N.Y.Mets

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The N.Y. Mets Fall from Grace (and the standings…)

Posted by fantasyfurnace on July 23, 2012
Posted in: MLB. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 comments

Just when you thought it was safe to become a proud New York Mets fan again, they find another way to “Build you up, buttercup baby just to let you down!” Six games over .500 at the All Star break and just 1/2 a game out of the wild card race, it looked like the Metropolitans were finding a way to overachieve themselves right into the playoffs.

This disgruntled Mets fan’s face is one of many who have watched his team implode since the All Star break. Photo: John Dunn for The New York Times

However injuries and a lot of bad luck has pulled the rug from right underneath them of late and we’re now witnessing the unravelling of one of the most biggest surprise teams through the first half of the season. Losers of eight of their last nine games since the break, the Mets have found themselves at 47-48, placing them below .500 for the first time this year.

Now they’ve slipped to 8.5 games out of 1st place in the N.L. East, safely tucked away in third place and 5 games out of the wild card race after their weekend sweep at the hands of the L.A. Dodgers. Their pitching staff has been a regular *M*A*S*H* unit, starting with Mike Pelfrey who went down after just three games before having Tommy John surgery. The loss of Dillon Gee to a blood clot in his throwing shoulder was followed by the latest news that the first N.Y. Met to pitch a no-hitter, Johan Santana, was headed to the DL to heal a badly sprained ankle, to rest, and to give his surgically repaired shoulder some extra time off. Should the Mets fall too far out of contention, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if they opt to shut Santana down for a part or the remainder of the season at that point.

#57 SP Johan Santana, who has been ineffective in his last few starts, has been placed on the 15 day DL with ankle soreness and for rest. Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America

41 year old SP Miguel Batista, who has started five games for the Mets this season has been totally ineffective as witnessed by his latest fiasco in yesterday’s game where he threw 81 pitches in only three innings allowing four runs on five hits and three walks. Not much relief in sight as the much hyped prospect Matt Harvey, scheduled to come up to the majors after another start, allowed six runs on seven hits in just five innings in a 11-0 Triple -A loss on Saturday night.

If the Mets are to salvage the remainder of the season, then they will have to be buyers and go out and find some free agents to help head off their recent implosion. And it’s not just starting pitching that’s had the biggest impact on their downward spiral; their bullpen, who entered Saturday’s game with the worst ERA (4.95) in baseball needs an overhauling as well.

This savvy Mets fan realizes the importance of good relief pitching at the major league level; an area that’s been problematic for the Metropolitans. Photo: nj.com

Relievers Jeremy Hefner from Triple-A Buffalo and Elvin Ramirez will be recalled from Buffalo probably before Sunday’s game, but  they’ll need more ‘relief’ than that- and in more ways than one if they want to stay competitive going into the dog days of summer and beyond.

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R.A. Dickey: A year like no other!

Posted by fantasyfurnace on June 8, 2012
Posted in: MLB. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 7 comments

He’s the hottest pitcher in the major leagues tied for the most wins, 9. Dickey is having a career year and there really is no rhyme or reason for it.  As he is currently on pace for 25 wins, clearly it would not be surprising if there’s an adjustment in store for the 37 year old knuckleballer.

Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey, showcasing his famous knuckleball, is enjoying the best season of his career. Photo: facebook.com

He is two years removed from his career high in wins, 11, and is carrying a career low ERA of 2.44 and a miniscule WHIP of only 1.04! What make these numbers as stunning as his 9-1 record is that his career average ERA sits at 4.17 while his average WHIP is 1.37. Although on pace for 200+ strikeouts, Dickey has never struck out more than 134 in any season.

He doesn’t seem to be letting up either as he has a 0.29 ERA over his last four starts, with 38 strikeouts and three walks. And what is even more impressive is that Dickey is experiencing his career best scoreless inning streak holding at 24 2/3 inning! Not sure what the eleven year veteran is eating but I hope he wasn’t hanging around Ryan Braun in the off-season…

His next two games are against the anemic Tampa Bay Rays followed by the Cincinnati Reds. He’s playing for a team that has been clutch all season by virtue of the fact that they have scored the most runs with two outs of any team in the major leagues. And this is with a first baseman who is batting 70 points lower than his weight, .161, and has amassed only 29 hits all year; Ike Davis.

