Is Willie’s Gut Causing You To…

By Ed "In Westchester" Semlies
Posted Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Reach for the Zantac? Tums just doesn’t seem strong enough for you? Well, stock up, because he has even more options now. As we have all learned in the last 2 ½ seasons, Willie isn’t afraid to use his players. Now, thanks to injuries (Valentin), returning injured players (Alou) and returning back-ups (Marlon Anderson), Willie can mix and match at will.

Of course, this is a recipe for upset stomachs throughout Metsfandom. The injury to Valentin seemed to be a prime chance for Ruben Gotay, who had been hitting well in limited time, to take over as the starting second baseman (particularly in the absence of Damion Easley, my condolences to the Easley family for their loss). Willie however has not shown to be enamored with Gotay, and has stated as such. Fans were clamoring for Gotay to start, and it looks like he will get ample opportunity. Of course, he proceeded to make a game changing error on Saturday, giving Willie more ammo for his “gut”. I think we are going to see a bit of both Gotay and Easley, with Marlon Anderson seeing some time as well. I’m guessing Anderson Hernandez isn’t going to be long for the roster. He isn’t nicknamed IPOR (In Play, Out Recorded) on Metsgeek for nothing. If Willie doesn’t have confidence to play Gotay everyday, how is he going to be confident to put A-Hern and his career .131 BA, .151 OBP?

In the outfield, the returns of Alou and Anderson give Willie more options there. Beltran is going to play 99.99% of the games in center, so Willie will want to find time for Milledge, Alou, Anderson and Green in the two outfield spots. Green of course could move to first, giving Delgado some rest days (though after his error Sunday, how confident are you with Green in a game with a 3.5 game lead?) Willie isn’t a platoon guy, so I doubt we will see a pure platoon in either left or right. Odds are Alou is going to play 5 games a week, spelled by Anderson, and Green the same, though he will probably sit against tough lefties, giving Milledge some more time. Now, Milledge isn’t hitting a ton, but he seems to be involved in a lot of scoring plays. His speed is something nice late in a game, so he could be a late inning replacement (notice I did not say “defensive replacement”, Lastings isn’t that great a fielder at this point, though his speed helps him cover that up a tad better than Green can.)

Behind the plate, Willie has 3 options, Lo Duca, Castro and Alomar. Paulie isn’t hitting very well. Castro hits, but is slower than pretty much anyone in MLB not named Molina. Alomar is, well, old, he is at best a late inning guy if one of the other two starts, and the other is used as a pinch-hitter. I don’t see Paulie playing first (as others have mentioned), or the outfield (remember Hundley, Todd). He is the starting catcher; Willie loves “his guys”. Castro may get some starts between now and October, but I would be stunned if he isn’t the starter in the playoffs.

Here’s the thing, I don’t worry about the day in, day out lineup. A good manager uses all the pieces of his bench, keeping them fresh. You never know when they might be needed to help the team. I would rather have a guy come up late in the game who has taken some live swings in the last couple of weeks, as opposed to a guy who hasn’t played in a couple of months. It is interesting to me that this year some seem to not like that Willie manages from “his gut”. Now, the main difference may be that the lead is a lot smaller this year than last year, so losses didn’t matter as much. True, but it seems to me (from my “gut” as it were) that when Willie starts his “A-minus Team”, good things happen more often than not. Are there losses? Sure. But at the end of the day, that playing time a guy got last week may help; oh say Wednesday in a late inning pinch hit opportunity. So I don’t buy Zantac by the case. Tums, sure, but that’s everyday use, its part of being a Mets fan.

Ed trusts Willie. Shawn Green at first base, notsomuch.

Ed can be laughed at in the forums here at F.U. or at http://edinwestchester.blogspot.com/