This weekend the Mets took both games from our crosstown rivals the New York Yankees, during a rain shortened series in what may be the most important series of the year thus far. I refuse to call a two game series win a sweep, so we'll just say the Mets won this weekend's series, reclaiming bragging rights for the time being.

Of course to the Mets this weekend's series was bigger than the rival Yankees and the subway series, it was a make or break series to see how the team would react to the Billy Wagner Saga. See my thoughts on that here.

Saturday the Yankees jumped on Johan Santana early with a two run homer from Derek Jeter in the first inning. The Mets struggled early against Andy Pettite before finally breaking through in the 4th inning, batting around and scoring 3 runs to take the lead. From that point, Santana was brilliant retiring 10 straight batters at one point. The score stayed 3-2 until the 7th inning when Kyle Farnsworth came in for the Yanks, and gave up home runs to Jose Reyes and David Wright, giving the Mets 3 more insurance runs making it 6-2. Santana gave up solo home runs to Giambi and Abreu, before Willie turned the ball over to Wagner in the 8th inning for a 4 out save. The Mets would tag on one more run in the top of the ninth to make it 7-4, and Wagner once again stepped up, and shut the door on the Yanks in the 9th for the 7-4 victory.

Sunday the Mets went for the Series win, and they didn't disappoint. The Mets manufactured 4 runs off of Yanks ace Chien-Ming Wang in the top of the 4th around a controversial home run hit by Carlos Delgado which was over ruled by the umps (more on that in the next post). Then Oliver Perez gave up a single to Derek Jeter and a 2-run homer to Hideki Matsui, putting the Yanks right back in the game. But Perez settled down after that, allowing just 1 more hit to Jose Molina in the 5th. Perez was dominant, going 7.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on only 3 hits and striking out 4. The Mets went to town on Wang after that, Ryan church hit a monster home run in the 6th inning, and the Mets would bat around again in the 8th inning, off of Wang and Ross Olendorf, putting together a 6 run inning capped off by a 3 run homer by Jose Reyes. Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis sealed the deal, Mets win 11-2.

These were two big wins by the Mets in this series, they definitely showed up and did what they needed to do. The Mets came out and reclaimed some bragging rights for Mets fans, now they just have to go out and continue this good play in Atlanta and Colorado to try and turn this season around.
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Before I even get into this non-sense, I want to go back to Monday's 10-4 loss to the last place Washington Nationals. The expectations were high for the Mets to take at least 3 out of 4 from the pathetic Nats. However, the tables were turned, and the Mets dropped 3 of 4 instead and fell to a mere 20-19. Then we saw the New York media once again calling for Willie's job, pointing out that the Mets have been just a .500 ball club since last May, resurrecting the the epic collapse... again. Some serious questions were surrounding this team's troubles.

Then, the drama began following Thursday's 1-0 loss at the end of Billy Wagner's post game interview with the press...

“Can somebody tell me why the (bleep) the closer being interviewed and I didn’t even play, while they’re over there not getting interviewed? I get it, they’re gone. (Bleeping) shocker.”

In all honesty, I don't see how could any Mets fan could disagree with Wagner on this one. We've all seen the Mets lackluster play this season, and for any of these so called "team leaders" to be missing in action after dropping 3 out of 4 to the Nats is unacceptable.

How stupid is it that reporters have to ask the closer questions about why the team is struggling, when not only did Wagner not even play in the game, but the pitching staff and the bullpen which you could say Wagner is the leader of did its job during the series. Just in case anyone's forgotten, Wagner has given up only 9 hits in 17 innings this season, and has still yet to allow a run. Wagner is far from responsible for the Mets woeful play.

A lot of fingers were pointed at Carlos Delgado, who Wagner was most likely referring to in his comments. Certainly Delgado with his .230 batting average, .310 OBP, only 5 home runs and 19 RBIs has contributed to the Mets sub-par play, but the truth is most of our guys haven't been earning their paychecks.

Reyes' OBP is only .332, and thats including the Yankee series where he played well. Carlos Beltran is only hitting .250 with only 3 home runs, and let's not even talk about Luis Castillo who can't hit the ball out of the infield. We're hitting only .257 with runners in scoring position, and we simply cannot win unless Reyes gets on base.

