Ike Removed From Clean-Up Spot, Turner Starts At SS, Gee Takes Hill: Mets Lineup Vs. Cardinals - May 14, 2013

The "Fearless" Ike Davis regime at the #4 spot in the Mets lineup has come and gone after two games. Davis has been abysmal, yes, but as skipper, Collins has to believe enough in the decisions he makes to stick with them for a period of time. Right now it seems like the Mets field general is throwing garbage against the wall hoping something will stick.

Juan Lagares will get the start in CF tonight against lefthander John Gast. Ruben Tejada will also get a breather as "Mr. Infield" Justin Turner gets the call at SS.

Dillon Gee, who has been better over his last few starts will take the mound bidding for his third win against four losses.

As chronicled in an earlier post, Mets Ace Matt Harvey graces the cover of Sports Illustrated and is dubbed the "Dark Knight Of Gotham," which is pretty cool. I think the "Dark Knight Of Flushing" would have been better, but who am I to start an argument.

The Mets look to bounce back after an awful game last night, dropping to the Red Birds 6-3. 


In other news, Collin McHugh was recalled from Vegas to replace newly injured Scott Atchinson, who is experiencing numbness in his pitching finger (sort of sounds like the aneurysm/clot Gee & Cone had).

Today's Mets lineup Vs. St. Louis:


Justin Turner - SS
Daniel Murphy - 2B
David Wright - 3B
John Buck - C
Lucas Duda - LF
Marlon Byrd - RF
Ike Davis - 1B
Juan Lagares - CF
Dillon Gee - RSP

Harvey Graces The Cover Of Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated has dubbed Mets Ace Matt Harvey as "The Dark Knight Of Gotham."

Harvey, who was named NL pitcher of the month for April will grace the cover of SI this week.

In case you haven't seen it...

Mets Brass Hearing Boos, Demote Brown, Sign Rick Ankiel: Mets Lineup Vs. Cardinals - May 13, 2013

For all who have enjoyed our site over the last (almost) five years, you have come to know this site as a coalition of die hard Mets fans, at times hyper critical, sometimes humorous, and brutally honest.

Now another adjective can be added to the list...prophetic.

The Mets today demoted Andrew Brown to AAA Las Vegas and have signed CF/RF and former starting pitcher - Rick Ankiel.

Ankiel, who was released by the lowly Houston Astros, is a very good athlete with a good arm (talking outfield only, not pitching), and has had some hits that have truly hurt the Mets. Ankiel not only was picked up by the Mets, but will also start tonight at St. Louis in CF. 

Ankiel came up with the Cards at the end of the 1999 season as a starting pitcher. Towards the end of '00, Ankiel couldn't hit the strike zone, or as my father would've said, "couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a handful of rocks."

Ankiel went to the minors, worked on his game, and returned to the pros as an outfielder.

As for the prophesy, back in 2011 I wrote:

"...If neither of these two candidates can cut the mustard, maybe the Mets should go after a short term fix like Rick Ankiel. Ankiel has a mutual option for 2012 with the Nationals. They might be able to land him. He is a good CF, much better defensively than Pagan, and can handle the bat. Get Ankiel for two years, and by that time, maybe Nieuwenhuis or den Dekker will be ready."

I like the move. Ankiel can't be any worse than those that have been thrown into the  mix in CF. Kirk Nieuwenhuis needs to get his head straight at the plate, den Dekker is still nursing a broken wrist and is expected back in about three weeks according to Adam Rubin, and then what? The Mets needed to do something now. This is not a long term fix; I believe it is until either Nieuwenhuis and/or den Dekker are ready to take over the reigns in CF, most likely not before the 2014 season.

Is this a knock against the much maligned Jordany Valdespin? Might be. Ankiel is a much better CF, has a much stronger arm, and runs very well. Collins will look to platoon Ankiel and Lagares in CF.

