It seemed like the Mets were setup to really get some momentum going their way, and while they won the series, it didn’t turn out as well as you could have hoped.

Friday Night, Johan Santana started, and that’s really all that needs to be said. Johan had 10 K’s in 6 IP, and while the Mets left another small village on the basepaths, they scratched enough runs across to win the game 5-3.

Box Score

Mike Pelfrey Started on Saturday, and had a pretty decent return to the mound. He started off very shaky, but seemed to get in a groove, and finished with 5 1/3 IP and 2 ER allowed.

Pelf still hasn’t hit that groove that he was in last year, but this was a step in the right direction after his last start was skipped due to forearm tightness.

The offense did enough, and if they didn’t, the Nationals defense was happy to oblige. Nick Johnson and Elijah Dukes both made terrible plays, and the Mets didn’t even deserve to score 8 in this game, although Daniel Cabrera was pretty awful.

Box Score

Going into Sunday with some good momentum, it would have been great if Oliver Perez could put his 3 terrible starts behind him, and rally for a good outing versus a pretty beat-up Nats team.

Unfortunately, Ollie never goes by the plan, and again he looked awful.

4 innings and 7 runs later, the Mets were never in the game, and the offense played like it, getting shut down by rookie SP Jordan Zimmerman.

It would have been nice to get a sweep going into this week’s series versus the Marlins, but at this point 2 out of 3 isn’t that bad.

He was optioned to the minors, and offered back to the Angels. The Rangers quickly picked him up on waivers, and a spot opened up for Figgy.

Figueroa pitched decently against the Brewers (6IP 3ER), but because the team needed a reliever due to O’Day’s absence, he was designated for assignment.

Figueroa then chose to be released instead, and LHP Casey Fossum was called up.

Fossum, much like expected, pitched like garbage.

He quickly was DFA’d himself, and LHP Ken Takahashi, who was picked up from Toronto after spring training, was called up to replace him.

Then, lost in all of this, Figueroa was resigned.

It wouldn’t be the Mets without a few absolutely crazy things happening each year.

-I have to say, Citi Field might have the best sighlines in a stadium that I’ve personally been to, and that’s considering other sports as well. I know there are a bunch of obstructed view crybabies, but really, did you ever sit in the upper deck at Shea? You couldn’t see either scoreboard, the entire RF was cut off, and you felt like you were on another planet watching the game. So a small portion of the infield is semi-blocked by a pole, cry about it.

The views here are great, and what is even better, is that you can sit back comfortably and view perfectly. Anyone who’s ever sat at field level at Shea can remember when that one big guy 3 rows to your left sat forward the whole game, blocking the batter completely; that’s impossible at Citi.

-Another thing is, the food is incredible. I somewhat agree with people that they did go a bit overboard in terms of quality (people really will drink wine at a game, in the seats?), but for similar prices, you get extremely better quality items. Even the basic stuff is a ton better. The burgers at Shea were poor excuses for hockey pucks; Shake Shack is incredible.

My only semi-gripe is the lines, but in reality, I mean what do you expect this early in the season,  espeically when the food has gotten this much fanfare? Anyone who jumps on a food line in the top of the first is an idiot anyways. I waited until the middle of the 6th, walked up to shack line, watched the game on the big screen, with SNY audio feed being pumped in, and 5 minutes later I had my burger, fries and vanilla shake.

-There is one gripe I’d like to share, because it wouldn’t be an opinionated Citi Field message without one, and it’s the people. Not the workers, the fans. Ok, you know I can somewhat understand some people only are going to get a chance to go to the stadium once or twice this year, and that day might be opening day, but you don’t need to walk around like a deer in headlights.

Case in point, the fanwalk bricks. Great idea, and it looks really cool in person. I’m kinda pissed I didn’t get one in hindsight, but whatever. Anyways, there must have been more than 1,000 people just staring straight at the ground outside of the rotunda, walking around like they just lost a contact. I mean really? If you bought a brick ,they sent you a map of where it was, and if you didn’t, you aren’t going to find someone you know.

