Mike Pelfrey has been sidelined with a lower left leg strain since last week.

He's now walking around with a boot to take pressure off the strained muscle.

Pelfrey hopes to throw Wednesday, and then make a start on the weekend.

Ugh... I can only hope this is just some early pre-season wear and tear, and not some larger issue like a mechanical problem with his delivery. Read More...

For all of you that know me out there, you know there are two things that I just fully cannot stand. The first being Radiohead, and the second being the New York Rangers. Well you can now add the handling of pitching staffs by all Major League teams (especially our beloved New York Mets) to that list.

Now I know that the bullpen is an integral part of the Major League game nowadays, and that in the minors pitchers are groomed to only go seven innings. I also know that in this age of the high priced bullpen and the evil pitch count complete games are a pretty much a rarity. But let's be realistic, there is no excuse for the Mets to not have one complete game this season. None. There have been times this year where I have been watching games and Willie or Jerry (pending on time of season) would come to take out a pitcher and I would just ask myself...why? I'll tell you right now, you would have never seen that with Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, or my boy Ron Darling (keep in mind one of my ultimate goals in life is to be "boys" with Ron Darling...he just seems like such a cool dude). Seaver probably would have actually flipped off whoever it is that was trying to take him out of the game. It would have been a slap in the face of a pitcher to take him out of the game as he was pitching a shut out back in the 70's, 80's, or even the early 90's. But recently it has become an all too common trend.

There have been two games this season that I can think off of the top of my head, where both Willie and Jerry have removed Johan Santana too soon. Now I know Santana has a history of never throwing complete games, and taking himself out of games, but this is where Jerry needs to now step up. We are going to pay this man $150 million and he can't throw us a complete game shut out every now and again. I was down in Philly for the 4th of July game where Duaner Sanchez decided that you only need two outs to complete an inning. Santana had under 100 pitches going into the ninth, and was still mowing down batters. But at the end of the eighth the doors to the pen opened, and out trotted Mr. Sanchez. JD=stunned. Of course that is the only game we lost in the series (thanks guys), and in the long run its not too much of a big deal anymore, but it really makes you wonder where this non complete game mentality that the New York Mets have came from. I would also like to think that Jerry would want to use this as an opportunity to show the players that this is HIS show. Putting his foot down on his ace (who coincidentally is the best pitcher in baseball) would show me a lot, and make the Willie firing more justified.

Before I get back into this art of pitching discussion, I must make a quick comment about our new manager. Now, I had problems with the ways Willie ran things at times, but I wasn't calling for his head. But I read Jayson Stark's Rumblings column today over at ESPN, and Billy Wagner basically set me straight about Willie. In short he basically said, it is nice having a more "Met-like" clubhouse under Jerry. Wagner also said that it was a nice change from the "Yankee-like" clubhouse that Willie ran. Wags also went on to say that the players have been more relaxed, and the clubhouse has been a better place in general. Now he never trashed Willie, as he likes Willie as a person (and how could you not). But if the Mets continue these winning ways under Jerry and make a run in the playoffs, I Jersey Dan, will feel like a huge fool for supporting Willie for as long as I did. I'm already starting to feel like a huge fool with the way our bats are starting to wake up. Though I can't stand the way Jerry handles his pitching staff at times.

Back to that pitching thing. Oliver Perez on Sunday. Even before the rain delay he was going to take Perez out. Why? He's young, he was actually pitching well, let the man throw until he can't throw no more. Perez needs as much time on that mound as possible. If he is to ever get consistent on the hill, that is the way he is going to do it. Same with Pelfrey on Tuesday. People will say his pitch count is high and what not. Who cares, pitch counts are the dumbest, most useless, overrated stat in baseball. The problem is pitchers need to learn how to pitch better again. Pitchers just aren't as good nowadays. They don't have as many good pitches in their arsenal, and as the great Ralph Kiner said a few weeks back during a game "they don't pace themselves." The reason all the great pitchers could go nine innings was because they paced themselves and they only threw hard when they needed to. Let's face it, Santana is great, but he can't stand up to Seaver, Doc, Ron, Jerry, or El Sid. Those guys were workhorses. I'm sure there are times when Ron is up in the booth just laughing at the fact that Mets starters are being taken out of games that they are throwing shut outs in. I think Ron understands this new age of pitching, but at the same time I'm sure Ron thinks its weak (that's just me assuming though).

