Posts Tagged ‘Carlos Beltran’

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

Ah, doesn’t it feel good to be back in third place again? What, it doesn’t? Even if you don’t like third place, if you’re a Mets fan, you should like the way the Mets played tonight. They trailed late, but persevered and came out on top, just like a winning team should. At 63-62, the Mets are technically a winning team again, even if that winning team consists of a bunch of underachieving bums.

Seriously, though, the Mets played with pride tonight. They refused to fold when Gaby Sanchez crushed a 3-run homer with two outs in the 7th to ruin R.A. Dickey’s nice start. Even with two outs in their half of the 8th, the Mets did not quit. Angel hustled hard enough to turn a single into a double and was quickly rewarded when he rounded third and scored on Beltran’s single.

In the 9th, Ike Davis led off with a swinging-bunt infield single just past the pitchers mound. After Thole lobbed a broken bat bloop over short stop for another single, the Mets ended up with runners on first and second with two outs. Luis Castillo, who was switched into the lineup after Jesus Feliciano pinch hit for Ruben Tejada in the 7th, became the surprise hero by nubbing a soft liner into right field. Right fielder Mike Stanton was playing in, but his throw was off target and everything was good for one night.

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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

The Mets lost tonight by the score of 8-7 to the St. Louis Cardinals in a 13-inning game. It was another one run loss for the Mets and another extra inning loss as well. However, because the game was played at Citi Field, fans were spared another walk-off defeat. That didn’t make the experience any less painful, though.

Our evening started with Johan Santana on the mound, attempting to give the Mets back-to-back triumphs for the first time since June 22 and 23. Santana has been great lately, but tonight did not go according to plan. With two outs and a runner on first, the Cardinals began to attack. Matt Holliday appeared to be out in front of a change-up and lofted a long fly ball into left field that just did not come down to earth like it was supposed to. The score was 2-0, but the Cards were not prepared to settle. Yadier Molina roped a single. Colby Rasmus bombed a double into left-center. With the bases loaded, the pitcher Jaime Garcia battled Santana in a lengthy at-bat before finally singling up the middle to plate two more. Skip Schumaker’s infield single made it 5-0 and Felipe Lopez’s second single of the inning made it 6-0 Cardinals.

Our editor was not having a good time, but things soon lightened up for the Amazin’ faithful. Jaime Garcia’s control was not all it could have been, and he walked two batters en route to loading the bases, allowing the Metsies a golden chance to get back in the game. Freshly called-up Mike Hessman was happy for the two-out opportunity. He lined a double off the left field wall to make it a 6-2 game. Francoeur was walked pseudo intentionally to load the bases again, but Henry Blanco could only pop up to end the inning.
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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

Just when it looked like the Mets would finally put their dream lineup together, it appears that Jose Reyes is still not comfortable swinging left-handed and will sit out the Mets opener vs the Giants and righty Tim Lincecum. The good news is that not only is Carlos Beltran finally returning, but swingaholics Francoeur and Barajas will be joining Reyes on the bench, allowing New York to still field a strong lineup.

Pagan will lead off and play right field, then Cora at second, then Wright, Beltran, Davis, Bay, Thole, Tejada and R.A. Dickey.

Of course, no one really knows how ready Carlos Beltran is to play tonight, which is his first major league game in over a year. His stats from rehab look pretty solid, and he’s been playing full games in center field, but Beltran hasn’t hit a home run or stolen a base yet in 14 games. I’m confident, however, that that fact will only make Beltran’s first home run first stolen base of the year so much more exciting.

Against the Mets stand the San Francisco Giants, a fellow wild card contender. Although they’ve been anchored by pitching all year (3.50 ERA is 3rd in the majors), surprisingly awesome seasons from Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres as well as the recent contributions from phenom Buster Posey have made their offense more formidable than preseason projections thought. Now if only Pablo Sandoval would produce like he’s supposed to.

Tonight, it’s AAA knuckleballer R.A. Dickey vs. Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. Let’s go Mets.

FRANK GRAY
STACHE WRITER

This season has been full of surprises for the New York Mets. They have shown dominance at home and futile efforts on the road. They have had several injuries to key players, but these injuries have been considered a blessing to some.

They have taken advantage of injured players and their vacated roster spots. Most notably, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Carlos Beltran. They have done this, by inserting hungry players to take their place. Players like Angel Pagan, R. A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi.

