The Mets will try to avoid the sweep this afternoon as they play their third straight day game at Wrigley (4th straight day game overall). They started this four game stretch trying to avoid the sweep from the Marlins which they were able to do, and now they will try to do it again today. Trying to lead the sweep will be Carlos Zambrano and he will duel with the Mets' Nelson Figueroa.

Figuroa is 1-3 on the season with a 5.40 ERA over 25.0 innings. In his last three games he is 0-3 over 8.1 innings with a 3.24 ERA. He played against the Cubs twice last season and pitched 6.0 innings, allowed 4 ER, walked 5 and struck out 4. He gets another chance to impress the Mets coaching staff today. Here are the Cubs stats against him:
    Lee 1-12, HR
    Ramirez 4-9, HR
    Fukudome 2-2
    Zambrano 1-4, 2B
Not a lot of Cubs have seen him (which has been a common trend for Mets starters vs the Cubs this week) and hopefully Figueroa will take advantage of that by mixing his pitches (more mixing later in the game) and keeping the Cubs off the bases. He will of course need and welcome any run support the Mets can give him.

The Mets draw Zambrano for the season finale. In his first start back this month he lasted 4.1 innings while allowing 7 hits, 8 ER, 3 BB and 4 K. (Hopefully the Mets will also be able to take advantage of this). On the season he is 7-5 with a 3.80 ERA over 128.0 innings pitched. Last season he pitched two games against the Mets where he was 1-0 over 11.2 innings of work and had a 4.63 ERA. Here are some Mets stats against him:
    Castillo 6-12, 7 BB
    Francoeur 4-17, 2B, 2 HR
    Sheff 3-8, 2B
    Sullivan 2-3
    Murphy 0-2
The Mets offense was clicking early in yesterday's game but as the Cubs piled on the runs the Mets started to shut off, hopefully the Mets offense will be on cylinders again today as they try to avoid the sweep, get the win, and score some runs. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Cubs!

The Mets play the second game of set against the Cubs this afternoon as they try to bounce back from their tough loss yesterday afternoon. In today's game, the Mets will be sending Parnell to the mound who is 3-6 on the year with a 5.08 ERA over 62.0 innings pitched. In his last three games he is 1-2 over 14 IP where he has given up 14 ER (which is mostly due to his last two starts). He faced the Cubs in 2008 for 3.0 innings where he allowed 1 ER, BB, and struck out 2. Here are some Cub stats against him:
     Lee 0-2
     Ramierez 0-1
     Soriano 0-1
     Theriot 1-1
Parnell has struggled in his last two starts but he has had a good season so far (and sadly the last two starts blew up his ERA) so hopefully he can rebound a bit today. He is a big reason why to watch the game today because with the mystery surrounding the roster next year he really could fit into any part of this pitching staff.

The Mets will face a player they have beat up on in the past today in the form of Dempster who 7-7 this season with a 4.07 ERA over 143.2 innings. In his last three games he is 1-2 over 21.0 innings and has a 4.29 ERA. In 2007 against the Mets he allowed 10 ER in only 2.1 innings giving him an 0-2 record that year. Here are the Mets stats against him:
     Sheff 6-18, 2B, 3B
     Tatis 2-13
     Francoeur 3-9, 2 2B
As you can see, the players that have beat up on him in the past are not with the team currently so lets hope that Dempster has a mental block against any player in a Mets uniform. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Cubs!

The Mets look to build off of the offense show yesterday by taking the first game from the Cubs today. For the Mets, Misch will get his first start of the season and first ever as a New York Met. So far this season he is 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA over 22.0 innings pitched and since he has joined the Mets he is 0-1 over 18.2 innings pitched and has a 2.89 ERA. In his last three games he has allowed 3 earned runs over 5.2 innings of work. Not many Cubs have seen him, and the one's he has faced have limited appearances against him:
     Baker 0-3
     Theriot 0-2
     Soriano 0-1
He looked ineffective two games ago against the Phils, but in his last game he was much more effective against the Phils, so hopefully he will be able to handle this Cubs lineup today. 

