Philadelphia Phillies

As if the 2009 season couldn't get any worse for the Metropolitans, Pedro Martinez had to go and embarrass them on national television last night. While Tim Redding (who I can't stand) pitched his ass off for the Mets, their anemic offense couldn't help him out. The Phillies' famously potent lineup was held to just one run...

Continue reading "Pedro sticks it to his old mates"

This isn't the way Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya drew things up in the offseason.

The Mets put yet another star on the disabled list, this time center fielder Carlos Beltran. He joins Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes on the DL, and that's just in the lineup.

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

(Note: originally posted on February 25.)

Each year, prior to the start of the MLB season, I use a unique mathematical system (one that I will not get into, because it's boring) to project the performance of every player and team. This season, in lieu of their significant offseason additions, I expected the Yankees to come out on top. Surprisingly, my expectations were wrong...

Continue reading "MLB Preseason Predictions: Regular ..."

ack in as a closer last year, and Shields is as steady as they come in setup situations. 

2-Philadelphia Phillies: Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge.

This group has excellent balance. Durbin found a home for himself in Philly's pen last season, which is odd considering the hitter-friendly dimensions of Citizens Bank park. Eyre is a fearless, reliable lefty to go along with a more explosive lefty in Romero. Madson is a top-notch setup guy with a nasty overhand hook, and of course Lidge is a premier closer.

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Bullpens"

Mike Fontenot has defeated Aaron Miles in the heated battle for the starting second base job.)

2-Philadelphia Phillies: 1B-Ryan Howard, 2B-Chase Utley, 3B-Pedro Feliz, SS-Jimmy Rollins, and C-Carlos Ruiz.

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Infields"

With the regular and postseason over, and the hot stove not quite on fire just yet, it’s a perfect time to pick my regular season award winners for the 2008 season.  Here are my MVP picks.

Continue reading "MVP Award Picks"

    First of all, sorry again to those of you who were reading my blog regularly and missed it (if there are any of you out there).  I'm actually working on another project right now as well.  For those of you who are into fantasy sports, check out www.FantasyPhenoms.com.  I've been writing weekly fantasy football columns previewing and recapping each NFL game from a fantasy perspective, and I may be writing other various articles for both fantasy football and fantasy baseball.  Fantasy Phenoms is a really great resource for fantasy advice and insights, especially for baseball, where we have provide some really in-depth sabermetric analysis.  A lot of the articles are free to access but some require a membership.  If you're interesting in a membership (very cheap), shoot me an email (mdeutschman@gmail.com) and I'll give you my promo code.

Continue reading "In The Aftermath Of The Collapse"

With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

    Flash back to five days ago:

    The Mets just swept a two-game series from the Nationals, scoring 23 runs in the two games, and stand 3.5 games atop the National League East.  The Phillies, who just dropped back to back games against the Marlins, are four games behind New York in the loss column.  The Brewers, who are in the midst of a rough stretch, themselves, are still four games up on the Astros and Phillies in the Wild Card race, but who cares about the Wild Card?  The Mets don't need to worry about the pity playoff spot when they're poised to win the division, right?

Continue reading "Mets In First Place...For The Wild Card?"

    The Mets have lost two in a row and three out of four, and have watched their lead in the NL East shrink to just a half game over the Phillies.  New York's 13 remaining games include three with the Nationals, three with the Braves, four with the Cubs and three with the Marlins.  You can't put an exact number on how many games the Mets will need to win the rest of the way in order to make the playoffs--one more than the Phillies will suffice.  Mike Pelfrey, Johan Santana and Oliver Perez, the Mets' three most dependable starters, will likely combine for eight starts down the stretch, with Pedro Martinez, Jon Niese and anyone's guess filling out the remaining five.  New York will need strong, deep outings from their big three, and lots of offense in the other five games in order to avoid leaving their playoff hopes in the hands of the bullpen.  Of course, a little help from Philadelphia's opponents couldn't hurt, but the Mets need to be able to take care of their own business.  If they can't win enough games on their own to hold their divisional lead, then they don't deserve to play baseball in October anyway.

