John Maine

The Dodgers may end up keeping Garland. And (2) the front office seems to love John Maine, so they'll probably bring him back at a discounted price. 

So let's say we end up with Wolf; well, that's not really the optimal situation for a No. 2 starter. 

Continue reading "2010 Mets' Rotation"

He joins Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes on the DL, and that's just in the lineup.

Pitchers John Maine, Oliver Perez and J.J. Putz sit on the DL for the Mets, as well.

So why am I so optimistic?

Continue reading "The 2009 New York Mets are Finally the Underdogs"

(Note: I posted this a couple of days ago on my other blog at FanNation.)

When it comes to the Mets' starting rotation, I think all of their replacement-level options are better than Tim Redding. Redding's stuff is disgraceful, and his general approach to the craft of pitching is laughable. He's been embarrassed in his last two starts -- recently against the Marlins, and the Red Sox before that -- and there is little-to-no indication of potential improvement. I don't think there is any doubt at this point...

Continue reading "I've Had Enough of Tim Redding."

(Note: I've also published this post on FanNation, under the username JFro.)

About a month ago, I published a similar post complaining about Jerry Manuel's mind-numbingly awful managing. It actually generated some interest, as it appeared on a Mets blog and in various discussion threads.

Continue reading "Jerry Manuel Must Be Fired. Now!!!"

I've never trusted John Maine or Mike Pelfrey, but as it turns out, there just aren't a lot of quality starters out there in this day and age. That makes both Maine and Pelfrey very serviceable, and the duo is beginning to pitch with a little more confidence. That can be attributed to changing speeds more than they have in the past, something they have to continue to do if they're planning on remaining successful middle-of-the-rotation starters over time. Pelfrey's been projected as a frontliner in the past, but I don't think he has the mind for it. 

Continue reading "The New York Mets: A Quarter Season in Review"

ting him prevents another September choke job, then do it.

Starting Rotation: Only Johan Santana, John Maine, and Mike Pelfrey have a spot locked down. The last two rotation spots look like a Spring Training battle between Tim Redding, John Niese, Bobby Parnell, and Freddy Garcia. Just having Freddy Garcia, who hasn't pitched a full season since 2006, battle for a rotation spot speaks volumes of the lack of depth in the rotation.

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filled with quality players, not stopgaps.

In the starting rotation, Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and now apparently Tim Redding are locked into spots. If Spring Training were currently underway, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, and Brandon Knight would be competing for that fifth and final opening. In my eyes, Maine, Redding, and mystery man No. 5 fail to represent the makings of a potential World Series caliber back of the rotation. There's undoubtedly room for improvement.

Continue reading "The New York Mets: Plenty of Question Marks Remain"

  Other useful acquisitions include Paul LoDuca, Darren Oliver, Jose Valentin, Duaner Sanchez, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Endy Chavez, Ryan Church, Damion Easley and Fernando Tatis.

           But it hasn’t been all peaches and cream for Minaya, who also took chances on Luis Castillo, Moises Alou, Orlando Hernandez, Shawn Green, Scott Schoenweis, Jorge Sosa, Aaron Sele and Matt Wise—none of whom were very impressive as Mets, and many of whom had massive difficulties staying healthy.

Continue reading "In The Aftermath Of The Collapse ..."

e season, and the biggest game of Santana’s Mets career.  This game conjured memories of John Maine’s performance in the second-to-last game of 2007, when he allowed just one hit and struck out 14 Marlins through 7.2 innings of a 13-0 Mets win in the same exact must-win scenario.  But as Tony Paige had said, we’d seen this movie before.  We just hoped this time it would end differently.

Continue reading "In The Aftermath Of The Collapse"

ast night were unacceptable.  Pedro is a very important part of this team, especially now that John Maine is hurt again.  He tends to give up runs early, and then settle down, but when he loses steam, he loses it very quickly.  After working out of a jam in the first inning last night it seemed as if Pedro had found his groove, but he ran up his pitch count early and by the fifth inning was throwing batting practice.  If Pedro is healthy (and he says he is), he will need to give the Mets more quality innings going forward.  Five-inning starts expose a bullpen as unreliable as the Mets'.

Continue reading "Seven Runs: Too Little, Too Early"

ectacularly over the last month or so, committing only four errors in the last 32 games.  With John Maine back on the shelf with a bone spur in his pitching shoulder, the Mets will need all they can get out of Pelfrey down the stretch.

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point this season:  Moises Alou, Ryan Church, Luis Castillo, Pedro Martinez, Marlon Anderson, John Maine, Billy Wagner, Duaner Sanchez, Brian Schneider, Ramon Castro, Damion Easley, Claudio Vargas, Endy Chavez, Angel Pagan, Trot Nixon, Tony Armas, and Matt Wise.  But the Mets are in first place now, in large part due to contributions from the likes of Fernando Tatis, Argenis Reyes, Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans, Robinson Cancel, and the core of players who have remained healthy.  Excuses don't win games, but a solid bench does.

