Frayed Knot

Niese - 1.7 Buchholz - 0.3 Isringhausen - 0.3 Rodriguez - 0.4 Pridie - 2.4 Reyes - 1.9 Davis - 1.2 Bay - 0.9 Beltran - 0.9

Gee - 2.2 O'Connor - 0.4 Igarashi - 0.4 Byrdak - 0.3 Rodriguez - 0.7 Reyes - 1.0 Turner - 2.1 Pridie - 2.5 Thole - 0.4

Dickey - 1.2 O'Connor - 1.4 Reyes - 1.2 Paulino - 1.2 Murphy - 1.0 Hairston - 1.0 Turner - 1.0

Not your usual Colorado Rockies team. They�re below league avg in both BA & SLG but stay above par in Runs/game on account of drawing a ton of walks, second in the league. And the stadium still has something to do with it despite the era of the humidor. Beyond that they lead the NL in starters with really silly first names (Ubaldo, Jhoulys, Esmil) and in relievers named Matt (Lindstrom, Belisle, Reynolds) Still in first place in the NL West (1 game lead) with an 18-14 record, the Rox have cooled since sweeping the Mets in a four-gamer at Citi, games that were numbers 3 thru 6 of a 7-game winning streak for them and games 2 thru 5 in a 7-game losing streak for us. The Metsies didn�t exactly get blown out each game except for the last one [7-6; 5-4; 6-5; 9-4] but they played some pretty bad ball over that week. Mainly they got out-played and out-Tulowitski�d. TT in that series went 10 for 16 with 4 HRs + a double, scoring 5 and knocking in 8; .625/.700/1.438 But the Rox are just 9 - 12 since that series inclulding just getting swept by the Giants and losing three of their last four via walk-offs (Arz + Giants x2). Mets are 11-10 over that same stretch. ** Time Alert** - these are the first games out of the Eastern Time Zone for the Mets this season so adjust your lives accordingly. * Monday, May 9 - 8:40 PM EDT -- Capuano vs Jhoulys Chacin [4-2; 2.85; 1.146 WHiP] Mets didn�t see Chacin the first time around and his history with the Mets consists of just 1 inning of relief during a brief call-up in 2009. He was 9-11; 3.28 in his rookie year last season. * Tuesday, May 10 -- 8:40 PM EDT -- Pelfrey vs Jason Hammell [3-1; 2.63; 1.248 - and no relation to Cole Hamels so he�s not automatically a dick] Hammell pitched the first game of the earlier series and we tagged him for 4 runs (2 earned) over 6. He didn�t figure in the decision which we lost because of a Tulowitski HR off Parnell in the 8th * Wednesday, May 11 -- 3:10 PM -- Niese vs Ubaldo Jiminez [0-2; 5.88; 1.462] We didn�t see Ubaldo last month either as he was DL�d right after his Opening Day start. Since being re-activated he�s started four times with so-so results. His best start was his last when he allowed just one run over 6.0 IPs in a no-decision vs SFG. Still, quite a change from his CY-worthy first half last season when he was like 15-0 by mid-April (or something like that). Round up the usual suspects: C - Chris Iannetta and Jose Morales - Ianetta�s got 15 hits this season but 20 walks!!! Morales switch-hits 1B - Todd Helton - he�s old and can�t run, but hitting much better compared to recent years 2B - Jonathan Herrera - another one of their guys who�s hitting just OK but is taking a ton of walks SS - Troy Tulowitski - he�s played every inning of every game so far 3B - Jose Lopez and Ian