Tonight's Mets lineup Vs. St. Louis:


Mike Baxter - RF

Daniel Murphy - 2B

David Wright - 3B

Ike Davis - 1B

Lucas Duda - LF

John Buck - C

Rick Ankiel - CF

Ruben Tejada - SS

Jeremy Hefner - RSP

Harvey Looks To Stop Skid, 'Spin Needs To Man Up, Wright Comes Through As Captain: Mets Mothers Day Lineup V. Bucs - May 12, 2013

Before getting started, I want to send out Happy Mother's Day wishes to all the mother's out there, especially my wife, metsfanbymarriage. May all your children respect and treat you well, just as you do day in and day out, year after year.

A Happy Birthday shout out to my comrade and partner in crime, longislandmetfan.

Today Mets Ace Matt Harvey takes the mound to try and stop the hemorrhaging that has become the Mets season. Harvey, who was as close to perfection as Tom Seaver was against the Cubs in '69, has quickly become the Mets go-to-guy this season, and it has been fun to watch.

Harvey has electric stuff, and with the understanding on how to mix up his pitches, he has been beyond dominant this year. What has made Harvey so special this year? I believe there are two very important things that have aided this youngster this season: John Buck and a strong mental make-up.

Buck has been a fantastic back-stop for a young pitching staff. Granted, outside of Harvey, no one is stepping up the way they should be, but I do see something special in Buck and the way  he handles this young staff. He has been a solid catcher, and has shown leadership behind the plate, and that all goes towards helping a young staff.

Secondly, Harvey has shown not only mental toughness, but intelligence on the mound. Longislandmetfan and I were discussing it a few weeks back, and we both came to the same conclusion: he reminds us of Tom Seaver - the way he dissects situations, and doesn't only rely on his tremendous stuff, but he seems to be a few steps ahead of the competition mentally. 

The Mets need to have another great outing from Harvey today, and there is no reason to expect it not to happen.

Onto yesterday's debacle and the plunking of Valdespin. The kid was out of line Friday when he "pimped" or "showboated" a meaningless HR in an awful 7-3 loss on Friday. Granted, the youngster launched a moonshot into the Pepsi Porch, but the blast didn't win the game for the Mets, didn't tie the game, didn't even bring them close to a dominant Pirates team. It only made the game look more competitive than it actually was in the box score. As a fan and as someone who played ball competitively until my freshman year of college, I never liked showing up the other team. I always believed an athlete should "act like you've been there" after accomplishing something special. Valdespin didn't, and he paid for it on Saturday when Pirates reliever Bryan Morris drilled 'Spin in theright forearm with a 94 MPH fastball.

At the time Valdespin tried to stare down Morris while walking to first, and when he got there, he seemed to settle down. At innings end, Kevin Burkhardt tweeted:

Apparently Jordany slammed his helmet in dugout after the third out. I understand that no one wants to get drilled with a 90+ MPH fastball, but if Valdespin thinks he is such a special player that can disrespect an opponent by "pimping" a meaningless HR, then he has to be able to take a beaning or two.

Truth be told, Valdespin isn't that good. He is a good player when seeing limited playing time, but he isn't good enough to be an everyday player. He is good off the bench, and has good speed, but he has poor judgement, and at times poor fundamentals. His personality reminds me a lot of Timo Perez.

After the game, 'Spin refused to speak to reporters, so it was left to the Mets captain to address the expected question about his teammates behavior. As usual, Wright handled the question well by answering:

"Whether you like it or not, it’s just the way that it is now. I probably prefer kind of a different way, but each guy has their own individual thing. Pitchers have their thing, hitters have their thing. It’s personal preference. You never want to show anybody up, but with that being said, it’s done a lot. By a lot of people. Not just us or one individual person."

Wright handled the situation well, like a captain should. He realizes this is the way the game is played, and didn't throw his teammate under the bus; a teammate that refused to answer the press, so he ran away, and let his captain answer for him.

One thing the young Valdespin must realize - if he offends an opponent by showing them up, they may very well take it out not on Jordany, but on Wright during his next AB. Valdespin isn't good enough to put a player of Wright's abilities in a position like that. Nuff said.

