Another baseball season is nearing its conclusion and for the fourth consecutive October, the New York Mets are absent. With the front office sending out signs that the team will not make a big free agent splash this offseason, many fans are depressed.
Many have given up on the Mets’ 2011 season already, but there are certain things that the team has in place that should keep fans optimistic.
Here are the top five reasons to believe that it will be different for the Mets in 2011.
When Johan Santana was brought to New York in the winter of 2008, it was with much fanfare that he would be the savior that brought the Mets some respectability after the collapse of 2007.
During Santana’s tenure as a Met so far, they have not won anything, in fact they are actually a worse performing team than they were in 2007.
I am not blaming any one player or coaching staff member, but the fact is he is not the “Ace” that he was lauded for being when he was on the Minnesota Twins.
Much is written about the lack of run support that Santana receives during his starts, which is fair, but one thing is for sure, every time he takes the mound, some sort of drama ensues, and to be honest, the pitching effort he puts forth is not worth the drama that surrounds him.
Santana has an ERA of 2.98, which is respectable and for most of the summer that number was lower, but with the season-long struggle that has been the Mets offense, he was the victim of many no-decisions.
Fair or not, these things happen, but the “innocent victim” label that many fans have given Santana is not earned either, he is part of a team; they win as a team and lose as a team.
Last season, Santana’s ERA was 3.13, so even though he does not have as many wins as he should have, his pitching has not been dominant enough to warrant the “Ace” classification.
He is a Cy Young Award winner, but to be honest, in his case along with other trades and transactions, you do have to wonder why the Minnesota Twins were so willing to let him go in exchange for five relatively unproven prospects.
During his post game interviews he is not afraid of letting the press know that one or more of his teammates did not get the job done and that is why they lost. He does not show an accountability that comes with being an “Ace.”
He calls his own game, does not want his manager or teammates to talk to him on the mound, even if there is a strategically sound reason, this shows me that he is not a true team player.
To read the rest of this article, click here
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
NEW YORK CITY: After going 4-3 on the just-completed road trip, the Mets will open a six-game home stand tonight against the Marlins and Astros. It’ll be a very intriguing matchup between two pitchers having good seasons.
The Marlins, who generally have plenty of Mets killers on their team, will have a very different look. They traded Jorge Cantu at the trading deadline and just lost two more players over the last week.
They lost catcher Ronny Paulino to a 50-game suspension because of failing a drug test, and they lost outfielder Cody Ross to waivers. All three of those players were Mets killers, especially Cantu.
The Marlins lineup will not be as strong, and that should be a huge break for the Mets. It should please RA Dickey more than anyone, as he’ll try to continue his fine pitching.
In his last start, he nearly threw a second straight shutout, and ended up not even throwing a complete game. It still wasn’t a bad start against the Astros last Wednesday, as he allowed a game-tying home run to Geoff Blum in the ninth inning.
He allowed two runs in 8.1 innings, walked one and struck out six. He couldn’t earn his ninth win, as the Mets won the game, 3-2, in 14 innings. His ERA went down a tad to 2.41.
The Marlins will throw their ace Josh Johnson at the Mets, and he has had great success against them in his career. He lost his first game to the Mets on opening day, and is 7-1 lifetime.
After getting off to a fantastic start and putting himself in the NL Cy Young race, he’s struggled lately.
Two starts ago on Aug. 13 against the Reds, he allowed six runs on 10 hits. His first start of the month had him giving up five runs and walking four against the Padres.
Overall in August, Johnson is 1-2 with an ERA of 5.33 and hitters are batting .299 against him. It’s one of the worst months of his career.
So with the Marlins playing younger guys, and with Johnson’s recent struggles, the Mets might be catching them at the right time.
The Mets trail the Phillies, who lost last night, by eight games in the NL Wild Card race. Time is running out with 38 games to play, so the Mets need a good home stand, their final one in August.
