Magglio Ordonez

Now I know he is expensive and he is struggling, but if we look deeper into the stats of him, we find he may possibly help the Mets, and if we dealt them Stokes, they would accept.

His basic stats are 2 Hr, 22 RBI, and his line is .271/.347/.339, his first two are okay, but the last one is not on line with where it should be. I am not worried about this as the Mets do not hit for much power anyway, so if he can add a bat to hit 5th, and be similar to David Wright, with no HR and a lot of RBIs.

His BABIP is right around his career average, at .310, and his career average is .316, so there is nothing wrong there, so its when the ball is not in play that hurts him, he has 33 Ks in 245 PAs, which is 7.42Ks/1 PA, and when he won the batting title in 2006, his K/1 PA ratio was 8.58Ks/1 PA, so it is actually lower, which means that he will break out of his slump, and if the Mets can buy low now, it will pay off later.

Tim Redding

Has he been good? He has certainly been up and down, and with Livan going nowhere, Nieve pitching well, and Maine and Perez coming (hopefully) back soon.

If we go with the easy stats his ERA is 6.27 which is bad, and his W-L is 0-2, so at first glance he looks bad, as those are the two stats most commonly associated with a starting pitcher, and for Tim they are not good. Another simple stat, which I actually like is quality start ( 6 IP 3 ER), and he has 3 of these in 6 starts, which is very good, so why are people calling for his head?

His 3 starts that were not quality were against Boston, Florida, and Baltimore, so they are against a team you do not expect a quality start from, but two teams that you should expect one. Also, in his non-quality starts he has pitched 16 innings, and allowed 17 runs, so he is all or nothing, remind you of anyone? (Ollie?).

If you look into some of the deeper stats, his BB/9 is 4.4, which reflects that his BABIP needs to be good, because when you are allowing runners on balls not in play, when the ball is in play it needs to be an out, and his BABIP is .298, which is okay.

I think Redding deserves to stay in the rotation, with Nieve pitching the 8th?

Line-Up Simulator Fun

Avg Runs Per Game: 4.34

Runs For 162 Games: 703

Order	Name	G	RBI	R
1	Alex Cora	162	31	86
2	Daniel Murphy	162	58	105
3	Carlos Beltran	162	101	135
4	David Wright	162	107	117
5	Gary Sheffield	162	145	101
6	Ryan Church	162	99	68
7	Brian Schneider	162	85	42
8	Luis Castillo	162	63	26
9	Fernando Nieve	162	10	19

Hopefully I'll have a better post later, but this is alarming.

Where Did Wright's Power Go?

His Slugging Percentage is .25 points below his career average, so why?

One reason that is popular among people who do not like the whole modern age stats thing, so they continue to go with ranting on, and basing players, and how good they are on silly stats, like RBIs and Batting Average, when stats like VORP, and OBP exist, so we can accurately judge how well a player does. One stat I am going to look at to determine if the people who say its Citifield are right is Ballpark Factor, it is a stat where anything above 1.000 is a hitters park, and below is a pitchers park.

Citifield, as we can tell without Ballpark Factor, is a pitcher's park, it has a Ballpark Factor of 0.88, which makes it an extreme pitchers park, if you dive deeper into it, it has allowed its fair share of home runs, with a home run Ballpark Factor of, yes this is true: 1.136. I like most people am perplexed by this as well, how can such a big park have such a high HR Factor? (More on that later). Back to the Ballpark Factor, last season David Wright hit a career high in home runs, and in the season before, at what was also considered a "pitchers park", it had a Ballpark HR Factor of, I am not making this up: 1.081.

What could cause David Wright to lose all his power, after his two best HR years, in 07 and 08 when he hit 30 and 33, and slugged (both of these are 1-2) .546, and .534? I looked into, and I want to show you some photos of Citifield's construction, in those years.

Both of these are in 07.

In 2007, Citifield began to take shape and start to being a real structure out beyond left field, and people talked about a wind pattern that was caused by it that made balls go farther then they usually would at Shea, which in 2003 had a Ballpark HR Factor of .835, in 04 had a .804, in 05 had a .890, in 06, when Citi was first being contructed of .575, which I believe is an outlier in this set of data, as it is not in line with the general point of direction. In 07, when we begin to focus on it had a Ballpark HR Factor of .900, so its climbing, and then finally as you already know from earlier, it had a Ballpark HR Factor of 1.081, when Citifield was at full size.

So what I am saying is the reason David Wright's HR is down, or down according to his last two seasons, is because of the fact he never was a 30 HR guy, but a 15-25 one who had the wind caused by Citifield for two seasons, and that gave him an extra 5-10 and boosted his Slugging Percentage.

This Is The Start Of Huff To Mets Ralk All Over NY Radio

Read the title, my shortest blgo post ever, and least statistically based, but its pretty true.

