Edgy MD

Ike might get to pitch.

Range, feet, glove, and arm --- I consider him to generally have a superior package to Quintanilla. Q's got veteran's aplomb, so his lows aren't as low, but neither are his highs as high.

I wouldn't guess Quintanilla's better at all. He's got the backup quarterback glow, but that's about it.

Try harder.

�That�s the first time I saw him pitch. Man, I heard that his ball moves like a DUI drunk. But I got a chance to see it today and I was really impressed.� --- LaTroy Hawkins on Jenrry Mejia

I absolutely don't think winning this year and developing a team for the future are mutually exclusive. I also don't think there is ever any problem with getting four guys sufficient PT from three positions. Anyhow, Byrd might be gone in a few days. Seems like an emotional choice to declare Legares exclusive starter and now Nieuwenhuis has been farmed out when he was not only contributing, but had been the spark that got them started. We could have used him in game two. The idea that the team winning is a bad thing because they'll run the best lineup out there instead of the one that'll help them see what they have for next year, well, to adopt that wholeheartedly would seem dizzyingly unproductive.

Man, those double plays can really take the air out the ballpark.

Zvon wrote: Since the June 16th double header when Harvey and Wheeler swept the Braves the Mets are 21-13. That was the start. It started June 16th alright, but the story wasn't Harvey and Wheeler. June 16th was the Kirk Nieuwenhuis Game (so let it be written, so let it be done). The double-header sweep was the 18th. They had lost 10 of 12 going into the Kirk Niuewenhuis game (so let it be written, so let it be done), including two sweeps by the Marlins, and were on the verge of getting swept by the Cubs with what, up until the ninth-inning rally, was just looking like a terrible effort. Then BOOM![/bigpurple] new life, whatever Bob Costas might tell you. #MetsCelebrateWins

Sorry, Turner, but you've got to start Murph in Game Two.

If they take the nightcap, it'll be like Mets are the home team at Nationals Park tomorrow.

Suddenly, Teddy Roosevelt is winning a lot of races, and he's been a real dick about it. He's been like a fin de si�cle Bryce Harper.

The Mets have five outfielders, and four of them have had hot months. And the fifth --- Andrew Marshall Brown --- hasn't embarrassed himself. The idea that it's hard to find PT for everybody is a good problem to have. Ceets is right though. Nieuwie's gone .250 / .345 / .458 // .804 in 35 July trips, and launched the homer that started this hot streak. (#MetsCelebrateWins) That's good for a healthy shrift where I come from.

�Juan Lagares es Se�or Doble!

Scott Hairston into the game. Sandy Alderson remembers out loud that the Mets went in a different direction. Raises his hand for a high five. Everybody in his box looks away and leaves him hanging.

Can you remember the last time the Mets made a deal with the opponent between games of a doubleheader? All I can remember is Jos� Cardenal acquired for cash between games of a doubleheader between the Phils and the outfielder-hungry Mets.

Yeah, it serves us right for trying to decide his fate in the middle of a slump. Or maybe it served him right for slumping right as the trade deadline approached.

I have to say, I thought the better plan was to start Harvey in game one, get the Nats all tenderized and discouraged-like for Mejia. Maybe it was the better plan anyhow, but I can't argue with the results. Love getting a piece of the opponents' pen at the start of a series.

Splits seem like a wash, and when one more win would have put the team two games closer to first, it feels like a lost opportunity, but in the standings, the Mets still continue to progress, and they head to Washington this weekend amazingly playing for second place, having pulled within two games of both the plummeting Phils and those same Nats that they will be facing. The champion Giants have been caught and passed, and so they're a team you might want to think about rooting for. They sit a game a half behind the Roxx in the Wild Card, but most important are those two games in the division standings. The Dodgers have really turned their ship around, taking over first and knocking Arizona into the Wild Card race, where they remain even after losing to the Reds tonight. I don't want to be the guy to say so, but... Big. Day. Tomorrow. They're more or less playing not only to claw back into the race, but for the survival of Byrd and Murphy and anybody else rumored to be on the block. Because a lost opportunity in Washington probably pushes the front office toward sell mode. TeamWLPCTGBNGBAtlanta5745.559��Philadelphia4953.4808.08.0Washington4953.4808.08.0YOUR New York Mets 4553.45910.014.0Miami3862.38018.046.0 TeamWLPCTGBNGBPittsburgh6040.600-2.5-2.5Cincinnati5944.573��Arizona5349.5205.55.5Philadelphia4953.4809.513.5Washington4953.4809.513.5Colorado4954.47610.015.5YOUR New York Mets 4553.45911.523.0San Francisco4655.45512.026.0Chicago4555.45012.529.5San Diego4657.44713.033.5Milwaukee4259.41616.060.5Miami3862.38019.595.5

I always remember the MoFo picnic game as having seemingly a different leftfieler every other inning. I think one of them (big Mark Johnson?) pulled back a homer, too. I'll also remember it as being really hot.

Right now, I'm not sure there is an asset comparable to Harvey. That said, arms are vulnerable. Good pitching is ephemeral. It's there and it's not. Blink and you miss it. How Tom Seaver was able to do what he did, year in and year out, completing 47% of the games he started through age 32, working (presumably) without 'roids, is inexplicable.

And he doesn't blow it. There be worse things in the world than splits, but it makes the front office's job a little harder.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis, third leftfielder of the the game.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Even Freeman's OUTS are scary, though. Yowza, he's developed into something. Everything Heyward was supposed to be.

... is still hitting. He's gone .323 / .405 / .645 // 1.051 over his last 10, and is at .304 / .462 / .582 // 1.044. Can the world take a firstbaseman whos greatest weapon is the base on balls? Sixth in the league in batting average. First (by 48 points) in OBP. First (by 15 points) in slugging. First by .74 poitns in OPS. He's clearly the best player in the Eastern League this year. And Puello is clearly second. One off the homer lead for a guy that's not really considered a power hitter.

Bulk discounts. The Mets are the worst.