The John Delcos New York Mets Report Featuring Mets' commentary, analysis and news.

The diagnosis on Jose Reyes is a torn right hamstring, which happened when he was running the bases earlier this week. I wrote several times letting Reyes run would only make matters worse. I’m not the only one with that opinion.

Surgery seems inevitable, even though the team made no such announcement. How can it not be? Every time Reyes tested his hamstring he had a setback, which means there was a slight tear that gradually got worse until it was a full blown rip job from the bone.

By not completely shutting him down, and not having surgery earlier, Reyes and the Mets wasted at least two months of what could have been valuable recovering time. There’s no telling when he’ll have surgery now and now long it will take to recover, so there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready for spring training.

The Mets could now be faced with the prospect of needing a shortstop for next season. Alex Cora should be re-signed, but he’s not enough. The team with countless holes likely has another.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

This afternoon is the season in a nutshell: The Mets will try to salvage something from their series with the Washington Nationals.

Since when does a championship caliber team need to salvage a series with the Nationals? Oh, that’s right, the Mets aren’t that kind of team. After winning two of three in Florida, the Mets could have ended their final road trip of the season on a winning note. Instead, the Mets lost the first two games of this series to the worst team in baseball.

Last night was typified the season as they had breakdowns in all aspects of their game.

This afternoon, Tim Redding gets the honors. Thrust into the rotation with injuries to Johan Santana and Oliver Perez, Redding has made the most of his opportunity to make an impression for next year.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

Mike Pelfrey retired the first seven batters he faced last night, five of them on ground balls. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Then it unraveled for him as it usually does and you knew it would be one of those nights when Ian Desmond homered in the fifth.

I really don’t want to hear how Pelfrey has been distracted with by getting married and having a kid. The bottom line is Pelfrey has regressed dramatically this season to the point where you have to wonder if he’ll ever make it.

Manager Jerry Manuel said he’s in the 2010 rotation, but it’s by default as the Mets are so pitching depleted that they have to run with Pelfrey’s potential much the same way they do with Oliver Perez.

The fact is, if the Mets had other options, Pelfrey would have been better off in the minor leagues. He’s done for the season with a lackluster 10-12 record, accumulated by the same old mistakes.

Pelfrey loses his concentration when things go wrong and starts to walk hitters. He’s also not been able to develop his secondary pitches and throw them for strikes.

When he’s on, his sinker is a brutal pitch, but when he gets in trouble he tends to overthrow the pitch instead of taking something off it. When a pitcher overthrows in an attempt to throw harder, the pitch flattens out and rises. It becomes a fastball that doesn’t move, and movement is far more important than velocity.

This is what happens to Pelfrey, and consequently, hitters sit on that fastball and he gets crushed.

The physical tools are there, but he’s not thinking like a pitcher. He’s become a thrower, and far too often what he ends up throwing is batting practice.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

Last night was just another fundamentally poor exhibition by the Mets. Just miserable in all aspects. Pitching, situational hitting and defense.

“You can’t make those kinds of mistakes. It’s kind of embarrassing.” – Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

Kind of?

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

No player dominated American sport as Babe Ruth. He is, without question, the greatest player and athlete who ever lived. Nobody captured our imagination, and still does, the way Ruth did.

Ruth became the first player to hit 30, 40, 50 and 60 homers in a single season.

On this day in 1927, in the eighth inning of a game against the Washington Senators, Ruth slugged his 60th homer of the season off Tom Zachary.

Ruth is greeted by fans waving their hankerchiefs as he took his position in the ninth inning. That game featured an interesting footnote in that it marked Walter Johnson’s final appearance as a player. Johnson pinch-hit for Zachary and flied out to Ruth.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

Just another microcosm of the season in nine fitful innings. Mike Pelfrey pitched great at the start retiring the first seven hitters, but who didn’t have a nagging feeling he would implode?

Pelfrey blew a 3-0 lead as the Mets lost at Washington, with David Wright being robbed by Elijah Dukes for the final out. It’s way too easy to say that play cost the Mets as the night was another example of creative losing.

The Mets had the bases loaded with nobody out in the first and eighth innings and came away with one run. You should come away with more by accident. I’ve lost track of how many times the Mets have kicked away bases-loaded opportunities.

“We had some opportunities,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “That’s been the story of the season.”

Pelfrey, as usual, unraveled. He again had hitters sitting on his fastball, with this time Ian Desmond unloading for a homer in the fifth.