Is Feliciano A Lefty Specialist?

Pedro Feliciano is usually given the ball by Jerry Manual to pitch to a tough lefty, but lets look deeper into the stats.

The most basic stat to measure a left handed specialist by is BAA by left handers, and Feliciano's is where it should be at .149, allowing 10 hits in 67 ABs against him, which is good, and I will compare hsi number sto JC Romero's 2008 season, where he was considered one of the best left handed specialists in baseball.

Pedro Feliciano has allowed a Slugging Percentage of .299 on those hits, which I know sounds bad, but considering its over 10 hits in 67 ABs means that those ten hits have been pretty good, or for the Mets pretty bad. He out of those ten hits has allowed 3 home runs, which means that if Johan Santana has the same hits to homers ratio as him, he would have allowed 22 home runs this year, and for a comparison the league leader in home runs allowed is 17, so Pedro Feliciano allows WAY to many home runs, and this is against lefties only. The 7 other hits were a double, and 6 singles, he has allowed 7 of his batters to score, which is dispicable for a left handed specialist.

In 0-2 counts he has allowed 2 hits, and one of them is a home run, which for any relief pitcher is just bad, as 0-2 late in games needs to equal an out, or you will lose like the Mets tend to when Feliciano is in a game.

Now JC Romero in all of 2008 allowed a .102 BAA or 10-98. Of those ten hits, only one was a home run, ALL YEAR. He allowed 3 extra base hits total, for a .153 Slugging Percentage which is almost lower than Feliciano's BAA for lefties, so this shows us why Feliciano has been so ineffective.

Mets Need A 1B

The Mets need to get a first baseman, because Murphy/Tatis is not cutting it, lets go into the stats.

First lets go over the fixed number stats.

Carlos Delgado= 4 HR 23 RBI 15 R 28 H 12 BB 20 K 49 TB in 112 PA

Murphy/Tatis= 6 HR 33 RBI 38 R 69 H 31 BB 28 K 102 TB in 329 PA

Look at that, Delgado would have needed maybe 20 more games to ge to those numbers, and he would probably have better stats, so we could get a replacement, like Mark Derosa, who could fill in at SS, give Wright a day at 3B, or play the corner outfield, which has been better, butnot league average. There are other stats that are not fixed numbers, that make it even more clear.

http://www.stathead.com/bbeng/woolner/vorpdescnew.htm , that is a good defintion of VORP, which is a complicated stat. It is basically if you had Joe Average and replaced him with David Wright, they would get 34.2 more runs than Joe Average.

Carlos Delgado's 09 VORP= 7.3

Murphy+Tatis= 09 VORP of -3.2

They have been a black hole, and Omar needs to makle a change, that is is 10.5 extra runs we could have, imagine how we could use 10.5 runs? We could have won that game where Castillo dropped the ball, or then ones versus the Phillies when we lost in extra innings, so who is out there?

Adam Dunn

Dunn can play left, and first so when Delgado gets back he can move out to left field, he adds some serious power to the Mets line-up, as he has slugged 30 homers every year since I can remember. He has a VORP, of 17.4, a that is about 20 extra runs.

Nick Johnson

I am not a personal fan of Johnson as he is often hurt, and does not seem to be built for Citifield, but Omar seems to like him as he traded for him in Montreal, he has a VORP of 11.5, which is about 14 more runs.

Aubrey Huff

I like him and Dunn more than the other options, as they can hit for power, and play LF/1B, which both would help us substantially, his VORP is -2.5, as his D hurts him there.

There have been some other names, but these seem to be the most likely to be dealt to the Mets, last time I heard, the Nats are asking a ridiculous amount for Johnson, so maybe take him off hte list.

Remembering 69'

1969, the year the Mets won their first World Series, but it was more than that, it was a reason to come to that dump called Shea (but it was our dump), it was a reason for people to stop and listen, or watch when the Mets were on, it was a reason that we, even though we did not have Babe Ruth, or Lou Gherig, or Mickey Mantle, had secured a place as one of the greatest in the history of baseball, as did the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. It was the year when names like Tom Seaver and Tug McGraw, and Jerry Koosman, and Tommy Agee and Cleon Jones, all became the Mets great playes, the men who led them toa championship. It was the year we coined the phrase: Amazin, and a few years later a similar group of players coined: Ya Gotta Believe (that is a Mets thing, not Phillies).

It was an amazing season where the Mets who had finished last, last, last, last, second to last, last, and second to last, had become a team that you did not want to play, led by rookie Tom Seaver, and other pitchers such as Tug McGraw, Nolan Ryan, and Jerry Koosman, and position players such as Cleon Jones, Tommy Agee, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, and finally Ed Kranepool, the alltime Mets hit leader. This team went 100-62, and in the first year of division play, won the National League East. By beating out the Cubs and Pirates by a substantial amount of games, and I guess you could call them: Amazin'.