RA Dickey vs. Florida this season (2 starts)
1-1, 6.35 ERA, 11.1 IP, 12 hits, 3 BB, 7 SO
Josh Johnson vs. New York this season (2 starts)
0-1, 3.75 ERA, 12 IP, 8 hits, 4 BB, 10 SO
2010 season series (New York vs. Florida)
April 5: New York 7, Florida 1
April 7: Florida 7, New York 6 (10)
April 8: Florida 3, New York 1
May 13: Florida 2, New York 1
May 14: Florida 7, New York 2
May 15: Florida 7, New York 5
May 16: Florida 10, New York 8
June 4: New York 4, Florida 3
June 5: New York 6, Florida 1
June 6: New York 7, Florida 6
June 28: Florida 10, New York 3
June 29: Florida 7, New York 6
June 30: New York 6, Florida 5
Marlins lead series 8-5
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The Mets will now have to win their next two games to do two things: win consecutive road games, and win a road series against a National League opponent.
It’s going to be a tough challenge. They had the man on the mound for the job, and he didn’t get it done.
Johan Santana has no one to blame but himself for losing last night’s game. He pitched all eight innings and allowed two big home runs to Hunter Pence. It wasn’t run support or his bullpen that blew his chance at a victory.
The Mets will have a pitcher on the mound tonight who has been maybe better than Santana this season.
R.A. Dickey just continues to prove the critics wrong every time he takes the mound. It all came together for him in his last start on Friday against the Phillies.
He pitched the greatest game of his career, and actually no-hit the Phillies offense. It was a complete game one-hitter that he twirled, with the only hit coming from Cole Hamels. He left the knuckleball up in the zone, but it was meant to be.
Every Mets fan knows that no-hitters aren’t meant to be, and that the hit was eventually going to come.
After the game, Dickey was asked about his feelings on missing out on the opportunity. He said, “I could react in two ways. Pretend that I threw the no-hitter or be mad at Francoeur for not throwing Hamels out at first.”
All of the fun and excitement that Dickey has provided is just part of the story that grows. His numbers back it up with a record of 8-5 and a 2.43 ERA.
If anyone had said those would be his numbers through 17 starts, they would’ve known something the Twins (his last team) didn’t know. Instead, the Mets found Dickey just when he has developed his knuckler, and hope he carries the magic for the rest of the season.
Going for the Astros will be the only starter not to get dealt at the trading deadline, Brett Myers. The Mets had actually shown interest in him, but decided not to make any moves at the deadline. The Astros held on to him, while dealing away both Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman.
Myers has been the biggest innings-eater in baseball this season. In each of his 24 starts, he has pitched at least six innings. He’s been effective while doing it. He has eight wins, and an ERA of 3.13.
He pitched a great game in his last start against the Pirates on Friday. In seven innings, he allowed one run on seven hits, walked none, and struck out seven. He’s been able to keep his walks down this season, allowing him to go deep in every game.
This is Myers’ first season in Houston after spending his first eight seasons in Philadelphia.
Against the right-handed Myers, the Mets should have the kids back in their lineup. One kid who is in a major slump is 20-year-old Ruben Tejada. He’s in an 0-for-25 skid, and hasn’t recorded a hit since returning from Triple-A on August 7.
On the other hand, David Wright finally drove his first run in of August, with his 18th home run of the season last night.
With Francisco Rodriguez being out for the season, the Mets will go with Hisanori Takahashi to close for the majority of the time. Jerry Manuel said his decision will be based on “matchups.”
The Mets will try to be the first to knock Myers out before the sixth inning, and ride Dickey’s magic to victory.
R.A. Dickey vs. Houston (career: two games)
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 IP, 0 hits, 0 BB, 1 SO
Brett Myers vs. New York (career)
9-6, 5.01 ERA, 120.1 IP, 124 hits, 36 BB, 96 SO
2010 season series (New York vs. Houston)
August 16: New York 3, Houston 1
August 17: Houston 4, New York 3
Series tied 1-1
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
I’m not going to lie. I mercilessly mocked the New York Mets for signing R.A. Dickey in the offseason. To be honest, I was frustrated. Other teams were out signing pitchers like John Lackey (Red Sox), or trading for others such as Cliff Lee (Mariners), and I was stuck having to deal with the Mets settling for a 35-year-old knuckleballer who had never seen any extended success in the major leagues.
