Mike's Mets

Wow. I feel like I got chewed out by the principal and I'm not even on the team :)

It bothers me when the defense lets down; giving your opponent extra runs when there's men on base is just deadly. Of course Perez could have taken the matter in hand by retiring Zito.

If I ran the world Endy would be in the outfield for most if not all of Perez' starts. I believe (having checked it much earlier today) that Perez' grounder to flyball ratio last night was 2-11, which was extreme but predictable.

Mike - Last night's game was definitely not worth staying up to watch - and I didn't. But a little perspective, please.

If the Mets sign Zito, there's a chance, albeit slim, that Perez does not start the season in the rotation.

Since they didn't sign Zito, look at what we have out of Oliver, and what we would have had out of Barry:

What we have - 3 wins, 3 losses, 3.48 ERA, 37 K's, 12 BB's, 3.08 K/BB ratio, 9.89 K/9, 8.29 H/9, 1.28 WHIP, .301 opponents BA

What we would have had - 3 wins, 3 losses, 3.65 ERA, 28 K's, 18 BB's, 1.56 K/BB ratio, 5.68 K/9, 7.51 H/9, 1.24 WHIP, .301 opponents' BA

Numbers may lie, but I think there's a healthy chunk of truth in these. As for salary comparison, I won't go there. Oliver may be a Mike's Mets reader, and I don't want him getting the big head.

PS - Wouldn't the pulral of "doofus" be "doofii"?

Hi Mike,
Thanks for posting. Iwas 'watching on Gameday, and I was fuming. I fumed all night.......then this morning I read Metstradamus:

Similar to the comments of nostra, the jury there including one live spectator noted; Ollie gave up the 'HR' (that wasnt) to Molina, after a gritty Durham AB. He then got two good outs then came the very ugly errors by Easley and Green.

Rotoworld noted that previously Ollie had been given the benefit of an error charged to DW on a knuckling liner last week.

THIS time these were gimee's. The types of errors that lead to benchings. Easley is no Stache and several sources have said Omar is looking at 2nd basemen. Frankly Easley is 2007's Marlon Anderson. Easley's 2nd baseman days are done as of last midnight.

I agree that a mature pitcher gets out of a lot of those dilemnas but I counter with the fact fatigue and the fact the team sees waaaay too much of the pitcher counters his effectiveness. Add to that Lino gives up 3 more runs knocking the Mets further out hardly helps. There is an issue there that is not being addressed. And I think the longer Ollie is on the mound per inning/in game the more his mechanics breaks down.

We talk about the characteristic implosions Ollie is famous for, but the non-HR, followed by 2 huge errors is damning to a pitcher.

Your post is great, but just as a pitcher picks up a bad defensive error, Most WINNING teams are built on defense that elevate mediocre pitchers to good ones. See Jason Marquis, Jeff Suppan.

Adddendum:

I never thought of Stache as being this valuable. Several have described him as the general on the infield, and as witnessed by all in the opening series his defense can turn a game. In his absence I am advocating a return to the defensive mentality and bringing Ahern back as a defensive minded starter.

also vice Lino, and with the Brian Lawrence signing supposedly imminent, And I'd like to see Humber or Vargas up as a bullpen/starter option with Sele.

Mets Grrl - I wasn't mad, just disappointed. I swear I heard the theme song from the Bad News Bears playing in the background during that awful fifth inning yesterday. I really do think that Shawn eats his own boogers in RF sometimes, though...
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dd - I'd like to see Endy get more starts when both Maine and Perez pitch. Once Green hits a slump I suspect Endy will pick up more starts. I can't believe how fast Green went from being a pretty good OF to a bad one. I suspect when he had his speed he was able to overcome some bad reads and jumps. I love the way he's hitting this year, and respect the way he shook off all of the negative stuff about him this spring, but there's no getting around his bad OF play.
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NostraDoofus - I have decent prospective on the occasional stinker, and I agree with you on Zito and Perez. I'll go further and say that, in my opinion, within a year or two Perez will be indisputably a better pitcher than Zito.

Doofuses has a better ring...
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Ed - I think Easley was still the second baseman yesterday, but I agree that Omar is likely shopping for a better starter.

I think Perez was hurt by those errors yesterday. It's only because I have a high opinion of him as a pitcher that he disappointed me by not picking up his teammates. In fairness, you have to admit that Perez has benefited from great D this year. He could have paid that back by getting out of the inning 2-1.

By the way, that error on Wright from the previous game was a solid scoring decision. That was a ball that any major league 3B should have played. David would have told you that himself. I didn't agree with Rotoworld on that at all.

Humber and Vargas are both struggling in N.O. right now, not the time to bring them up.