Mets Head into Off-Season with Many Questions

The New York Mets ended their season with a meaningless 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. Now it is time for the Mets to figure out what they want to do for next year.

The two main priorities for the New York Mets front office are third baseman David Wright, the franchise's all-time hits leader, and Cy Young candidate and 20 game winner R.A Dickey. These two were the heart and soul of 2012 Mets, and according to Sandy Alderson, they will be in Mets uniforms for years to come.

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After Dickey and Wright, the Mets are a major question mark. Only four New York Met starting pitchers started more than 20 games this season, and only Dickey and Johnathan Niese started 30 games. Dickey and Niese are also the only starters to reach double digit wins. Dickey posted a 20 win season while Niese collected 13 wins. Johan Santana was far from being himself this season coming off of shoulder surgery. Yes, he did throw a no-hitter against St.Louis, but what has he done since? His first start after the no-hitter against the Yankees, he gave up six runs in five innings including back to back to back home runs.

The Mets bullpen was a question mark all season, and for good reason. The Mets lacked any solid relief pitching, and blew countless leads late in games. The Mets platooned a number of pitchers out to the mound in relief. John Rauch (3-7, 3.59), Manny Acosta (1-3, 6.46), and Frank Francisco (1-3, 5.53) were disappointments for the Mets, while Bobby Parnell (5-4, 2.49) had his share of good moments and bad moments.

On the offensive side, the Mets must decide what to do with first baseman Ike Davis. Davis finished the season with a .227 avg with 32 home runs, and 90 RBI, but early in the season Davis was lucky if he was hitting his weight. It was an ugly struggle for Ike, who could not find any way out his miserable slump. Davis finished the season on a positive note hitting .273 with four home runs and seven RBI in his final 10 games.

With the off-season upon them, the Mets must find a way to become a top contender in the National League East, and it will not be easy with the way the Braves and Nationals played this year. The Mets need another big bat in the lineup to help David Wright, and Ike Davis is not the answer, even with his 32 homers this season.

It will be interesting to see what route the Mets decide to take to improve their team for next season. No matter which path they take, it should be a busy off-season for the Mets.

Jay Bruce Walk-Off Drops Mets

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Final Score: New York Mets: 0 Cincinnati Reds: 3

Jay Bruce Walk-Off Drops Mets

The Mets six game road trip started like how much of the home stand went; with a loss. Tuesday night they suffered a tough loss against the National League Central Division Cincinnati Reds 3-0.  It is looking less and less likely that the Mets will be playing in October, as anything short of a miracle will have them miss the postseason. 

The lone runs of the game came in walk-off fashion, as Jay Bruce launched a three-run homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning to propel the Reds to victory.  Manny Acosta allowed the first two men of the inning to reach and left Josh Edgin was brought on to face Bruce.

Edgin got two strikes on Bruce, but after fouling off three pitches put the ball into the left field stands for a walk-off opposite field homerun, his 24^th of the season.  The struggles of the bullpen have been an on going issue for the Mets all season, often ruining gritty performances by their starters like tonight.

Chris Young had a tough, gritty performance tonight, working in and out of trouble throughout his 5 2/3 innings.  He allowed the lead off hitter to get on base the first three innings of the game, and did not have a 1-2-3 inning all night as he allowed 12 Reds to reach base. 

Young’s final stat line wasn’t great, but he got through it without allowing any runs, ending with 5 2/3 innings pitched, allowing eight hits and four walks while striking out four.

All in all, the Mets pitching staff was able to strand 14 Reds on base throughout the night, but was unable to get out of the last jam of the night in the 9^th inning.  There was no perfect inning for the Mets until the 8^th inning by Jon Rauch.

The Mets offense left much to be desired tonight, stranding 10 runners of their own, including the bases loaded in the in the fourth and runners on second and third in the ninth.  Ruben Tejada added a double, giving him a hit in 17 of his last 18 games but was unable to come through with men on base on two separate occasions.

Matt Latos was able to dominate the Mets tonight, giving up only five hits and two walks (one intentional) in his seven innings of work while striking out four.  Sean Marshall and Jose Arredondo pitched the two final shutout innings for the Reds out of the bullpen. 

In the second game of the series, the Mets will have R.A. Dickey (15-3, 2.72 ERA) take the mound against Mike Leake (4-7, 4.51 ERA) of the Reds.

Johan Santana Rocked in Return From DL

Saturday August 11^th, 2012

Final Score: Atlanta Braves: 9 New York Mets: 3

Santana Rocked in Return from DL

Johan Santana wishes he could be back making rehab starts in the minor leagues after getting hammered by the Braves Saturday night, resulting in a 9-3 Mets defeat.  The Mets dropped six games under .500 for the first time all season, giving them the worst record they have had all season and falling further and further behind in the playoff races.

Santana’s return off the DL did not go as planned for the Mets.  He matched the shortest start of his career, lasting only 1 1/3 innings and giving up eight earned runs.  This was the second time this season that Santana was pulled after 1 1/3 innings against the Braves; the first occurrence was April 17^th at Turner Field.