It’s amazing to me that 50% of the people walked around Citi Field and its concourses like they just saw the rebirth of Christ, and then the toolbags who manage to bang their heads against their phones’ keypads hard enough to dial into WFAN can manage to complain about it.

No wonder the team has never thrown a no hitter, someone would probably complain about the lack of action.

While the blog was away, the season has begun, and although the Mets are left with a 3-4 record, there have been plenty of positives.

That being said, lets break down the games.

Game 1 (4/6): @ Cincy: 2-1 W
Johan Santana pretty much ended any concerns Mets’ fans had after his post-season surgery, as he just looked in mid-season form.

Santana ended with 5 2/3 IP, giving up just 1 ER and striking out 7. Sean Green, JJ Putz and Franky Rodriguez shut down the Reds the rest of the way, as the pitchers as a whole only allowed 7 runners to reach.

On the offensive side of the game, Dan Murphy provided it all. Murphy had a solo shot in the 5th, and added a sac fly in the 6th.

Team Record: 1-0
Box Score

Game 2 (4/9):@ Cincy: 9-7 W

Following a well pitched game from Santana and Reds SP Aaron Harang, Mike Pelfrey and Edison Volquez decided to switch it up and just be plain awful. Carlos Delgao hit a bomb to LF in the first inning, only to be outdone by Reds 1B Joey Votto and his three run shot in the bottom of the inning.

The teams went back and forth for most of the game, until the Mets went up for good in the top of the 7th, as Brian Schneider came up with the bases loaded and came through, doubling and clearing the bases.

Pelfrey settled down after the first inning, pitching 4 scoreless to finish his day. Pedro Feliciano and Putz were tagged with runs, but K-Rod came on for his second save of the year, and wrapped it up despite allowing two walks.

Team Record: 2-0

Box Score

Game 3 (4/10): @ Cincy: 6-8 L

Going for the sweep, the Mets hoped Oliver Perez could shake his awful spring and get off on the right foot. Unfortunately, we are talking about Oliver Perez, who showed his Jekyll side and got absolutely hammered. 4 IP and 8 ER later, he’s back to the drawing board.

Joey Votto is quickly trying to replace Pat Burrell in the “Players Mets fans hate” list, as he went 3-5 with a HR and four RBI.

The offense was pretty strong again, and the loss certainly wasn’t because of a lack of effort. Ryan Church and Delgado both added two RBIs.

Box Score
Team Record:2-1
Series W/L: 1-0

Each player will have a best case situation, and obviously a worst. Their results will probably fall somewhere in between, hopefully more towards the better half.

Let’s start with the OF, and lead it off with all-world CF Carlos Beltran.

Best Case: .288/.395, 40 HR, 120 RBI, 25 SB, 115 R.

Worst Case: .265/.340, 21 HR, 95 RBI, 15 SB, 90 R.

Carlos is somewhat of a frustrating player, because he does so many things well he doesn’t really standout in any category (outside from defense). He tends to get overlooked as a result, but really he might be the second most important hitter on the team.

After his huge 2006, his 2007 was somewhat of a disappointment, and he’s steadily improved his contact hitting while his power has taken a bit of a hit. If he repeats his 2008 season again, no one should be disappointed. It’s hard to predict how Citi Field will play right now, mainly because even Shea played as a dead zone to CF and RF in the early months of the year, but for all estimates he most likely will lose a few home HR, but gain some other XBH in return, as well as boost his average.

He hit .307 post ASB, and has looked excellent in the WBC and the limited spring games he’s played in. There are a lot of analysts that feel at 32, he’s really peaking and should have 2-3 of his best years upcoming, and I agree.

I’d side more with the best case scenario, in pretty much all stat outcomes besides HR and SB. Like I said earlier, I feel his HR will probably drop a little bit, and he should end up in the low 30s. Batting 5th this year, I can’t see him being sent that often, although he should be a near lock for 20 steals if he plays 160~ games.