Stewart - Neither is hitting a lick. The lefty-swinging Stewart is just back from minor league exile. LF - Carlos Gonzalez - BIG come-down from last season. Low BA (.239) and little power (27 hits, 20 singles) CF - Dexter Fowler - Very fast, also taking a ton of walks RF - Steve Smith & Ryan Spilborghs - Smith the LHB is out-playing the RH Spilborghs Real good defensive team Also a real good bullpen: Closer Huston Street, plus Rafael Betancourt, Matt Lindstrom, Matt Belisle, Clayton Mortensen, and LHPs Franklin Morales & Matt Reynolds All RH starters this week so maybe only the day game for Paulino, We need decent games from Thole, Pridie & Davis and can�t be walking all those dudes in front of the Tulo monster. DL - starter Esmil Rogers, plus old buddy Ty Wigginton with the hot injury for 2011, the strained oblique. Songs about Denver/Colorado John Denver - Rocky Mountain High I mean ya gotta start with this one. It�s pure Denver (the man, not the city) and, hell, he even named himself after the damn place even though his real name was Henry Deutschendorf Jr. And you know how it goes so I won't torture you with the video. Judy Collins - The Blizzard A beautifully sung song (it is Judy Collins after all) even if the lyrics read like something straight out of a Lifetime movie. There�s this blizzard you see ... and the singer can�t make her destination so pulls into a diner ... and she has a few drinks and starts pouring her heart out to �the stranger� a local who offers her a place to stay the night ... and even though the weather clears and she leaves in the morning, the one night with the nameless stranger from the diner allows her to finally cast off the remains of the rat she�s recently broken up with and has been in fact siniging to all along. Amazing what getting laid on a snowy night will do for you. k-t8vuNsmxc Bob Seger - Get out of Denver Guitar licks straight out of the Chuck Berry catalog with a story line more like a less humorous version of �Uneasy Rider� where the longhairs are racing for the city line just a couple steps ahead of the law and the rednecks. ... Cops came bustin� in and man we lit out in a pickup truck sayin� GO! get out of Denver baby GO! get out of Denver baby �Cause you look just like a commie and you might just be a member baby, GO, get out of Denver. 9WWHdBuOC6Q Warren Zevon - Things to do in Denver When You�re Dead Not sure if it�s an official Zevon song if death doesn�t enter into things somewhere. The movie was named after the song. LeRoy says there's something you should know Not everybody has a place to go And home is just a place to hang your head And dream of things to do in Denver when you're dead JLcfz8jMKzM Townes Van Zandt - My Proud Mountains A Texas native, Townes lived in Colorado for a time and wrote several songs about it. C3C8Nm9aYq4 Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way There's even some baseball content in this one Bases are loaded and Casey's at bat Playin' it play by play Time to change the batter And we don't need the ladies Crying 'cuz the story's sad Rocky Moutain Way is better than the way we had jp3S-B4AN3k&feature=fvst

