Frayed Knot

I guess the surprising part is that they're starting to hit a bit. Remember early in the season when they were like 17th out of 16 teams in runs scored and just about every other offensive category and only great pitching was keeping them from not being like 5-30? Well they're still below average but have worked their way 6 spots up from the bottom which means that over the last 40 games or so they've got to be at least average if not above. McCutcheon's a legit MVP candidate while Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker & Garrett Jones have started to hit. The rest of the lineup even allowed them to send down Jose Tabata to keep him from being a vortex of suck (his ABs are going mostly to Jones). And their hurlers are still 3rd best in the NL in runs allowed.

Edgy DC wrote: Too many Lees (Carlos, Derrek, Travis...) playing first base in the bigs the last dozen years. Can't keep 'em straight. It's like colonial Virginia out there. Or a Canal Street phone directory.

And the Huntington, L.I. Macy's was such a convenient place to buy tickets too. Particularly for those who lived in Huntington.

Mets � Willets Point wrote: does being in first place on the Fourth of July mean anything? Yes, except for the times when it doesn't. Hard to remember now that the 2005 Nats were rolling at 50-32 coming out of July 4th (compared to 47-32 now). They finished 81-81 that season.

Carlos Lee rejected a trade to the Dodgers last week but either wouldn't - or couldn't (he had a limited N-T clause) - reject one to the Marlins. So Lee is off to Miami in exchange for one-time hot 3B prospect Matt Dominguez and another minor leaguer LHP Rob Rasmussen In order to make room, Gaby Sanchez was (once again) sent down to the minors so I reckon that makes Lee pretty much the full-time 1B dude. He may also have to take over the spot of #1 power guy as Giancarlo Stanton is having knee problems which may or may not be serious.

As the game of musical relievers continues (as it does for most clubs). I forget exactly when & why Beato was sent down in the first place after being called up briefly but never pitching. Maybe they needed to wait until his ten days were up (or is it fifteen?) before recalling him. But whatever the case, he now has some innings under his belt and should be ready to contribute - or self-immolate depending on his mood, moon phases, etc.

David makes up for the liner he hit to Utley that would have made the Hairston HR into a 2R job earlier

Gary: "First ground ball double play Chris Young has gotten as a New York Met!" Me: "Wow!!" Even with CY's fly-ball tendencies and relative short track record in Blue & Orange, that's still kind of surprising.

This guy's going to be interesting to watch on his march to the big leagues. It's not just the aggression in his stealing, what you most often hear about him usually involves words: Game. Changing. Speed. He's starting to hit a bit too [.323/.413/.441] with his OPS 150 pts higher in 2012 than in 2011, although some of that might be the California League factor. Right now he's a SS. Opinions as to whether he stays there are mixed although the "fallback" option of utilizing that speed in CF isn't a bad choice either.

So Kemp, predictably, pulls out - and the powers that be name Chipper in his place. OK, I have no problem with that particular selection, except that Chipper is part of their final man balloting thing which I believe is scheduled to end on Thursday. So why name him before that's over? If he wins that vote he gets in anyhow then you name someone else to replace Kemp. If he doesn't win you can name him anyway. Not a big deal really, I just don't get their timing. Meanwhile, if you're the commish, wouldn't you want to know what incentives or other pushing went on to get THAT many votes for three different SF Giants over the last couple of days? I'm betting other teams are interested in knowing what went on (it couldn't be too hard to find, could it?) and when/if they find out then we're probably going to see similar procedures in most if not all of the 29 other markets next year - at which point this whole exercise becomes even more silly than it is now.

