We are just about one month away from Spring Training in Major League Baseball. Pitchers and Catchers, then the regulars, and then Spring Training Games, and then OPENING DAY IS HERE! We cannot wait. How are the Mets going to be? Is Reyes going to put up huge numbers! Go Reyes! Go Mets!
So now that December is here, we are just 2.5 months from Spring Training. Thank goodness huh? With the offeseason here at www.josereyesclub.com , what would you the fan like to see? What do you guys that show up day by day want to read/talk about here? Comment to this thread and let us know, and we would love to keep the Reyes fever alive!
Eighty-nine wins, seventy-three losses.
That was the 2008 record for both the Mets and Yankees. Not horrible, but not nearly good enough under the microscope that is the New York sports scene. And not good enough to actually play October baseball. What does 2009 have in store for the Big Apple baseballers?
The good
For the Mets: There is plenty of talent at key positions. Start with ace Johan Santana on the mound, move to Carlos Beltran roaming center field and shift to the left side of the infield with shortstop Jose Reyes and third baseman David Wright. Those players are all in the prime of their careers. Young starter Mike Pelfrey showed he belonged near the top of a major-league rotation, too. And there is money available to lure the free agents who could fill their needs in the rotation (Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett), in the outfield (Manny Ramirez) and at closer (Francisco Rodriguez, Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes).
For the Yankees: Money, money, money. The Yankees have tons of it with the opening of their new stadium, and they won’t rest until they’ve given lots and lots of big paychecks to baseball’s brightest stars. They’ve already made what is rumored to be the largest offer ever to a free-agent pitcher (CC Sabathia) and they’ll go hard after starters A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, too. And they have their sights set on a couple of free-agent hitters you might have heard of—Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez. The 2009 team shouldn’t look much like the 2008 version.
The bad
For the Mets: For two years in a row, the Mets have blown sizable leads late in the season. For the most part, the talent that will be there in 2009 was there in 2008, and it didn’t do much good (despite the Herculean efforts of Santana down the stretch). Some teams find a way to win; the Mets have found new and creative ways to lose games the past two Septembers. That’s not an easy funk to shake.
For the Yankees: The 2008 Yankees were a flawed team. There wasn’t any depth in the rotation, which showed when ace Chien-Ming Wang and then Joba Chamberlain went down with injuries (nothing in the preseason blueprints had Darrell Rasner making 20 starts). The offense struggled to find any type of consistency. And, though the Yankees have the money to spend, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll rope in the free agents they’re targeting. Sabathia, for one, has made his desire to play on the West Coast clear. If money isn’t everything for CC and others, the Yankees could be wanting next spring.
The primary hurdle
For the Mets: First, there’s the mental apprehension that is sure to arise in the Mets’ clubhouse as the schedule rolls into the final few weeks of the regular season. And then there are the reigning World Series champion Phillies, a team that for the past two seasons has done what the Mets have found impossible—win tough games down the stretch. The division-rival Phillies will bring back their core of players for 2009, and they have the most important intangible of all—confidence—resting squarely in their corner.
For the Yankees: Even after watching the Rays steamroll through the American League en route to a World Series berth, it might be tough for some Yankees fans to count the Rays as a serious threat. After all, they were just an upstart team that took advantage of a down season by the Bronx Bombers, right? Wrong. The Rays aren’t going anywhere. In fact, chances are they’ll be better in 2009 if they can stay away from the injuries that hounded them in 2008, especially late in the season. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see three A.L. East teams finish with more than 92 wins. Earning a playoff berth in that division will be brutal.
The verdict
The Yankees will be the better team, but the Mets have a better shot at making the postseason.
The New York Mets, winners of nine straight before the All Star break, and only 0.5 game out of first place will take on the Cincinnati Reds tonight in Cincinnati.
The Mets will throw Johan Santana tonight. Santana is 8-7 overall, with an ERA of 2.84. His last start on July 9th, Santana was a winner, going 5 innings and only allowing 3 hits. Santana went 6 innings last time he faced the Reds and came away with a win. He is 1-0 career against the Reds.
For the Reds, youngster Johnny Cueto will take the hill. Cueto is 7-9 with a 4.67 era. In his last start against the Mets, he went 4.1 innings, allowing 8 hits and 6 runs in a loss. He is 0-1 career against the Mets. Cueto is 2-1 in his last three starts.
Jose Reyes is 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base against Cueto.
Stay hot Mets, let’s go for 10 in a row tonight!
As the Mets have won 9 straight games, and closed in, on the NL East race, after a rocky start, Jose Reyes has also heated up for the Mets. Let’s take a look at Reyes first half stats, and expect a hot second half for Jose! Here are his stats to this point:
Jose Reyes and the New York Mets will look to salvage one game of the three game series, against the team with the worst record in Baseball- the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners come in with a record of 28-49 while the Mets are marred in a record of 37-39.
Miguel Batista will throw for the Mariners, he is 4-3 lifetime against the Mets. Reyes is a career .143 batter against Batista, 1-7.
John Maine pitches for the Mets. Maine is 7-5 on the year, and 3-1 at home. He has never faced Seattle!
Go Mets! And let’s see a few hits Jose!
