WFANWebAudio
Posted: Tuesday, 15 April 2008 12:12PM

Coleman's Corner: Not A Pretty Start

Ed Coleman

mets@wfan.com
New York, NY (WFAN)  -- All right, so they're not exactly out of the gate like Secretariat at Belmont. You want silver linings? The Florida Marlins are in first place - nobody is exactly running away with the National League East. You have to settle for that, I guess. Let's face it - the Mets haven't been a lot of fun to watch thus far. Anytime you bang out 14 hits, draw 8 walks, and then hit .412 with RISP - and still lose like they did on Sunday to the Brewers - something's not quite right.

A lot of the Mets numbers are not terrible. They're 2nd in the N.L. in hitting with RISP, batting .310. The starters' and the bullpens' ERA are pretty similiar, and the overall team ERA is 3.84. The Mets are right in the middle of the pack with a .351 OBP. But when you look a little deeper, the warts begin to show. Even though a .310 batting average with RISP is quite good, the Mets are hitting just .182 with RISP and 2 outs. That indicates the lack of the big hit, the clutch hit, when it's needed.

And two things really jump out at you. The team is dead last in all of baseball in home runs, and they've rung up only 7 stolen bases in 10 attempts. David Wright has 3 of the Mets' 5 homers, including his 100th career long ball hit on Sunday - Carlos Delgado one - Ryan Church the other. An astonishing lack of power for a team that hit 177 HR's last season - right now they're on pace to hit 74. Manager Willie Randolph loves to utilize team speed and keep pushing the envelope to use it as a major weapon. This was a team that stole 200 bases in 246 attempts in 2007, paced of course by Jose Reyes who swiped 78. Reyes has just one so far this year, in fact the only Met with more than one right now is Wright who has two. With Angel Pagan filling in for Moises Alou at the moment, Willie currently has 6 guys in his everyday lineup capable of stealing a bag, and they have 7 in 11 games. The pace will obviously pick up, because they're on pace for just 103 steals currently, but speed is a huge part of their identity and it's just not there right now.


Cleanup hitter Carlos Beltran has 7 doubles - and just 3 RBI. That's indicative of the lack of the table setters to get on base - Reyes is batting only .205 - Luis Castillo a whopping .207. And watch out for bullpen appearances. Last year Met relievers made 499 appearances out of the pen over 162 games. Thus far in 2008, they've come on 39 times in 11 games - that projects out to 574 trips to the mound, a surefire way to suffer burnout come September, and hopefully, October.

You can expect Duaner Sanchez today - Carlos Muniz, who did a very nice job, will likely be the reliever sent down to make room. Don't expect Sanchez to be the 2006 Sanchez right away - the Mets will be cautious, and rightfully so, with him at the start - there's no need to rush him into a late-inning role at this juncture of the season. Do expect Pedro Martinez later rather than sooner. The Mets will be cautious with their # 2 starter as well. When Pedro first went down with his hamstring problem, it was hoped that you might see him back in the rotation by mid-May. From the ides of April vantage point, it looks more like June 1 at this rate but that could change or speed up. What it means, combined with El Duque's uncertainty, is more Mike Pelfrey and Nelson Figueroa, and possibly Tony Armas Jr. and Claudio Vargas if needed somewhere down the line. Better hope Santana supplies those innings that have come to be expected.

Welcome back Paul LoDuca and Lastings Milledge!!!

C U soon.

Eddie C.

Print Page Email This Page
 
Schwei's Vision: Facing An Old Friend
The Mets head south to face their long-time rivals the Atlanta Braves and then go west to take on the defending National League Champion Colorado Rockies. 
Coleman's Corner: A Step Forward
Maybe this will get us going. I'm sure that's what the Mets are thinking and hoping after their shortened weekend sweep of the Yankees at the Stadium. And I'm sure they'd rather be playing today as opposed to traveling to Atlanta for a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday...
Coleman's Corner: Sign Of Relief
That breeze you might have felt wafting from Yankee Stadium late Saturday afternoon was the collective sigh of relief coming from the New York Mets locker room. Their 7-4 victory over the Yanks was one they really needed.
Coleman's Corner: Time To Get Back On Track
Mets manager Willie Randolph played 13 major league seasons at Yankee Stadium, then served 11 more wearing the Yankee pinstripes as a coach. But the three games he'll manage in the Bronx this weekend might very well be the most important ones he's been a part of in either career. 
Schwei's Vision: Subway Series By The Numbers
The Mets and Yankees will play the first of their two interleague series match-ups at Yankee Stadium. This is only the fourth time since the two clubs began playing home and home series in 1999 that the first of the two meetings is not at Shea.