The Mack Attack - 5-12-8

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Monday, May 12, 2008

May 12, 2008

Mets News:

SS Jose Reyes went 3-5 Sunday and raised his BA to .259

CF Carlos Beltran went 2-5 Sunday and raised his BA to .240

1B Carlos Delgado went 1-3 and drew a walk, raising his BA to .236

Frankly, I am quite disappointed at the lack of discussing on my lengthy posts that are are dominated with facts, not opinions. I can only speculate that the newer members are avoiding any possible negaitve discussing that have broken out with me from others, like Matt.

So, from now on (especially since most of the stuff I write about are facts) , that I will refrain from any discussion on the posting of the 'Mack Attack' in the post area, unless someone directly asked me a question and requests my thoughts on the subject. This way you new writers can discuss this with the other newbies without any interruption from me.

Normally, I would say that this kind of daily research is good for the post area, but if I continue to see a lack of participation in the posting area, I will recommend that this feature be printed only on the front page as a point of reference.

I look forward to increased participation,but I fully earned any lack of it from you "leftovers' from the past regimes. Ss to you new guys. give me a chance. I use to bite but Mile and Johnny have had my dentures removed.. (honestly, I'm not that bad).

Mack

Going into Sunday’s game, the Mets ranked 5th in the National League, and 8th in the majors with the lowest ERA (3.86).

Carlos Delgado’s home run yesterday was the 436th of his career, the most ever hit by a Puerto Rican born player in the history of the game.

Ryan Church is tied for 2nd in the league with 4 outfield assists.

Since June 1 of last year, the Mets' record is 72-72

Baseball Digest:

The New York Mets sit in third place in the NL East with a 17-15 record, 2.5 games behind the Florida Marlins and 1.5 behind the Philadelphia Phillies. The only offensive positives for them so far are David Wright (expected) and newcomer Ryan Church. Their starting rotation, once you get past Johan Santana and John Maine, is below-average, and the bullpen has been mediocre despite Billy Wagner allowing only one run (unearned) all season. The season is 20% over, and already the masses are calling for Willie Randolph’s head. Carlos Delgado’s 79 OPS+? Willie’s fault. Carlos Beltran’s SLG looking similar to his OBP? Yep: Willie’s fault. Oliver Perez’s reversion back to his 2005 ways? I’m not sure. No, wait… yeah, Willie’s fault. Injuries to Moises Alou, Duaner Sanchez, Luis Castillo Pedro Martinez, Brian Schneider, Ramon Castro, Matt Wise, Jose Valentin, Orlando Hernandez, Ambiorix Burgos,, and Carlos Beltran? The Mets’ manager’s fault.

Mack’s Facts:

10 Guys Looking Over Their Shoulder:

Hector Pellot/Lucy - 85 at bats .166

Richard Lucas/Gnats - 112 at bats .188

Emmanuel Garcia/B-Mets - 120 at bats .192

Daniel Stegall/Gnats - 104 at bats .192

Anderson Hernandez/N.O. - 138 at bats .203

Salomon Manriquez/B-Mets - 90 at bats .211

Ruben Tejada/Lucy - 139 at bats .216

Matt Bouchard/Gnats - 132 at bats .220

Jose Jimenez/Gnats - 121 at bats .223

Argenis Reyes/N.O. - 114 at bats .237

Mets Contracts

Willie Randolph Manager - 3 years/$5.65M (2007-09), plus $2.5M 2010 club option - signed extension 1/07 (replaces final year of previous contract) - 07:$1.4M, 08:$2M, 09:$2.25M, 10:$2.5M club option - 3 years/$1.875M (2005-07) - 05:$0.55M, 06:$0.625M, 07:$0.7M - may earn additional $0.3M annually in performance bonuses - hired 11/04, replacing Art Howe (fired 9/04 with 2 years/$4.7M left)

N.O.:

The New Orleans Zephyrs rallied with a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth to send Sunday's contest into extra innings, but ultimately fell to the Sacramento River Cats, 6-5. Argenis Reyes came up with two out in the bottom of the ninth and the winning run at second, and delivered a two-strike single over the shortstop's head to drive in the tying run against Sacramento closer Brad Ziegler, who had not allowed an earned run this season.

Reyes stole second and Jesus Feliciano, already with three hits in the game, was intentionally walked to bring Michel Abreu, already with two walk-off hits this season, to the plate. But Abreu struck out, sending the game into the 10th inning.

Zephyrs closer Carlos Muniz ran into trouble of his own in the 10th, as he surrendered a one-out single to Jeff Baisley. Muniz picked Baisley off first, but then gave up a home run to Danny Putnam to break the tie. It was the first run yielded by Muniz (1-1) this season, breaking a string of 13.2 consecutive scoreless innings.

New Orleans trailed 1-0 in the first when Valentino Pascucci hit a three-run homer off Sacramento starter Dan Meyer. It was Pascucci's fifth home run since joining the Zephyrs, and his third on the homestand.

Sacramento tied the game with two runs in the third, and took the lead with two more in the fifth, thanks in large part to the wildness of Zephyrs starter Jose Diaz, who walked five while surrendering four hits in three innings.