Our team leaders in innings pitched in relief have been Aaron Heilman and Jorge Sosa who have pitched to a 5.82 and 7.06 ERA respectively. Whereas our guys who have been lights out; Wagner, Feliciano, Smith and even Schoeneweis, have been used in limited roles like lefty-lefty or righty-righty matchups. Thank god Sosa got DFA'd the other day to make room for Wise.

So tell me why was Billy Wagner wrong in what he said? When was the last time you heard an explanation from Reyes or Beltran or Sosa after they sucked it up on the field?

Thankfully Willie called a team meeting over this non-sense prior to the Yankee series, and seemed to smooth it out and get everyone's heads screwed on straight again. And like Keith Hernandez said, it was good that someone got this out there in the open rather than let it fester for the whole season.

Hopefully the mets winning both games of the Yankee Series has put this issue to bed, and maybe the mets will turn the corner in the coming weeks.
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I'm returning to the Global blog to provide a new daily feature. I am known to distribute xoxo's to those who do well, which will provide us with the XOXO's of the Day when the Mets win. When the Mets don't get the W, we'll discuss the Ass of the Day. So for last night's loss we give the honor to Billy Wagner. He watched the game from the bullpen but had this valuable insight regarding Pedro and his rehab:
"It just goes to show maybe you should eat more donuts and get fat. Ya can't pull fat."
Thanks to Mr. Wagner for the health tip of the day. Let's Go Mets.

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The Mets seemed down and out after being swept by the surging Phillies on Thursday, three days later, things couldn't look brighter. The Mets headed into Atlanta over the weekend knowing they had to come with their A game, and they did. Turner Field has never been kind to the Mets in the month of September, but the "new" Mets we're up for the challenge.

The Mets outscored the Braves by a score of 3 to 2 in the final game of the series on Sunday to put the Braves back an insurmountable 7.5 games with only 25 games to play.

The Mets pitching was superb, allowing only 4 runs the entire series, and keeping the Braves big bats of Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira and Andrew Jones in check throughout the series. The Braves only got one extra base hit the entire series, which was Brian McCann's double in the 9th inning Sunday against Billy Wagner. The highlight of the weekend had to be the fantastic outing by Mike Pelfrey, who earned his first win of the season on Saturday allowing just 1 run on 1 hit over 6 innings. We hope to see more of this in the future from Pelfrey.

The hitting was equally as good, scoring 15 runs on 28 hits, with 2 home runs from Carlos Delgado, who seems to have his swing back, as well as homers from Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Lastings Milledge and Jose Reyes.

The Mets will look to keep the hot streak going, as Pedro Martinez will make his long awaited season debut tomorrow in Cincinnati, he will be faced by Reds ace Aaron Harang.
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A hot topic around the Mets blogosphere lately has been the recent inefficiency of the Mets Bullpen. Global NYM reader Jill writes...

The Mets will not make the pennant with the Bullpen the way it is. Besides, Wagner and Heilman the rest of them need to get more work. To lose last night's game which Glavine pitched great was a nightmare. When I saw Mota coming, I turned it off. I knew exactly how this would play out and it did. Every night it's the same thing, the parade of relief pitchers that come in and can't get the job done is getting old. I don't understand why Mota was brought in with after all of his last attempts the Mets have lost. Billy Wagner can pitch an extra inning. Tim McGraw used to and so did Jesse Orosco. If I see Mota again, I'm TURNING THE GAME OFF. He might be good one day, but not right now with September right around the corner. I hope in the Winter they can get some good relief pitchers.

I've been a defender of Mota since he returned from his suspension earlier this season, blaming his poor play on the lack of a spring training, but even now, I must agree, this guy is terrible, he never gets the big out when we need it, and is almost money in the bank for opposing hitters. Mota simply cannot get the job done.