What can be done? Well it starts in the minors. Pitchers should be groomed to go nine innings. Not six, not seven, not 100 pitches, but nine innings. Nine innings should be the goal. Now obviously on some days pitchers won't have their best stuff and they will be taken out, and that is fine by me. But if a pitcher is on, he should be staying in the game and giving his bullpen a rest. And let's face it, the New York Mets bullpen could use a rest every now and again. I mean it's nice to see Jerry bring stability to the pen by giving guys certain roles, but that doesn't mean you have use those guys every night. The only guy I have seen Manuel use less is Wags, who doesn't come in nearly for as many non-save situations as he used to.

You can call me old fashioned, but I just wish we could bring back some semblance of old time baseball from the 1970's and 1980's. I mean from what I've been told by the old timers, the quality of play in todays game is nowhere near the quality of play of yesterday's game. The Mets need to start pushing their starters more, start getting them ready for the post season where they might need to throw 125 pitches in a game. If the starting pitching doesn't toughen up and start pitching more innings, this team will not go far in the post season. Not with the way the bullpen has been overworked. You could see the bullpen tiring out in May, so can you imagine what it would be like in October? Read More...

After tonights game, as far as I'm concerned the season is over...

There's no way Pelfrey is gonna beat Webb tomorrow, and we'll be lucky if Santana can beat Haren on Thursday...

This whole season has been a joke, every single player except for Wagner has seriously underperformed, Willie has made every mistake possible along the way, and everytime we get teased by winning a few games we always find a way to come back and screw it up

Whenever we score a bunch of runs early, our offense gives up and doesn't get a hit for the last 6 innings of the game, whenever our pitching is un-hittable our batters get shutout by some nobody rookie making his second career start, then when we score 7 runs in a game, our starter throws 100 pitches in 3 innings walking 9 and giving up 8 runs. I'm sick and tired of seeing this night in and night out.

There is one word that sums up this whole season... inconsistency... the Mets never do what they need to do when they need to... and there's no reason to think any of that is going to change, 2008 is over time to start thinking about 2009.

Goals for 2009:
open Citifield
say goodbye to Pedro, Delgado, Alou and Willie
say hello to Sabathia, Teixera, FMart and a new manager to be determined at a later date Read More...

So tonight was great.  Besides everyone wearing 42, which I'm sort of on the fence about, good win for the Metsies tonight.  They needed a solid victory with a nice little touch of inspiration. Everyone loves a little man tear or two.

Well after 3 losses, the Mets finally mustered a win.  I'm glad Mike Pelfrey got the W today, even though it was far from ace-like.  I'll take a stopper in any way, shape, or form.  In all seriousness though, I want Pelf to do well.  I want him to seize his opportunities and show some guts.  So hats off to him.  Pelfrey seems like the obvious XOXO winner, but not today.  I would love to give the THM my XOXO's for breaking out of his slump...but many/most of you lack interest in the THM. I also considered giving El Duque's boot a few XOXOs for confirming he really is 172 years old. In the end it came down to one...one Kyle Kendrick.

On April 17, 1964 the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets faced off in the first ever opening day contest at Shea Stadium. 48,736 fans saw the Pirates beat the Mets that opening day in Queens, and in the 44 seasons since many millions more have made their way through the turnstiles to see the Mets play baseball.

On April 8, 2008, Shea Stadium will host it's 45th and final home opener, as the Mets welcome the defending National League East Champion Philadelphia Phillies into town. The Mets enter the game with a 2-3 record after receiving a two game punch in the gut from the Atlanta Braves this weekend. The Mets big bats didn't come through in clutch situations, and the pitching was wildly erratic (save Mr. Santana). The Phillies enter the series with a 3-4 record, and seem to have just as many question marks as the Mets do in the early parts of the season. They are coming off of a four game split with Cincinnati, in which many holes in their bullpen were exploited.