Starting Rotation:

1. Johan Santana – No surprise here.
2. Mike Pelfrey – Not the best ST so far, but looks good to go.
3. Oliver Perez – Has had issues since the WBC, but what else is new.
4. John Maine – Health was the real question in ST, good to go.
5. Livan Hernandez – Hey, Chan Ho Park could be our 5th starter.

Lineup:

1. SS Jose Reyes – Batting him 3rd was just a ploy.
2. LF Dan Murphy – Excellent move by Manuel, hopefully it sticks.
3. 3B David Wright – No surprise.
4. 1B Carlos Delgado – Manuel likes him as cleanup, can’t argue with stats.
5. CF Carlos Beltran – Breaks up the LHB, although should be higher.
6. RF Ryan Church – Healthy/good stats = outstanding spring.
7. C Brian Schneider – Not awful as a 7 hitter, but needs Castro.
8. 2B Luis Castillo – Positive? Well his contract runs out in 3 years.

Bench:

Alex Cora – Spells SS/2B/3B, but has looked bad
Fernando Tatis – Mostly LF/RF, but can play 1B/3B. Should be #1 PH.
Ramon Castro – If healthy, should split ABs at C. Won’t happen.
Jeremy Reed – Endy Chavez-lite, although bat has been hot this spring.
Marlon Anderson – Needs to get off to a good start or he’s done. Pure PH.
Nick Evans – Basically bench warmer for 4 games until they need a 5th SP.

Bullpen:

Closer: Franky Rodriguez – Looked as good as advertised.
Setup: J.J. Putz – Little shaky in the WBC, settled down back in camp.
MR: Pedro Feliciano – Significantly overworked last 2 years, should get breather.
MR: Sean Green – Looking like the 7th inning go-to-guy. Pitched alright.
MR: Darren O’Day – Pitched pretty well since coming over from Angels.
MR: Bobby Parnell – The fact Parnell really doesn’t have a big role shows how deep this bullpen is compared to last year.
Long: Brian Stokes – Should spell SP who don’t last very long. Nice ST stats.

Overall, I think the roster panned out pretty well. I’d like to see a different bat on the bench than Marlon Anderson, and of course anyone but Castillo, but when your two biggest gripes are the 5th guy off the bench and the 8 hitter, you know it’s pretty good.

Field dimensions

Left Field – 335 ft (102 m)
Left Center – 379 (116)
Center Field – 408 (124)
Right Center – 383 (119)
Right Field – 330 (101)

Here’s a video from MetsBlog’s own Matt Cerrone and his tour through Citi Field.

The stadium is estimated to hold about 42,000, which is roughly 15,000 less than Shea.

New York Mets

Pros

: Extremely well-balanced team. Elite players at multiple positions. Doesn’t hurt to have the best pitcher in baseball.

Cons

: Offense hinges on Delgado. Back end of the rotation is questionable. Lack of any real depth on the bench/upper-minor leagues.

Is this really a surprise?

As posted elsewhere on this blog, the 2008 Mets season was pretty much a disaster. With the amount of things that went wrong, it was even a stretch that they actually had a chance to make the playoffs on the last day of the season, but they even couldn’t pull that off. The whole “choked again” mantra that was getting played in the media is laughable; the team was barely competitive for over half the season.

Either way, the Mets did finish up with some positives. The offense ranked 2nd in the NL in runs, even with getting virtually zero production out of the corner OF spots. SP Johan Santana had a down year where he posted a 2.53 ERA. SP Mike Pelfrey finally established himself as a big time pitcher. LF Dan Murphy came out of virtually no-where to be the true #2 hitter this team needs.

Going into the offseason the team had a few glaring needs, and GM Omar Minaya did a pretty good job overall. He blew up the awful bullpen, bringing in CL Franky Rodriguez and RHP J.J. Putz. In most cases it was addition by subtraction, most notably Aaron Heilman and Scott Schowenweiss. He brought in some competition for the 5th starting spot as well, most of which hasn’t panned out.

