I don't know if Willie has seen the light, or he's feeling some heat on his butt. What ever the reason, he did some good things with this team tonight. Maybe he had a visit from Omar or Fred, or maybe he talked to HoJo about putting some pressure on the Mets hitters. What ever the reason, the Mets showed some life tonight.
The Mets seemed more aggressive on the bases, and more patient at the plate. Pagan was doing his best imitation of Jose'. Ryan was moved to the 5th spot in the order. He continues to produce big hits and drive in runs. SNY ran a poll during the game about who should hit 2nd in the order, Castillo or Church. Ryan got 81% of the vote. I think the poll results are a huge stamp of approval for someone that too many fans were saying was no good. Ryan is a good hitter that will prove his worth to this team. Beltran came out of his slump and even Castillo and Delgado got on base. Santana is turning into a secret weapon at the plate. He had 2 doubles and never looks over matched at the plate. I believe he'd be valuable as a pinch hitter if needed. He certainly can handle the bat.
Johan was also very good on the mound. He went 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs. His fastball was hitting between 90-95 MPH [so much for losing velocity], his change-up was as low as 76 MPH, and his slider was in the low 80's. Everything was working, and most hitters didn't have a chance. I also couldn't believe what I saw as the 7th inning was coming to an end. Sanchez was warming up in the pen, and no Heilman or Sosa in sight. Hooray !!!!!!!!! Sanchez was lights out. He belongs in the 8th inning. His fastball was hitting 93 and his change-up was dropping off the table.
Heilman's head is messed up, and he's overused. He should never see the 8th inning unless the Mets are up by 5+ runs. I really don't think Aaron's heart is in the job. He wants to start, and that won't happen in NY. So find a trading partner for a right-handed 1st baseman/outfielder and get him. Can we all say NADY? Pittsburgh needs pitching, so make a trade. X man will come cheaper than Tex and he's liked by the fans and the players.
Overall it was a good night for the Mets. They hit and ran all over the Nationals, pitched well, added runs on the board late in the game, and showed life at the plate and in the field. Now if they could do the same this weekend against the Braves, life would be good in NY.
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Seeing how Beltran did with Church hitting behind him, I prefer to keep him there until at least Alou gets back. Reyes doesn't really need protection since pitchers don't want to walk him anyway. And as we saw when Church was batting second, if Reyes is on base, we lose Church's bat a little (i.e., he bunted a few times and took some pitches to allow Reyes to steal). Church did a great job hitting when batting 2nd but most of those hits came when Reyes was not on base. So I'm okay leaving Castillo there, especially since he's started to hit a little. When Alou comes back though, I think I'd still keep Church behind Beltran and have Alou hit behind Church to break up the lefties a bit there as well.
nothing like playing the nationals to right your ship! i am not impressed with the mets or willie at this point. most teams beat up the nationals. I expect a 2 game sweep. the question will be how do they follow-it-up against the braves this weekend. so I say, curb your enthusiasm a bit, we went through the same thing last week.
I agree with you 100%. It's one game and so it doesn't mean that everything's right with the Mets again. It's easy to win when you're playing the Nationals and Santana is pitching. And we can't forget that Wright and Reyes were hitless again. We're not going to win too many games with those guys going 0-fers...
Heilman is a fucking bum.
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