Tim McNab pitched four scoreless innings in relief of Diaz, and kept the game in reach by getting out of a two-on, no-out jam in the fourth.

B-Mets:

Jose Sanchez allowed a run over six innings and Daniel Murphy had a hand in both of the Binghamton Mets’ runs in their 2-1 win over the Connecticut Defenders at Dodd Stadium Sunday. The B-Mets split the two games with Connecticut to wrap up a 4-2 road trip.

The B-Mets (15-21) scored both of their runs in the fourth. Fernando Martinez led off the inning with a single off Adam Cowart (2-2) before Jose Coronado bunted him to second. Murphy followed with a double to left, scoring Martinez. Nick Evans drove in Murphy with a base hit to left to make it 2-0.

Connecticut (18-17) didn’t get to Sanchez (3-2) until the sixth, when Antoan Richardson walked and later scored on Travis Ishikawa’s sacrifice fly. Eude Brito followed with two perfect innings of relief before Eddie Kunz tossed a scoreless ninth for his sixth save in as many chances.

Lucy:

SP Tobi Stoner continues to stand up as the premier starting pitcher of the Lucy staff this year. Off to a slow start due to being placed on the IR when the season started, Stoner has pitched consistently well since, including Sunday’s game (6 IP, 1 ER, 5K, 2.66), at home, against Ft. Myers.

Luis Rivera has obviously won over the 2B spot from super-slumping Hector Pellot (.166). Pellot made such great progress last year, only to return to his non-hittable ways he suffered in his first year (2006) with the Mets. Rivera, who bounced around last year from Savannah to Binghamton, has always hit wherever he played. In fact, he made the NY-Penn all-star team in 2006.

Gnats:

The Gnats have a rare Sunday off.

OF Casey Craig hit two home runs Friday, including a three-run shot in the 11th. Craig is hitting .552 with 9 RBI after seven games in Savannah.

The Gnats are 6-4 in May, and are now only 6 games below .500.

From my local Gnats story yesterday:

The Gnats have gone outside of the Mets organization to snag a couple of seasoned minor leaguers (OFs Michael Hernandez and Casey Craig), and also added 2 players from the extended training camp (2B Michael Parker and SS Joaquin Rodriquez). All of this has resulted in much more meat in the lineup and, as of 5-7, a 6-4 record over the past 10 games. Nathan Vineyard, one of the Mets two supplemental first round draft picks in 2007, underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last week. The 6-foot-3 left-hander had given up 13 runs on 13 hits in eight innings this season. Spent a few minutes in the locker room with Manager Donavan Mitchell, who says he is happy with the progress of the team; however, a few more wins wouldn’t hurt. Believe it, wins and losses are not the criteria of success at this level, but it doesn’t hurt if you’re a factor in a pennant race. LHP Julio Polanco and catcher Tony Maccani were transferred last week to the Brooklyn roster.

Minor League Bios:

Jonathan Sanchez OF L L 6-2 175 9-3-85

Sanchez was signed as a free agent straight out of high school to the DSL Mets. 2006 was his 1st season in the US where he made his pro debut with Hagerstown. He finished the season with Brooklyn and had a combined stat of .223/.275/.329 in 130 games.

Sanchez played the 2007 season as a backup outfielder for Savannah, where he hit .190/.245/.190 in 179 at bats.

He was born in La Vega, Dominican Republic.

 

Jose Sanchez P R R 6' 0" 170 05-12-1984

Sanchez was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco Giants in 2002. He played parts of 3 years in the Giants organization and came to the Mets through a Rule 5 acquisition in 2005 (which I don’t understand because I didn’t think the Rule V came into effect until the 6th year).

Sanchez had a banner year, going 11-5, with a 4.20 ERA. 2006 wasn’t as good, but still impressive, especially the time he spent with St. Lucie (26 starts, 11-9, 3.87 156.0 IP).

Sanchez pitched 2007 for Binghamton and had a disappointing year (4-9, 4.52, 1.53 in 27 starts).

Ex-Mets:

Jay Payton was ejected from Saturday's game in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes

Jeff Keppinger went 5-for-5 in the 2nd game against the Mets

Scott Kazmir threw 6 shutout innings

Toronto purchased the contract of Armando Benitez from Syracuse (AAA).

This Day In Mets History:

1972 – this is the first day that Willie Mays played as a Met.

1978 - At Royals Stadium, a potential game-ending routine fly ball to right center becomes an Amos Otis walk-off inside-the-park homer as Reggie Jackson and Mickey Rivers collide in the outfield. The misplay costs turns a sure Goose Gossage save into a devastating loss for the World Champions Bronx Bombers.

2001 - Hitting his 204th home run in a Toronto uniform, Carlos Delgado surpasses Joe Carter to become the all-time Blue Jay career leader in round trippers.

2001 - Striking out 15 Orioles, Boston's Pedro Martinez ties an American League record set in 1968 by Indian hurler Luis Tiant for most strikeouts over two games, 32. The Red Sox fireballer had 17 strikeouts in his last start against the Devil Rays.

Carlos Beltran is one of three Mets who seemed to break out against the Reds. Mike McGann Photo/Flushing University. All Rights reserved.