Niese - 3.2 Murphy - 2.5 Wright - 1.9 Tejada - 1.4 Thole - 1.0

So it seems incredible that someone like Cliff Lee can go winless for an entire half of a season. How does that happen? Well, three ways really: 1) he's been unlucky; 2) he's been unavailable; 3) he's not been very good More or less in that order. 1) Unlucky: during his first three starts in April (his ONLY three starts in April as it turns out) he got an ND giving up 1 ER in 6 IPs, then got a loss giving up 4 runs over 7, and then incredibly got an ND for a [u:c485ayvj]10 inning shut-out[/u:c485ayvj] that the Phils went on to lose 1-0 2) Unavailable: he went on the DL for a short stretch, not appearing for the next 20 Philly games 3) Not So Good: he came back to more or less the same tough luck that he had in April [NDs in a 2 runs over 6 game and a 1 run over 8] but that didn't last long. In his eight games since those two he's totaled 52.1 IPs while giving up 33 earned runs [5.67 ERA] and the most recent four starts have been the worst of it [7.30 ERA]. In his last outing he got thumped to the tune of 6 earned on 10 hits over 4.2 by the Marlins. Overall, games where he's allowed 4 or more earnies have been just about as common [6 times] as those of 3 or fewer [7] and during June that ratio was 4-1 But, hey, it's not like he's aging or signed to a lengthy and incredibly expensive deal or anything.

Gee - 1.8 Hefner - 0.5 Tejada - 1.5 Hairston - 1.0 Wright - 1.0

Santana - 4.1 Davis - 2.5 Murphy - 1.7 Nieuwenhuis - 0.7 Thole - 0.5 Torres - 0.5

Dickey - 4.0 Murphy 3.0 Tejada - 2.5 Duda - 0.5

Zvon wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: I'm shocked at that non-call on Utley's attempted DP Yeah he was off the bag but you rarely see that unless it's a LOT more blatant than it was and I suspect most of this board would be howling if that kind of call went against us. My thinking on that is that he wasn't doing the standard "straddling" of the base. He was out in front of second, toward the runner. Odd play. It wasn't the wrong call, just a rare one.

I'm shocked at that non-call on Utley's attempted DP Yeah he was off the bag but you rarely see that unless it's a LOT more blatant than it was and I suspect most of this board would be howling if that kind of call went against us.

NYS Lottery wants you to not realize that they're merely recycling that 'Bridge on the River Kwai' whistling theme from when Getty gasoline used it decades ago for their commercials ... or that it was used in, you know, 'Bridge on the River Kwai'.

Sending Tejada was the right move IMO. Thole is going on his own in his case. That one was a little more questionable and then he further screwed things up by sliding too early to where he lost all his momentum.

Geez, what's the record for runners thrown out on the bases over a two-game span?!?

Strong Junes: Jimmy Rollins [6 of his 8 2012 HRs] and Hunter Pence [.327/.384/.531] Weak Junes: Ty Wigginton [low 200s BA & OBA] and Shane Victorino [only 4 XBHs]

Sked at CitiField Tuesday: 7:10 -- Worley vs Niese Wednesday: 1:10 -- Lee vs Young Thursday 7:10 -- Hamels vs Dickey

Fman99 wrote: Watched a few innings on YES but got tired of the brainless chatter. Switched to ESPN, also showing MFYs/Rays. Though I would mostly describe it as a glorified commercial for the Home Run Derby. Wow, an ESPN event with lead announcer Chris Berman hyping an upcoming ESPN event with Chris Berman as its lead announcer. No way anyone coulda seen that one a'coming!!

Haven't seen these guys for a while (since late May) and that's kind of a bad thing because they've been stumbling along most recently. Following a 9-19 June they're currently they're sitting in last place at 36-45, are 11 games out of 1st, 7.5 games behind the Mets, and have more wins than only the Cubs, Rox, Padres & Brewers in the NL. Their situation has gotten so bad that rumors were flying during the Sunday Night game that they're taking offers on both FAs-to-be Cole Hamels & Shane Victorino - GM Amaro, of course, denies such stuff, but it's still quite a stunning move to contemplate for a five-time division champ in an expanded WC year whichisn't even half over yet after they just got back one major piece to their puzzle (Utley) and expect to see both Ryan Howard & Roy Halladay back in the not too distant future. Recent shuffles include dumping Jim Thome for some minor league scrap and calling up Jason Pridie to take his place. Designated Pain-in-the-Ass Freddie Galvis is serving a drug suspension. DL assignments include long-timers Jose Contreras & Ryan Howard. Also Roy Halladay, Brian Schneider, and Laynce Nix, plus assorted relievers like David Herndon & Michael Stutes.

Marlins lost as well (to Brews). Pretty nice night all around for an off day.