Continue reading "Feliciano Blows Up In 10th"

ct game ever thrown by a Mets pitcher, but it was a game that went exactly according to plan.  John Maine came off the DL in style last night, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.  Although Maine was on a short leash with regard to pitch count, Brian Stokes made sure the bullpen got its rest, throwing four shutout innings of his own.  Stokes provided the time type of long relief outing New York's bullpen has sorely missed since the departure of Darren Oliver after the 2006 season.  The offense scored 12 runs to complement the stellar pitching, and Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis each homered to lead the onslaught.  Jose and Argenis Reyes had two hits apiece, and Carlos Beltran drove in two, as New York scored eight runs in the third inning to put it away early.  Things are looking pretty good for the time being, but the real test will come the next time the Mets have a slim lead late in a game.

Continue reading "Perfect Game Moves Mets Back Into First"

n of implosion, Jerry Manuel offered two other options after yesterday's game:  Eddie Kunz and John Maine.

    Kunz closed for Oregon State's College World Series team in 2006 and was the closer for Double-A Binghamton before the Mets called him up to the big leagues.  The Mets drafted him with the intention of molding him into their closer of the future, since Wagner is 36 years old and has just one year left on his contract after this season.  Despite his lack of major league experience, he's actually the only pitcher on the Mets' staff other than Wagner with any sort of closing experience.  At first Manuel wanted to keep him out of high-pressure situations for the time being, but the ineptitude of the rest of the bullpen has forced the manager's hand.  Consistent with Manuel's comments after yesterday's game, Kunz will get an opportunity to close tonight, if necessary.

Continue reading "Mets' Season May Depend on Kunz"

s limped home from a disappointing 1-5 road trip with a slew of injuries.  Marlon Anderson and John Maine were put on the DL over the weekend and Billy Wagner joined them today with a strained left forearm.  Ramon Castro is still shaken up from the bizzare home plate collision on Saturday, and is listed as day-to-day with a sore ankle.  Rather than make any external moves, the Mets have turned to their farm system for help.  Although for the time being Jerry Manuel says he will use a bullpen by committee in the ninth inning, Eddie Kunz, the heir apparent to Billy Wagner, is on the major league squad and may get some looks in the closer role over the next two weeks while Wagner is out.  Daniel Murphy, who was a third baseman in the minors but requested some work at second base and the outfield--a smart move, considering David Wright isn't going anywhere anytime soon--is getting the start in left field tonight agains the Padres.  The Mets really love the way he hits, so he could be a fixture at the major league level for the remainder of the season and perhaps into the future.  And rumor has it that the Mets are considering calling up Jon Niese to make a few starts in Maine's stead.

Continue reading "Mets Look to Bounce Back at Home"

pinch hitter Mark Loretta.  To add insult to injury (literally, considering the ailing arms of John Maine and Billy Wagner), Heilman was tagged with the loss again on Saturday in another collapse of sorts from the Mets’ bullpen.  This one was a group effort though, with Scott Schoenweis and Billy Wagner contributing to the blown 4-1 lead.  After yet another solid, but insufficiently long, outing from Johan Santana, Schoenweis allowed a solo home run to Kaz Matsui, who has killed the Mets, hitting .438 against his former team over the last three years.  Wagner then gave up a bizzare two-run single to Geoff Blum with the bases loaded in the ninth to blow the save, as both runners crashed into one another and Ramon Castro all at once at the plate.  Then, in the tenth, Heilman put the first two runners on base before handing the ball over to Pedro Feliciano.  Feliciano actually did not pitch poorly, striking out the first batter he faced and then allowing the game-ending sacrifice fly on a weakly hit liner by Darin Erstad.  Fernando Tatis made an excellent catch on Erstad’s sinking flare, but was unable to throw Lance Berkman out at the plate.

Continue reading "Shaky Pen Gets Mets Swept By 'Stros"

me moxie last night in winning convincingly the day after a disconcerting loss.  First, it was John Maine's solid performance against the Phillies the day after the bullpen blew Johan Santana's eight-inning gem.  Then, it was Santana going the distance to conserve the worn out bullpen the day after the five-hour, 14-inning loss to St. Louis.  And last night Oliver Perez fought through six innings, allowing just the one first-inning run, after the bullpen blew an eighth-inning lead on Monday.  David Wright gave the Mets an early lead with an RBI double in the first and Carlos Beltran put New York ahead with a rare two-out RBI single in the sixth.  Carlos Delgado jacked a two-run homer in the eighth for insurance, and Heilman pitched two scoreless innings for the hold, before Billy Wagner tossed a perfect ninth for his 27th save.