The Mets batters will be facing Ted Lilly today who is 9-8 on hte season with a 3.40 ERA over 135.0 innings pitched. In his last two games since returning, he has pitched 12.0 innings to the tune of an 0-2 record with a 1.50 ERA (tough luck right there, but worse luck can be found on the Mets). His last start against the Mets was in 2008 where he pitched 6.0 innings, got the win an allowed one earned run on 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Here are some Mets stats against him:
     Castillo 4-12, 2B
     Francoeur 3-12
     Reed 2-4, 3B
     Pagan 1-3, 2B
     Sullivan 2-3
Hopefully the Mets can carry over their ability to hit from yesterday's 17 hit extravaganza and bring some hurtin into Chicago. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Cubs!

In a week that has already seen Santana go down on injury, Putz go down on injury, Wagner be traded, Perez go down on injury and the Yankees blocking the portion of the Wagner trade that helps the Mets, something else arises from depths and this time it links all the way back to Madoff. According to an author on the Madoff scandal, and also seen on Metsblog, there are rumors starting to surface that Wilpon will be forced to sell some high percentage of the share of the Mets in order to recoop his losses. Now this entire situation is very unsure but now other rumors are starting to pop up that Wilpon has quietly been shoping a 40% stake, so that he is still in control of the Mets franchise.

On the fan side of this, this could be bad or could be good. Wilpon bought the Mets in 1980 and was a big reason why they won in 1986 as he put together a good front office. We thought that he did this again in 2005 when he put together the Mets new front office and they were successful, but now they might not be and now the Mets from top to bottom have deleveloped this mental problem where they hold on to their gusy for too long. Whether that "guy" is a player or a manager, they just don't let them go and this could develop into a serious problem.

So when I first heard this story today my first thought was "great, another day, another problem with the Mets" but as I sat down and thought about it, I am not sure right now. Maybe this is a blessing in desguise. Maybe the Mets need a shake up from top down to just start over anew. Or maybe, we just need a distraction while everyone rehabs.

The Mets try to avoid the three game sweep this afternoon as they take on the Marlins in a 1:10 game down in Florida. The Mets will be sending Tim Redding to mound to make his second start since rejoining the rotation. He is 1-4 on the season with a 6.10 ERA over 76.2 innings and in his last three outings he is 0-0 over 9.0 innings and 6 ER. However in his last outing he went 5.0 innings and only allowed 1 hit, no runs, walked three and struck out 4, only to have the bullpen take away all of his work in the sixth. He has one game against the Marlins this year where he pitched 4.0 innings and allowed 7 ER (picking up the loss in that process). Here are some Marlin stats against Redding:
     Helms 6-23, 2 HR
     Ramierez 8-16, 3 2B, 3 HR
     Hermida 10-17, 4 2B, HR
     Uggla 1-13
     Ross 2-11
It would be great to see if Redding can build off of that last start and continue to have success out on the mound. Look for him to have a higher pitch count this game as he rebuilds his arm strength for long outings. And of course, it would be nice if the Mets could score some runs for Mr. Redding.

To do that they will need to tee off of Sanchez who is 2-4 on the season with a 4.97 ERA over 41.2 innings. His last start was his first game apparence since June and he got the win in 6.0 innings of work allowing one ER, 2 BB and striking out 7. He has pitched twice against the Mets this year with a 0-1 record over 11 IP and a 4.91 ERA. Here are some Mets stats against him:
    Schneider 2-17
    Francoeur 3-15
    Murphy 2-4, 3B
    Santos 1-3
Murphy had a nice night at the plate last night going 2-4  while picking up his 26th double of the season. Lets go Mets! Avoid the sweep! Fry the Fish!

The Mets try to get past last night's poor showing of offense against the Marlins by going up against a pitcher who really knows how to handle the Mets. That's right folks, tonight the Mets draw Josh Johnson. This season Josh is 12-3 with a 2.99 ERA over 165.2 innings pitched and in his last three games he is 2-1 with 17.2 innings pitched and a 3.06 ERA. Against the Mets this season he is 2-0 over 22.0 innings and has a 2.45 ERA. Here are what the remaining Mets have been able to do against him:
     Francoeur 7-19
     Murphy 2-11, 2B
     Schneider 3-12
     Tatis 5-9
     Castillo 2-6
Francoeur hit a couple of screaming doubles last night and he has success agianst Johnson meaning that the Mets will be pinning a lot of their offense hopes on Jeff tonight. If the Mets hit like they did last night (and I am talking about with runners in scoring position) then they are going to need Pelfrey to pick up a lot of the slack.