Take Dickey and Takahashi for example. They have combined for a 7-2 record in 9 combined starts. Their era’s are 3.20 and 3.80 respectively. Compared to Oliver Perez and John Maine, who are a combined 1-6. Both are also sporting an era over 6.00. Granted, Dickey and Takahashi have amassed this combined record in half of the combined starts, but still impressive nonetheless.
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BY ANTHONY LAFAMAN
STACHE WRITER

This morning when I read the news that Beltran was not even running at full speed I didn’t moan.  I didn’t whine.  I didn’t gasp.  I didn’t even blink.  Which is odd because I am a huge Beltran fan and think, when and if healthy, Carlos gives this team a much better look.  The reason why it seemed like I didn’t really care whether or not an All-Star would be getting back to the Mets was because I saw an angel. 

Interestingly enough I see this angel just about every game I watch.  Sometimes he flies around the base paths.  Sometimes he gets big knocks.  Sometimes he steals bloop hits from hated rivalries and occasionally he’ll even assist in triple plays.

If you haven’t guessed why I didn’t shed a tear over the Beltran news yet, then, maybe your underappreciating a player that may be the future of center field for your Mets.  For now, he’s the Angel of Queens.
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FRANK GRAY
STACHE WRITER

In the last part of the series on leadership in the New York Mets club house, we will look at several player options. Those options include Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, Jeff Francoeur, Rod Barajas, Ike Davis and Jose Reyes. We have reviewed Johan Santana, David Wright and Francisco Rodriguez.

Now, moving on, let’s further examine the rest of that list, starting with Carlos Beltran. Beltran was brought in to be the playoff-tested veteran. He was supposed to bring experience and leadership to a young core to push them over the top. He has brought the experience, but he never has brought that leadership the team sought.

Too often, his mouth has written checks that his abilities couldn’t cash. That has gotten his reputation into poor standing in both the league and the club house. Then, his health became an overwhelming issue. It still is. A leader, as previously stated, must be both on the field and produce.
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FRANK GRAY
STACHE WRITER

The New York Mets have not had a highly successful first week of the regular season. It was one filled with uninspiring play and comebacks that fell just short. We’ve seen grand slams and staff aces get booed at their home park. We’ve even heard stories of the manager, Jerry Manuel claiming to not be prepared for his team to face a pitcher that they had just pitching for them. It was indeed a inconsistent week.

The team is currently standing at a 2-4 record. It is hardly the time to panic, but when one sees the upcoming schedule, one may want to limber up their fingers in preparation to press the button soon. The team is coming off of an off day on Monday as they travel to Colorado.

Unfortunately, they are not playing the South Park Cows. They are playing the Colorado Rockies. A team that is young, scrappy and hungry. The type of team the Mets don’t fare well against. A team that also sports a certain bullpen pitcher that could currently have been pitching in Queens had the Mets given him a respectable offer. The pitcher is Joe Beimel.
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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

I’ve always thought team chemistry was overrated in baseball. Unlike football, basketball or hockey, which feature a bunch of players sharing the ball and moving at the same time, baseball is a game that is won or lost mostly by individual performances. A team does not need to communicate with each other to put together a multi-run rally. It could help to communicate, such as when a lead-off batter takes an extra pitch so the next guy up can see what he is dealing with, but such tactics are not necessary to have success. It’s the same deal on the other side of the ball, where the pitcher by himself has the biggest impact on how many runs the other team scores.

It’s for these reasons that I never really paid attention when the Mets’ failures of the last three seasons were blamed on a “bad clubhouse.” I figured even if everyone in the clubhouse hated each other, it wasn’t going to make the team hit more and strike out less. The tough part is that there’s no way to prove or quantify the effect of leadership or chemistry on winning games. It’s even tougher for those without clubhouse access to analyze.
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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

There’s still a month to go until pitchers and catchers report, but already the Mets season is trending toward disaster. Carlos Beltran decided to have surgery on his injured knee based on symptoms that caused off-season conditioning to become “too painful” according to a Mets press release.

The most important news coming from the Mets is that Beltran should be able to “return to baseball activities” in 12 weeks. That means he would be set for a late April return, but as with all return dates, it should be taken with a huge grain of salt. We really don’t know when Beltran will be ready.
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BY ANTHONY LAFAMAN
STACHE WRITER

Three words. Micro fracture surgery. I just know it’s coming.

Guys, Beltran is not coming back. I just have a hunch that he’ll opt for the surgery. Which really is the only way to truly heal a bone bruise as severe as Beltran’s even though the micro fracture king himself, Dr. Steadman, recommended rest. The problem is that rest has not been the wrong answer thus far as the bone bruise has not gotten better.

Now your going to ask me where I’m getting this information from and the answer is nowhere but between my dirty ears. But I’ve been a Mets fan my whole life and know that when the $h*t hits the fan in Met Country it hits at 100 mph. I mean how else do you explain a pitcher that replaced an injured pitcher getting hurt trying to beat out a ground ball.

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