Father's Day(s)

For the first time in a long while, Mike Piazza would be doing his job to suffocate the Mets. In '03 and '04, his long DL stints hurt the team. Now he and Mike Cameron will try to unleash their bats against their former employer. The Mets will head to sunny southern California to face the Friars after an extremely disappointing series against the Braves, where, for the first time this year, the Mets lost two in a row. The squad is currently battling injuries, including Cliff Floyd's ribcage, Carlos Beltran's hamstring, and the tumor that Kaz Matsui will be on this team. While I am as big of a fan of Kaz as any, where's Keppy? Haven't we established that he's better defensively than Matsui (though with a little less range) and better than KazMat and Andy Hernandez offensively as well? (Yeah, Andy's the best I could come up with.)

Starters:
Game 1: Thursday, 10:05
Steve Trachsel (1-1, 4.09 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (1-2, 5.50 ERA)

Edge: Peavy. He's one of the top young pitchers in the game, despite his slow start, and Trax is coming off a game where he gave up a long double to Tomo Ohka.

Game 2: Friday, 10:05
Brian Bannister (2-0, 2.50 ERA) vs. Woody Williams (1-0, 4.50 ERA)

Edge: Push. I didn't much care for BB's last start. WW's an established veteran. Good curveball. I just like all the initial repetition.

Game 3: Saturday, 10:05
Pedro Martinez (3-0, 3.66 ERA) vs. Chris Young (2-0, 2.95 ERA)

Edge: Pedro. Come now, Chris Young is a good young (again with these annoying names) pitcher. But Pedro's hot and is certainly capable of defeating this Padre lineup.

Game 4: Sunday, 4:05
Victor Zambrano (1-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. Clay Hensley (0-1, 6.00 ERA)

Edge: Hensley. Hensley looked very good out of the bullpen last year, but he's not even a reliever. He's racked up double digit starts every year in the minor leagues. Expect a strong performance from him and expect Zambrano to have Mets fans calling for Lima Time from AAA.

SDP Breakdown: Record- 6-8
This team has been made over. Big time. They are not close to an elite team, with Dave Roberts getting regular playing time when he should be speed off the bench and Vinny Castilla's old bat at cleanup. They have a pair of above-average rookies in Josh Barfield at 2B and Adrian Gonzalez at first. They also have the less impressive Ben Johnson doing time in center field. Brian Giles remains patrolling their deep right field and Khalil Greene will keep the game easy with his .375 career BA against the Mets at short. Mike Piazza will catch, and in an even stranger blast from the past, Shawn Estes was slated to start for them this year before he got hurt. Expect Mike Cameron to come off the DL sometime during this series and have some fun with his old friends like Cliff Floyd. Expect Mike Piazza to brood and expect Paul lo Duca to follow him wherever he goes.

Players to Watch for:
SDP: Brian Giles. His ridiculous patience and power will not face too many challenges with all righties toeing the slab for the Mets this series.

NYM: David Wright. After a disappointing series from D-Wright against the Tomahawk Choppers, he should be due for some fun against this San Diego crew.

Player of the Series: David Wright

Picks: The Mets will take three of four if Floyd and Beltran start tonight. If one of them starts, they will split the games. If neither of them start, they will only win one.

Sex can wait! Prognosticate:

Please stop insulting my intelligence by saying Jose Valentin is a better option in LF than Victor Diaz. With Anderson Hernandez going on the DL, VD can be recalled. Bite the bullet, and cut Valentin's million-dollar salary and horrible play.

Why doesn't Willie go to Woody as his premier pinch-hitter? He's a .412 pinch-hitter over the last three years and it makes no sense to let him rot on the bench while tossing Jose Valentin and Julio Franco (much as I love him) up there?

The Mets should swap Darren Oliver for Heath Bell. Old Man Ollie has no spot in this bullpen with the addition of Feliciano. It makes too much sense.

Steve Trachsel really needs to tell Zambrano the virtues of a minor-league stint to get everything straightened out. We cannot have games like the one against the Braves every five days. Get over the Kazmir trade and realize that something, even something small, must be done.