Pelfrey is 9-8 on the seaosn with a 140.2 innings pitched and has a 4.67 ERA. In his last three starts he is 1-1 over 19.1 innings and has a 4.19 ERA. He has made one start against the Marlins this year where he has pitched 7.2 innings, allowed one earned run, walked one and struck out 6. Here are some Marlins stats against Pelfrey:
     Ramierez 4-23, HR
     Uggla 7-21, 4 2B
     Hermida 4-14, 3B
     Cantu 6-16, 3 2B
     Ross 5-14
In past seasons the fish have really giving Mike some trouble. The Mets could use him tonight to repeat his last start against them and keep the runners at bay so the Mets can finally get into the win column again. Lets Go Mets! Fry the Fish!

First off, I have no idea how many parts this article will run, probably a zillion because the Mets will make a bunch of small moves that go with this plan and against this plan but anyway here we go. Somehow over the season the Mets raised their payroll up to 150 million and the first step for next year is at least bringing it down a little (and to free up money for future contracts). This is going to be easier thanks to the trading of Wagner who already knocks off about 7 million. Then there is Delgado, who we shouldn't bring back, and this year (the last year on his contract) he was getting 12. Finally there is Putz who next year he would get 8.6 million (on this payroll he is getting 5). All in all that means the Mets are getting about 27.6 million back.

What do we do on the field though. Lets start with Delgado. The Mets have a few solutions here. The first is to keep Murphy there and make him a first basemen. The other is to use Carter, who they just got in the trade with the Red Sox, and see how he does, moving Murphy back to left field (which takes care of another position mystery). Of course this gets a little tighter when the Mets want to use Fmart, who would fit in left while Murphy plays first.

When it comes to the pen, which is hit hardest in this scenario the Mets are going to probably hope that their starters are healthy and working again so they can put Parnell to a set up role. They might also be hoping for someone else to emerge from Spring Training like Parnell did this year. Look to see a lot of attention on players like Holt and Mejia because their success as possible starters will help keep the guys in the bullpen out of the rotation making both situations solid.

Now this is only one way though that the future could unfold, it really depends on which the Mets decide to do build. 

The Mets start a three game set with the Marlins tonight and they will try to play with their new uniforms made entirely from bubble wrap. They have also been blessed by leaders of just about every religion on Earth. On a serious note; Figueroa gets the start tonight for Santana who will have surgery to clean out the bone chips in his elbow in order to be ready to pitch by next spring. Anyway Figueroa is 1-2 on the season with a 6.30 ERA over 20 innings pitched. In his last three games he has pitched 5.1 innings, has a 6.75 ERA, has walked three and struck out two. In two games agaisnt the Marlins last season he pitched 2 scoreless, hitless innings with two strikeouts. Here are some Marlins stats against Nelson:
     Johsnon 2-5
     Helms 0-2
     Ross 0-2
     Cantu 0-1
Between Santana being out and the health of Perez in question, Figueroa looks to have a few chances not to prove what he's got. This is a great opportunity for hima nd hopefully he takes advantage of it.

On the other side of the rubber, West looks to face the Mets for the second time this season. He is 4-5 this year with a 4.70 ERA over 69.0 innings pitched. In his last three games he is 1-1 over 14.0 innings and has a 3.86 ERA. His last time agianst the Mets he pitched 7 innings and allowed one run, one walk and one strikeout. Here are the Mets stats against him:
     Castillo 1-2
     Pagan 0-3
     Santos 1-3, HR
     Sheff 0-3
     Tatis 0-3
Hopefully the Mets offense will able to put some runs together like they were able to do a few times in the last several games (for example scoring in a bunch of bunches on Sunday). Like Figueroa, this is a great time for players like Murphy, Hernandez and Pagan to show their stuff.  Lets Go Mets!

The Mets traded Wagner today to the Red Sox for two players to be named later and as part of the trade, the Red Sox agreed to not activate Wagner's option for next season but retain the right to offer arbitration for two first round picks.