Here is today's Mets lineup V. Pirates:

Ruben Tejada - SS
Daniel Murphy - 2B
David Wright - 3B
Ike Davis - 1B
Lucas Duda - LF
John Buck - C
Mike Baxter - RF
Juan Lagares - CF
Matt Harvey - RSP


Sources: Mets Blog ESPNNY, NY Post, Star Ledger, Newsday

Harvey pitches Gem - Mets win on Walk off hit.

Hey Sports fans. Great night to be a NY sports fan last night. Especially for the 3 of us that remember when the Islanders were good back when VCR’s were in vogue . I mean you had a great Knicks win, Islanders beating the Penguins at home to even the series and the Mutts winning 1-0 couldn’t have been better. Well if Harvey actually got a win that would have been nice. Matt Harvey was pretty dominate against the light hitting White Sox . He had a no hittier through 6 and 2/3 and the only hit was a infield hit deep in the hole to Alex Rios with 2 outs in the 7th.

The Mets of course with there incredible punch in the OF and 1B did nothing to help support Matt until Mike Baxter laced a hit in the bottom of the 10th that scored Davis who had walked and was sacraficed to 2nd.

Harvey had command of all 4 pitches and obviosuly the time between starts did nothing to the fire baller who the Whitesox compared to there nemesis Verlander. At least us Met fans can cheer a win even if the offense had nothing much to do with it.

Marcum Starts, Edgin Demoted, Mets Look To Get Back To .500: Mets Lineup V. Phillies - April 27, 2013

The Mets announced this morning that to make room for Shaun Marcum on the Major League roster, Josh Edgin was demoted...not to Las Vegas to join the 51's, but to Binghamton (AA). The clubs thinking was to drop him 2 levels so that he can get the much needed work to correct his problems.

Edgin has been huge disappointment this year after a promising start late last season; his fast ball has lost velocity and movement, and hitters are teeing off on him. Last year Edgin was electric, showing a good fastball with plenty of movement. I have wondered if he has some injury not being reported.

Marcum is not only making his first start, but his first start of the season. Marcum hasn't been in game situation yet this year. He has spent this season on extended Spring Training down in Port St. Lucie.

Last night the Phillies shut down and shut out the Mets 4-0. Today (game time 1:05) they will try and get back to .500 (10-11) after falling below .500 last night for the first time this season.

Today's Mets lineup V. Phillies:

1.  Baxter - RF
2.  Tejada - SS
3.  Murphy - 2B
4.  Wright - 3B
5.  Duda - LF
6.  Buck - C
7.  Davis - 1B
8.  Valdespin - CF
9.  Marcum  -RSP


Source:  Adam Rubin ESPN NY

Mets Look To Take Rubber Game In Today's Matinee: Mets Lineup V. Dodgers - April 25, 2013

The Mets look to take the rubber game from the Dodgers this afternoon at GHMP. Last night was an exciting finish to the game when Jordany Valdespin hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th for the Mets.

More important was the AB the inning before, where Mr. Met himself, David "Captain" Wright hit a game tying single with two outs. Clutch hit for the Mets leader.

Valdespin's hit was a solid shot, but we also must put things in perspective; to win the game, all he had to do was hit a fly ball to the mid outfield. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had put in 5 infielders and two outfielders to try and cut down the winning run. The two remaining outfielders were playing shallow to try and cut down Buck at the plate. All Valdi had to do was make good contact, which he did.

Today Jeremy Hefner takes the mound for the Mets trying to preserve the Mets home field dominance this season. If the Mets win today, it will be their fourth straight home series win to start as season; first time since the Bi-Centennial.

Today's Mets lineup V. Dodgers:

1.  Tejada - SS
2.  Murphy - 2B
3.  Wright - 3B
4.  Duda - LF
5.  Byrd - RF
6.  Davis - 1B
7.  Recker - C
8.  Cowgill - CF
9.  Hefner - RSP