Continue reading "Mets Cling To First Place With Lucky 13 Games Left"

I apologize to those of you who have missed reading my blog over the last couple of weeks.  But I'm back with a vengeance, and I'll be writing through October and into the hot stove off-season.

Continue reading "Ayala Joins The Blown Save Party"

    With two outs in the top of the eighth inning it looked like the Mets would leave Philadelphia last night with their collective tail between their legs.  Brad Lidge, who still hasn't blown a save all season, was warming up in the Phillies' pen, and the New York offense had only mustered two runs and 12 hits in the previous 16.2 innings, going back to the fifth inning of Tuesday's game.  But Carlos Delgado, who had homered in the sixth to cut Philly's lead to 3-2, sliced a liner over the left field fence to tie the game at three and spark the Mets's offense.  Carlos Beltran followed with an infield hit, and stole second.  With first base open, Brad Lidge walked Ryan Church intentionally, but Daniel Murphy made him pay, doubling down the right field line to bring home Beltran with the go-ahead run.  The hit parade continued with Brian Schneider's flare to left, which put the icing on the cake.  New York's four-run eighth inning clinched a two-game split in Philadelphia, and catapulted the Mets back into first place by a half game.

Continue reading "Delgado's Two Bombs Save The Day"

, so as long as Sheets stays healthy they should maintain their four-game lead for the Wild Card.

Philadelphia Phillies (73-59), 1st place in NL East:  IN  Although neither the Phillies nor the Mets may be as good as the Cubs or Brewers, the NL East race will go down to the wire, and the loser will go home.  Brett Myers has turned it on lately, and the Phillies will depend on Joe Blanton.  The offense will need to gain more consistency as well.

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

    The Mets blew leads of 3-0 and 4-3 on Sunday, and Pedro Feliciano gave up two solo bombs in the 10th inning to give New York their second straight loss against the Astros.  Oliver Perez had just one rocky inning, allowing a sacrifice fly to Mark Loretta and a two-run homer to Hunter Pence in the fourth, but Aaron Heilman couldn't hold the one-run lead in the seventh.  He allowed hits to both batters he faced, but was credited with recording an out when Fernando Tatis gunned Geoff Blum out at the plate in the seventh.  The homers Feliciano allowed in the 10th came from two players who had combined for a total of three taters all season until their extra-inning blasts.  You know you don't have your best stuff on a particular day when you give up a go-ahead home run to a defensive replacement (Brad Ausmus).

Continue reading "Feliciano Blows Up In 10th"

    The Mets' woes with the bases loaded finally ended Tuesday night when Carlos Delgado doubled off the wall in left to score two and put New York ahead 4-3 in the eighth.  Prior to Delgado's two-bagger, the Mets had just three hits in their last 42 at-bats with the bases loaded.  Then, after an intentional walk to Fernando Tatis, Damion Easley came up with a bases-loaded hit of his own, singling into left center to score two more runs.  Ramon Castro topped the five-run inning off with an RBI double down the line in left, and the Mets completed the comeback from a 3-2 eighth inning deficit.

Continue reading "Delgado, Easley Spark Comeback Against Braves"

    Another solid outing from Oliver Perez and another offensive onslaught sealed the Mets' 9-3 win, and a three-game sweep over the Nationals.  The Mets cruised through the first six innings behind Perez's dominance, and built a 5-0 lead, but Perez ran out of gas in the seventh and gave back three runs.  Joe Smith got the final out of the inning, and it appeared that the rest of the game would be an interesting test of the New York bullpen.  Smith got the first out in the eighth but ran into some trouble after walking Lastings Milledge and Austin Kearns, so Jerry Manuel called upon Duaner Sanchez.  Sanchez got out of the inning unscathed and the Mets had a 5-3 lead after eight.  The suspense mounted.

Continue reading "Mets Finish Off Sweep in D.C."

to start a career, by far; on July 27 he broke the previous record of 25, which was set in 1907 by Philadelphia Phillies right-hander George McQuillan.  Ziegler's 39.1 scoreless inning streak is also the longest such streak in Oakland Athletics history.