Hell, he wasn’t even supposed to be on the Mets 25-man roster, which got me even more ticked off. Why are we trying to support our Binghamton/Buffalo starting rotations, when our major league rotation is in this type of shape?
Well, Dickey’s 2010 performance has shut me, and likely lots of other ignoramuses similar to myself, right up. He’s gone 8-5, with an outstanding 2.43 ERA. Hitters have rarely, if ever, looked comfortable against Dickey’s knuckleball, which he mixes in with a fastball. FanGraphs.com has Dickey throwing his knuckleball 83.7 percent of the time, with his fastball coming just 16.3 percent of the time he throws a pitch. Dickey’s got a good thing going with his knuckler, he knows it, and he’s taking advantage of it.
Bad knuckleballs stay flat. Good knuckleballs dance, and that’s what Dickey’s has done for a majority of the season. Hitters have frequently taken uncertain swings at these pitches, resulting in either softly hit balls, or swings and misses.
Dickey is arbitration eligible for 2011, which let’s be honest, is what needs to be the Mets’ priority right now.
Should the Mets bring R.A. Dickey back?
I think the answer is quite obvious: of course. But the extent of what you can actually expect out of Dickey needs to be evaluated.
Yes, he has eaten up innings, allowed very few runs, and been the Mets’ most consistent starting pitcher this season. That said, you can’t expect too much from a pitcher who has never won more than nine games in a season. Jerry Manuel can’t put him near the top of the rotation and expect him to get into the double digits in the win column, and Omar Minaya can’t tell Manuel he needs to.
Hopefully, the Mets can go out this offseason and steal a pitcher like Cliff Lee from the free agent market, so they can put Dickey in a less pressured slot in the rotation, such as the fourth or the fifth slot.
If they can’t land another ace, they’d still be wise to go after a mid-level starter such as Ted Lilly or Vicente Padilla so they can still slot Dickey down low in the rotation.
Hopefully, the Mets found something really special in Dickey. Being a knuckleballer, his arm endures much less stress than a normal pitcher, so not only is he a strong candidate to go deep into games on a consistent basis, he’s a strong candidate to pitch into his 40’s, considering his knuckleball keeps hitters on their toes.
Dickey has definitely been a nice piece for the Mets in 2010, and he has the potential to be in 2011. But don’t be fooled, he can not be counted on as an X-factor. If the Mets are going into next season relying on players such as R.A. Dickey to lead them to the promised land, don’t expect results much different from 2009 or this year.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
You can find this article here on my Mets blog, TheSheaFaithful.com.
Think R.A. Dickey is for real? Or is he just a flash in the pan? See the debate here.
If you’ve watched the Mets this season, you know how much of a roller coaster it’s been. From the hot start to April to the inconsistent May, to a month of June where they looked like true contenders and then a July that put that talk to bed.
August has been funny to the Mets so far, they’ve pitched well, they’ve gotten some timely hits here and there but not enough to consistently win. Heck, their closer is hitting his father in-law harder than David Wright’s been hitting the baseball the past few weeks.
There’s been turmoil in Oliver Perez, John Maine, Luis Castillo, the usual bums.
But there have been bright spots in Angel Pagan, Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada, and Jon Niese.
But in my mind, no one has been a greater story for the Mets this season than veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
Dickey has been tremendous since being called up from Buffalo earlier this season, and you could argue that he’s been the Mets best righthander on the roster all year.
Dickey is 8-5 with a 2.43 ERA in 17 starts this season. He’s only had three starts this season in which he gave up more than three earned runs.
As far as some tough luck goes, he had a game on July 3rd against Stephen Strasburg in which he got a no-decision, despite throwing seven innings of two run (0 earned) ball.
And he had a duel with Tim Lincecum in San Francisco on July 15th where he was the tough-luck loser allowing one run in seven strong innings again.
