Tag Archives: Chris Young

Aug 22

Mets Mailing It In?

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OK, I understand slumps and bad stretches. Nearly every team gets them. But, with less than 40 games remaining, they aren’t just mailing it in. Last night, they used FedEx.

Manager Terry Collins thought as much and ripped into his listless team after the game.

“We have not packed it in,” Collins insisted. “But, as I told our guys, ‘perception is reality.’ And when you sit on the outside and you watch a game like tonight, perception is, ‘they’ve packed it in.’ And I won’t stand for it.”

Collins even accepted some of the blame.

“I believe in accountability,” he said. “I believe in how you play the game right. I’m the manager here and you have a game like that, where it looks like they are not prepared, that’s my fault. That’s where I come in.”

These guys are major leaguers. They should know how to do the simple things, like covering the plate, which Bobby Parnell did not. There’s a right way and wrong way to play the game, and as professionals they don’t need a manager or coach to tell them.

Chris Young, who operates with a small margin for error to begin with, began it with a throwing error, the first of several defensive breakdowns.

Collins talked long about changing the culture of this franchise, and for awhile the Mets played alert, exciting baseball. At one time they were eight games over .500. A loss tonight and they are ten games under.

I really thought with series against Colorado and Houston the Mets still had a chance at .500. No more. They are kicking that away. They could be in the cellar by the end of the weekend.

I don’t expect much, but I do expect effort and playing the right way. The least they could do is head into winter with us feeling good about them and their season. It isn’t looking that way.

Aug 09

Mets Embarrassed At Home; Should Invite Everybody Back

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 Do you remember Terry Collins’ passionate speech about showing a different team and not being embarrassed? Seems so long ago. Maybe he needs to que up the Knute Rockne music for an encore.
The Mets came out of the break five games over .500 and after last night’s 13-0 rout are five games under. They’ve lost nine straight at home, with only 26,000 bothering to show up to witness last night. Chris Young, coming off a strong outing against San Francisco – where the Mets may have left both their hearts and game – gave up seven runs in just 4.1 innings.
“When you get beat like this tonight, it’s one of those games, you just check it off the calendar and get ready for tomorrow,” said Collins, speaking in a classic managerial cliche.
Hell, last night unfolded as if the Mets checked it off after batting practice. Maybe saying that is piling on, I don’t know. What I do know is the team is about to face the Braves, Reds and Nationals.
The Mets talked about showing up, but that’s not enough. All the goodwill from the first half has been eroded as they are 2.5 games out of the cellar. Want to bet Miami and the Phillies will eventually catch them?
During the dog days at Shea when the team was playing poorly the paltry crowds were embarrassing to see in that cavernous ball park. Citi Field is getting that ghost town look, too. As a gesture of thanks to their disappointed fan base, the Mets ought to invite those people who watched last night’s carnage to show their ticket stub and come back again.
There’s plenty of room in Citi Field and it demonstrates goodwill. Actually, there’s no good reason not to do it.
Aug 02

Mets Considering Juggling Rotation

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Mets manager Terry Collins confirmed on his weekly radio show he’s contemplating using R.A. Dickey on short rest, which would enable Johan Santana and Chris Young to get more rest.

Sounds plausible, but we don’t know what toll, if any, this would have on Dickey. He does throw a knuckleball, but but it isn’t a conventional knuckler.

Another thing the Mets are throwing against the wall to see if it will stick is limiting Jon Niese’s innings similar to what Washington is thinking about with Stephen Strasburg. Niese ended recent seasons on the mend so it isn’t a bad idea, especially if the Mets are out of it.

 

 

 

Jul 23

Mets Should Have Short Leash With Young

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How long will Chris Young last tonight before things unravel? Whether it is the fifth, sixth or seventh inning – anything later is a pipe dream – it really doesn’t matter because the third time through the order is when he loses it.

There’s a few ways around it. The first is to give him 18 outs then pull him regardless. The second, and the most prudent, is to give the 18 outs PLUS the first runner. Once somebody gets on pull him because this is when things unravel.

Against the Nationals last week it was an infield hit then a homer. Just like that, the momentum shifted. I realize the Mets have no bullpen to speak of so Terry Collins can be understood for wanting to stay out of it.

But, staying with Young isn’t a great idea, either.

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Ruben Tejada, ss
Jordany Valdespin, rf
David Wright, 3b
Ike Davis, 1b
Daniel Murphy, 2b
Jason Bay, lf
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, cf
Josh Thole, c
Chris Young, rhp

Jul 18

Mets Fall To Nats; Chris Young Has Late Inning Trouble Again

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There it was, the sixth inning and Chris Young was cruising. We have been here before. It is the third time around the order when Young loses it. Trouble is, it happens so quickly. An infield hit and a couple of batters later, Adam LaRoche homered with two strikes.

You’d take two runs over six innings every time from Young, but it would help if the offense scored. Home runs in the ninth from David Wright and Jason Bay were cosmetic more than anything.

There are two ways to avoid the late-inning Young woes. The first is to pull him out after five regardless. The second is to pull him once a runner gets on. Trouble is, with what the Mets have in the pen, you’re talking rock and hard place.

And, all this came after a team meeting in which Terry Collins wanted to salve the Mets’ growing wounds, which is now in the form of a six-game losing streak, their longest of the season.

The Mets aren’t pitching well, at least not in the pen and recently from R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana. They aren’t hitting. I wrote yesterday how the Mets were on the edge and their season was on the verge of slipping away. Nothing has changed and there aren’t any signs of things getting better.

One thing Collins told his players that if change was to come it was to be from within. There’s no promises of adding relief pitching or a right-handed bat. It could happen, but Collins said not to count on it.

In saying so, he said count on this summer slipping away.