Before we even can get to how this impacts the Mets next season and for future seasons, lets first reflect on how wild the last two days have been. The Red Sox and Mets have wanted to make the deal and all they were waiting for was Wagner to waive his no trade clause which he didn't want for a variety of reasons including (first) a contemplation of retirement due to the stress that baseball puts on his family and (then) because he wanted to be healthy next season and didn't want to pitch in high stress situations.

All of a sudden, he waives his no trade clause going back to his original statement days ago that it would be nice to pitch for a winner.

This is surprising because out of all of the players on the Mets roster, I never expected Wagner to be the flip flopper because he always seemed to be a voice of reason and consistency.

Anyway the reason I'm worried is I want to make sure we at least got prospects that are decent for Wagner. Chances are that Wagner would not have taken arbritation from the Mets next year meaning the Mets would get two additional first round picks which would be ncie considering we had none in this last draft. Therefore we could have just basically done a salary dump. If these guys are decent though, then this is a good move. However, what will really determine how effective this move is is what the Mets do with the rest of the offseason. This salary dump is worthless unless the Mets do another one (or two). This is mainly directed at Delgado. I'm pretty sure the Mets have an option for next season and they should not activate it. Let him walk and keep Murphy at first to really free up some money. (Now offering arb is tricky because its very possible Delgado will take it but this is a topic of coversation for another post).

The Mets and the Phillies finish their four game set this afternoon as the Mets try to win one and split the set. To do that though, they will have do something that no National League team has been able to do yet this season which is to get the best of Cliff Lee. Cliff Lee was well above average before he came to the Phils but since he has arrived he has elevated his game to a new level. Cliff Lee will also have to do something today that he has never done in his life which is face the New York Mets. This season Lee is 11-9 with a 2.72 ERA over 185.0 Innings pitched. However in the four games he has pitched for Philly he is 4-0 over 33.0 innings and has a 0.82 ERA. Here are the stats for the only three Mets to ever face Lee:
     Sheff 4-16
     Castillo 4-14, 2 2B
     Reed 1-5, 2B
For the most part yesterday, the Mets really fought as they tried to score runs in small bunches. They are going to have to be pesky again today to beat Lee. They need to get runners on and move them over then move them in. It would also help if the Mets can get some reliable starting pitching.

Parnell did not have a good start his last time out, however it was still one of his first starts and it was against a very good offensive club.Well he gets another chance against a good offensive club today as he battles the Phillies. There shouldn't be any pressure as Perez yesterday was just terrible. Anyway Parnell is 3-5 on the year with a 4.74 ERA over 57.0 innings pitched and in his last three games he is 1-2 with 11.1 innings and 11 ER (mostly due to the 8 ER from his last start). Against the Phils this year he is 0-2 over 6 games and 5.1 innings with 2 ER, 2 BB and 3K. Here are some Phillies stats against him:
     Feliz 2-4
     Rollins 0-2
     Werth 1-2
     Dobbs 0-2
     Victorino 1-2
Lets hold them with pitching! Lets fight back with hitting! Lets Go Mets!

The Mets will take on the Phillies tonight in a great game at Citi Field. The game will be started off with an on field ceremony honoring the 40th anniversary of the miracle Mets that brought a World Series championship back to the National League Fans of New York. When the actual game starts it will feature Happ of the Phils, who has been wonderful this year and he will be going against Redding who has just recently returned to the rotation for Livan Hernandez.

Happ on the year is 9-2 with a 2.66 ERA over 128.2 innings pitched. In his last three games he has a 2-0 record over 22.2 innings pitched and a 1.19 ERA including a complete game shutout. He has pitched against the Mets three times this season with one start with totals to 11.0 innings pitched and a 3.27 ERA. Here are some stats the Mets have against Happ:
     Francoeur 2-9
     Castillo 0-5
     Tatis 1-3, 2B
     Santos 0-3
     Murphy 0-1
The Mets got a quick 4 runs yesterday and that was all they needed to win. If the Mets can score early (and often) again then they should be able to get enough run support to help out Redding.