Another no-decision later that month when Jerry Manuel pulled him for precautionary reasons after Dickey was limping after fielding a few ground balls in the sixth inning. Dickey was adamant about staying in the game but ultimately was pulled in a scoreless tie in a game the Mets would lose 1-0.
By the way, he rebounded to throw 8.1 scoreless innings his following start against the Cardinals.
Hey, all pitchers are victims or beneficiaries of their team’s offense. Not saying Dickey is unlucky or anything like that. He’s been tremendous, and he’s an easy guy to root for.
Dickey famously was born without an ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow, the ligament that is replaced when a player has Tommy John surgery. His $810,000 signing bonus for being the 18th overall pick in the 1996 draft was rescinded by the Rangers, who instead offered him $75,000 as practically nothing more than a gesture.
Dickey’s transition to a knuckleball pitcher in 2005 hasn’t always been smooth. Until this season, Dickey looked like he was really never going to be an effective starting pitcher in the majors.
But all he’s done this year is be one of the best and most reliable starters in the game. 5.76 K/9, a career low 2.43 BB/9, a strong 78 percent Left On-Base percentage and a .278 BABIP that’s helped out by his career high 55.7 percent groundball percentage.
The New York Times did a terrific write-up on Dickey back in July, noting his love of reading and his perseverance to make it back to the major leagues. In that piece, when asked about how he keeps his head held high and keeps grinding, he quotes from the 2003 film, the Matrix Reloaded about hope.
“Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.”
“There’s a real balancing act going on — for everybody in here — of what they can be and what they see themselves as, and what they are in the moment that they’re in,” Dickey said. “There’s a real battle going on. But my doubts about who I am with the pitch and what I think I can become with the pitch have never outweighed my hope.”
With that kind of attitude, how do you not root for a guy like Robert Alan Dickey? I for one hope to see him in a Mets uniform for the next decade. Omar Minaya found a diamond in the rough, finding a developing pitcher just now hitting his prime, right place right time for the Mets.
With the few bright spots on this team, it’s been so refreshing to have a guy like R.A. Dickey on the team. He’s a warrior who fights for every single out, every pitch, every single time he’s out there. The Mets are lucky to have him.
Yesterday, Dickey threw his second complete game one-hit shutout of the season, his first as a New York Met after he had one in April with the Buffalo Bisons. A measly single from pitcher Cole Hamels prevented Dickey from recording the first no-hitter in Mets history.
Instead, he threw the 35th one-hitter in Mets history, and the second one this season after Jon Niese’s gem against San Diego at Citi Field earlier this year.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Mets became just the third team since 1920 to have three 1-0 wins over a five-game span. They’ve also shutout the Phillies for the fourth consecutive time at Citi Field this season, dating back to their shutout sweep a few months ago.
The offense isn’t there right now, and really has been a disappointment this entire season. But the pitching has been phenomenal, led by Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey, along with Niese and Mike Pelfrey.
The Mets may not be gearing up for a miracle run to the finish as they’re still far out of the playoff chase. But going into 2011 and beyond, the future is most certainly bright for the Metropolitans. As long as their are guys like R.A. Dickey, they’re easy to root for going forward.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Check out Sammy’s video preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9xHB81eJjg&feature=youtube_gdata
NEW YORK—The last time the Philadelphia Phillies came to Citi Field, they left without scoring a run. No, not just the last game they played—the entire series they played back in May.
As you all should know, the Mets, for the first time in their history, from May 25-27 shut a team out all three games of a series.
It was a time when the Mets were trying to resurrect their season, and the Phillies were looking for their offense.
Now, two-and-a-half months later, the Mets and Phillies meet at Citi Field headed in opposite directions. While the Phillies have found themselves since, the Mets have dug a deep hole to try and climb out of.
The Mets did win their home series against the Rockies, perhaps due to the youthful energy, but time is running out with 48 games left to play.
These two teams played an important series in Philadelphia last weekend, and the Phillies won two of three. Now, the Mets must enter this series with the same sense of urgency. If they don’t win the series, they can pretty much end hopes of a 1973-type comeback.