Continue reading "Perfect Game Moves Mets Back Into First"

    Well, it's become quite obvious that the Mets desperately need to find someone else to close in Billy Wagner's absence.  When Wagner had to miss a game against the Phillies three weeks ago with forearm stiffness, Duaner Sanchez dropped the ball.  Since Wagner was placed on the DL last week, Heilman has been awful in two of his four ninth inning chances.  In order to put an end to the bullpen's pattern of implosion, Jerry Manuel offered two other options after yesterday's game:  Eddie Kunz and John Maine.

Continue reading "Mets' Season May Depend on Kunz"

    Since when is a four-run, seventh inning lead against a team 17.5 games out of first place not safe?  Since the Mets' bullpen hit rock bottom.

    The Mets' plan for Monday afternoon's makeup game against the Pirates was to get on top early and send Pittsburgh packing quickly.  When David Wright knocked a three-run home run to right center in the first, and Pedro Martinez allowed only one run through six innings, the game seemed to be following how it was scripted.  But then on came the New York bullpen.

Continue reading "Heilman Heads Up Another Bullpen Meltdown"

    When Pedro Martinez allowed a home run to Jody Gerut on the first pitch of the game, it already didn't look good.  Then, when he allowed another one just two batters later, it looked like it was definitely going to be a long day for Pedro and the Mets.  But Pedro settled down beautifully and allowed just two hits the rest of the way in his 6.1 innings pitched Wednesday night.  His curveball and change-up were both working well, forcing San Diego hitters to hit ground balls or pop up, as they were regularly off balance.

Continue reading "Wright's Lapses Contribute to Mets' ..."

    The Mets 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"

Theory of the Week:  Relief Spending

    Every winter the free agent frenzy escalates as contracts rise to astronomical amounts and lengths.  Some MLB executives balk at the dearth of talent and exhorbitant contracts, while others jump at the opportunity to sign what they think are the missing pieces, for whatever the market demands.  Swarming the headlines this past off-season were some of the questionable contracts signed by relief pitchers.

Continue reading "Are Relief Pitchers Worth Their Contracts?"

    For the third time in a week, the Mets showed some 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"

    When the bullpen blew the game after Santana's eight stellar innings on Tuesday, fans and media types alike griped that the ace should have finished the game.  Saturday night's 14-inning marathon necessitated a long outing from Santana, and he answered the call, this time by pitching a complete game six-hitter, to put the exclamation point on the Mets' 9-1 win in the rubber game of the series against St. Louis.  The lone blemish on his masterful performance was Albert Pujols' seventh inning solo home run, but as Aaron Heilman learned early Sunday morning, you sometimes just tip your cap when that man hits one out.

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

    Neither the good nor the bad version of Oliver Perez showed up on Thursday at Shea--the spectacular version came to play against the Phillies.  Perez struck out 12 batters over 7.2 innings, including six whiffs of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, as he out-dueled Jamie Moyer, who pitched a gem of his own.  Carlos Delgado came through with the big hit, a two-run double off the previously unhittable J.C. Romero, in the eighth, and Billy Wagner nailed down the win in the ninth with his 26th save.  Fittingly, Jimmy Rollins, who did not start because he arrived an hour late to the ballpark, made the final out of the game.  After Tuesday night's ninth inning meltdown, the bullpen tossed 4.1 scoreless innings, including back-to-back saves by Wagner, and the Mets took two of three from Philadelphia, despite losing the first game of the series.  New York is now 9-4 against the Phillies this season.

Continue reading "Mets Continue to Roll Behind Delgado, ..."

    A day after the Mets' bullpen acted out a microcosm of the final 17 games of 2007, Billy Wagner was back on the mound with a three-run lead in the ninth inning on Wednesday, and Mets fans could not be happier.  Wagner's save in the 6-3 victory not only sealed the win and moved the Mets back into a first place tie with the Phillies, but it also put the minds of many a Mets fan at ease, knowing that the true closer is once again available to pitch.  After the game Wagner said he looked better than he felt, but hopefully he continues to feel well enough to pitch 1-2-3 ninth innings.

