Kuzul

I’ve recently finished one of the most gruelingly busy months I’ve ever had in the five years since I’ve started my career.

In that time, I haven’t been able to watch many, but I have been able to listen to every Met game, and I have to say I like what I’ve been hearing.

The Mets front office has made all the moves the fans were clamoring for (even if it did take way too long to do so.  See Gary Matthews Jr.)

There’s been an injection of young, home grown players into the starting line up who play hard and have fun, and I’m enjoying watching the team again for the first time in a very, very long time.

Guys like Ike Davis, Mike Pelfrey, and Jon Niese have stepped well beyond their intended spots as role players and have moved into the spot light as legitimate players and future stars.

The weekend series against the first place San Diego Padres featured some of this young talent on display, and did they ever shine.

The first game of the series featured Mike Pelfrey’s strongest outing to date, a nine inning, one run gem that was capped off by an Ike Davis walk off home run in the 11th.

Davis hit the ball as far as I’ve seen a Met hit a home run so far at Citi Field.  He entered Adam Dunn territory in right field.  With that kind of power coming out of a such a smooth swing, I can see Davis developing into a great home run hitting first baseman.

There was some concern in the first game of last night’s double header, when Johan Santana continued his “struggles” walking four batters in six innings.

I’m pretty sure if I had the kind of struggles Johan had, I could get $10 million a year to pitch in the majors, but it’s very uncharacteristic of Santana to struggle with his control and to give up so many hits.

He’s pitched a few great games and a few games like yesterday afternoon this season.  The one constant in all of his starts is a general lack of offense.

The best story of the weekend was Jon Niese’s start last night.

Niese pitched a brilliant complete game one hitter and was that one hit away from perfection.  He pounded the strike zone all night, throwing 76 of his 108 pitches for strikes.

I’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence when Jon Niese is on the mound.  He seems to have a great deal of confidence in himself too.

My favorite part of this weekend was the absolute elation shown by the weekend’s young heroes, Davis and Niese.

When Ike Davis was interviewed following his walk off home run he was all smiles telling reporters

“He hung a splitter and I was looking fastball, saw it early and happened to hit it on the sweet spot… Oh, God, it was awesome.  To win a game with one swing, walk-offs are amazing.  I think that’s really the first true walk-off in my life, so that was pretty sweet… I was gonna jump really high (on to home plate), but I saw my teammates yelling, ‘No,’ so I gave like a fun little hop.”
~Metsblog.com

Niese, after finding out last night that he was one pitch away from a perfect game, looked like a kid in a candy store smiling and bouncing around the field.  He even took a pie in the face courtesy of Angel Pagan.

I know the Mets have a lot of problems, particularly winning on the road, but I’ll give them this…

They’re a fun bunch to watch, and a fun bunch to root for.  I’m enjoying 2010.

Let’s go Mets

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It goes without saying that Carlos Beltran is a crucial part of the Mets lineup. Since his microfracture surgery in January, the question has been when he will return to the Mets. However, no one has been able to answer this.

The Mets moved Beltran to the 60 day disabled list today. This is more of a procedural move than a sign of anything else. The Mets needed to clear a space on their 40- man roster for the recently acquired Justin Turner. Beltran was put on the DL on March 26, so the move will not impact his return date.

After looking through medical journals, one finds out that someone who had microfracture surgery is supposed to keep weight off the knee and hobble around on crutches for six to eight weeks. The prognosis for the surgery is that someone who was operated on will be able to return to sports in about four months.

It has been said that with elite athletes, the timetable for return is normally shorter than the original prognosis.

Beltran has just recently reached the four-month mark and he has not yet returned to baseball. Carlos has just recently started to jog. He is working towards being able to run. It is unknown when Beltran will be able to play in a simulated game.

Once Beltran plays in a simulated game he will likely have a two to three week rehab assignment in the minors. No one knows how Beltran will play after he returns. His defense may suffer because of a limited range of motion. His swing could also be affected as a result of the surgery.

Is there anyone to blame for Beltran being behind schedule? Beltran should have been rehabbing for hours everyday. The Mets medical staff should have been watching him. Beltran should be a bit farther in his rehab at this point in the year.

Some of the blame should be placed on the Mets medical staff. They have mishandled numerous injuries in the past (see Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Jon Niese, Luis Castillo).

It has been rumored that as a worse case scenario Beltran would miss the entire season. This would obviously be a massive loss. His 25 + HR and 110 + RBI bat cannot and has not fully been replaced. Beltran’s defense also cannot be replaced.

The Mets are missing a perennial All-Star and are only four games out of first place. Beltran’s return could push the Mets over the top and back into first place in the NL East.