Before his last start, the Mets would think they’re in great shape to start the series, but R.A. Dickey pitched his worst game as a Met against these Phillies on Sunday.
In only three innings, Dickey allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits and two home runs.
The Mets put together a solid rally against ace Roy Halladay, but fell one short, falling 6-5.
There was a thought that the Mets may have brought Dickey back on one day of rest, but they instead have given him a full four.
Even with the season-worst start, Dickey’s ERA is still a stellar 2.65. Dickey didn’t have a good knuckleball, and the Phillies were getting to him early in counts, smacking around hard hit after hard hit. He’ll have to change the program tonight, and maybe Citi Field will work to his benefit.
Pitching for the Phillies will be Cole Hamels, whose last start came against the Mets on Saturday. He pitched a heck of a game in seven innings of work.
He allowed one run on six hits, while striking out 11. He didn’t walk a batter, either, but the effort was all for naught. The one run he allowed was a seventh inning home run to Jeff Francoeur, as Hamels was defeated by Johan Santana.
The Mets will continue on tonight without their star closer, Francisco Rodriguez. After getting charged with third-degree assault on Wednesday night, K-Rod was placed on the restricted list for two days without pay.
It didn’t matter in yesterday’s win, as Santana went the distance. As a knuckleballer pitching on normal rest after having thrown only 60 pitches in his last start, Dickey is capable of doing the same if he’s effective.
The Mets lineup will look a little different tonight. David Wright will return after getting yesterday off, following a four-strikeout performance.
Against the left-handed Hamels, expect Jeff Francoeur in right field and Henry Blanco behind the plate. Perhaps Ike Davis will sit in place of Mike Hessman, but that’s not a given.
The Mets, with yesterday’s shutout of the Rockies, notched their Major League-best 17th of the season.
Four of them have come against the Phillies, including all three games played between the teams at Citi Field. The Mets will hope for more shutout magic behind R.A. Dickey tonight.
Player moves:
RHP Francisco Rodriguez placed on restricted list for two days (violation)
RHP Ryota Igarashi recalled from Triple-A Buffalo
R.A. Dickey vs. Philadelphia this season (Two starts)
1-1, 4.00 ERA, 9 IP, 15 H, 4 BB, 7 SO
Cole Hamels vs. New York this season (Two starts)
0-2, 2.03 ERA, 13.1 IP, 15 H, 1 BB, 14 SO
2010 season series (New York vs. Philadelphia)
April 30: New York 9, Philadelphia 1
May 1: Philadelphia 10, New York 0
May 2: Philadelphia 11, New York 5
May 25: New York 8, Philadelphia 0
May 26: New York 5, Philadelphia 0
May 27: New York 3, Philadelphia 0
August 6: Philadelphia 7, New York 5
August 7: New York 1, Philadelphia 0
August 8: Philadelphia 6, New York 5
Mets lead series, 5-4.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
LOS ANGELES—For the fourth time on the 11-game West Coast trip—that the Mets ended 2-9 today—the Mets got shut out. For the third time on the trip, the Mets enter a prolonged scoreless innings streak.
After starting the trip scoreless over 24 innings, the Mets end the trip going 16 innings without scoring a run.
They had R.A. Dickey on the mound, and he did all he could do to keep the Mets in the game. Just like in his previous two starts, and like with any other Mets pitcher, no run support was given.
Dickey was in the middle of pitching perhaps the greatest game of his career into the sixth inning. He had thrown just about 70 pitches, with 55 thrown for strikes, two outs into the sixth inning, having given up only two hits.
He began the inning tripping awkwardly on the mound after throwing a pitch, and that resulted in a trip to the mound by Jerry Manuel and trainer Mike Herbst.
After he threw some warmup pitches and stayed in the game, he retired the first two batters of the inning.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel noticed that he was trying to “protect” his leg while making a throw to first on a comebacker, and therefore went out to the mound once again.