Continue reading "Heilman Holds Perez's Lead, Delgado Puts it Away"

    Monday night in Miami was an all-around bad experience for the Mets.  John Maine cruised into the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead, and looked just fine to the naked eye.  But after Maine missed with a 1-0 fastball to John Baker, Jerry Manuel, Dan Warthen and Ray Ramirez, the trainer, jogged out to the mound to consult with Maine.  He appeared to say he was fine, and stayed in the game for the time being.  But after his next pitch to Baker left the yard for a solo home run, and his 1-2 pitch to Marlins pitcher Ricky Nolasco chased Endy Chavez to the warning track to make the catch, Manuel and Warthen decided they had seen enough, and pulled Maine in favor of Carlos Muniz.  Maine is listed as day-to-day with shoulder stiffness, and Warthen said he was most concerned that Maine might develop further injuries if he tried to compensate in his delivery to protect his shoulder.  In all likelihood Maine will miss a start in order to rest his shoulder, and hopefully pitch again next week.  After the game Manuel was adamant that Maine will not pitch through any pain.

Continue reading "Mets Fried By Fish, Maine Leaves Early"

be fresh when the Mets open a three-game series in Florida Monday night against the Marlins.  John Maine and Ricky Nolasco are the scheduled starters.

Game of the Week

    The best game of this past week was the series opener between the Red Sox and Yankees at Fenway Park.  This duel between Joba Chamberlain and Josh Beckett was one of the best pitched games of the season.  It was a statement game for Chamberlain, who scattered three hits and struck out nine over seven shutout innings.  The only run of the game was scored in the third inning, when Jason Giambi grounded an infield single to the left side of second base, scoring Bobby Abreu from third.  The only reason shortstop Jed Lowrie couldn't come up with the easy grounder was that the Red Sox infield was playing the overexaggerated shift on the pull-happy Giambi.  Beckett pitched an excellent game of his own, allowing just the one run over seven innings.  The Red Sox mounted a rally off Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth, but Joe Girardi brought Mariano Rivera in with one out to record a five-out save.  He struck out Jacoby Elsbury and got Dustin Pedroia on a come-backer to hold the 1-0 lead.  Mo was at his best in the ninth, striking out Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew to close out the game.

Continue reading "Santana Goes the Distance, Mets Stay Hot"

was different story.  The Mets played a crisp game all around other than one exception:  John Maine's failure to lay down a bunt with runners on first and second and no outs in the sixth inning.  But Jose Reyes made it a moot point with his go-ahead three-run homer, and that was the difference in the game.

Continue reading "Billy Wagner Never Looked So Good"

starters need to go deeper into games.  One starter who has not been helping on that front is John Maine.

    What's the matter with John Maine anyway?  Even when he looks like he has absolute lights-out stuff on a given night, he still seems to get into early trouble and can never seem to get past the fifth inning.  On July 5 against the Phillies, Maine only allowed three baserunners (two walks, followed by a three-run homer by Ryan Howard), and his fastball looked fantastic, but he only lasted 5.2 innings, throwing 99 pitches in that span.  The reason was that of the 21 batters he faced that night, eight worked out at-bats of six pitches or more.  This inability to put hitters away early in at-bats has been Maine's biggest problem all season.  Ten of Maine's 20 starts this year have been quality starts.  In those ten starts, Maine has thrown 63.2 innings, and allowed 59 batters to work counts of six pitches or more.  In his ten non-quality starts he has allowed just as many deep counts, but in just 50.1 innings.  By fouling pitches off and and consequently making Maine throw more pitches, teams have been able to run up his pitch count and limit his inning totals.  As a result, in his ten non-quality starts, his ERA is 6.43 (compared to 2.40 in his ten quality starts), and he averages just five innings per non-quality start, as opposed to 6.1 innings per quality start.

Continue reading "Makeshift Mets Back In First, But ..."

e hits in the entire series.

    Despite his lively fastball and eight strikeouts, John Maine failed to get out of the fifth inning for the second time in his last three starts.  Maine is unhittable at times (he only allowed two hits today, and only one--a home run to Ryan Howard--in his last start), but always seems to run deep counts on hitters, preventing him from going deep into games.  The Mets coaching staff and broadcast crew have noted that he gives up an uncanny amount of foul balls, which raise his pitch count regardless of how well he is pitching.  The Mets are fortunate that the All-Star break is right around the corner because between yesterday's rain delay and Maine's early exit today the bullpen has been used an alarming amount considering the Giants only scored three runs in those two games.

Continue reading "Dust Off Your Brooms, Tatis Comes Through Again"

ns.  But that was last year and we can forget about it.

 Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Orlando Hernandez (for now).  If this is not the best staff in the league it is definitely in the top 2.

Continue reading "Pitchers and Catchers"