In order for that plan to work though, Redding has to be effective. On the season he is 1-4 with a 6.53 ERA over 71.2 innings. In his last three games he has pitched 6 innings and has allowed 6 runs (yes folks thats a 9.00 ERA). He made one start against the Phils this year he pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 runs. Here are some stats the Phils have against Redding:
     Rollins 6-35
     Howard 3-24
     Utley 9-21, 2 HR
     Victorino 6-19
     Feliz 7-19, HR
If Redding can be effective and the Mets can hit tonight then well the Mets should win. If the Mets of 69 can rub off some magic on the Mets tonight! Lets go Mets! Take the series!


And now for tomorrow's game. I will be traveling to NJ/NY tonight so I will not be around a computer to write up tomorrow's preview and the resaon is because I will be attending tomorrow's game (my first trip to Citi, and I am very excited!). Anyway the big thing you need to know about the game tomorrow is Pedro will be returning to New York and so far with the Phillies he has been effective as a starter. Now the last time he returned to a former team was when he started in Fenway as a Met and we all know how badly that went for the Mets, so here is hoping that happens tomorrow. Lets not give him a rude homecoming, but we should bust the party!.

Seriously, you might have no umpiring experience and no baseball experience, and you might still do a better job than the umpires have done this year. Now I am generally never critical of umpires for a good reason. I am a referee. I was a soccer ref in college last fall for a few intramural leagues and during the summer I ref and umpire pretty much all sports at a summer camp (something I have been doing for 9 years now). So I understand how rough the job and how much pressure there is to make the right call. I know that mistakes happen and that refs and umps have to keep on trucking.

That being said it seems like this year they have been terrible and I think last night could have been the last straw. I understand that the ump has no way to see that play because of where the Phillie body is. However if is standing one foot to either side of where he was, he would see that Francoeur avoided the tag by at least a foot. The umpire/referee's main job is to have a clear line of sight of the play, if the line of sight doesn't exist, then they must move to a clear line of sight. It is that simple. So lets get it together major league baseball and learn how to ump because this season has just been bad, real bad.

The Mets open a three game set with the Phillies tonight as the two starting pitchers have so many statistically similarities that its scary. The pitchers tonight are Hamels for the Phils and Pelfrey for the Mets. Hamels is 7-7 this season. Pelfrey is 8-8. Hamels has a 4.69 ERA on the season. Pelfrey has a 4.75 ERA on the season. Hamels has recored 134.1 innings. Pelfrey has recorded 134.2 innings. It should be really interesting to see how these pitchers do tonight as Pelfrey will have to handle a very hungry Phillies lineup and Hamels will have to handle the B and C squad of the New York Mets.

Hamels has pitched 16.1 innings over his last three games to the tune of an 0-2 record and a 6.61 ERA. He has made one start against the Mets this year where he lasted 5 innings and 4 ER. The remaining Mets do not have great histories against Hamels with Francoeur at 7-35, Schneider 4-12, Pagan 2-11, Castillo 2-6, Tatis 0-6, and Pelfrey 2-3, 2B. Yes thats right folks. The only player that can play for the Mets tonight that has an extrabase hit against Hamels is Pelfrey.

Pelfrey is 0-2 over his last three games over 18.1 innings and has a 3.93 ERA. Against the Phillies this year he has pitched three games with a 2-0 record and a 3.93 ERA. The Phillies over their carears have some hitting experience against Pelfrey and the Mets:
     Howard 6-17
     Utley 5-18
     Victorino 4-17
     Werth 5-14
     Dobbs 6-11
Its Irish night tonight at Citi Field so beat them down Murphy! Lets Go Mets! Beat the Phillies!

If you didn't see the game last night, and you have been looking over the blogosphere about news from last night's game, then you probably have seen just about everybody saying the same thing. That we all have not been happier with the Mets in months. Now that sounds really confusing, the Mets lost 3-2 and left a lot of men on base (again). Why are we so happy then?

Listen to Enter Sandman and you will know. After being out for around a year and 11 months after Tommy John, Wagner came back to New York and in a big way. He got a standing ovation running out on the field and then he pitched. First batter, strike out. Got the second batter out. Then the third batter strike out. His slider looked good and his fastball looked fantastic as it approached 96 mph. He left the field to another standard ovation.

It was a great moment on the season as the Wagner represented a come back story and a player the Mets would love to have back around. One has to think about how JJ feels now, especially considering he is the next pitcher due back. Now of course all of the trade rumors will start. Will Wagner stay, will he go. Will the Mets keep him and unload JJ? What will the role of the three closers be next year? While this is all important talk, lets hold off on it for a little bit, and remember how special last night was.