After a rather heated exchange between Dickey and both Manuel and Herbst, and even the home plate umpire, Dickey was pulled from the game, with the game still scoreless. He walked back towards the dugout mumbling to himself and anyone around him, as he couldn’t qualify for the win.
His frustration was probably also due in part to the lack of run support. The Mets couldn’t do anything offensively yet again, although they did record seven hits against Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw.
The Mets’ biggest threat came in the seventh, when they had two men on for Josh Thole. Just like Luis Castillo on Saturday, Thole hit into a double play on the first pitch of the at-bat to end the inning.
Dickey was relieved in the sixth by Raul Valdes, who gave the Mets another clean inning of work.
Manny Acosta retired the final batter in the seventh before handing it off to Pedro Feliciano in the eighth.
After retiring the lefty leadoff hitter, he allowed a single to the righty Casey Blake. Two batters later, he allowed an extra-base hit to righty Russell Martin.
Carlos Beltran couldn’t cleanly field the ball in left-center, allowing Blake to score from first, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
In the ninth, Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre brought in rookie Kenley Jansen to close. Jansen had looked extremely impressive in his Major League debut on Saturday, and he looked even better today, flying by the Mets’ Nos. 4-6 hitters to earn his first career save.
The Mets finished their second-worst road trip in franchise history, 2-9, and got shut out for a fourth time on a single road trip for the first time in team history.
They hit .196 as a team in the 11 games, and suffered six one-run losses. They now fall to only one game over .500 at 50-49 on the season, and they will begin a six-game home stand against the Cardinals and Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
During the 11-game trip, the Mets used 11 different lineups. They will try to find some way to use Citi Field to their advantage, in front of what is expected to be a small crowd on this homestand. Jon Niese will face rookie Jaime Garcia to open things up against the St. Louis Cardinals.
NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 57-41
Philadelphia 52-46 (5 games back)
NY Mets 50-49 (7 1/2 games back)
Next series probable pitchers:
July 27
New York: Jon Niese (2010: 6-4, 3.54 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Jaime Garcia (2010: 9-4, 2.21 ERA)
July 28
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 7-5, 4.52 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Adam Wainwright (2010: 14-5, 1.94 ERA)
July 29
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 8-5, 2.79 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Jeff Suppan (2010: 0-6, 6.18 ERA)
Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
July 27-29 vs. St. Louis Cardinals
July 30-August 1 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
St. Louis Cardinals:
July 27-29 @ New York Mets
July 30-August 1 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
SAN FRANCISCO—What the Mets wanted to do in the first half was hang around until they got Carlos Beltran back.
But unlike last season, the Mets didn’t wait for their reinforcements to return, they treated them as a bonus. They did a good job of playing without their star center fielder, going 48-40, and being only one game behind of a playoff spot.
Tonight, almost exactly six months to the day of announcing knee surgery on January 16, Carlos Beltran returns to the Mets lineup, batting cleanup in center field.
What kind of Beltran are the Mets getting? He told reporters on Sunday that he’s about 80 percent healthy. Well, 80 percent of Carlos Beltran is still better than 100 percent of Jeff Francoeur, who will be the man to lose playing time in his return.
If Beltran can hit the way we’re accustomed to seeing, and the way he did in his rehab games, batting .367, then the Mets lineup becomes one of the best in the entire National League.
It’ll lengthen the lineup as tonight’s order will look as follows: Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan (RF), David Wright, Carlos Beltran (CF), Ike Davis, Jason Bay, Josh Thole, Ruben Tejada (2B), and R.A. Dickey.
As you can see, Davis will move down one spot, pushing first-half bust Jason Bay down to sixth. There could be up to three switches in this order before game time.
Jose Reyes will be a game-time decision, as he’s still battling a sore right oblique. Although Josh Thole has been catching the knuckleballer Dickey, it’s not guaranteed he’ll play tonight. Alex Cora, the lefty, may replace the righy Ruben Tejada at second base against the tough Tim Lincecum.
With all that being said, the Mets are happy to have Beltran back, especially against the two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner Lincecum.