Jerry Manuel’s first week as New York Mets manager mirrored the tenure of predecessor Willie Randolph—up and down, with some encouraging performances and a few letdowns.
And Manuel already seems frustrated by the Mets’ erratic play.
Raul Ibanez homered and drove in three runs, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey tossed seven sharp innings and the Seattle Mariners blew out New York 11-0 Tuesday night.
“Right now we’re just a bad offensive club, period,” Manuel said.
Richie Sexson had three RBIs and Kenji Johjima hit a two-run shot for Seattle, which took advantage of a shaky Oliver Perez to boost its AL-worst road record to 13-25. The Mariners also improved to 7-1 all-time against the Mets.
“Kenji, along with Richie, they’ve battled,” said manager Jim Riggleman, who took over the Mariners when John McLaren was fired Thursday. “They’ve had some tough times, but are swinging the bats better.”
Dickey (2-3) allowed six hits and struck out five to earn his first win as a starter since Sept. 18, 2005, for Texas against Seattle. He also improved to 2-11 in his last 19 starts.
Dickey said he talked to Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield on Monday night, and a little help from his fellow knuckleballer helped him lower his ERA from 5.77 to 4.79.
“I hope I can be consistent,” Dickey said. “I had a good knuckleball. I was able to take the spin off it, threw it for strikes.”
A little consistency is also the objective for New York, which absorbed its second consecutive loss since coming home from an eventful road trip. A couple of Mets lost their tempers, too, as Manuel and slugger Carlos Beltran were ejected.
Promoted from bench coach to replace the fired Randolph last week, Manuel said before the game that Perez was tough to figure out and cracked afterward that he was better than an in-game entertainment number involving fans dancing on the dugout. “That was about it,” the manager said.
“I’m definitely concerned about his struggles right now and we’re going to have to address it at some time,” Manuel said later. “We’ll have to seriously address it.”
Perez could skip a turn or be dropped from the rotation altogether, but Manuel declined to elaborate on the team’s plans.
Johjima, who entered with a .218 batting average, hit a 2-1 pitch from Perez into the visitors’ bullpen in left to give Seattle a 5-0 lead in the third inning. Johjima’s two-out drive was his third of the year and scored Sexson, who was aboard after a one-out single.
Perez (5-5) struck out Willie Bloomquist to get out of the inning, and the Shea Stadium crowd booed as the left-hander made his way to the dugout.
“Just a bad day,” he said.
Perez allowed six runs, five earned, and seven hits in five innings. He is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA in his last seven starts.
Sexson hit sacrifice flies in the first and sixth, then doubled in a run in the ninth. The big first baseman, who entered with a .210 average, went 2-for-3.
After taking consecutive called strikes to begin the fourth, Beltran started talking to plate umpire Brian Runge, who took off his mask and continued the dialogue before he brushed dirt off home plate. Manuel then came out and started arguing. Runge appeared to bump into the manager before throwing him out of the game.
“I thought he did step into me,” Manuel said. “I did not step into him but I felt that he stepped into me.”
Manuel walked to the bench as the crowd roared. Beltran continued the conversation and Runge quickly tossed him, too. An incensed Beltran then got in Runge’s face and had to be held back before Manuel came out to escort him to the dugout.
“He really bumped Jerry to get him an excuse to throw him out of the game,” Beltran said, “and I just let him know that that was weak, the move that he did, you know just being able to do that and he throws me out of the game.
“This is the first time that I’ve been so angry in my career.”
Runge declined comment after the game.
Mark Lowe replaced Dickey in the eighth and got six outs to complete the eight-hitter, Seattle’s fourth shutout this season. The Mets were blanked for the second time.
Seattle won consecutive road games for the first time since April 17-18 in Oakland.
“I think guys are going out there and playing hard, playing the game right,” Ibanez said. “The approach is better.”
New York played without All-Star third baseman David Wright, who got a rare day off. Wright was the only major leaguer to play every inning this season, though he made one start as a designated hitter.
The second game of the series between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners will take place tonight at Shea.
R.A. Dickey will be on the mound for Seattle. He is 1-3 with a 5.77 era during the season. He has fast the Mets once in his career, going 2.2 innings. Jose is 0-2 career against Dickey.
For the Mets, Oliver Perez will throw. THe left hander is 5-4 on the season with a hefty 5.06 era. Oliver picked up a no decision in his last start against Anaheim. Oliver is 1-1 in 3 career starts against Seattle.
Go Mets!
Johan Santana was roughed up Monday night for five runs, on seven hits, in seven innings. Santana lost for the sixth time this season, and is now 7-6 with a 2.93 era. Felix Hernandez, the Mariners pitcher hit a grandslam in the second inning to give the Mariners a quick 4-0 lead. The lead held until the fifth when an rbi single by Lopez made the score 5-0. The Mets threatened in the fifth but only got one run, and also a single tally in the 9th, but that was not enough in their 5-2 defeat to the Mariners.
Felix Hernandez was not able to get through 5 innings, therefore not picking up the win. Felix left the game in the fifth with an apparent ankle injury. He will be re-evaluated, and is day to day at the time. Ryan Rowland-Smith picked up the win for the Mariners, his second of the season.
Reyes went 2-4 on the night, but did not score, or drive in a run. Jose is now hitting .297 on the season.
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