I think Mota constantly coming in the games despite his horrendous pitching has been based on two factors. First, Manager Willie Randolph seems to have an endless confidence in Mota, as if Mota were a veteran that you know will bust out of this slump (sort of like why the Mets were never going to bench Delgado no matter how bad he played this season). Secondly, I think it has to do with the economics of baseball, Mota is making $1.8 Million this year, and is signed through next season for the rest of his $5 million contract. Bottom line, the Mets are paying Mota, so they have to play Mota. This would also explain why Mota is used more in big game spots rather than Pedro Feliciano or Aaron Heilman, despite the fact that Heilman and Feliciano have consistently dominated both righties and lefties, for the last two seasons.

The Mets bullpen needs some drastic change. With the rosters expanding Saturday, I don't expect the Mets to up and release Mota, but there needs to be a change in how the bullpen is used.

First, Pedro Feliciano is NOT, I repeat NOT a lefty specialist. Just because someone is left handed and has a small contract, it doesn't... automatically make them a lefty specialist. While lefties are batting an abysmally low .149 against Feliciano, Righties aren't doing much better, batting a mere .202. Ironically, thats the same BAA vs righties as Closer Billy Wagner and setup man Jorge Sosa, it's better than any of the Mets other relievers righty or lefty (minus Ambiorix Burgos who didn't have very many appearances), so how exactly did Feliciano even get this reputation for being a lefty specialist? Comparatively, Scott Shoeneweis who Willie brings in to face righties all the time has a BAA vs righties of .330. If anyone in that bullpen is a lefty specialist, it's Schoeneweis.

Second, The Mets have to bring back Joe Smith when rosters expand, and make him a more instrumental part of that bullpen. Most of us expect Smith to be on the playoff roster, there is no way he should not be on this team in favor of Guillermo Mota or Aaron Sele.

Third, If Sosa is going to be the setup man, use him as such, meaning he pitches the 8th inning, whenever the Mets have the lead. I don't want to see Sosa come in in the 6th inning to face one batter, then come out of the game, so we can see Shoeneweis in the 8th. Bullpens need to have routines. Based on how our starters do, the bullpen should be able to figure out who's going to come in before it happens. I'm sick of Willie randomly flipping a coin to decide who he's going to bring in all the time.

Fourth, I've been asking this for a while, and Gary Cohen said it last week. Is Aaron Sele even still on this team? The Mets got Sele to be the long man out of the bullpen, but when a mets starter gives up 5 runs in 3 innings, we seeing Jorge Sosa or Aaron Heilman warming up in the bullpen. If you're not going to use Sele EVER, why is he even taking up a spot on the roster, especially in a bullpen that has been worn out like the Mets. Not to mention, in the rare situation that Sele actually does come in the game, he can't get anyone out. since August 1st, Sele has made a grand total of 6 appearances,for a total of 8.1 innings, and in that time, allowed 14 hits 0 walks and 6 runs for a WHIP of 1.68, and an ERA of 6.75. So I ask again... Is Aaron Sele still a part of this team?

Unfortunately with Ambiorix Burgos having Tommy John Surgery, the Mets are short on bullpen options, unless they add some one (like minor league relievers Willie Collazo, Jon Adkins, or Steve Schmoll) to the 40 man roster before September 1st, the playoff bullpen roster will be limited to:

Billy Wagner
Jorge Sosa
Aaron Heilman
Pedro Feliciano
Scott Schoeneweis
Guillermo Mota
Aaron Sele
Joe Smith

The only other option would be to use a starting pitcher out of the bullpen; of course, this will be highly dependent on Pedro Martinez's performance in September. Read More...

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Over the last week, the Mets have played better baseball with the offense showing consistency and fight until the final strike. However, as its been the trend, one thing goes for the better, and one thing goes for the worse.

A very strong point of the 2006 team was the bullpen that picked up for the somewhat weak rotation. This year, the rotation is stronger, but the bullpen is weaker. If one of our starters last year were unable to go we all knew that the combination of Oliver in long relief, Bradford in the 6^th and 7^th inning, Heilman in the 8^th, and Wagner in the 9^th would would be powerful. However, this year if anyone besides Heilman (yes I am a Heilman fan, hes a 2^nd half pitcher), Wagner, or Feliciano comes in, we all hold our breath.