It hasn’t been a Tim Lincecum-type season so far for the pitcher known as “The Freak.” After winning a questionable Cy Young Award last season, Lincecum has a higher ERA than normal.
What really raised his ERA this season were two starts in May. He combined to allow 11 runs in 9.2 innings after getting off to another phenomenal start. He started 5-0 with an ERA of 1.76. Now he’s 9-4 with an ERA of 3.16.
For the Mets, it’ll be knuckleballer R.A. Dickey kicking off the second half of the season, as manager Jerry Manuel set his rotation in reverse order.
The Mets have lost each of Dickey’s last three starts after winning six straight. Dickey has lost two of them, falling to 6-2 on the season.
In his last start against the Braves, he was cruising for 6.2 innings in a 2-2 game, before giving up back-to-back home runs, putting the Mets in a 4-2 hole they wouldn’t get out of.
He has still pitched reasonably well for the most part, but the question is, will he ever be as consistent as he was during his six-game winning streak? The Mets hope so, with an eye towards the trading deadline in 16 days, where they’ll probably trade for a starting pitcher, if anything.
Maybe the best part about getting three days off for the Mets is resting their overworked bullpen, and most importantly, giving Jose Reyes three days to try and recover from his oblique injury.
This is only the beginning of the most crucial stretch of games of the Mets’ season. It’s the start of an 11-game west coast trip that can’t put the Mets in the playoffs, but can certainly bury them with a bad record.
They need to at least go 6-5, and no worse than 5-6. If they can do that, they’ll come home at the end of the month, ready to enter the pennant race in August and September, with an eye on October.
R.A. Dickey this season (10 starts)
6-2, 2.77 ERA, 65 IP, 66 hits, 19 BB, 48 SO
Tim Lincecum vs. New York (May 9)
ND, 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 hits, 2 BB, 8 SO
2010 season series (New York vs. San Francisco)
May 7: New York 6, San Francisco 4
May 8: New York 5, San Francisco 4 (11)
May 9: San Francisco 6, New York 5
Mets lead series 2-1
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The New York Mets have been superb in June. They have become a bona fide contender in the National League East, and have solidified their position as a buyer rather than a seller before this season’s trade deadline.
There have been a tremendous amount of positives which have come hand-in-hand with their overall success.
Yet, in the middle of all of those positives, there has been one surprising—and alarming—dark spot for the Mets: Johan Santana.
Since Francisco Rodriguez blew a save for Santana against the Padres in the beginning of June, the Mets have played much better, while Santana has played much worse.
In that start, Santana gave up no runs and five hits in seven innings of work.
However, since then, Santana is just 1-3, while giving up at least four runs and eight hits in each of his starts, raising his ERA from 2.76 to 3.55.
While Santana doesn’t get much run support from the Mets’ offense, he can usually keep the team in the game. Recently, however, that has not been the case.
Although Santana hasn’t pitched tremendously poorly (at least not in comparison to Oliver Perez), his struggles are a cause for concern. He has given up 17 runs in his last four starts, his velocity is down, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio in June is 12-to-14. Not the type of numbers you want from your ace.
His struggles make me wonder, is something wrong with Johan Santana?
This tremendous drop off from the status quo is not common for a pitcher of Santana’s caliber, and something must be up. Does he have a nagging injury? Is he still not fully recovered from offseason surgery? What could it be?
This concern for Santana makes it even more imperative for the Mets to try and acquire a pitcher at the trade deadline. While R.A. Dickey has been pitching out of his mind, and Hisanori Takahashi has been a great replacement as well, if Santana cannot pitch for the Mets they will be in serious trouble.
While I can’t speculate any further about Santana since I’m not in the Mets’ training room, I really hope everything is alright with him, and he is just going through a rough patch. Santana is invaluable to the Mets, and if they are going to make any sort of postseason run they need him to return to form.
On a brighter note, it is a testament to the Mets, that they can play so well even while their star pitcher is faltering.
But when a pitcher like R.A. Dickey has more wins than your ace and former Cy Young Award winner, it’s a cause for concern.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com