The Phillies won the season series twelve games to six on their way to winning the NL East last season. That's all I have to say about that.

In game one of the series the Mets will send out Oliver Perez (1-0) who looked awesome in his first start of the season. Perez went six innings, struck out eight, and left a zero on the scoreboard, as the Mets dismantled the Florida Marlins last Wednesday 13-0. This game was the last we have seen of the Mets, as they have gone missing since. The Phillies counter with the ageless Jamie Moyer (0-0). Just to let you know how old Jamie Moyer is, let it be known that I have a baseball card of his from Fleer '87. He was a member of the Texas Rangers. At that point, Juan Gonzalez and Nolan Ryan hadn't joined the team yet, and they still played their home games in Arlington Stadium. That's how old Jamie Moyer is. Not too mention Moyer looked sluggish in his first start as he couldn't get past the fourth inning. This game will start at 1:10 PM, and can be seen on SNY. For those of us Mets fans in the Philadelphia market (moia) the game will be broadcast on CSN.

Game two of the series will start at 7:10 on Wednesday. The Mets send out Mike Pelfrey (0-0) for his first start of the season. With the subtraction of Pedro Martinez from the Mets rotation, big things are now expected from Big Mike. Pelfrey needs to make a statement more than any other pitcher in this series. His value is diminishing rapidly, and so is the patience of Mets fans. I really want to like this guy, but in the past year or so he hasn't given me much to like. This is a big chance for him. Kyle Kendrick (1-0) goes to the mound for the Phillies in this game. The Phillies are big on this kid, but he no doubt escaped with a win last Friday against Cincy. In five innings Kendrick gave up four runs and only struck out one. Those numbers won't get it done on most days against the Mets. Then again most days Mike Pelfrey doesn't pitch. This game can be seen on SNY in New York and CN8 in Philadelphia. It is also ESPN2's Wednesday Night Game of the Week.

At 7:10 PM on Thursday night, the Mets and Phillies will close out the first round of their 2008 season. The Mets will send Nelson Figueroa (0-0) out for his first start of the season. Figueroa has seen some bullpen work so far this season, but this is his first start of the season. Figueroa steps into the rotation in place of Martinez who pulled something or other (does it really matter at this point). Figueroa was day and night in his two appearances so far this season. He threw a scoreless inning against Florida last Wednesday, and then looked horrible in giving up two runs against Atlanta on Saturday. Figueroa will go up against Adam Eaton (0-0). Eaton looked solid in his first start of the season last Saturday against Cincinnati. In going seven and two thirds innings, he gave up three earned and six hits, while striking out two. He was awarded a no decision after Phillies closer Tom Gordon pulled a Braden Looper and gave the game to Cincinnati in the ninth. This game can be viewed on SNY in New York and CSN in Philadelphia.

The Mets and Phillies have both started 2008 off on the wrong foot. The Mets are most in need of a statement against a division team, as they were tossed around like a rag doll by Atlanta. The Phillies didn't look horrible against Cincinnati, and if not for Gordon's blow up they would have won three out of those four games. Both of these teams know that this series could set the tone for the whole season for each team. There is no love loss between these two rivals, and the crowd at Shea will most likely be more hostile than usual. Look for an exciting series with most every game being well contested. With that being said, I hope we murder them.

