I was hoping for a better night from the Mets, but they won the game and the series despite Heilman's worst efforts. At least the Mets have maybe eased their concerns about beating the Phillies. And they did it in extra innings with a little help from the Umps.
John Maine pitched pretty well last night. He didn't strikeout a lot of hitters, but he was effective none the less. He made it thru 6 innings, but ran into trouble in the 7th. Feliz hit an slider into the loge in left field that wasn't inside enough, and then walked the next batter. He was much better in his location, and had only thrown about 85 pitches thru 6 innings. Too bad Heilman came in and blew the lead once again in the 8th inning. Does he know how to throw anything but a change-up? Jenkins was getting on his change-up and Aaron continued to throw it. And what happens, Jenkins hits the ball and there goes the win for John.
There were some good things going on last night. Pagan and Church continue to rack the ball. Pagan still frustrates me in the field at times, but he's continuing to produce at the plate. Church drove in the 1st 2 runs last night, and continues to play very well in the field. HoJo's attention to Ryan seems to be paying off. Ryan is hitting the ball up the middle and to left field too. Before this season, he had the reputation of being more of a pull hitter who couldn't hit left-handed pitching. I think those problems are disappearing quickly.
Jose' still worries me. He seems lost at the plate, and his attention is sometimes lacking in the field. He made a stupid error in Wednesday's game, and continues to hit the ball into the air. My father and I had a heated discussion about Jose' before the game. He says Willie ruined him when he sat him last year. He also says HoJo has ruined him at the plate. I disagree. I think the problem is more than that. All his problems started around the time Castillo arrived. Once Valentin wasn't around to focus Jose' and keep him on the straight and narrow, Jose' started his decline. It may just be coincidence, but it's there for everyone to see. Once Valentin broke his leg last year, Jose' started his slide. And he hasn't got out of it yet. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think Jose' needs someone he respects and looks up to as a mentor on the team. This is where Valentin was helpful. I wish the Mets could get him to NY somehow this spring. I'd even bring him up to replace Clark if it would help out Reyes. Valentin can play the outfield, and has power from both sides of the plate. He could be so much help getting Jose' back into the game.
What do you think? Am I wrong about Reyes'? Do you think it's just a coincidence, or is the absence of Valentin a reason for Jose's troubles the last 4 months of baseball [3 months last year, and this month]?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Your father is right about reyes. Keep valentin where he is, we have enough old men on the roster!
I don't think it has to do with any of those reasons. I think the reasons were two-fold last year. One reason is that Jose got into all this hype about being a 20-20-20 or 30-30 guy and was trying to hit too many homeruns and triples, causing him to uppercut the ball and popping out. The second reason was that he was plain tired after stealing all those bases. Those attempts take its toll.
Now this year, I'm actually impressed with the fact that Reyes is trying to keep the ball on the ground or just hitting line drives. He is not popping out very much and he's been unlucky that his ball have been hit directly at people. He'll snap out of it. After all, he hit a gap double (a nice line drive by the way) to help win the game last night and actually stole a base. As for the fielding, he still does a great job. His error on Wednesday was understandable since it had just started to rain and the ball was a little slick and he had very little time to turn the double play. It's a little premature to be worried about him right now.
wasn't it willie who said that Jose has homerun power and should be hitting 20-30 a year? although we already knew he was a hypocrite. as for the reasons, I think that dan's father makes a good point, similiar to the one made by the article I pointed out. Jose thrives when he has fun playing the game. They all did. Look at 06 and the first half of 07. this team was loosey goosey, having fun, and playing really well. It wasn't until that @sshole from the bronx started getting his panties in a bunch. He is reactionary. He reacted to criticism from the media that his guys were acting immature and he responded. Problem is, they were playing well and willie should have told everyone to stick it. though he doesn't have an un-scripted bone in his body, nor any cajones to stick up for his players. this team is in purgatory because or their incompetent manager. Jose suffers trying to be someone he is not. remember when they tried to teach him to run a different way? didn't go so well did it? how about when they moved him to second base? why can't they leave the f'in kid alone and let him be who he is, one of the most exciting players in baseball. If manny can be manny, why can't jose be himself as well!
Post a Comment