Things just get weirder and weirder as the baseball gods inflict their punishment on the Metties.
Take the just one half inning's weirdness, for example:
Chavez seemingly sleepwalking on a pop fly double down the line
Wright air mailing an easy throw
Wagner's back tightening up making him unavailable
Feliciano giving up the leadoff hit to the one guy he was brought in to face
Sosa brought in to close a game
Sosa left on the mound as he gives up hit after hit after hit (c'mon, Sele was still available!)
All in 1/2 inning!
Never mind the injury bug having bitten Delgado, Sanchez, Easley, Valentin, and Duque, and now Castillo's knees forced him out of last night's lineup, PLD has a hand the size of a grapefruit that has to be affecting his hitting and throwing, and Alou's quad tightened up on him night before last (every AB could be his last of the season).
Then you have Heilman getting pegged from the stands and Milledge seemingly losing his mind.
Well, I'd say you need to separate the truly bizarre from the flat lazy, inexcusable, or poor decisions.
On the bizarre side I'd include the total # of errors they've racked up recently (very hard to understand); Wagner back spasms; and Heilman getting beaned. You could also throw in there the total # of injuries mets have had to sustain during the season, but i'm hesistant to do so b/c most of the injuries have been to older players, and that's what you have to anticipate.
On the flat inexcusable side: Chavez (or anyone for that matter) not running out EVERY play from now until the season ends; Milledge flipping out (BTW, where the F is willie on these bad strike/ball calls - get out there and take the automatic tossing for the team); and Reyes' approach at the plate.
On the poor decisions side: not leaving Feliciano in to just finish off the 9th. Here's my logic on Feliciano: it's unreasonable to expect that he will never surrender a hit, he can't be perfect. BUT, I do believe that he is the LEAST likely pitcher on this staff to surrender 3 runs in an inning. You simply can't say the same for anyone else out of the pen right now - any of them are liable to give up 3 runs. So, if you are going to bring Feliciano in to 9th since wagner is injured, just let him close out the game. Especially when a win last night would have given us critical momentum and should have been viewed as a "must-win" (even more so since losing meant blowing a huge lead, and is therefore a crushing mental setback). If he's too meek to pitch to more than one batter, then he's useless. I dislike the way willie insists on only using him as a one-batter pitcher.
On the to-be-expected side: Wright's errors (he is #2 worst 3B in all of MLB); injuries to old players.
One would hope that the team would step back, take a breath, and realize that at least on the very positive side they are having no problems generating offense. So, there is no reason why the pitching or fielding should be playing tight.
3 comments:
Starters who can't pitch more than 6 innings + a non-existent bullpen is no good. Strange..
Things just get weirder and weirder as the baseball gods inflict their punishment on the Metties.
Take the just one half inning's weirdness, for example:
Chavez seemingly sleepwalking on a pop fly double down the line
Wright air mailing an easy throw
Wagner's back tightening up making him unavailable
Feliciano giving up the leadoff hit to the one guy he was brought in to face
Sosa brought in to close a game
Sosa left on the mound as he gives up hit after hit after hit (c'mon, Sele was still available!)
All in 1/2 inning!
Never mind the injury bug having bitten Delgado, Sanchez, Easley, Valentin, and Duque, and now Castillo's knees forced him out of last night's lineup, PLD has a hand the size of a grapefruit that has to be affecting his hitting and throwing, and Alou's quad tightened up on him night before last (every AB could be his last of the season).
Then you have Heilman getting pegged from the stands and Milledge seemingly losing his mind.
Things are just flat weird right now.
Well, I'd say you need to separate the truly bizarre from the flat lazy, inexcusable, or poor decisions.
On the bizarre side I'd include the total # of errors they've racked up recently (very hard to understand); Wagner back spasms; and Heilman getting beaned. You could also throw in there the total # of injuries mets have had to sustain during the season, but i'm hesistant to do so b/c most of the injuries have been to older players, and that's what you have to anticipate.
On the flat inexcusable side: Chavez (or anyone for that matter) not running out EVERY play from now until the season ends; Milledge flipping out (BTW, where the F is willie on these bad strike/ball calls - get out there and take the automatic tossing for the team); and Reyes' approach at the plate.
On the poor decisions side: not leaving Feliciano in to just finish off the 9th. Here's my logic on Feliciano: it's unreasonable to expect that he will never surrender a hit, he can't be perfect. BUT, I do believe that he is the LEAST likely pitcher on this staff to surrender 3 runs in an inning. You simply can't say the same for anyone else out of the pen right now - any of them are liable to give up 3 runs. So, if you are going to bring Feliciano in to 9th since wagner is injured, just let him close out the game. Especially when a win last night would have given us critical momentum and should have been viewed as a "must-win" (even more so since losing meant blowing a huge lead, and is therefore a crushing mental setback). If he's too meek to pitch to more than one batter, then he's useless. I dislike the way willie insists on only using him as a one-batter pitcher.
On the to-be-expected side: Wright's errors (he is #2 worst 3B in all of MLB); injuries to old players.
One would hope that the team would step back, take a breath, and realize that at least on the very positive side they are having no problems generating offense. So, there is no reason why the pitching or fielding should be playing tight.
Post a Comment