While you were sleeping...

While you were sleeping...

Pedro Martinez shredded the Atlanta Braves.

Duaner Sanchez was clutch.

Billy Wagner looked every bit the $43 million man.

Omar Minaya vindicated himself again with the Xavier Nady deal. X-Man has hit huge homers in back-to-back games, while Cameron and his salary seven million dollars greater than Nady's will play in a Single-A game tonight.

Pedro Martinez won game 200 of his career. He has the best winning percentage of any pitcher to win 200.

New Met Paul Lo Duca went 3-4 with a double.

Carlos Delgado clocked a big 2-run homer. Mike Jacobs is hitting .200.

The Mets got off to their best start in franchise history.

The Mets are 5 games ahead of the second-place Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.

The formerly witty and creative marketing team went with their second choice to produce this hot record after Phil Spector was unavailable.

Tonight's Game:
The Vitals:
Kyle Davies against Victor Zambrano.
First pitch at 7:10 PM. Shea.
TV: SNY
Radio: WFAN

I don't really know what to expect of this game. Davies dominated the Flushing Nine when he pitched against them last year, though rookie pitchers have fared well against the Metropolitans the past couple years. Zamby, well, he's Brian Bannister without the Kaz stigma behind him. But if he can pitch well tonight, it will undoubtedly do something to increase fan loyalty towards him. Not to mention that it will put the Mets six games up on the Bravos... in mid-April.

The Great Showdown

note: sorry for the lack of series recaps. i was pretty much without internet over the holiday weekend.

Well, we knew this would come. Or rather, that they would come. The ridiculously consistent division champs will return to Flushing for the first time since Tom Glavine banished them with his complete game. The Braves have usually meant big problems for the Mets, as the Mets haven't had a winning season against the Tomahawk Choppers since that great 1997 squad took 7 of 12. Don't forget that Carl Everett played a huge role on that team. But maybe, just maybe, it's our year.

Starters:
Game 1: Monday, 7:10 (National TV: ESPN)
Pedro Martinez (2-0, 3.46 ERA) vs. Jorge Sosa (0-2, 11.37 ERA)
Game 2: Tuesday, 7:10
Victor Zambrano (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Kyle Davies (0-1, 8.38 ERA)
Game 3: Wednesday, 1:10
Tom Glavine (2-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Tim Hudson (0-1, 9.20 ERA)

ATL Breakdown: Record- 6-7
I don't really think much of this Braves team. Their pitching has not been sufficient, and their only starter to win a game was John Smoltz with his magnificent CG shutout of the weak Padres on Saturday night. They might have swept the series if it wasn't for a sophomore mistake by Ryan Langerhans. This rotation lacks the depth that made it dominant once, as they no longer have that consistency of last year and the year before. Mike Hampton is done for the year, and Kyle Davies and Jorge Sosa, both surprising wild card starters last year, have been shelled so far. Even Tim Hudson has been raped and pillaged by opposing hitters. I don't think a lot of this Braves pen, either. It's a motley crew of other organizations' castoffs, though some of them have been strong. The two relievers acquired in the deal that sent Johnny Estrada to the Diamondbacks, Lance Cormier and Oscar Villareal, have ERAs of 1.04 and 1.13, respectively. Villareal also has 4 wins. They've also brought in journeymen Peter Moylan, who was doing office labor in Australia no more than three months ago, and Ken Ray, a 31 year-old who pitched for five organizations but only made one major league appearance before this year. They also dropped Joey Devine, the first rounder of the 63.00 ERA, which is only a slight dropoff from last year's 12.60 ERA.

Players to Watch for:
ATL: Jeff Francoeur. The sophomore right fielder just broke out of his slump on Thursday, and continued his torrid hitting during the weekend series, raising his average by more than one hundred points. Expect him to have a little fun with the gopherball-prone Zambrano.

