smoltz has been cruising.
Perfect time to ground out meekly.
UPDATE!!
That AB was the worst of the game, until Jose's next one. 9th inning, 2 outs, with the tying run 90 feet away. Perfect time to take a strike, then pop up meekly to SS. Luckily that ended the game, and it was only the rubber game of a series against our arch rival. No worries though. Jose Jose Jose will hit for the cycle against the Marlins this weekend in a game that means nothing.
3 comments:
I think this is the key: the Mets #s are somewhat bogus. All they do is pile on runs in meaningless games (and especially when other team commits errors) to make it seem like they have a "great" offense, but the reality is that in games that actually matter, their bats are nowhere to be found.
Jose's 9th inning pop-up was inexcusable. He's been killing us lately, over the last week or two. And how did the Mets leave 17 runners on base???
Yet again we drop 2 of 3 to braves.
Also, how the F did both Beltran and Lo Duca not reach base in the 5th inning when they hit slow grounders deep in the hole to renteria? There is no hustle on this team now - both of those were deep enough in the hole that they should've been hits, especially for Beltran who has the speed.
I've never liked the way the Mets approach at bats, they show no situational adjustments at all. They can get away with this in 7 out of every 10 games b/c the opposition is so weak in NL. But when they face a real opponent, they pay the price by failing to drive in runs and stranding ridiculous #s of runners. Once the Mets have people on base, the approach of whoever is batting HAS to change. Otherwise, I can already predict the outcome of this season - win NL east or wild card, and then lose in NL playoffs, especially if we face a team with a stable of decent pitchers.
Well said. I think this team is positioned to be a dominant regular season team, one that probably finishes with the best record in the NL. When you look at playoff pitching rotations (top 3), we're no better than 9th or 10th in the NL. We would need crazy offense to compensate. With Delgado possibly done, Wright up and down, Jose undisciplined, Alou hurt, and Shawn Green, we're not going to get it done.
What needs to happen? Jose needs to take yet another step forward, and D Wright needs to go back to being the all-field hitter he was in the 1st half of '06 (I don't care about the power #'s, that will take care of itself). Delgado can't be replaced midseason, so we've just got to pray for a miraculous turnaround there.
Then we're going to need to trade for another top notch pitcher (e.g., not Dontrelle Willis): Humber/Pelfrey/Milledge/Gomez are trade bait. AND we need to hope Pedro returns to form in time for the playoffs. If all of those things happen, we're the favorite to go all the way. If none of those things happen, we're lucky to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs.
Being dropped in the lineup appears to be paying dividends for Delgado. First he relaxed and started going the other way hitting singles. Tonight, he started driving the ball and had 2 HR's. A promising start on the road to recovery.
Post a Comment