However, I am a firm believer that a super offense can bail out a bullpen. While the bullpen has blown games and the offense hasn’t been able to always bail them out, I believe even if the bullpen gives up 2 runs, the Mets can make a comeback. Also, since the offense shows fights, it eventually could trickle the momentum down to the bullpen. This wasnt always true throughout this season, but over the last 2 weeks this is something thats changed for the better.

So there you are Mets fans. While we all cringe on the bullpen at points that are crucial, our offense has what it takes to bail us out. It should be an interesting end of the season, to say the least.

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There is a large majority of the staff at Global NYM not fortunate enough to attend Mets games on a regular basis, including myself. So when you decide to go to Shea you usually pick the game in advance and hope for a good one. Last night, I got lucky...again.

A year ago I was caught the game against the Cardinals in which the Mets staged that ridiculous comeback that was completed by Beltran's walk-off. Last night was just as good. Next week I'll be back on a more serious note. Today I'm on a bit of a time crunch with some sketchy free interent. So here's a few thoughts from my night at Shea...

There was a guy in the section next to me who became frustrated in the 9th when Wagner loaded the bases. At one of those moments when it's relatively quiet, he stood up and billowed, "CAN ANYONE PITCH ON THIS TEAM?!!" That's exactly what I felt at that moment.

The amount of boos last night were incredibly misdirected by those in attendance. Booing Sosa and Wagner was not really that necessary.

The weather was beyond disgusting. If we would have lost that game, it would not have made me happy that I sat in the rain to also lose feeling in my toes.

The Mets powers that be tried to convince me that last night's attendance was approx. 48, 000. Were you watching? There were not 48, 000 seats filled. It's too bad though...they missed a good one.

Excuse me Mr. Vendor...the pretzels at Shea are not slammin', jammin'. Yes those are the exact words he used.

Who is this guy named Carlos Beltran? And where was he from April until August? Stellar night from Beltran after being named NL Player of the Week.

If Castillo had not earned his full set of stripes after his big hit against Atlanta, then he is now officially outfitted in the orange and blue.

If you have too many drinks from a pineapple while in the Dominican Republic, you too may be able to belly flop like Moises Alou.

It felt like I was watching a different team at times last night. They fought back, at home, and refused to die last night. The pitching was mediocre again, but this team finally flexed it's offensive muscles. Hopefully the Mets can keep building the momentum and get into a real nice groove heading down the stretch. I'll be at today's game as well, which will have a tough job of outdoing last night's. My heart's got a bit of a soft spot for walk offs. Read More...

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Howdy all! First off I would like to apologize for my absence this past week, as my computer stopped working last week. It is still in the process of getting fixed (much like the Mets lineup and bullpen). While gone I finally came up with a name for my weekly column though: Tuesday Two Cents with Jersey Dan. I hope you guys like it. Now off to the races.

The bullpen, yeah we got one, yeah it’s got issues; but like a Chevy it gets the job done, even if you have to tinker with it at bit. Everyone has quickly jumped on the Scott Schoeneweis bandwagon as of late. Have fun riding that wagon, because who knows how rough it will be, and who knows if it will crash or not. Let’s be realistic here, the man has shown up for two months this season, and was just despicable for the rest of the season. His ERA is still above five, and his WHIP is still above one and a half. There is no reason for us to get outlandishly excited over this recent stint of success. Let’s see where Schoeneweis is at the end of the month.

So the Schoeneweis train is full, and that is because everyone is starting to get off of the Wagner Wagon. What is everyone’s problem with Wags? He is having one of his best seasons ever (like I predicted at the beginning of the season), and has shown nothing but composure this season. Last week against Atlanta Wags loaded up the bases with none out, and Brian McCann coming up to the plate, followed by Andruw Jones. What followed was composure that only the best closers in the game show. Wagner throws great pitches and induces McCann to ground to David Wright who fires home for the force. Wagner then throws some more great pitches and gets Jones to ground into a game ending double play. If Wagner weren’t a great closer, the Mets most likely would have blown that lead. His 26 saves 1.58 ERA and 61 strikeouts can close ball games for my team any day of the week.