PS: Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks for winning the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. A title well deserved. Also, the Stanley Cup playoffs start on Wednesday, go Devils, Rangers Suck. JD
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Willie Randolph was on Mike and the Mad Dog this afternoon.
-Said that Pedro was in MRI machines as they were speaking (this was around 5 p.m. this afternoon. So much for Pedro having that MRI first thing in the morning.)
-Randolph fully expects Pedro to go on the DL.
-Hinted that Nelson Figueroa will be added to the rotation. It is being reported that Figueroa is on his way to Miami (according to Metsblog).
-Mike Pelfrey looked great in the bullpen today according to Randolph. And you guys were worried.
-Said that the Mets will in no way hurry El Duque back. Yeah, cause we wouldn't want to rush an injured and aging pitcher back to the rotation.
-Randolph praised the Mets bullpen for their work in the first two games of the season.
-Reassured fans that the clubhouse is indeed emotionally intact after Pedro hurt himself. I, for one, am sick of hearing about how Pedro's injuries will cripple team morale. It's the second game of the season. If losing Pedro Martinez is crippling to anything regarding this team, it's going to be a very long season.
-He continued his praise of John Maine, even saying that Maine has a little swagger going for him.
-Duaner Sanchez may be back before May.
-Also, Luis Castillo has one leg shorter than the other. I can't make this up, friends.

Randolph of course said more but nothing earth shattering. Perhaps we'll learn more about Martinez during tonight's game. Read More...

A few weeks ago over at the facebook group I asked the question; what should the Mets do if we don't acquire another starting pitcher this off season? My solution to this potential problem was to resurrect an old idea; one which would allow the Mets to solidify the rotation with a young veteran pitcher and strengthen the bullpen with two proven relievers, all without having to sacrifice the farm... IMPOSSIBLE you say?

START HEILMAN!!!!!
(you read correctly)

Heilman can be the 5th starter behind Pedro, El Duque, Maine and Perez, and Mike Pelfrey can fill in for ElDuque if and when he finds himself on the DL.

Now here's the key to this plan...

Then, we turn around and trade prospects for established relievers, who can be had for much less than established starters.

My suggestion was the trade Phillip Humber, Mike Carp and Kevin Mulvey to the Nationals for Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch. However some other trade or combination of trades should be able to accomplish a similar goal, which in this case is to acquire two proven relievers for a few prospects not named Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez or Mike Pelfrey.

BUT WAIT... Heilman is too valuable to the bullpen... I've always hated that statement, probably because it tries to argue that relief pitching is more important that starting pitching, which, is a ridiculous argument to begin with, if that were true, how do you explain Carlos Silva making more than Billy Wagner in 2008? Although that one boggles my mind as well.

Heilman's importance to the bullpen is certainly outweighed by his potential importance to the rotation. Moving Heilman to the rotation not only strengthens the rotation, but it also allows the Mets to strengthen the bullpen as well. If the rotation is completed with Heilman, the Mets' prospects can be traded towards strengthening the bullpen, not to mention it will allow them to put Pelfrey in the bullpen as well.

WELL... putting Heilman in the rotation doesn't solve the rotation's problems... Well I agree partially, having Heilman in there isn't equal to having Johan Santana in there, but with the Twins asking for Jose Reyes... I say having Ruben Gotay at short isn't exactly equal to having Reyes either. Let's assume for the moment that we are unable to land an ace by spring training, why should we have Mike Pelfrey and Phillip Humber competing for the 5th spot, and have Heilman trapped in the bullpen when instead we could have an improved bullpen (by trading Humber, Mulvey and Carp), and have Mike Pelfrey and Aaron Heilman compete for the 5th spot? Heilman is certainly a better option than Humber, who has a grand total of 9 career innings pitched in the major leagues. Heilman is a much better pitcher now than he was when he first came up 5 years ago, and up until he was first moved to the bullpen in 2005 he had been a starting pitcher his entire career. His fastball and change up are above average, and he has one of the best change ups in the game, so, someone tell me why don't we do this?
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Heartbroken, anger, and disbelief, are just a few of the many emotions being shown by the 15,000+ members in the facebook group after the Mets historic meltdown.

Who can really blame them? This wasn’t the ending we all planned on. Two weeks ago we held a very comfortable 7 game lead with 17 to play. We were sitting in the driver’s seat looking at the SNY pocket schedule, seeing 13 of our last 17 games against the lowly Nationals and Marlins. In a year full of injuries and so called disappointments this is when we were finally going to get it done. Guess what? It didn’t happen, but life moves on.