Fantasy managers who snagged up R.A. early in the season have certainly been reaping the harvest as Dickey has provided outstanding numbers right across the board

If Dickey’s performance over the first third of the season is sustainable, then he could be considered an early N.L. Cy Young Award candidate when all is said and done. He’ll have some competition to be sure with pitchers like Lance Lynn, Cole Hamels, Chris Capuano, and Gio Gonzalez all close to Dickey’s numbers.

But it wasn’t always this easy for the former 1st round draft pick of the Texas Rangers. In an effort to improve his stats, Dickey came up with his now potent knuckleball at the beginning of the 2006 season. The Rangers gave Dickey a chance to try out his knuckleball at the major league level, however, after giving up 6 home runs in his first start on April 6, tying the modern era baseball record with another knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, he was demoted to the Triple-A.

After two unsuccessful stints with the Mariners and the Twins, he was traded to the Mets in 2010 and has since perfected the knuckleball to where he now has the 2nd lowest ERA on the Mets staff; just a wee bit behind Johan Santana, the Mets ace. Almost a cinch to make the All-Star team next month, it would not be inconceivable for Dickey to end the season with the most wins by a knuckleballer and perhaps he’ll be instrumental in turning other pitchers on to this crazy, unorthodox and extremely difficult pitch to hit. We wish R.A. luck the rest of the way while he enjoys his best year ever!

Could R.A. Dickey become a 20-game winner this season? Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

The Mets have a legitimate shot if…

Posted by fantasyfurnace on May 31, 2012
Posted in: MLB. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 7 comments

If you would have told me before the year began that we would be ‘considering’ the Mets as a contender entering the third month of the season, I would have asked you what you were smoking and then double-checked that your last name wasn’t Wilpon…

Daniel Murphy, David Wright and the rest of the Mets are all smiles as they begin June 5 games over .500. Photo: (US Presswire)

 

And yet here we are about to begin the month of June, declaring that the Mets have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. Here are several factors that we have weighed into this thought process:

The Mets, first and foremost, deserve a tremendous amount of credit for over-achieving with essentially a young & unexperienced bunch of players while dealing with the obligitory injuries that every team is faced with.

Their payroll adds new meaning to the phrase “shoe-string budget”. Example: if you take the salaries of Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy and Mike Nickeas,  currently all starters, it would total just under $2 million!  A-Rod makes that in a weekend! Discounting SP Johan Santana, the remaining 13 pitchers, (starters and relievers combined) make just slightly less than CC Sabathia does…

Manager Terry Collins, who I like a lot, makes this team play hard every day. When you’re making $519,550 like Jonathan Niese or $497,318 like Lucas Duda, there are no egos for Collins to contend with. Just a bunch of hungry and coachable players giving it their all every game.

If Mets manager Terry Collins can keep his team focused and playing hard as they have been, he could be in contention for Manager of the Year honors. Photo: blog.bettor.com

There are other factors to consider why we give the Mets a shot. They are starting off June 5  games over .500, just 1.5 games out of first place. They are playing in arguably one of the weakest National Leagues in memory. Yes the Marlins and the Nationals are good teams and the Dodgers are probably the best of the rest, but as of May 31st, the N.Y. Mets have the 5th best record in the N. L. and sport the best record against the N.L. East (15-9), of any team.

Throw in that that they are playing their first season with the fences brought in so that it no longer takes a SCUD Missle to launch a baseball out of Citi Field, and you finally see some offense from this group.

Lastly, I think that the Mets need to make some additions at the deadline this year in order to make a push during the last half of the season. It doesn’t, and probably won’t be high pricetag players either. Just some key backup/bench players and some help in the ‘pen is all they’ll need 

This is the big “IF” I referred to-During the month of June, The Mets will face undoubetedly their toughest one month schedule of the season. They play, in order: St. Louis, Wash., Yanks, Tampa Bay, Cincy, Balt, Yanks, Cubs, L.A.D. Three of these teams are currently in 1st place in their division.

That’s a total of 27 games. If they can finish the month at least or close to 14-12,  then not only am I on board but it would be more than safe to say that they would have a legitimate shot at making it to the playoffs. However you will need a scorecard at the end of the season because hardly any of the names on this team are recognizable…