TransMonk

What a great game! Way to rinse the bad taste of the roadtrip out of the mouth.

He's good.

Thanks HC

5 years? Wow...I'm getting old.

Willie Randolph: B- Strategically I don't have too many beefs with his in-game decisions. However, I think he lacks that fire that managers should have in order to be great. He's a little quiet and unemotional for my taste, and I wonder if that reflects upon the team. The other coaches I don't know enough about and their value is in the players that they coach, however, I will waive that for Rick Downs. He gets a D from me. There is far more offensive potential on this team than what has been displayed. From Reyes to Wright to Floyd, I would think a decent hitting coach would be able to analyze some of the flaws in their approaches and see some improvement after 40 games.

Trachsel, Valentin and Chavez were the toughest to grade. Trachsel because his effort is slightly better than his stats, and Valentin and Chavez because they have such limited looks to grade. I can certainly understand how folks would want to move Trachsel and Chavez up. Chavez has best really good for us as a specialty player off the bench and spot starting in the outfield. I like Trachsel and I pull for him everytime out. I look at his 2-4 record and the 4.33 ERA and think C, although again, he is getting screwed by the offense in his strong starts. Valentin did look awful early in the year, but he has contributed as the best option off the bench if we're looking to score runs. When he's only getting 20-30 ABs a month, a little can go a long way. He does have more RBI than Chavez, Castro, Franco, Woodward and even Matsui.

After the first 40 games, it is time to give out first quarter grades for our New York Mets: Tom Glavine: A No starting pitcher in the NL has looked better since last year's All Star break until now than Tom Glavine. He is tied for the NL lead with 6 wins and has the 4th lowest ERA in the league. Of his 2 losses, one was a masterpiece against the Braves where he allowed 1 run and had no support. He is pitching like he did with the Braves and more importantly less like he did in his first three years with the Mets. Carlos Beltran: A Carlos has finally blossomed into the player we paid big money for last off-season. He is on pace for 40 HR and 100 RBI and should soon eclipse his HR total for last season. He leads the team in OPS with 1.003 and is second with 10 HR and 25 RBI. His average is less than stellar at .257, but he makes up for it by walking more than anyone on the team and leading in OBP. Aaron Heilman: A The missing piece that fused the gap between the starters and the back of the bullpen, Aaron has filled his role with tact and authority. We all know that he wants to start, hell, most fans want him to start...but his contributions to the bullpen this year have been immeasurable. Duaner Sanchez: A Starting out strong with 21 scoreless innings, Sanchez has been just as important as Heilman in establishing great relief for our starters. Pedro Feliciano: A While not as high profile as Sanchez and Heilman, Feliciano has quietly compiled 12.1 innings of relief while only surrendering one run and striking out 11. Great lefty option out of the pen so far. Carlos Delgado: A- Finally, an offense acquisition that pays dividends immediately. Carlos leads the club in HR and RBI and is the clean up hitter we've all been waiting for. Pedro Martinez: B+ Toe, schmoe. Pedro still strikes fear into opposing lineups. While not off to as dominant a start as last year, and not quite as impressive as Glavine, Pedro is still co-ace of the staff. Xavier Nady: B+ The scouts always said that this kid would be good if he could only play everyday. Playing nearly everyday for the Mets, he has 8 HR and 20 RBI while batting .287 and slugging .522. Ramon Castro: B+ A great backup for Lo Duca. Batting .289 with an .809 OPS in limited duty, it's almost like not having a backup in there at all. David Wright: B David is batting a healthy .307 and is tied for second on the team with 25 RBI. While those are great stats for a player in his second full year, I'd like to see him judge the strike zone better. His potential hasn't been touched yet. Billy Wagner: B Not the lights out closer we thought we had yet, but with a 1.89 ERA and 25 K in 19 IP, he is still one of the best in the league. A few blown saves and Roliaids moments kept him out of elite status, but I'm still confident when he gets his chances. Paul Lo Duca: B- Hitting .289 in the number 2 hole and bringing leadership behind the plate have made Lo Duca an asset to the team. His defensive skills leave something to be desired, but overall I'm pleased that he's part of the team. Brian Bannister: B- Before injury he won a spot in the rotation and put up a 2.89 ERA in five games started. He rarely looked pretty doing it, but the numbers speak for themselves. It will be interesting to see how good he really is when he comes back. Jose Valentin: C+ Mostly due to a surge over the last 10 games, Valentin has gone from can't-buy-a-hit cold to red-hot. Valentin is now batting .279 and had 9 RBI in 43 AB. Endy Chavez: C+ Endy got most of his playing time filling in for Beltran when he was injured. He has compiled a .292 average in 65 AB and has been decent pinch hitting. Steve Trachsel: C Our number 3 starter gets a C. Kind of the story of Steve's life. He's nothing if not consistent...usually consistently mediocre. His last 2 starts he did deserve more than the run support he was given and has shown signs of being the type of pitcher that the offense doesn't need to score a half dozen runs to support. Darren Oliver: C With a 4.08 ERA in 17.2 IP, Oliver is not as dominant as the rest of the bullpen. However, he is a veteran who can be relied upon to eat up innings if called upon. Chad Bradford: C- Chad started out the year well, but has been getting beaten up lately by opposing lineups. He has posted a 7.71 ERA in the month of May. Chris Woodward: C- Not getting much playing time, Woodward has batted .265 with 1 HR and 6 RBI in 34 AB. However, he is the emergency catcher. Jose Reyes: C- Jose started off hot, perhaps teasing that he may be the leadoff hitter we had hoped for, however his average has d ipped to .256 and his OBP to .318. He is walking more than last year and leads the team with 14 steals, but still needs to try and keep the ball down to avoid pop ups. He does have as many RBI as Nady with 20. Julio Franco: C- Became the oldest player to HR back in the SF series. Unfortunately, that has been one of the few highlights of Julio's 2006 campaign. To his credit, the leadership he brings to the bench and clubhouse does show. Jorge Julio: D+ After a horrible start, Julio has made improvements as an arm out of the pen. The opposite of Bradford, after posting a 7+ ERA in April, Julio's ERA in May is a hot 1.35. Kaz Matsui: D+ Matsui's average has dwindled down to .244 and he has not hit for much power at all. After leading of the season with an inside the park home run, he has resorted back to the same Kaz we have been disappointed with for the past 2 years. Cliff Floyd: D- Cliff has had a terrible time at the plate. While his eyes and mechanics seem okay, he cannot get the ball to fall in for hits on regular basis. At .202 his average has just recently come off the interstate. Victor Vambrano: F Blowing out his elbow may have been the best thing that could have happened to him this season. After compiling a 6.75 ERA in 5 starts, Victor will spend the remainder of the year on the DL. Anderson Hernandez: F How bad do you have to be to have Kaz's D+ beat you out? How about 6 hits, all singles, in 41 ABs, no walks and 7 Ks. That's more Ks than total bases. His average, OBP and SLG are all .146. Granted, he did make some great plays and only got the chance for a couple weeks, but he was just plain awful at the plate. Jose Lima: F When your option number 8 on a 5 man staff, not much is expected...but Lima managed to undershoot those expectations. 3 starts, 3 losses and an ERA of almost 9. Someone, please get healthy. Incompletes: B. Fortunato, H. Bell, J. Maine, J. Gonzalez, V. Diaz (I figured without 3 pitching appearances or 20 AB, judgment would be unfair) That's how I see it. How about you?