Santana’s final stat line for the night was 1 1/3 innings pitched, eight hits, eight runs, one walks and two strikeouts. 

Santana joined Al Leiter in 1999 and Pedro Astacio in 2002 as the only Mets pitchers in franchise history to surrender six plus runs in four straight starts.  In those four starts, Santana has allowed 27 earned runs on 36 hits and six walks in only 14 innings.

Since throwing the first no-hitter in Mets history, Santana has been off his game.  Fatigue in his shoulder after throwing a career high 134 pitches could be the culprit, but no matter what the reason Santana has not been producing.  He has pitched to a 7.98 ERA with a .328 opponents batting average. 

Jeremy Hefner was strong in his relief of Santana after allowing Freddie Freeman to launch a homerun to center field past the apple.  Hefner went 3 2/3 innings after, scattering three hits.  It was a much needed performance for Hefner who was spared a demotion only because Garrett Olson was designated for assignment.

Manny Acosta, Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco combined to finish the last four innings of the game, giving up only one hit and striking out six Braves.

Kris Medlen had a strong performance for the Braves, limiting the Mets to only one run and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. 

Ruben Tejada lost his hitting streak Friday night against the Braves, but got right back in the hit column with two more Saturday night.  Andres Torres had another nice night at the plate, going 2 for 4 with an RBI.  David Wright added an RBI of his own in the 8^th inning as well.

The series between the Mets and Braves will end Sunday on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.  Jon Niese (8-6, 3.82 ERA) will take the mound against Ben Sheets (4-1, 1.41 ERA). 

Mets Beat Giants in Extras

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Mets vs Giants Post Game Recap 7/30

The Mets were able to pick up the first game of the series in San Fran beating the Giants in extra innings by a score of 8-7.

Starter Jeremy Hefner had a tough night on mound for the Mets while picking up the no decision. Hefner went 5.2 innings allowing ten hits, three walks, four runs, and had five strikeouts.

Bobby Parnell was unable to close the game for the Mets despite the blown save going to Josh Edgin who later got his first win of the season. Parnell was only able to get one out while allowing two hits, one run, and then was pulled by Terry Collins.

Manny Acosta would pick up the save in extra innings for his 1^st of the season, but made it very interesting allowing one hit, two walks, and one run.

Offensively for the Mets it was the Scott Hairston show, as Hairston went 2 for 5 with the game tying two-run homerun in the 8^th inning, and then the go ahead solo homerun in the 10^th giving him 14 now for the season.

Ike Davis had another rough night at the plate going 0 for 4 with four strikeouts getting himself a golden sombrero.

Justin Turner was able to rekindle some of last years clutch magic with a pinch hit double in the 8^th inning scoring Jason Bay.

Mets will look to make it three straight wins as Matt Harvey will be making his second start in the majors against Tim Lincecum (4-11, 5.88).

Mets Lose Despite Monster Day from Davis

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Mets vs. Diamondbacks Post Game Recap 7/28

The New York Mets lost their second straight game in the series with the Diamondbacks losing on Saturday by a score of 6-3.

For the second straight game the Mets didn’t get what they needed from the starting pitcher, as Chris Young like Niese the day before struggled against the Diamondbacks. Young went only four innings while allowing all six runs on seven hits, and two walks.

One bright spot for the Mets in the loss was that the bullpen did pitch great in their four innings. Ramon Ramirez, Manny Acosta, and Josh Edgin combined to pitch the final four scoreless innings after the short start from Young only allowing one hit as well.

The Mets offense was carried by Ike Davis who hit three solo homeruns in the game giving him 20 now for the season. The homeruns for Davis came in the 2nd, 4th, and 6th innings all off Ian Kennedy, and two of the homeruns by Davis in the 2nd and 4th innings went over 430ft to center field.

The only other Met to do much at the plate was Ruben Tejada who went 2 for 4 with a walk, and is batting .319 no for the season.

The Mets as a team had a tough time making contact in general striking out 15 times against Diamondbacks pitchers in the game.

R.A Dickey (13-3, 2.97) will face Joe Saunders (5-6, 3.51) as the Mets look to split the four game series with the Diamondbacks.

Mets Demote Lucas Duda

Mets Shake up Roster, Demote Lucas Duda

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The New York Mets have struggled mightily in recent weeks and have been looking for ways to shake up a team in need of a spark.

The calling up of top prospect Matt Harvey was the first move and dominoes needed to fall afterwards for that to happen.

The next domino has fallen, as the Mets have decided to option struggling outfielder Lucas Duda to Triple-A Buffalo.  It had appeared that Duda dodged a bullet when Pedro Beato was sent back down, but ultimately that decision did not impact Duda.

Duda is batting only .190 (19-100) in his last 29 games, getting only four extra base hits in that span.  He has had his troubles in the month of July, hitting only .140 with 16 strikeouts in 43 at-bats.

Duda entered the season as the Mets starting right fielder and has accumulated a .241 batting average with 12 homeruns and 44 RBI’s thus far in the season. 

The Mets hope that Duda can figure things out with less of a spotlight on him at Triple-A and come back later in the season being able to contribute and have a positive impact.