So does anybody want to tell me what happened to Joe Smith? The man was lights out at the beginning of the season, and then sometime a little before the All Star Break he hit a brick wall that was more solid than a Mo Vaughn turkey sandwich. Hence Smith was sent down to AAA. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, but normally Guillermo Mota wouldn’t be a middle reliever on my baseball team. Let’s face it, off the juice Mota is garbage. If Smith can get back on track in New Orleans we can bring him back up and get Mota out of there.

Pedro Feliciano: Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Finally we get to the Met that everyone loves to hate: Aaron Heilman. This guy is having a career year, keeps us in games nine times out ten, usually cleans up the messes that Mota or Schoeneweis leave him, and yet we still ridicule him because of Game Seven of the 2006 NLCS. Get over it people, Heilman is a solid player, pitching in a role that he was thrown into last season. As far as I am concerned he has pitched very well since becoming our set up man and is the least of our bullpen worries.

Point being, this bullpen, if managed the right way can be just as good as Boston’s or any of the other top pens in the league. Now that Jorge Sosa is in the pen he will get a lot of work. Sosa, Feliciano, and Heilman looks like it could work out to be a great bullpen combo. If heaven allows it, and Schoeneweis continues to produce this bullpen could turn lethal. If Smith learns how to pitch again, we can get the steroid train out of there and have one of the best pens in the game. This last month and a half will make or break this pen, and make or break our chances of winning a third World Series.

Afterthoughts

Former New York Yankee shortstop and commentator Phil Rizzuto died today. Scooter was a legendary face to the game of baseball his whole life. He was one of the premier shortstops of his day, and his voice is among one of the most famous in baseball. His play-by-play was so exciting that he was used by Meat Loaf to do the “play-by-play” on his 1979 classic “Paradise By The Dashboard Light.” The Scooter will be missed.

While on hiatus last week, many Major League Baseball milestones were achieved.

Barry Bonds hit #756 last Tuesday. Thank God that is over, and the Giants won’t be on national television anymore this season

A-Rod hit #500 last week. I like A-Rod; he’s a great player that puts up with way too much garbage. I hope we get to see him hit many more home runs (just not for the Yankees).

Tommy Glavine wins #300. This seemed to take an eternity to Mets fans. What was pretty crazy about this win is that it took place in Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914, and only last Sunday saw it’s first 300 win milestone. Glavine is also the first Met to win 300 games while in a Met uniform. Glavine also could be the last pitcher to ever win 300 games, with these boneheaded pitch counts, and five man rotations and such. Congrats Tommy.

On a personal milestone note I must tip my cap to Cardinals OF Rick Ankiel. As much as I despise the Cardinals I cannot be happier for this guys success. If five years ago you were to tell me that Rick Ankiel would be an OF hitting home runs for St. Louis, I’d tell you take another shot of JD and keep dreaming. This is a great story for baseball, and I could not be happier for the guy.

Football is back, and the Giants are already driving me nuts. Six wins is a stretch for them. Thank God NASCAR goes until November.

Speaking of NASCAR, can somebody please instruct Dale Earnhardt’s crew on how to properly build an engine for a stock car? Four blown engines this season, and two in three weeks is just embarrassing.

That’s my two cents…Let’s Go Mets. Read More...

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The 78th Major League Baseball All Star game begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) in San Francisco and on televisions nationwide on FOX. I’m sure over the next 12 hours most of you will hear more than you ever wanted to know about San Francisco, AT&T Park, the All Star Game’s history, Barry Bonds in his home town, the American League’s 9 game winning streak in the Midsummer classic, Barry Bonds and the home run record, the Home Run Derby last night, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey, what AL manager Jim Leyland had for breakfast, Barry Bonds and steroids, the winning league taking home (somewhat literally) home field advantage in the World Series this October, Barry Bonds and the San Fran Fans, and every last random thought (whether baseball related or not) in the minds of the broadcasters, players, former players, fans, and coaches.

But the All Star Game is most of all about the players it showcases, their individual accomplishments this year, and to a lesser extent their team’s accomplishments. Let’s ignore the arguments over who does and doesn’t deserve most to be on this team and to start this game, and look briefly at each of the players on your 2007 MLB All Star Team, and what they have accomplished in the last three-plus months.