NYM: Carlos Delgado. This man is on the verge of mashing some already battled Braves pitching. No lefties pitching, no righties with gas. Heck, he hit 5 straight homers in 5 AB against Jorge Sosa during their AL days (thanks to MetsGeek for the info). I'd also like to see a nice show from Cliff Floyd.

Player of the Series: Carlos Delgado

Picks: The Mets will take two of three in this one, though Zambrano will have a bit of trouble with that Braves lineup.

Sex can wait! Prognosticate:

The Braves have no chance of holding Jose Reyes in check this series.

Willie Randolph really needs to stop using Jose Valentin. He looks really overmatched.

Jorge Julio will pitch in a close game during this series. He won't give up more than one run.

Billy Wagner will hammer down two saves this series. They will be painless.

The Mets will make a couple roster moves, snagging Kaz Matsui from Norfolk (in exchange for Jose Valentin), and Heath Bell will come up if Darren Oliver has another bad showing.

Anderson Hernandez will continue to start even when Matsui comes back.

And if any of you remember Get Metsmerized, isn't this a sign that this season secretly is 1986 again? Where's Tim Teufel?

Trash talk:

ATL 1B Adam LaRoche: "I bet their fans can remember 14 straight division titles." [MSNBC]

ATL C Todd Pratt: “I’ve been on the other side. The other side has been saying ‘This is the year’ for 14 years.” [MSNBC]

NYM RP Aaron Heilman: "I think we all know plenty about the Braves." [NY Daily News]

NYM 1B Julio Franco: "On the Braves they've never cared about records. They come to the park to beat you and they're not going to change anything about what they do just because the other team has more wins. After all that winning they believe in themselves." [NY Daily News]

you may not call this a series recap, but I'm swamped with homework and I already lost an entry due to problems with safari.

Brooms

Ah... you smell that? That's the smell of me being right. Scroll down a bit to the preview of our series with KC. So, I was wrong about the pitching. Chacon and Wang (Wo-ng) were shaky while Randy was strong, and Bautista was weak. Look who I picked to be the player of the series. Ah... yes. Jason tore them to pieces.

Statistics please.

For the series,
Jason Giambi: 8 AB, 4 BB, 2 HR 7 RBI
His OBP for the series, you ask? .755
Come on people, the man is a monster. And if those numbers aren't player of the series worthy, everything I know is a lie.

Reggie Sanders had his little spiel, Angel Berroa was not as strong as I had expected (2-10, 1 RBI), and Doug had a three hit game today, but overall,
I was right about Jason Giambi!
Anyhow, bring out the brooms, cause we swept 'em, and I'm not gonna complain that I only had us taking 2 of 3.

Damon had himself a nice series, as did Bernie, god bless him. DJ's three run HR to cap off the comeback was magic, Gary had a huge middle game, and hey, even Kelly Stinnett got a piece of the action when Georgie got a rest. You gotta love those small market teams, Yankee lovers, you gotta love 'em. Plus, we've finally stuck our head above the surface (.500), and just because the Red Sox are scary with Beckett and Schilling doesn't really mean anything. The image of David "I'm the Bode Miller of baseball because I pitched my perfect game drunk" Wells getting booed is one that will stick with me for a least like a week. And maybe Damon won't be so bad after all. I'll never root for him though until he does something unforgettable a la Jason Giambi grand slam in the 14th to beat the Twins in the rain. As of now we have 6 regulars hitting above .300. (Bernie, Giambi, Matsui, Posada, Jeter, and Damon). It's early, but I'm finally beginning to see that this is the best offense in baseball. Now all we need is a little pitching. Speaking of which, the bullpen was pretty good today. Even though it looks like a laugher, it was actually pretty tight until the 8th, when Jimmy Gobble "Em up" self-destructed. Kudos to Myers, Proctor, and Sturtze. Even though nobody really showed that they were above the pack, but as a whole they're consistenly O.K., which is about all I can ask for. Mari got his first save (of many hopefully) on Tuesday, looked pretty strong. All in all, everything seems to be looking up heading into our matchup with the Twins. We didn't look so good on the road, so maybe we can get our mojo working away from the Bronx in the Metrodome. Previews coming tomorrow.