The Mets and Braves play the rubber game of the three game set tonight. The series has been defined so far by 8 run innings. In the first game, the Mets were down 4-0 before an 8 run 4th put them in the lead for good. Last night, the game was 0-0 and then in the second the Braves had their own 8 run inning as they went on to beat the Mets by a whopping score of 15-2. Johan Santana and Kawakami will try to show both clubs tonight that Baseball is supposed to have low scores as they each take the mound.

Santana (13-8) has a 3.10 ERA over 159.2 innings on the season and in his last three games he has been a work horse pitching 22.2 innings with a 1-0 record and a 3.97 ERA. This season he has been excellent against the Braves with a 1-1 record over 13.1 innings in two games where he has given up 0 earned runs. Here are some stats the Braves have on him:
     Anderson 7-26
     Infante 2-24
     Diaz 11-20
     Escobar 5-15
     LaRoche 1-7
     Church 1-5
The Mets pitching staff as of late has shown very little consistency. It would for Santana to start to close the season strong (just like how he started it). He will of course need something that he lacked at the start of the season and that is run support.

The Mets bats after scoring 9 runs went back to a silent state last night as they drove in two runs. They will need to fivure out Kawakami tonight who is 5-9 on the season with a 4.13 ERA over 124.1 innings pitched. In his last three games he is 0-1 with 19.1 innings logged, a 2.79 ERA and has walked 3 while striking out 9. Against the Mets this year he is 0-2 over 11.2 innings but has a nice 3.09 ERA. Here are the numbers the Mets have against him this season:
     Castillo 1-5
     Murphy 1-5
     Pagan 2-3
     Francoeur 1-3
It would be very nice to take a series from the Braves and frustrate their playoff hopes and also to help us to climb back to .500. Lets Go Mets! Take a Series from the Braves!

The Phillies have released their next set of probable pitchers and Pedro will be making a start in Citi on Sunday. The question now is what is the feeling in Queens going to be. Pedro is always an event and as Mets fans we love Pedro. As Mets fans, we do not love the Phillies. Its a key weekend series (or so it seemed "key" months ago) so its sold out (there is also a great giveaway of a model of Citi that day). As a side note, its also Jewish Heritage day.

And I am going to be there to. (My first trip to Citi).

So its only Thursday and the question is what is the reaction going to be. There are so many story lines going into the game. Personally I feel its going to be a confusing day. There are going to be a sizable amount of Phillies fans and we are going to want and probably will boo the Phils. But at the same time we are pretty much out of, at least, the division race and its the return of an old friend in Pedro. Of course he will be dressed in the garbs of the enemy.

Since returning to the majors this year Pedro has been effective and has mashed well with the pitching staff of the Phillies (and has cracked one or two jokes about himself and his age).

I don't know what brought this on. Maybe because I've been living in the mountains for the last 9 weeks with very little access to the "real world". Or maybe this has been building for a while. Or maybe this comes from the commercials I've been seeing every inning tonight on MLBTV but I am starting to reach a point where I can't take the merchandise.

Its weird because all of the "this call to the bullpen is brought you by" does not bother me. In fact, I like it. It shows some culture from other aspects of life bonding with Baseball. If I watched the telecast 30 years from now, I feel like I could learn somethings about American culture and American life. The problems I am having is with MLB's promotion of itself (so maybe the title of this article is misleading). All of the mlb.com shop commercials are unnecessary. Part of that is the products are not needed. These commercials would not be so bad if it wasn't for that they make you feel that you need the product to be a fan.

Now I am not a sucker, so I am not going to be get drawn into buying a Mets Lamp to show my fanship (although I do have a lot Mets related items). These commercials are just getting a little obnoxious. These feelings get compounded with the NFL versions that have the mouse clicking through the items and then a voice yells "I want that".  (The MLB shop commercial is nearly identical, just without that voice).

Writing this is not going to change anything though. Writing to them is not going to change anything. Its not like I can't live with it either. Its just an annoying fact about baseball. (Also, I would not even be thinking about this right now if the Mets were not currently losing 9 to 1).