First, the “visiting” American League team:

STARTING LINEUP

CF Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (7th All Star Game)

SS Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (8th)

1B David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox (4th)

3B Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (11th)

RF Vladimir Guerrero, LA Angels of Anaheim (8th)

LF Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers (6th)

C Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers (14th)

2B Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers (1st)

P Dan Haren, Oakland Athletics (1st)

RESERVES

INFIELDERS

• Brian Roberts, BAL: 322 AVG, 27 SB, 111 H
• Mike Lowell, BOS: .300 AVG, 14 HR, 63 RBI
• Carlos Guillen, DET: .325 AVG, 92 H, 67 RBI
• Justin Morneau, MIN: .295 AVG, 24 HR, 74 RBI
• Michael Young, TEX: .288AVG, 22 2B, 50 RBI

OUTFIELDERS

• Manny Ramirez, BOS: .284 AVG, 11 HR, 45 RBI
• Grady Sizemore, CLE: .280 AVG, 73 R, 15 HR
• Torii Hunter, MIN: .301 AVG, 19 HR, 69 RBI
• Carl Crawford, TAB: .285 AVG, 23 SB, 51 RBI
• Alex Rios, TOR: .294 AVG, 17 HR, 53 RBI

CATCHERS

• Victor Martinez, CLE: .324 AVG, 16 HR, 68 RBI
• Jorge Posada, NYY: .326 AVG, 25 2B, 48 RBI

PITCHERS

• Josh Beckett, BOS: 12-2, 3.44 ERA, 92 SO
• Hideki Okajima, BOS: 2-0, 0.83 ERA, 4 S
• Jonathan Papelbon, BOS: 1.93 ERA, 20 S, 46 SO
• C.C. Sabathia, CLE: 12-3, 3.58 ERA, 119 SO
• Bobby Jenks, CWS: 3.28 ERA, 23 S
• Justin Verlander, DET: 10-3, 3.14 ERA, 97 SO
• Gil Meche, KC: 5-6, 3.44 ERA, 88 SO
• John Lackey, LAA: 11-5, 2.91 ERA, 98 SO
• Francisco Rodriguez, LAA: 2.33 ERA, 24 S, 53 SO
• Johan Santana, MIN: 10-6, 2.75 ERA, 125 SO
• J.J. Putz, SEA: 0.90 ERA, 24 S, 43 SO

And now, the “home” National League team:

STARTING LINEUP

SS Jose Reyes, New York Mets (2nd All Star Game)

LF Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants (14th)

CF Carlos Beltran, New York Mets (4th)

RF Ken Griffey Jr, Cincinnati Reds (13th)

3B David Wright, New York Mets (2nd)

1B Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers (1st)

C Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers (1st)

2B Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies (2nd)

P Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (2nd)

RESERVES

INFIELDERS

• Orlando Hudson, ARI: .296 AVG, 20 2B, 47 RBI
• Derrek Lee, CHC: .330 AVG, 102 H, 26 2B
• Miguel Cabrera, FLA: .324 AVG, 18 HR, 61 RBI
• J.J. Hardy, MIL: .280 AVG, 18 HR, 54 RBI
• Freddy Sanchez, PIT: .296 AVG, 96 H, 20 2B
• Albert Pujols, STL: .310 AVG, 16 HR, 52 RBI
• Dmitri Young, WAS: .339 AVG, 23 2B, 43 RBI

OUTFIELDERS

• Alfonso Soriano, CHC: .309 AVG, 60 R, 107 H
• Matt Holliday, COL: .341 AVG, 122 H, 69 RBI
• Carlos Lee, HOU: .297 AVG, 16 HR, 73 RBI
• Aaron Rowand, PHI: .310 AVG, 20 2B, 43 RBI