Rally, rally, rally!

Small consulation: Milwaukee has come back to take a 5-4 lead in the 8th.

Phils up on the Brew Crew 3-0 in the 3rd.

Heilman's career numbers as a starter: 5 wins 13 losses, 5.93 ERA, 134.2 IP, 144 H, 66 BB, 106 K I know he's done very well as a reliever, but that's just it, a reliever. I'm not sold that Aaron's the answer. Maybe he deserves a shot, but let's not pretend he's guaranteed to solve the problem...most likely he'll just give us more of the same while hurting the pen.

Sorry, I know what you mean, Wright looks like he's slumping. More than that, he looks like a young player...taking pitches he should be swinging at, swinging at pitches he should be taking, pulling his head, looking overmatched. Hard to remember that he still has some growing to do, and when he does...

How is Wright slumping right now? He is batting .368 on the roadtrip and .328 in the month of May. Delgado on the other hand is .227 on the road trip and .255 in May. Delgado is a much better bet to hit a long ball in that situation, but I'd rather have him at the plate to stay out of the base hit and hope for a DP if I'm the Cards. I don't think the cards "played it right" as much as they got the plays they needed. They had to face the heart of a pretty good lineup with their closer in a one run game with the bases loaded. The Mets blinked. Cards win. Could have just as easily went the other way.

Hello, world, here the song that we're singin' C'mon get happy! A whole lot of lovin' is what we'll be bringin' We'll make you happy! We had a dream, we'd go travelin' together, We'd spread a little lovin' then we'd keep movin' on. Somethin' always happens whenever we're together We get a happy feelin' when we're singing a song. Trav'lin' along there's a song that we're singin' C'mon get happy! A Whole lot of lovin' is what we'll be bringin' We'll make you happy! We'll make you happy! We'll make you happy! Hey....I found the Kool-Aid!

Zvon wrote: I wonder if Rowand would have made that catch......... Prolly would have broken his nose.

Well the Brewers managed to leg out their game that got away in the ninth winning 8-7. I wince as I think it's Lima time for the rubber match, tomorrow.

Goddam Brewers......crapsnacks!

Don't look now, here comes Philly threatening in the ninth at Milwaukee.

Again with the leadoff double not scoring. GRRR Trachsel deserved better tonight.

One more time...with feeling...playing for one: If you like to gamble, I tell you I'm your man, You win some, lose some, all the same to me, The pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say, I don't share your greed, the only card I need is The Ace Of Spades Playing for the high one, dancing with the devil, Going with the flow, it's all the same to me, Seven or Eleven, snake eyes watching you, Double up or quit, double stake or split, The Ace Of Spades You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools, But that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live for ever, And don't forget the joker! Pushing up the ante, I know you wanna see me, Read 'em and weep, the dead man's hand again, I see it in your eyes, take one look and die, The only thing you see, you know it's gonna be, The Ace Of Spades

Milwaukee came back from 3 down to lead the Phils 6-4. They're still batting in the 6th.

I blame Zambrano. Rolen should try out for the PGA.

Kaz fails to score the runner. GRRRR... I'm hulking out right now. Nothing gets me hotter than a leadoff double not scoring.

Top fifth: Wright on 3rd after a double and a Floyd GO, Nady hit by a pitch on first. 1 out Kaz at the plate.

Joe Buck about the poll: I choose D, leadership. Right. Like they would put this poll up if he wasn't leading the world in everything else. I hate FOX! Bring back Bob Costas and NBC...please.