Defensively, Anderson Hernandez and Luis Castillo butchered double-play opportunities, which enabled the eventual winning run to score.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

Mike Pelfrey should get one more start after tonight, and it would be fitting one of the most disappointing Mets would start the final game of this most frustrating and disappointing season.

Pelfrey (10-12, 5.08 ERA) last faced the Nationals, Sept. 18 at Citi Field, and lost, giving up five runs in seven innings. He’s 1-2 in three starts with a 4.12 ERA against Washington this season.

Pelfrey seemed poised for a breakout year after taking a step forward last season, but regressed in so many ways in 2009. He unraveled and was prone to the big inning. He lost focus and concentration numerous times. He was inconsistent with his secondary pitches.

He was anything but a No. 2 starter. Actually, his record indicates he wasn’t even a No. 5 starter. Manager Jerry Manuel said Pelfrey is in next year’s rotation, but that’s because there’s nobody better to replace him with.

Here’s the line-up that will try to give him enough runs to dig Pelfrey out of whatever hole he puts himself into:

Angel Pagan, LF
Luis Castillo, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Carlos Beltran, CF
Daniel Murphy, 1B
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Brian Schneider, C
Wilson Valdez, SS
Mike Pelfrey, RP

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

One of the core wants to stay. Carlos Beltran, 32, who returned from the disabled list earlier this month in an attempt to salvage part of his season, said he wants to finish his career with the Mets and told his agent to approach the team for an extension after the season.

That would be Scott Boras, who prefers to test the FA market.

Beltran, although not a great crowd favorite, has more than done his job with the Mets. He’s been productive and played hurt. He’s also performed in the clutch and has been an All-Star, Gold Glover and Silver Slugger winner.

His best season, by far, was 2006, when he finished fourth in the MVP voting. Beltran tied a club record with 41 homers, including walk-offs against the Phillies and Cardinals. Beltran also homered three times in the NLCS against the Cardinals, but will always be remembered for taking a third strike from Adam Wainwright to end the series.

That strikeout could be why he’s never been as appreciated as he should be.

What I like about Beltran, is with the season over from a competitive standpoint, he worked hard to come back from the DLwhen it would have been easy to shut down.

“Why not?’’ Beltran said. “I don’t feel obligated. This is my job.’’

Beltran is at an age where an extension wouldn’t be a terrible idea, because by the end of his current deal he’d be 34, and still a productive player.

However, if the Mets do this, I see it happening after next season and not this year.

My thinking is the Mets should be wary because of Beltran’s injury history the past two years. In addition, the Mets have so many holes to fill that their attention will be elsewhere.

However, there’s another reason why I see the Mets waiting, and that’s because they really don’t know what direction they are heading. Do they need a tweaking or an overhaul?

The story of this season has been the injuries, and if they return healthy and productive next year, then a case can be made that the Mets are not as bad as they appear. In that case, they’d be wise to bring back Beltran.

Of course, that includes Beltran having a good and healthy season.

However, if the Mets continue their downward spiral, and Beltran has another off-year, then it would be time to start over.

I like Beltran, but I’m not extending him this winter. There are too many variables.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

There have been few players that could spin a quote like Rickey Henderson. A lot of times Henderson would be asked a question and ten minutes later he would complete his answer. However, there are other times when he would just nail it.

Like this one.

“I’m a legend. People aren’t going to forget about me. I mean, when people forget about me, baseball is over. I rewrote the book.’’ – Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson on his favorite topic, which, of course, is Rickey Henderson.

Despite being one of the greatest players of his era, Henderson made the rounds, playing for nine franchises, including four different stints with the Oakland Athletics, and two with San Diego.

Oakland Athletics (1979–1984)
New York Yankees (1985–1989)
Oakland Athletics (1989–1993)
Toronto Blue Jays (1993)
Oakland Athletics (1994–1995)
San Diego Padres (1996–1997)
Anaheim Angels (1997)
Oakland Athletics (1998)
New York Mets (1999–2000)
Seattle Mariners (2000)
San Diego Padres (2001)
Boston Red Sox (2002)
Los Angeles Dodgers (2003)

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

In 1991, Oakland’s Rickey Henderson hit safely in each of the first five innings, with singles in the first four innings and a homer in the fifth. Henderson also scored four runs and drove in four as the Athletics beat Texas, 19-5.

BOXSCORE

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09