CATCHERS

• Brian McCann, ATL: .262 AVG, 19 2B, 49 RBI

PITCHERS

• Brandon Webb, ARI: 8-6, 3.37 ERA, 112 SO
• Jose Valverde, ARI: 2.83 ERA, 26 S, 38 SO
• Roy Oswalt, HOU: 8-5, 3.53 ERA, 94 SO
• Brad Penny, LAD: 10-1, 2.39 ERA, 82 SO
• Takashi Saito, LAD: 1.47 ERA, 23 S, 4 BB
• Francisco Cordero, MIL: 2.86 ERA, 27 S, 48 SO
• Ben Sheets, MIL: 10-4, 3.41 ERA, 87 SO
• Billy Wagner, NYM: 1.64 ERA, 17 S, 10 BB
• Cole Hamels, PHI: 10-4, 3.72 ERA, 124 SO
• Trevor Hoffman, SD: 1.91 ERA, 25 S, 6 BB
• Chris Young, SD: 8-3, 2.00 ERA, 99 SO

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Dear fellas,

Hi. It's just Zac. I know it's been awhile since we're talked but you know how it goes with work and what not. I'm just writing this because tonight, as you all know, is the All-Star Game. I'm not really good at beating around the bush so I'm just going to get to the point.

Let's be careful tonight, guys. I know you want to "put on a show" for the crowd and all but remember that this is just an exhibition. Don't let that stupid "home-field advantage in the World Series" rule cloud your judgment on the field.

Jose, it's ok to not stretch that double to a triple. Easing into second base will be just as fun tonight. And I know that you're going to try your hardest to jack one out of the park tonight, Dave, but an easy swing and a single through the hole will work fine. We all loved your catch the other night, Carlos, but how do you feel about not laying out for any fly balls this evening? Billy, everybody already knows you're one of the hardest throwers in the game. Tonight isn't the time to show off that cannon of an arm.

Quite frankly if any of you are feeling a little under the weather or too "tight" or "sore" to play in tonight's game I'd understand and I'm sure the rest of your fans would as well. However, you're competitors and showmen so I know you'll be charging out onto the field tonight. Have fun out there tonight, but guys;

please be careful.

Love always,
Zac

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Over the last few days 2 of the 5 Mets starters have gone down with injuries. First it was Jorge Sosa on Saturday hurting his hamstring while attempting to beat out a throw to first to break up a double play. It was diagnosed as a grade 2 strain which means 2-3 weeks of recovery. Next, Oliver Perez experiences stiffness in his back prompting the Mets to first push back his start. Eventually Ollie decides to have a side session on Sunday in which he made the decision to shut it down completely and go on the DL. I am hoping the stiff back is along the lines of what David Wright gets every so often compared to what Randy Johnson gets.

Now this scenario would make any Mets fan nervous. But I want to take more of an optimistic approach to these injuries. First, the All Star Break is coming which means 3 full days of rest for everyone minus Beltran, Reyes, Wright, and Wagner. Second, the injuries are 15 day DL injuries which mean these guys will be activated as the second half begins. Third, this gives an opportunity for guys like Jason Vargas and Mike Pelfrey to get 2 starts and impress the Mets brass.

These injuries get some young guys in the spotlight and give some rest to some important players. Its better these injuries happen now then down the stretch.
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As I mentioned yesterday in my post, Scott Schoeneweis has not been an effective reliever. I know the guy has a bad left leg and maybe some time on the disabled list would be good for him.

After Wagner and Mota effectively pitched their one inning each, our favorite reliever comes in and gives up a bomb to Brendan Ryan when he has 2 strikes on him. In his 2/3 of an inning, Schoeneweis gives up 2 hits 2 runs (1 ER) along with walking a guy. Horrible.

What bothers me the most is, its becoming a normal occurrence. Even though his previous 4 appearances were a bit better and he really has not had a blow up since June 7th, his ERA is still well over where it should be and us Mets fans know that the game is over when he comes in.

Well whats the solution then? Good question. What lefty reliever can we acquire to take this guys spot if we did let him go or even put him on the DL for a while? I do not know of any. We are stuck in the meantime.

Many of you may be thinking "Well what about Aaron Heilman?" While Heilman has been another favorite whipping boy (especially giving up the temporary go ahead run), may I remind everyone that when Duaner Sanchez went down after his cab incident (which I think we are still feeling sour for) Heilman filled in beautifully as an 8th inning guy.

So I think the verdict is still out on Heilman, but it looks like Schoeneweis better figure something out fast. We are all hoping his days are numbered as a Met.



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