Continue reading "Billy Wagner Never Looked So Good"

    When the Mets traded for and signed Johan Santana in January, tonight's game was exactly what they had in mind.  The ace will take the mound tonight at Shea to face the Phillies, who are tied with the Mets atop the National League East.  Tonight would be a perfect situation for the type of start Mets fans are itching for out of Santana.  Overall, despite his 3.10 ERA, Santana's season has been a disappointment to this point.  His 8-7 record is mediocre, his strikeout rate is down, his batting average against is up, and his solid ERA is also misleading in that it does not reflect the grand slam he allowed to pitcher Felix Hernandez of the Mariners.  Santana has only pitched into the eighth inning once this season, and Duaner Sanchez ultimately blew that game in the ninth.  Tonight is an opportunity for Santana to turn his sub-par season around, and show Mets fans that he is worth his exhorbitant contract

Continue reading "Johan Santana Takes the Hill With ..."

   After splitting the four-game series in Cincinnati, the Mets are back in a first-place tie with the Phillies for the lead in the NL East.  Lately it hasn't only been Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran leading the offense; Carlos Delgado has been on fire recently and came through with the clutch, game-tying hit in the seventh inning on Sunday, and the Mets' bench players have been carrying the torch as well.  The "irregulars," (as Mets television broadcaster Gary Cohen puts it) such as Fernando Tatis, Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and Ramon Castro, have been igniting the Mets' offense for the past three weeks.  But two new players with anything but household names were just as instrumental to the Mets' success in Cincy as anyone getting paid upwards of $12 million per year:  Argenis Reyes and Robinson Cancel.

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

    Aside from Billy Wagner, who picked up his 23rd save with a perfect ninth, the Mets' pitching was bad all around last night in Cincinnati.  Johan Santana's velocity was alarmingly low, and he was battered around, pitching through bases loaded trouble in the second inning before giving up five runs in the fourth, his final inning of the night.  Aaron Heilman lost his command after getting two outs in the seventh, and Scott Schoenweis allowed the big blow, a bases clearing double by Javier Valentin.  But the offense continued to roll, as Carlos Delgado, Fernando Tatis and David Wright each hit two-run homers, and the Mets pounded out 10 runs, including four in the ninth off closer Francisco Cordero.  Wright's bomb tied the game with one out, and Delgado followed three batters later with the go-ahead RBI single.  The victory moves the Mets into a first place tie with the Phillies at 52-44.

Continue reading "David Wright Bails Out Poor Pitching, ..."

    The Mets are riding their longest winning streak since 2000 heading into the second half tonight in Cincinnati, and they will have their ace on the hill to try to extend it.  Johan Santana is a disappointing 8-7 so far this season but still boasts a fantastic 2.84 ERA, good enough for fourth in the National League.  Despite a relatively lousy second half last year (5-7, 4.04 ERA), Santana has excellent career numbers after the All-Star break.  He is 50-17 in 108 starts, with a 2.79 ERA and 642 strikeouts in 606.1 innings.  The Mets hope that their improved play of late will only help Santana reach those lofty second half expectations, and lead the team through a pennant race.  Santana gets the start tonight against the Reds and rookie starter Johnny Cueto.

Continue reading "Johan Looks to Start Second Half Strong Tonight"

It’s the annual midpoint of the baseball season, and for the brief span that is the All-Star break, all eyes are upon the Bronx. As everyone is well aware of, this campaign is the last go around for the world’s most famous, largest, and most prominent ballpark, Yankee Stadium. It seems hard to believe, and even more sacrilegious that this living legend’s days are numbered. Built in 1923 and christened by the greatest ballplayer to ever live, Babe Ruth, the cathedral of baseball will never truly be replaced. Although the Bombers will move a block to Yankee Stadium’s heir, the Mecca of America’s Pastime will still live on in our hearts. Whether you’re a diehard Yankee fan, or Yankee-hater, you still can respect the history and awe that the stadium brings. So when the All-Stars take the field Tuesday night, sit back on your couch, crack open a cold one and soak up the history of Yankee Stadium, as its final chapter is unveiled to all of us.