Feeling fine,
Dyslexia

Technology is Not Your Friend

I wrote a good article on Eric Duncan, I swear to God I did. But when I tried to publish it, I got the server can't etc. I'm mad about it.
Eric Duncan: 3B: 20 Years Old: Highest experience: DOUBLE A
Anyway, here is a less quality article with the same ideas. The Yankees are at a dangerous crossroads. We have a lot of old players who are sinking. Slowly, albeit, but sinking nonetheless. Giambi has got one or two years left in him before he's running on empty. Sheffield is old, and getting a few more worry wrinkles with Selig on his ass. Posada's on the way down. And apart from young Philip Hughes, we have no saviors in the making. Enter Duncan.
Now, I've heard a bunch of crap about 'The Next Great Yankee'. I don't mean to ruin the party, but Eric Duncan isn't the next great anything. We don't need him to be great, because he won't be great. We need him to be above average. A guy who can come in, replace Giambi in a couple years (he's not going to be a 3B in this league), and hit 18 HR and drive in 90 a year. Nothing spectacular, just a good role player who knows the fundamentals and has a good work ethic. Because we are dangerously close to arriving at the apocalypse that everyone has been prophesizing. The fateful day where Steinbrenner's need to win now and the slue of young talent that we dealt in order to acquire aging, all-star, players is finally gonna catch up to us. Unless we can get Henry, Cabrera (trade bait), and most importantly, Duncan, on the field, making plays, the Yankees will be a bad team in five years. And there's no amount of money that Steinbrenner can throw at this problem that will change it. (Well... maybe if we got Derrek... no never mind) I'm not going to ask Duncan to save us. Let me reference a certain unimportant 1B by the name of Chris Chambliss. He played for us in the late 70's. I don't think he ever drove in more than 90. But he knew his place, was consistent, and understood that the team belonged to Reggie Jackson. And he won two rings with us. They were a team. What we have today is a thrown together skyscraper that is fun to look at, but will most likely fall down when the wind starts blowing. That's why I can't wait to get the Sheffield's of NY out. Once that happens, maybe then we can build another '98, where we actually have a player in each position that'll shut up, play hard, and in games. If Eric (I can call him that, we're tight) can be a Chris Chambliss, be pretty good day in and day out, there's some hope. It may not be what people wanna hear, but I gotta say, Eric Duncan is no superstar. He's a good kid who works hard and puts up decent numbers, and if we get on his back about how we need him to lead us to the promiseland, then there's no place for him in New York. I believe that there may be many years for Duncan in pinstripes, and I can't wait to root for him, but don't make him into something's he's not. Just cross your fingers, pray that George doesn't trade him for Larry Bigbie, and enjoy the kid. He's gonna be an O.K. player someday.

Dyslexia

P.S. Here's some mediocre stats to get your mouth watering

2004: LOW A- 78 games, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 7 SB, 38 BB, 84, SO, .260/.351/.479/.830
2004: HIGH A- 51 games, 4 HR, 26 RBI, 0 SB, 31 BB, 47 SO, .254/.366/.462/.828
2005: DOUBLE A- 126 games, 19 HR, 61 RBI, 9 SB, 59 BB, 136 SO, .235/.326/.408/.734

By the way, Phil Hughes is a MAN. On Saturday, he struck out 9 in 4 IP in high A. He's teasing these people he's so good. Oh, and Felix "I'm Felix Hernandez the best young pitcher in the league" Hernandez got outdueled by Joe Blanton on Friday. Joe Blanton. God be with you, Mariners fans.

Adios, Yanks fans, and remember, not every top prospect has to be a star.

