Mack Attack: August 8, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Friday, August 8, 2008

Pennant/Wild Car Race:

Cubs: 46
Milwaukee 51
Philly: 52
St. Louis 53
Florida 54
Mets 54

I have one of those rare opportunities to comment on a Mets game (being a day game), but before we possibly get into that, I think Met fans ought to start realizing a few things at this point in the season:

1. The positive spurt after Willie Randolph was fired was just that; a positive spurt that happens usually after a manager is fired.

2. You can’t make the playoffs with all these teams ahead of you with less losses in the middle of August

3. The Mets have survived their predictable injury-ridden season, by finding some young kids (Murphy, Evans) that hold their own, and an old fart (Tatis) that became young again… but…

4. It’s pitching, and it’s always been pitching, and the Mets just don’t have enough to hold a lead or hold a deficit close enough for their underperforming offense to catch up.

Most of you follow the games every night. You know having an early lead has meant nothing. And, being down 3 runs seems an impossibility to come back from. Pitchers like Johan Santana would easily have 6 more wins this year with a pen that did their job correctly. But it didn’t happen, and there’s no reason to expect it to happen for the remainder of the year.

I follow the minors, so I have no pennant expectations. All I look for is kids like Wilmer Flores to brag on and dream about their future in Queens.

My hope it the Mets continue to bring up more kids (Niese, Martinez, Parnell) to give them a chance to evaluate if they have the talent and makeup to make it in the Bigs. Then I hope they revamp the pen, sign a couple of free agents, and give it another shot next year.

Players that cleared waivers today:

P Paul Byrd – P Greg Maddux – P Duaner Sanchez – P Scott Schoeneweis

It appears the Mets no longer have their hopes up that Ryan Church will return this season. The right fielder has been out since July 6 due to aftereffects from a pair of concussions. He has been evaluated several times, but doctors haven't cleared him to play. He will be evaluated again today or tomorrow. -NYDN

ProjectProspect has once again updated their top 25 “non-top-100-prospects (it would be much easier if they just ranked them 101-125) and a couple of Mets made it:

#3 (103) - Jonathon Niese LHP After posting a 3.07 FIP in AA to go along with a 73.1 DF, has been great in AAA in 2 starts

# 4 (104) - Wilmer Flores SS Just turned 17, his wOBA is .035 points higher than Villalona's last year, while doing it at SS

# 22 (122) - Nick Evans 1B Moving up and down between AA and MLB hasn’t slowed him down yet: .388 wOBA in AA

Zephyrs:

Versatility and a slick glove earned Ramon Martinez plenty of big-league playing time. He played in the majors for at least a part of every season from 1998 through 2007, appearing in 779 games with the Giants, Cubs, Tigers, Phillies and Dodgers. "My main goal is to get to 10 (full) years in the big leagues," said Martinez, 35, whom the Mets signed to a minor-league contract after he was released by the Dodgers from Las Vegas, their Triple-A affiliate. -- New Orleans Times-Picayune

B-Mets:

Jose Sanchez struck out 11 over seven shutout innings, helping the Binghamton Mets to an 8-2 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at NYSEG Stadium Thursday. Binghamton’s won three of four.

The B-Mets (63-57) got on the board in the third. Jonathan Malo reached Brad Mills for a one-out single before the lefthander walked Anderson Machado. Jose Coronado reached on an error, scoring Malo, before Caleb Stewart’s fielder’s choice brought in Machado for a 2-0 B-Mets lead.

Binghamton broke the game open with a four-run fourth. Josh Petersen hit a leadoff single before Mills (1-1) walked Malo. Two batters later, Coronado reached on an error as Petersen scored. Mike Carp followed with a three-run homer that put the B-Mets ahead 6-0.

Machado scored again in the sixth, when he drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on Coronado’s double and came home on a wild pitch. After Jacob Butler singled in two for New Hampshire in the top of the eighth, Machado led off the bottom of the frame with a longball to left, accounting for the game’s final run.

Sanchez (11-6) scattered four hits and three walks in the victory.

OF Fernando Martinez was pinch hit for after his 1st at bat -

Oliveras said he took Martinez out because of the damp field conditions.

"I didn't want him to slip and fall," Oliveras said. "We're taking it slow with him."

Gnats:

Thursday night’s scheduled contest between the Savannah Sand Gnats and Columbus Catfish has been postponed due to inclement weather and wet field conditions. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader to begin Friday at 5 p.m.