Mets fans must start questioning why Beltran has not returned to baseball activity at this point in the year and when he will be back. He could be the missing link between the Mets and playoff baseball.

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Right handed knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is starting tonight for the Mets in place of lefty Oliver Perez who was demoted to the bullpen last week. To make room for Dickey on the roster the Mets have placed left handed pitcher Jon Niese on the DL according to Andy Martino of the NY Daily News .

Niese’s injury is being labeled a mild right hamstring strain. He suffered the injury in the third inning of his last start against the Marlins. He will be eligible to come off the DL on June 1, but will probably need more time as hamstring injuries tend to take some time to heal for pitchers.

Dickey has been the Mets best starter in Triple-A Buffalo so far this season and a big innings eater as well. In eight starts he is 4-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 60.2 innings. He has struck out 37 batters during that time and walked a very low eight batters, very good considering he is a knuckleballer.

The Mets bullpen has been good this year, but has been taxed as they have been heavily leaned on. The rotation is in taters too so the idea is that Dickey can come in an make an emergency start, but with the way he’s been going deep into games maybe he can help out the bullpen as well.

This move also means that Jenrry Mejia will not be sent down to the minors just yet. That will probably now happen when Ryota Igarashi comes off the DL.

Like this post? Want the latest Mets news and rumors? Subscribe to Flushing Baseball Daily via RSS Reader , by Email , Twitter , or Facebook . You can also follow this post’s author, Rob Abruzzese , on Twitter.

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The New York Mets went into Philadelphia as the hottest team in baseball.

They were the talk of the town.

They very well might have left the most embarrassed team in baseball.

After winning the series opener Friday night, the Mets got roughed up the next two games. Not only did they get roughed up, their two best pitchers were terrible. This series loss came after the Mets had won their previous three, including sweeps of the Atlanta Braves and LA Dodgers.

New York is now a half-game behind Philadelphia in the National League East and have an overall record of 14-11. Here are some more thoughts from the Mets—Phillies Series.

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Earth, or reality for that matter. The Mets pitchers had been on such an incredible role, you had to know this was coming at some point. What you didn’t expect is that it would come from their two best. Jon Niese started the series off with yet another excellent game. He went seven innings giving up just four hits and one run. Niese struck out seven in the win.

Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana were scheduled to pitch the next two games, Mets fans had to be feeling good about this.

Crash!

That’s basically what happened next. Pelfrey lasted just four innings on Saturday after giving up six runs on eight hits and a walk. It was Pelfrey’s first loss of the season.

Santana went out on Sunday and was even worse. The Mets ace could not get out of the fourth inning. He pitched 3^2/3 innings and gave up eight hits and ten runs. He only struck out one Philadelphia hitter. Santana was victim of the long ball, giving up four home runs.

The bullpen pitched well for the most part. It did however have to pitch 9^1/3 innings in the series. That could turn out to be a issue as the Mets have Oliver Perez and John Maine starting their next two games with no day off.

Read more thoughts from this series as well as whats to come at Double G Sports.

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A week-and-a-half ago, nobody thought that the Mets would be the team in first place when they went up against the Phillies this weekend, but it’s true. The Mets have been winning at a better pace than the Phillies lately despite the fact that it is the Phils who are generally regarded to have the better lineup and rotation.

So what chance do the Mets have of coming out of this series maintaining possession of first place?

Well that depends on how Jon Niese pitches tonight. I say that because the Mets are going up against Roy Halladay tomorrow for the first time since the ace pitcher has been wearing a red uniform. They’ll have the good fortune of sending Mike Pelfrey , who has been their best pitcher so far this season, up against him; however a win against Halladay can never be assumed.

Likewise, the Phillies are going to have a tough time of it on Sunday thanks to Johan Santana , who has been downright filthy aside from one bad start against Washington. Making things better for the Mets, they will be going against the struggling, 47-year-old Jamie Moyer.

So realistically the Mets might be expected to lose Saturday, but win Sunday. That makes tonight’s game the one that could swing this series.

So it is up to Jon Niese. He has been effectively lately, but has not been able to go deep into games and has, probably more than any other Mets starter, been helped by making three starts at home. His 1.86 WHIP could be a sign of impending doom.

So the Mets can come out of this series still in first place with a big night from Jon Niese tonight. Can he show he can be successful on the road? And in Philadelphia no less? We’ll see tonight.

Related Stories

• April 13, 2010 — The Mets Should Stay Away from Aaron Harang (0)
• April 28, 2010 — 1st Place Mets Sweep Doubleheader (0)
• April 27, 2010 — Rain Lines Santana Up to Start in Philly (0)
• April 27, 2010 — Yesterday’s Rain Out and the Pitching Staff (0)

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