Back to the Battlefield

Tonight's Preview:
After Brian Bannister, my new favorite player, shredded the Nationals lineup yesterday, and Alpaca Farm Wagner put on his best Looper mask, it only means one thing. Pedro es, how you say, back on the hill. Without a doubt, he'll face Jose Guillen and I think they'll "just play ball." But let's get real here: this is a big start for Petey. He needs to win, he needs to look nasty, he needs to make all of the Nationals hitters look like jokes. While the Mets are more likely to bail him out of bad starts than they were last year, mostly because Miguel Cairo is not even close to Washington right now.
Pedro is a competitor. He knows that he's two wins away from 200, as he chases (gasp!) Bert Blyleven for the most wins by a foreign-born pitcher.

Yesterday's Recap:
I liked yesterday's win a lot. First of all, Brian Bannister is really good. He's got good control and he fits in nicely with the rotation. I find it hard to second-guess Minaya's decision to move him there and stick Heilman in the pen. Secondly, Carlos Beltran hit that ball really far. And, wow, imagine if he did that more often. I liked the fact that the offense didn't stop scoring. I liked the fact that lo Duca's a hot hitter. And I'll be damned if Jose Reyes and David Wright aren't the next comings of, well, someone. Granted, although we're 5-1, the wins have been against the Fish and Nats. Shed not a tear, Mets faithful, though. This team is quality with a capital Q.

Visiting the Capital

The Mets go south of Flushing to face their hated rivals, the team that has spited them all these years: The Washington Nationals. Everybody's psyched for Guillen-Pedro round 2, but I'm going to watch for so many other reasons. Mostly because the Mets are playing.

Starters:
Game 1: Tuesday, 1:05
Brian Bannister vs. Ramon Ortiz
Game 2: Wednesday, 7:05
Pedro Martinez vs. Tony Armas
Game Three: Thursday, 1:05
Victor Zambrano vs. Livan Hernandez

WAS Breakdown: Record- 2-5
The Nationals are not a very good team. They have too many All-Star second basemen, not enough pitching, nor enough offensive output from pretty much every other position. So far, they've played against the Mets (1-2) and against Houston (1-3). Most of their key players are contributing with the exception of Brian Schneider, who is hitting .174 on the year. While Nick Johnson, Jose Vidro and Alfonso Soriano all have .300 averages or better, they just haven't been delivering at this point in the season.

Players to Watch for:
WAS: Jose Guillen. Come on. The man's angry. I wouldn't want to mess with an angry Jose Guillen. And I don't think Mets pitching will be able to conquer him this series. Also look for a performance that is decidedly on either end of the spectrum as Alfonso Soriano makes his home debut since being acquired in the offseason's worst move.

NYM: Cliff Floyd. Three right-handers without overpowering velocity will start against the Mets this series and Cliffy will have a field day after a tough start to begin the season. Expect him to bash multiple homers before the Mets check out of the DC Hilton. Even though that's not where they stay.

Player of the Series: Cliff Floyd

Picks: The Mets will take two of three in this one, though they will unfortunately experience a shaky debut from Zambrano. Expect the talk radio bums to be outraged.

Sex can wait! Prognosticate:

David Wright is the man in New York right now. Here's hoping it doesn't get to his head.Paging Gregg Jefferies...

There will be one hit batsman this series. It will be by a mediocre Nationals reliever in a lopsided game.

Hot starts are nothing to get ants in your pants about. Hot finishes will be much better.

If Wagner doesn't get a 1-2-3 outing this series, you will hear rumblings of an injury. They will be correct.

Tony Armas will make the best start of any pitcher during this series, but he will lose.

Jose Valentin's release will not be a news story, but if he doesn't get a hit, it will happen next week.

Home Sweet Home

Partly to honor the Yanks six game road trip to start the season, and partly due to the fact that 'something came up', I have not been gracing you with my company for about a week now. Well, I'm back. And what do you know, it coincides with the whole Yankees coming home to play KC. I'm telling you you can't make this stuff up. Now up until now Crosstown has provided you simply with articles about news and/or players. Starting now, I'm gonna get a little more technical, what with series previews and such. However, don't fret, I'm still coming back with more prospects, players, predictions, and my long incompleted series' on the AL East and the top 10 Yankees of all time. Let it rip. We got ourselves a thrilla against the Royals this week, let's take a looksie, shall we?