On offense, the team lacked bench presence and a LF, the latter which he filled from within with Murphy. They acquired OF Jeremy Sullivan in the Putz deal to basically be Endy Chavez-lite, and brought in some spring training camp competition, which seems to be quite a battle right now. UTL Alex Cora was also signed, to esentially replace Damian Easley and to spell Reyes at SS, for the 2 games he will take off this year.

Overall, the winter wasn’t bad for Minaya. Looking back after most of the real bargain deals went down, like Bobby Abreu, it’s hard to argue in favor of Cora making 2 million. But, they said they weren’t going to budge on last years’ payroll, which was the highest in the NL and is projected to be tops again.

Now, onto the season. First off, the rotation looks solid, and is probably the best in the division. Johan Santana is probably the best pitcher in baseball, at worst maybe top 3. Mike Pelfrey has established himself, and once he begins to pick up the strikeouts, he should be dominate. Oliver Perez is Oliver Perez. He’s going to make you tear your hair out some days, but it’s hard to argue with the end results. Plus he just murders LHB, something you desperatly need in this division.

The true key is going to be John Maine. He had off season surgery, and has struggled pretty mightly so far this spring. If he can give them the same results he had in 06/07, which is more like a true #3 starter, the team will be in good shape. If he goes back to his 2008 form (or worse), more pressure will be put on Livan Hernandez to produce, which is a extremely bad situation.

Philadelphia Phillies

Pros

: Returning with the same core of players. Rollins appears to be healthy. Rotation is deep if Myers pitches well. Being defending champs counts for something.

Cons

: Utley needs to be healthy for this team to repeat. Howard’s decline should be a concern. Bullpen can’t catch lightning in a bottle again. Didn’t improve as much as other teams.

Projected Batting Order:
SS Jimmy Rollins
CF Shane Victorino
2B Chase Utley
1B Ryan Howard
LF Raul Ibanez
RF Jason Werth
3B Pedro Feliz
C Carlos Ruiz

Projected Rotation:
Cole Hamels
Brett Myers
Joe Blanton
Jamie Moyer
J.A. Happ/Kyle Kendrick/Chan Ho Park

There’s not much to say about the Phillies’ 2008 season other then the fact that they won the World Series. Almost every aspect of their team ended up with above average numbers, and the bullpen was beyond outstanding. CL Brad Lidge was 41/41 in save attempts, and they finished in the top 5 in nearly every counting stat. Even with Rollins missing 20~ games, the offense was solid again, despite periods in the season where they were rather quiet.

In 2009, they have basically the same team. Much aligned LF Pat Burrell fled to Tampa Bay, and the Phillies responded with signing former Seattle Mariner Raul Ibanez. Offensively, it’s probably a side-grade. Burrell has the upper hand in pure power and eye/OBP, but Ibanez has been far more consistent (.290/.340 6 of the last 7 years) and should be a more appropriate followup to Howard in their lineup. Defensively, well saying they went from bad to worse is an understatement. SP Chan Ho Park was brought in to compete for the 5th starter position, and C Ronny Paulino was acquired via the Pirates to give them additional support behind the backstop. Neither player should have a huge impact on the team’s season, but overall it was two good depth moves.

The real problem with the Ibanez deal stems from the contracts. The Phillies chose not to offer Burrell arbitration, in fear he would accept and have the team stuck with his contract. However, because they did not do this, they never received any compensation for him signing elsewhere. Then, they went on to sign the 36 year old Ibanez to a 3 year deal, with a annual value of 10 million, giving up their 1st round pick in the process. Burrell (4 years younger) then received a 2 year deal worth about 8 million per season from the Rays, which made GM Ruben Amaro look somewhat stupid in the process.

Regardless, the Phillies look like a slightly better team than 2008 on paper. The Ibanez signing improves them now, and Hamels will try to build off his impressive postseason.

The real question is, can they prove certain performances weren’t flukes?