In the Championship Series they would have to surprise the World even more by beating the Braves, who although they only had 93 regular season wins, had all-time greats such as Orlando Cepeda, Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Neikro, Hank Aaron, Dusty Baker, and Felipe Alou, elthough not all-time greats were good players. Remember back then it was only a 5 game series, so the Mets only had to get 3 without letting Atlanta get 3 first, so it could benifit them, or it could hurt them, I would say it benifited them, as they swept Atlanta, game 1 was a 9-5 Met wins, the starting pitchers were Tom Seaver, and Phil Niekro, Seaver got the win and Niekro the loss, the Mets offense was clutch, scoring 5 in the 8th, with singles and doubles and errors, so the Mets took game 1. Game 2 was a 11-6 Mets victory, with Ron Taylor getting the win, and Ron Reed getting the loss, and Tug McGraw the save, the Mets were up 2-0 going into game 3 at Shea, it seemed over, and it was. In game 3 the Mets started Nolan Ryan, against the Braves' Pat Jarvis, and Ryan got the win and Jarvis the loss, with a 7-4 Mets victory, the offense was lead by Wayne Garret's clutch go ahead home run in the fifth, and that would have been enough, but the tacked on two more to win 7-4.

In the World Series the Mets had to face the even better Orioles, who had defensive whiz Brooks Robinson at third, and heavy hitting Boog Powell, and Frank Robinson, with pitchers Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, and Dave McNally. In game 1 the Mets played Baltimore at Memorial Stadium, and in the all important game 1 they lost 4-1, as they had trouble getting to Cuellar, as they did not score until the seventh on a sac-fly from Al weis, the Orioles got a lead0off homer from Don Baylor off of Tom Seaver, and their three runs in the fifth from signles and doubles, including Mike Cuellar. Game 2 was also at Memorial Stadium, but it had a different outcome, as the Mets won it 2-1 on the back of Koosman's brilliant, and might I add clutch pitching performance (he had a no-no in the 7th), offensively they scored the runs in the fourth on a Don Clendenon solo home run, and then in the ninth to give them a 2-1 lead from back-to back-to back singles from Ed Charles, Jerry Grote, and Al Weis. In Game 3 the Mets got to HOFer Jim Palmer quickly, as Tommy Agee hit a lead off homer to give the Mets a 1-0 lead, at home. He also made maybe the greatest catch in Mets history, up their with Endy Chavez, to save at least 5 runs. The Mets would get 4 more in the game, but did not need it as Gary Genty was Amazin' throwing a shutout. Game 4 was a turning point in the series, the Mets up 2-1 on the powerhouse Orioles, people were still counting them out, but man oh man would they come up HUGE today. Tom Seaver pitched brilliantly, allowing only one run, and the Mets would only get one run on a Don Clendenon solo homer, until the 10th that is. in the tenth inning the Mets got a lead-off double out of Jerry Grote, followed by an IBB to Al Weis. First and second no outs, and up came Jc Martin who bunted it, and in one of the most dramatic blown calls ever, up their with Don Denkinger, the throw hit him in the arm allowing Grote to score and the Mets win game 4, going up 3-1 in the series, and with one more left at Shea the Mets could get it at home. In game 5 the Mets starer was Koosman, who allowed 3 runs in the 3rd on a Dave McNally (he was the pitcher) two run homer and a Frank Robinson solo dinger. In the 6th the Mets would start the comeback, getting two runs, and the controversial call where Cleon Jones was hit in the foot with a pitch, and Gil Hodges proved it by showing the umpire the shoe polish, which was promptly followed by a Don Clendenon (who won, and rightfully so thew series MVP) a two run homer, Mets are back in it 3-2. In the 7th they would tie it up on a Al Weis would hit one of the biggest hits in the history of the Mets franchise with a game tying solo homer, and he had a career total of 7 in the regular season. Then in the 8th the Mets would take the lead, and take they would on a Ron Swoboda double, and an error by Boog Powell, and the Mets would go on from their to win the first title in the history of their franchise.

Steven Matz

The Mets as we all know drafted Steven Matz with their first pick in the draft in the second round, how much about Matz do you know?

Mlb.com scouting video= http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4962553

Matz is list as 6'3 185, which appears to be generous, if you have seen a picture of him. He is from East Sautucket on LI, and has been a lifelong Met fan, and is recently dead grandma was a diehard Met fan, and she would have been proud. He throws lefty, which makes him the first Met to be chosen first overall by the Mets since (AAAAGH!!!!) Scott Kazmir.

This season Matz pitched 52 innings and allowed onyl 2 runs, I know that in High School there is npot a lot of talent, so stats do not mean much, but that is pretty impressive at any level. He throws from 88-92 on average with his fastball, which is not considered hard, but not soft, he has reached 94 at times this season, and at the age of 18 still has room for improvement.