Though we didn’t win the World Series, there are many individual moments that us as fans can look back on and be very proud of. Watching things like the continuing development of young players Lastings Milledge and Mike Pelfrey, exciting plays like the Endy Chavez drag bunt or the Carlos Beltran catch in Houston, the scoreless inning streaks of Pedro Feliciano and rookie Joe Smith, Tom Glavine’s 300th career win, John Maine’s two near no hitters, Shawn Green chasing Hank Greenberg for the all-time Jewish home run record, the return of Pedro Martinez, etc… these are the things that when I look back on the 2007 Mets I’m going to remember.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m just as upset as the rest of you. But in a year in which 99% of us are going to call it a letdown, there are those little things that we should all take with us, that we can all look back on, and that we can all remember to put an instant smile on our faces. And if that doesn’t work? 2008 is just around the corner. Read More...

We all need something to laugh about since we've been pulling our hair out and losing sleep for much of the past week. I must apologize for being a day late, having a job and going to grad. school doesn't leave a lot of down time. But I did come across this early today that I would like to share. Baseball is full of far too many awards now. It's almost like those senior awards in high school where they made up 15,000 awards to make sure no one felt left. Well stack another funny one to the pile. Courtesy of SI, the Mets lone representative is El Duque, unless you count the glam shot of Mike Piazza from the Shea Stadium seats.

On a serious note, the Mets have to keep fighting tonight in Miami. Hat's off to Pelfrey for getting the job done last night. Let's go Mets!

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The Mets Completed the 3 game sweep of the Houston Astros today, winning by a score of 4-1. Pedro Martinez pitched well in his Shea debut, pitching 5 innings, giving up no runs on 6 hits, and walking 1 and striking out 4. He also contributed with his bat hitting a double and scoring a run in the 3rd inning.

The Mets outscored the Astros 18-5 in the three game series, and had some impressive outings from Mike Pelfrey who earned his second win of the season on Friday, Tom Glavine who took a perfect game into the 6th inning Saturday, and the aforementioned Pedro Martinez in his Shea debut on Sunday.

The Mets' Magic number is now down to 15. With the Braves and Phillies coming into town this week, the Mets will look for some redemption for last week's now forgotten sweep, one more sweet series against the boys from Atlanta, and will look to seal up the NL East.
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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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Blog NJ is reporting that the Mets and Devil Rays were discussing a Lastings Milledge and "a Minor League pitcher" (probably either Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber) for Carl Crawford trade. Read More...

Prior to today’s game, the Mets recalled Mike De Felice and David Newhan from Triple-A New Orleans, while demoting Mike Pelfrey to New Orleans and designating Jon Adkins for assignment.

Newhan is 12-for-60 for the Mets this season. He would have been an upgrade over Tom Glavine in the ninth inning of last night's loss, but not a huge one. The Mets will probably try someone different once Carlos Beltran is back healthy.

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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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For those of you who have been keeping up with the latest baseball rumors, the Mets have been linked to left handed starter for the Chicago White Sox, Mark Buerhle. So far this season, in 14 starts for the Sox this season, Buehrle is 4–4 with 3.39 ERA, during which opponents are batting .238 against him. He has struck out 60 batters in 93 innings while walking just 17. However, there are a few catches to going after this guy.

1) Hes a free agent after this season. Which means it could turn into another Mike Hampton situation

2) Hes said repeatedly that he wants to pitch in his hometown of St Louis

So what do you do in this case? Well the New York Post is reporting that if the trade happens the Mets want a 72 hour time period to negotiate an extention. I like that idea. However, the Mets are not so thrilled with giving up Pelfrey and or Milledge.

If this does happen, one should keep in mind the influx of starters the Mets would have. What do we do if and when Pedro comes back this season?

My suggestions are as follows:

1) Try to get Buehrle for Milledge and a "Tier 2" prospect..someone who probably wont have an impact. We all remember what happened last time we traded our top arm. We got crap in return.

2) Get an extension. Absolutely nothing happens unless the extension has the potential to happen.

3) Deal with what we have and try to fill a spot in the bullpen. I dont want schoenweis or Sele on a potential postseason roster. Either Sosa or Pelfrey should fill Sele's spot.



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