Clones:

Two weeks into the 2008 Brooklyn Cyclones season, it looked like 21st round pick Jim Fuller was beginning to carve himself a nice niche on the team as their left-handed spot starter and long reliever. But after just two appearances, it was apparent that something was wrong with the southpaw, who threw a whopping 93 innings and compiled an impressive 9-3 record at Southern Connecticut State University before being drafted this season. Suffering from a strained left arm for over a month, Fuller’s absence created a void in the bullpen that the team never fully recovered from. However, since making his first appearance back with the team on Aug. 2, where he threw two scoreless innings, Fuller has proved that good things come to those who wait. During the outing, Fuller showed just how thrilled he was to be back in the lineup by fielding a pair of ground balls and firing them over to first baseman Jason Jacobs with an intensity that could only be described as “energetic.” Obviously happy to be back on the mound, Fuller is ready to be a influential member of the Brooklyn staff and seems fully recovered from the arm problems that took him off the roster for most of the first half of the season. “It was the first time I was out there in a month, so I was really anxious to get started,” said Fuller, who’s fastball clocks in at 92 miles-per-hour. “It’s hard sitting on the bench for a month not knowing when you’re going to be ready to come back. All you can do is stick with your rehab and do whatever it is you have to do to get back out there and that’s exactly what I did. I’m so excited to be back” – DemBrooklynBums

Former Cyclone Bobby Malek was coaching first base in place of Guadalupe Jabalera, who has left the team for personal reasons

so there's this pitcher down in Brooklyn named Christopher Swinden who can't seem to get a start, and all they talk about in Brad Hope, so he keeps plugging away and his ERA goes below 1.5, and they give him another star... and all he does is throw 7.0 scoreless innings, striking out 12, and lowering his ERA to 1.02... jeez, there's some good young pitching in this organization

K-Port:

The game was rained out Thursday night...

GCL Mets:

We’ve spoken here before about SP Juerys Familia, but I think it’s time to put him on our radar. Familia started again on Wednesady night, going 5.0 innings, and giving up only 1 ER (2-1, 2.01). That’s now 6 quality starts in a row where he has given up only 6 ER in 29.2 IP. And, he’s only 18 years old. Familia is already #37 on the MMPLTBMNAW and has an outside chance of going full season next year.

DSL Mets:

The DSL Mets beat the Yankees, 8-6, on Wednesday night… 4 outstanding relief innings (0 ER, 2 H) by Erigson Sanchez, who has become the long reliever for the team, averaging 3 innings per appearance… the strange part about the game is they scored 8 runs… on 2 hits… oh, did I tell you the Yankee pitchers had 14 walks? Those crazy Latin teams…

VSL Mets:

Mets SP Angel Cuan threw 74 strikeouts this season, leading the league. He was also 10th in the league with the lowest WHIP (1.14), while going only 1-8.

1983 Lynchberg Mets:

Catcher: Ed Hearn, Barry Lyons, Greg Olson

None of these guys turned out to be a star, but all three had big-league careers, which is more than can be said for the overwhelming majority of A-ball catchers. After being released by the Phillies, who originally drafted him in 1978, Hearn signed as a minor-league free agent. He hit .272/.375/.386 at Lynchburg in '83 and got into 49 games for the big club in 1986 before being shipped the following spring along with a couple of forgettable arms for a young right-hander named David Cone. Hearn's career lasted just 13 more games. Lyons stuck around a little longer, but unless you were following the game fairly closely in the late '80s, you might never have heard of him. A 15th-round pick of the Mets in 1982, Lyons spent most of the season in the South Atlantic League before getting into two games with Lynchburg. Obviously he didn't make much of a contribution, but he was there, so we give him credit. The other catcher, who actually garnered most of the playing time, was Greg Olson, taken by New York in the 7th round of the '82 draft. Olson never made it with the Mets, being released after the 1988 season. He got into a handful of games with Minnesota the following year, and then enjoyed four quasi-productive seasons with the Atlanta Braves before retiring. Talk about just missing the ring: Olson was at Double-A Jackson when the Mets won it all, joined the Twins the year after their first World Championship, and then lost two World Series while with the Braves (including once to the Twins). Olson hit .230/.337/.252 (yes, that's an .022 ISO for those scoring at home) at Lynchburg in 1983. - HardballTimes

Ex-Mets:

Rays manager Joe Maddon said he's not "overtly concerned" with the recent struggles of All-Star LHP Scott Kazmir, who failed to last six innings for the eighth time in his past 10 starts. But he admitted, "It's something we do have to get straightened out because he's such a big cog in our entire situation." Kazmir said the problems are more mental than physical, with his comfort level on the mound impacting his mechanics, issues that "seem like it's something so easy to fix, that's why it's frustrating. -- St. Petersburg Times

Chad Bradford, whom the Mets let go to Baltimore two winters ago when the O’s offered a three-year deal, is on the move again. He’s been claimed by the Rays off waivers, and is headed to Tampa Bay for a player to be named. Mets fans groused at letting Bradford and Darren Oliver sign elsewhere two winters ago, especially when the Mets turned around and gave Scott Schoeneweis a three-year, $10.8 million deal shortly thereafter. Bradford, 33, was 3-3 with a 2.45 ERA with Baltimore in 47 relief appearances - AdamRubin

This Day in Mets History:

1989 - In his major league debut, former Met farmhand Mauro Gozzo blanks the Rangers for eight innings helping the Blue Jays go over .500 for the first time since Opening Day. Toronto will eventually win the American League East.