The Mets take on the Braves in the second game of the set tonight behind starter Bobby Parnell. This is a big start for Parnell as he will probably get a higher pitch count tonight (predicted to be about 100 pitches), face a tougher lineup and do this all against a big divisional rival. On the season, he is 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA over 54.0 innings. In his last two starts he has a 1-1 record over 8.1 innings and a 2.16 ERA. He has pitched in 6 games against the Braves this year totalling 4 innings of work where he has allowed 5 hits and no earned runs. Here are some Braves hitting stats against Parnell:
     Norton 0-2
     Prado 2-4
     Escobar 1-3
     Infante 1-2
Parnell is basically the story to watch tonight and provides a reason to watch the game (other than watching the game because its the Mets and its a great way to spend an evening). He's young, he brings hope and he is fun to root for. Also, the Braves bats have been frustrated since the Mets 8 run output yesterday in one inning. Here's hoping that Parnell can keep that frustration going tonight.

In the other dugout, Jurrjens will be getting the nod tonight as he brings his 9-8 record, 2.99 ERA and 150 innings pitched this season into Citi tonight. In his last three games he has an 0-1 record over 16.1 innings and a 5.51 ERA (and these three games where against tough offense clubs: the Dodgers twice and the Phillies). Against the Mets this year he has a 1-0 record in two games, 13.2 innings, and an 1.32 ERA. Here are some stats the Mets have on Jurrjens:
     Castillo 1-7
     Murphy 1-7
     Pagan 0-6
     Reed 2-5
     Tatis 2-6
Yikes. Those numbers are not particularly great. The Mets offense went hit happy last night as they tallied 17 hits in the game and 9 runs (and ten hits and 8 runs in the same inning). Lets keep that hitting going tonight! Lets Go Mets!

The Mets finally reached an agreement with their second round pick from this years draft (which was their first pick overall), Steven Matz, basically just before the deadline. It seems the contract will pay Matz over 400K than is normal for that slot (which normally I would be slightly upset about but the Orioles just signed a few later round picks, like one player from the 10th and the 11th round for nearly a million dollars, so by comparison this is fine).

Matz is intrigiuing for a few reasons. First, he is young as he just graduated high school in Long Island. Second, he is from Long Island and his family and himself are all long time Mets fans. It is always nice having young players enter the system as Mets fans (think David Wright). This leads to another sense of optimism and pride for that player when he is on the field. Matz is really intriguing though because of his stuff. At his age his fastball is topping 94 mph and has a curveball and changeup well along in development. Criticism for him comes from his violent delivery which I'm sure will be looked at and talked about if the Mets orginzation thinks its going to be harmful for his career.

In a season where the Mets need as much optimism as they can get, prospects seem to be a great source of it. Lets Go Mets!

This season has offered many twists and turns thanks to the injuries to both the major league roster and some of the minor league rosters but one twist that I did not see coming at all this season would be the return of Anderson Hernandez. Lets take a little trip back in time to remember what Hernandez meant for the Mets. When he first started out he was pretty exciting.We got him in a 2005 trade from the Tigers for Vance Wilson. He was young, fast, and he could hit (debatable). Second base was a position that haunted Mets fans at that point since Reyes tried it out and got injured. We had Valetine and then it seemed we had a whole bunch of people before we got to Castillo.

Hernandez brought a lot of hope with him because of his winter ball. For several winter seasons he hit like he was the Ted Williams of winter ball. During the offseason when there are no new stats, his became something to watch and something to get excited about for next season. Well time and time again when the Mets used him in the regular season, he forgot how to hit and he started to become not just a disappointment but an enigma. Why can he hit so much better in winter ball than in regular season ball?

Well on August 20, 2008 the Mets office made a trade that sent the up and down Hernandez to the Nationals for Luis Ayala (The trade wasn't really made then, it was 8/20 when the Mets sent over Hernandez to complete the trade as a player to be named later). He played in the majors for the first time that year and he hit .333 in 81 bats. So far this year he is hitting .251. Both of these are the best that he has ever done in a season so far (with the Mets he hit .053 in a season and .153 and then in 07 he went 1-3 for the season).

Thus we start the next Anderson Hernandez chapter in a season that has seen a lot of strange things already.