Don't forget the fact that with the Mets financial situation, is resigning Reyes even possible this offseason? I don't know, but neither do the ones who are definitively saying a half a year or more in advance that it isn't. We don't know the status of the Wilpon's financial situation, nor do we know the effect (or not) of a minority owner (expected by July last I read) and NO ONE knows what the Madoff trustee lawsuit will mean or how it will turn out.

Well of course it's not the columnists' job to root for warm fuzzy stories about Reyes & Wright growing old with the Mets. They need to consider - as does the team - whether signing one or both (Reyes now because the contract is up) truly is the right move for the team and not just the public relations one. My only problem comes from those who act as if the outcome of the season (bad) has already been cast in stone as has the payroll levels for next year and beyond making the solution both obvious and predetermined and the only question remains how and when he'll be gone, not if. It's not that simple even if that's what grabs the most headlines.

metirish wrote: I've been checking in but I was busy putting rub on my meat and my hands were dirty. So what made you decide to assume the role of straight man to FMan ?

Could have been 8-2 the other way considering all the runners the Dodgers stranded - particularly early. Game might have set a record for foul balls.

Yeah, IWs really need to be taken out when considering OBAs. Several version of 'Runs Created' do treat regular walks and IWs separately.

The second of his career. The last pitcher to no-hit the Blue Jays was Nolan Ryan. In other OOTs news, Phils beat the Braves as Kendrick subbed in for the now DL'd Roy Oswalt and the Nats took their second straight from the Marlins The NL East has tightened up a bit in the last two days. Oh yeah, and the Rays will tie the Yanx for tops in the AL East if the Rangers can hold on to their 2-run lead for another two innings. Rays did most of their catching up without Longoria who just recently returned to the lineup.

So other than the injured starter, two bad base-running plays by Reyes, the two base-running goofs by Paulino, and a pace of play which rivals plate tectonics, it was a pretty good game.

Gwreck wrote: Mike O'Connor, 909 So somebody will have to be traveling (from Buffalo) as the one after 909

OK, the guy claiming Reyes is dumb looks good tonight. He's still wrong about the whole slide thing though.

Geez, has the pacing of these last two games been slow enough? A foot race between Oprah and Rosie O'Donnell moves along faster.

Lookin' for some heart on Saturday night Jose Reyes, ss Daniel Murphy, 2b David Wright, 3b Carlos Beltran, rf Jason Bay, lf Ike Davis, 1b Jason Pridie, cf Josh Thole, c Chris Young, rhp [youtube:1v25gu1n]I2Vl8y8lkdY[/youtube:1v25gu1n]

Better the rabble you know than the rabble you don't.

Ashie62 wrote: metsmarathon wrote: when was the last time you saw someone slide feet-first into third for a triple? Derek Jeter, he does everything perfectly. How would we know? Jeter now has 28 hits this season; 26 are singles and 11 of those* are infield singles. He's only getting the ball past 2nd base about twice a week or so and so the only time he even gets to 3rd base is when trotting past it on account of being on when Granderson hits another one of his HRs (2 more last night - 10 on the season). * A quick glance showed one was a bunt single but that's the only one where the infield part of the single appeared to be intentional. The others, both the ones I've seen and the ones I've seen described on BBRef.com, are simply well-placed weak bouncers and dribblers.

Matt Harvey once again on BA's 'Hot List' - #3 this time Why He's Here: 0-0, 0.00, 1 GS, 6 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 9 SO, 2 BB The Scoop: Harvey carried a spotless 0.00 ERA through his first four starts, allowing only a single unearned run in his first 22 professional innings. That changed in his fifth start last Thursday, when Bradenton touched him up for six runs (four earned) on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. Facing the same lineup in his next start Wednesday, Harvey rebounded with his best outing of the year. The Mets' 2010 first-round pick leads the FSL and ranks seventh in the minors with a 1.10 ERA in 32 2/3 innings, and he's also second in the league with 39 strikeouts. Fans in Florida hoping to watch him should probably try to do it sooner than later.

Edgy DC wrote: Oh, and a brain-dead article from Forbes disagrees with you. OK, I'm markedly dumber now than I was five minutes ago for having read that. The only saving grace is that it didn't reflexively cite the "Moneyball front office" and Jose's dearth of walks as proof of future incompatibility.

Centerfield wrote: Story of the night has to be Fat Ed Hearn. Wow. Ed has had several very serious health problems since his baseball days. I wasn't expecting him to be in the best of shape. How'd you like Elster though? Mornings = gym, afternoons = beach. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Centerfield wrote: Not at the break, not next week, not even tomorrow. NOW!!!! Not tomorrow, not after breakfast, ... NOW!!!! Hey, maybe she knows. What say you there fuzzy britches?

Gotta say I didn't see that Pridie HR coming.

Then there's the Roger Clemens case where you have four sons and it's not enough to merely name one or more of them after yourself [see: Foreman, George] you name ALL of them in honor of yourself with the four K names ... and stupid K names to boot. Koby, Kody, and .... er, Krusty & Krispy I think.

In favor of Hairston no doubt (or, worse yet, Hu) - neither one of which will exactly have Donnie Baseball quaking in his boots.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Davis in front of Bay would suit me fine. 'specially since Davis-Pridie-Thole sets up the perfect spot for a lefty reliever to be brought in late in the game.