He throws a curveball that is above average, but you still have to remember he is onlt 18, and has plenty of time to work on his curveball. He can throw it above average because of good spin and arm speed, so you can not read what pitch he is about to throw. He also throws a change-up at times that is very inconsistent, he will go straight to Rookie ball when signed.

If the Mets fail to sign him, he will play for Coastal Carolina University.

A Loss Is A Loss Is A Loss

If it was 2-0, it would have been more painful, Santana is hurt, and no matter how much he denies it, it is true.

The Mets could not catch a break today, except for Castillo using two hands on a pop up. Santana was leaving his pitches over the plate, and the Yankees were ripping it. I honestly have 0 inspiration for a post right, maybe in the morning I will have something about the upcoming series

Bruney Vs K-Rod Round 3

Round 1

Brian Bruney

"Couldn't have happened to a better player, his act is tired".

-On Castillo dropping the popup

Round 2

K-Rod

"Say it to my face, I do not even know who this guy is".

-On Bruneys Comments

Round 3

Both teams end up yelling at each other in the outfielder over it.

What is up with Bruney?

Nieve Is A Spark?

Fernando Nieve looked more like Cy Young today, either that or the Yankees looked like the Nationals, and after an embarrasing loss, under extroadinary circumstances, he really came up huge. He was locating pitches and was confident, and Ken Rosenthal told Joe Buck during the game that he talked to a scout before the game who said he did not have the stuff or confidence, and then during the game when Nieve was dominating, that same scout told Rosenthal that he looked like, and I quote "a whole new pitcher".

When I saw Nieve pitch for Houston in the Spring versus the Mets, I thought he was a guy with good stuff, who had to find a way to locate it and be confident with it. He was then DFA'd, and soon after brought in by Omar, who has a knack for bringing in guys for nothing and getting value out of them (EX= Tatis, Sheffield, Maine, Perez, Livan, Omir Santos, it really is endless).

How did Nieve do it? Lets break one at- bat down.

Nieve was throwing fastballs outside to start the count, this is Johnny Damon at-bat.

Here Nieve throws the outside first pitch

fastball to Damon, to start the count. Painting it on the outside part of the plate, and setting Damon up for the next pitch. Note how his shoulders and his entire body looks as he is approaching the ball.

He was using the fastball often, and getting up to 95 at times with it.

See how he is cheating towards the outsides this time, which throws him off balance and causes him to get into an 0-2 hole, as Nieve is locating his pitches very effectively.

In this pitch he would come with a low and away fastball for the third straight pitch.

This was another outside fastball, which as you can see Damon did nto exp

ect as he was squared to hit an inside pitch and Nieve came away and it caused him to foul it off down the left field line.

I will skip to the last pitch of the at-bat, the count was 2-2, he called an outside fastball a ball, and an inside fastball a ball. After going with an outside changeup he came back with an outside fastball shown below.

Mets Have To Do Something

This is a sloppy team, flat out sloppy, I know we signed him to an extension, but Jerry could be the problem. How dare Castillo use Little League tactics, to I don't know, win a game???!!!! It is not hard, you take your hand, and put your hand over the ball when you catch it so it does not pop out.

This team has had so many embarrasing losses, that when Castillo was under that, I expected him to drop it. He was not even close to being under that and he had camped out in right center and it ended up in dead right.

Is it Jerry? Or are we lazy? I really do not care, but FIX IT!

What's Up With Johan?

I am surprised that with the NY media spotlight, no one has noticed this glaring problem that the Mets are having, other than injuries, is Johan Santana.

In April he was on top of his game with an ERA of 1.10 and a record of 3-1, and could have been 4-0, or atleast 3-0. He was far and away the best in the NL that month and showed no signs of slowing down, as he allowed 1 ER, then 0 ER, then 0 ER, then 1 ER, then 2 ER. So he combined to allow a grand total of 4 ER all of April/March.

In May he was not nearly as good as his ERA was 2.43, so one could argue that they began to figure out what Johan was doing. His ER totals were: 0 ER, 0 ER , 4 ER , 2 ER , 3 ER. He allowed more than 2 ER for the first time this season against the Giants, but the Mets still won. Then he allowed 3 against Washington, Washington? His 2 ER performance was versus Boston.

In June, although he has only had two starts and it is all about sample size, his ERA is, and I swear to you this is no joke, 5.54. He allowed 5 ER against Philly, at Citifield, and that is the first time he has allowed that many runs in a game since in Cincinnati last year. so what is wrong with Johan? Is he pitching hurt and refusing to admit it because other people are dropping like flies? The Mets have a total of 8 players on the DL, and two from the rotation. The earliest expected return of all of them is mid-late June.