Continue reading "National League Looks to End Rut"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

Continue reading "Second Half Predictions"

    Mike Pelfrey pitched another gem Sunday night, throwing eight shutout innings in the Mets' 7-0 victory over the Rockies, and won his sixth straight start.  New York cruised through their six-game homestand, outscoring the Giants and Rockies 31-4 with four shutouts to boot.  They now stand just a half game behind the Phillies for first place in the NL East.

Continue reading "Big Pelf and the Mets Take Nine Into ..."

    This time last week the Mets were 4.5 games behind Philadelphia entering their pivotal four-game series with the division leaders.  After Johan Santana gave up a 2-0 lead and Duaner Sanchez allowed the winning run in the ninth, the horizon looked bleak for the orange and blue.  However, since that devastating defeat, New York has racked up six straight wins and the Mets now find themselves just 1.5 games back of the Phillies in the NL East.  During the winning streak the Mets have scored an average of seven runs per game while yielding only three per contest, including back-to-back shutouts of the Giants on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Continue reading "Mets Go For Seven Straight Tonight at Shea"

    Another day brought another win for the Mets this afternoon, as they ran their season-high winning streak to six straight.  Fernando Tatis snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning with his fourth home run of the year, and his second go-ahead shot in the last five days.  The bullpen was lights out for the third straight day and hasn't allowed a run since almost giving back a 10-1 lead on Monday in Philadelphia.  The sweep of the Giants was the Mets' first such feat since they took three straight from Washington from April 15-17, unless you count the three-game series at Yankee Stadium that was started in May and finished in June.  The Phillies rebounded from a 2-0 loss in St. Louis on Tuesday to beat the Cardinals in two straight, so the Mets are currently 1.5 games out of first place heading into a three-game series against Colorado this weekend.

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

Sheets, takes the hill tonight against Colorado in search of his 11th win.

    The Philadelphia Phillies have lost six of their last seven series, and after getting shut out by Joel Piniero of St. Louis last night have seen their division lead shrink to just 1.5 games over the Marlins and Mets.  They will look to reverse that trend tonight against Mark Mulder, who is making his first start since September 16, 2007.

Continue reading "Pelfrey and the Mets Finally Make It Easy"

"It's not a game, it's an arms race" - Kanye West and Fallout Boy belt this hook over and over again on a recent hit with that same title. In that context, Kanye and the Fallout Boy guys are referring to the battle of musical artists not only surviving in a competitive worldwide market, but one with hindrances around every music sharing online ripping program. While that's an issue for another day and another blogsite, it's relevance is crucial when talking about the current state of Major League baseball and the National Basketball Association.

Continue reading "From the NBA to MLB, the Arms Race Has Begun"

    This season Mets fans have come to realize that win or lose, life is excruciating.  For this team there is no such thing as a laugher--in either direction.  It seems that every Mets loss includes a blown lead, and every Mets win includes an attempt at the same.

Continue reading "Despite best efforts, Wagner and ..."

On the other site I write for, I got into it with a Phillies fan over the way Phils fans ride players right out of town. After defending Dick Allen, the irascible 60s slugger who earned nothing but scorn from Philly fans in spite of his powerful numbers, I offered some more modern examples of guys who have earned the scorn of Phillies fans. First was Abreu, a nice enough guy with a good eye and little pop and whose biggest flaw seems to be his tendency to take a walk, rather than swing at a pitch outside the zone. Phillies fans ran him out of town on a rail.

Continue reading "Pat Burrell vs. Bobby Abreu"

dly need to acquire more pitching in season if they expect to redeem their collapse of last year.

Philadelphia Phillies

Can Brad Lidge nail down the closer’s role?

The first thing is getting Lidge healthy. He had offseason surgery on his knee but looks to be back in the bullpen early in April. His struggles since giving up that monstrous home run to Albert Pujols in the playoffs has been well documented and he even lost his job as the closer with the Astros last season. He did regain the role in June and went on to rack up all 19 of the saves he had last season after the All-Star break. With Lidge in the closers role, the Phillies bullpen stacks up fairly well led by Tom Gordon in the setup role. Gordon is an excellent second option to close games however that greatly affects the bullpen depth unless Philadelphia wants to return Brett Myers to closer, but that leaves a gaping hole in the starting rotation.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: National League East"