Starters:
Game 1: Tuesday, 1:05
Chien Ming Wang vs. Joe Mays
Game 2: Wednesday, 1:05
Shawn Chacon vs. Jeremy Affeldt
Game Three: Thursday, 1:05
Randy Johnson vs. Denny Bautista

KC Breakdown: Record- 2-4 (why is that record eerily familiar)
Oh man, bad place to start. There's not much you can say about the Royals other than the fact that they are utterly hapless. Reggie Sanders has been decent coming out of the gate, and if anyone is capable of making a dent in our pitching, it's him. When your lineup includes Mark Teahen, Emil Brown, and Dougie, you know you're in for a load of hurt. More importantly, they literally have no pitching. It does not exist. The only real halfway decent guys they have are Elarton, (who we don't even have to worry about him cause he won't be starting against us), and Bautista, a youngun who I happen to believe may be the real thing but who could conceivably be a one hit (literally) wonder. I can see our bullpen getting roughed around by someone of the likes of Mark Grudzielanek, but other than that, clear sailing.

Players to Watch for:
KC: Angel Berroa. This guy is good, and although he's not historically a Yankee killer, I've got some bad memories i.e. gap doubles and short right field HR's. I don't even know where I got those memories. Whatever. Also, keep your eyes on Denny Bautista. He was masterful against the champs, pitching six and giving up one run on one hit. He's the kinda no-name pitcher that could potentially give us fits.

NYY: Jason Giambi. He's been quiet to start off, but against a lot of shaky starting (and relief) pitching, look for J-Giam to blast 2 HR/4 or 5 RBI this series. Also, he might set a record for walking 13 times in 11 at bats. Good stuff. Wang (Wo-ng). He's got the stuff, and when he's at his best, (usually against bad teams), the guy is really tough to hit.

Player of the Series: Jason Giambi (i'm gonna regret this one, I can feel it)

Picks: I'll say we come home and grab an easy two behind strong outings from Wang and Chacon, but Bautista, combined with some erratic pitching from Randy and a shaky bullpen, results in a close win for the bad guys.

Nicks and Notes:
Posada was brilliant in Sunday's rout of the Angels. Here's hoping we get a productive season out of him.
With Small and Dotel on the DL, the bullpen is really bothering me, even though they've been decent up till now.
The Yanks 2 and 4 start is nothing to worry about. Obvious maybe, but I've been hearing some really early criticism that we're "not a cohesive unit". C'mon. We're two series in, we were playing two of the best teams in the league with some new pieces that are gonna take some getting used to. Give it some time to gel, etc., we've got an 100 game winner on our hands.
Jaret Wright will not start in this series, but is expected to start the middle game in our next series against the Twins. Godspeed Jaret, godspeed.

A Star is Born

Faces represent everything. And one great face can serve as an ambassador for anything. The Mets' face used to be that of a mustachioed and occasionally blonde backstop. For a year it was the molebound face of Carlos Beltran and the Jheri-Curl of Pedro Martinez. But now the Mets invariably have a new savior. One with a golden smile and blue-collar values.
They call him David Wright.
Sure, there are nicknames/stupid puns for him, like D-Wright, The Wright Stuff or The Human Rain Delay.
David Wright proved his mettle again this afternoon, leading the Mets to a 3-2 win where he alone drove in the Mets' three runs. Not Beltran, not Delgado, not Pedro and certainly not Mike Piazza.
To Wright's credit, he has been unstoppable this year, finishing today with nine runs batted in for his first four games. He's hit .474. While stats at this point during the season can easily be discredited, one thing cannot be ignored. This kid can play.
And this doesn't come as news to me or anyone else, as we knew from the get-go that his upper body strength and good eye would propel him to greatness.
The fact that I'm cutting the parade loose already hopefully will not jinx Mr. Wright, nor will it make him work any less hard.
But for now, it is inevitable that the Mets will be led into the future by the greatest young player their farm system has churned out since Darryl.