Oliver Perez is topping off at about 91 tonight; he usually gets up to the 95-96 mph range. Not to mention that his command was awfulbefore he settled down a bit after the first few innings. Hopefully it’s nothing too major, but something is definitely off with Ollie tonight.
Marlon Anderson injured
May 23, 2008 · No Comments
Looks like he pulled a hammy running out a ground ball in the top of the third in Colorado. Fernando Tatis takes over in left field. Not what the Mets need right now.
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Fernando Tatis, Marlon Anderson, Mets, NL East, Rockies
Around the Beast
May 23, 2008 · No Comments
Braves 4-Mets 2
Atlanta starter Tim Hudson pitched masterfully, surrendering just 2 earned runs in 8 innings, striking out 4 and walking none on 100 pitches. Hudson got the win and is now 7-3 on the year. His only mistakes came in the second inning, when he served up home runs to Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.
The Mets needed Johan Santana to pitch a gem, but their ace didn’t come through, allowing 3 earned runs on 12 hits in 7 innings on just 90 pitches, walking none and striking out only one. He drops to 5-3 on the season.
The damage came in the 7th, when Beltran misplayed a ball hit by Kelly Johnson, leading to RBIs by Omar Infante (who had been 0-19 against Santana), Chipper Jones, and Mark Teixiera. Willie Randolph didn’t take Santana out of the game, and the inning was only finished by a beautifully executed 1-6-3 double play.
Talk about teams headed in different directions; the hot-hitting Braves have won four in a row and are crusing while the mediocre Mets have lost 7 of 10 and are reeling.
Phillies 7-Astros 5
The Phillies scored early but almost blew it in their first game of the year at Minute Maid Park. Starter Kyle Kendrick did not pitch a great game, giving up 5 earned runs on 8 hits in just 5 innings of work on 91 pitches, walking one and striking out 2. But Astros ace Roy Oswalt was not much better, also giving up 5 earned runs on 11 hits in 6 innings of work, walking 2 and striking out 4 on 95 pitches.
Ryan Howard had a very good night, going 3-5 with a home run (his 14th) and 2 RBIs (and 2 strikeouts, as well). After the Astros had tied the game in the 6th, Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead pinch-hit home run in the 8th off of rookie Wesley Wright. Also driving in runs for the Phillies were Carlos Ruiz, Pedro Feliz, Geoff Jenkins, and Chase Utley (his 33rd of the year). Chad Durbin picked up his first win of the year, and Brad Lidge notched his 12th save of the year, this one against his former team.
Driving in runs for the Astros were Berkman, Brad Ausmus, Ty Wigginton, and Geoff Blum. Wright took his second loss on the year.
Marlins 4-Diamondbacks 0
The red-hot Marlins completed their sweep of the Diamondbacks in an outstanding performance by young Andrew Miller, who shut Arizona out in 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, striking out 9 and walking just one batter on 107 pitches. Miller, who picked up his 4th win, was opposed by Dan Haren, who allowed 4 runs on 8 hits, striking out 8 and walking none on 94 pitches.
Wes Helms drove in two on a pinch-hit double in the 7th to drive Haren from the game. Jorge Cantu also drove in two runs for the Marlins.
Categories: Braves · Marlins · Mets · NL East · Phillies
Tagged: Mets, Phillies, Marlins, Braves, Andrew Miller, Chipper Jones, Tim Hudson, Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, Kyle Kendrick, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Geoff Jenkins, Brad Lidge, Pedro Feliz, Diamondbacks, Dan Haren, Carlos Ruiz, Kelly Johnson, Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixiera, NL East, Willie Randolph, Astros, Jorge Cantu, Roy Oswalt, Omar Infante, Wes Helms, Wesley Wright, Chad Durbin, Brad Ausmus, Ty Wigginton, Geoff Blum
Buster Olney: Santana in decline
May 23, 2008 · No Comments
In this morning’s blog, Buster Olney says that Johan Santana is in decline since being traded to the Mets, and he gives the numbers to back the statement up. His K/9 ratio is down from 9.66 last year to 7.79. His K/BB ratio has gone from 4.52 last year to 3.87 (it was 5.21 two years ago). And his opponent OPS is up from .678 last year to .723 this season. Here is what Olney has to say about the numbers:
Look, Santana is still obviously among the better pitchers in the game, and his remarkable ability to change speeds means that he probably is going to age better than a lot of his peers. He is smart, dedicated and seriously competitive, so if there is something to figure out and there are adjustments that can be made, he’ll get there.
This question remains: Will he be worth to the Mets what they will pay him over the duration of the contract? We’ll see.
But it’s probably not a good thing that rival scouts are seeing signs of diminishment less than two months into a seven-year deal.
I’m really not all that concerned. Santana is adjusting to a different league and to a different team (and city). He probably feels as much pressure to perform as anyone on the team, and this might very well be affecting his performance. As far as last night’s game, Santana pitched well through six, and then blew up in the seventh. The loss was not completely his fault, though. Willie should have pulled him in the middle of the inning, instead of letting him finish the seventh (with a brilliant defensive play). He’s still one of the best pitchers in baseball, like Buster says, and I couldn’t imagine where the Mets would be without him right now.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Buster Olney, Johan Santana, Mets, NL East
