Week Seven
(May 16th – 22nd)
“Mets vs. Yankees (take I)”
The Subway Series is upon us with interleague play starting this weekend. This week’s issue is dedicated to that and that only since this site, in essence is about Baseball in the Boroughs. No better weekend during the season is better than the two when the Mets and Yankees square off against one another. No matter the standings or each team’s record at the point of battle it’s simply all about bragging rights. The first of meeting of these two New York teams takes place in the Bronx. The games are usually well fought and the pride of the biggest city takes the cake in these six games a year…until the playoffs of course.
History states that the Yankees have dominated the series in interleague play since the idea came into effect in 1997. The Yankees have won 45 of 78 in 14 years and thanks to that I feel older. 45-33 is what you would think a series with this much heart and soul behind it would endure even though they are not in the same Division let alone League. What it does is bring buzz within the city and all the 5 boroughs including Long Island. I personally don’t care for interleague play, but the six games these two teams play are interesting at the time of action I will forcefully admit.
Year | Series Winner | Yankees W | Mets W |
2 | 1 | ||
2 | 1 | ||
Tie | 3 | 3 | |
4 | 2 | ||
4 | 2 | ||
Tie | 3 | 3 | |
6 | 0 | ||
2 | 4 | ||
Tie | 3 | 3 | |
Tie | 3 | 3 | |
Tie | 3 | 3 | |
2 | 4 | ||
5 | 1 | ||
Tie | 3 | 3 | |
Overall | Yankees (6–2–6) | 45 | 33 |
Yankees have fell on tough times losing eight of their last eleven games and they enter week seven losing five games in a row. The bats and the offense as a whole has been brutal as they suffered a three game sweep to the biggest division rival Boston over the weekend. Not only did Nova get waxed and Freddy Garcia blew a nice lead, but they all helped the Red Sox get to .500 baseball for the first time this season. Big Tex has disappeared for now and A-Rod is very quiet with only 6HRs on the season.
For the Mets, well just like it usually goes in New York, when one team is falling the other starts to rise. The Mets come home this week after enjoying their best road trip of the season. They gave the James Brown “payback” to the Rockies and Astros by winning both series 2-1 going a solid 4-2 on the road trip and bringing their away record over .500 on the season. Don’t get me wrong, the Mets are still loaded with plenty of problems, but wins are wins with or without the presence of their best players. D. Wright has the lowest average (.226) that I’ve seen him carry since he started playing for the Mets and Ike Davis is now on the 15 day DL.
For a switch this week we will rundown the two teams and how they match up for the exciting three-game series this weekend in New York.
Projected Pitching Match-ups
May 20th Friday Night at 7:05pm on WWOR/SNY
Mets @ Yankees
Chris Capuano 3-4, 4.78 vs. Freddy Garcia 1-2, 2.88
May 21st Saturday Night at 7:10 on FOX
Mets @ Yankees
Mike Pelfrey 3-3, 5.74 vs. A.J. Burnett 4-2, 3.83
May 22nd Sunday Afternoon at 1:05pm YES/WPIX
Mets @ Yankees
Jon Niese 2-4, 5.03 vs. Ivan Nova 3-3, 4.70
I see one great match-up on Saturday night and then I see two that I could shake a stick at so to speak. The first game looks to be a battle between the # 5 slot in each team’s rotation. Freddy Garcia’s ERA looks real swell sitting under 3.00, but how long do Yankee fans expect that to hold up. He faces off against Chris Capuano who is hit or miss. I’d say he had a real good start last win in Houston, but he didn’t even last 6 innings. The first game should show the public the hitting capabilities on both sides and get this series off to an exciting back and forth style, up and down wild action packed game.
Game two seems to be the best pitching match-up of the series. A.J. has started the season off way stronger than most have thought, and Big Pelf has started his season off way worse than most would have expected. His ERA is still in the high fives and that’s not an action of exuberating joy. This is a different high five. If Burnett gets some run support unlike his last two starts he can bring a tough game to the Mets this weekend for FOX’s primetime Saturday game. The worry I have is when are going to see A.J. get blown up…soon, not yet, never…or tonight in Tampa? I just hope it’s not against the New York National League.
The finale is brought to you by two pitchers who can pitch four to five solid innings and then the wheels come off. Both starters show possibility, then failure as the season gets older and the experience becomes greater. Ivan Nova is a ground ball pitcher from what I’ve seen and Jon Niese can strikeout batters being second in that category for the Mets with 32 on the season. It’s a far cry from the league leaders, but he has been effective. Nova still has work to do to convince me he is a worthy starter for the Yankees. Good games, bad games, okay games will not cut it.
THE EDGE: Yankees 70% to 30% - Freddy and A.J.’s experience will allow the Yankees to be a stronger presence on the mound this weekend.
First Base
Has anyone seen or even heard about Mark Teixeira since week one? Yeah, me neither, but I still wouldn’t want to pitch to him. Hitting .254 on the season with 9 HRs and 21 RBI’s Big Tex seems to be looking better than last year. However, he has done very little since his monster week one (10 days) and if Ike Davis was not on the DL I would have certainly given the edge to him. The Mets lost their best run producer this past week and nobody is hurt more than the fans in Queens. Now because of a collision with Mr. Slumpy David Wright, Ike will be on the bench this series and Daniel “inexperienced-everywhere a bat is not needed” Murphy will take his place. Murphy can hit for contact, but he is in no way a threat while stepping up to the plate as Tex will always be. The statures of the two do not even match up and this is why Murphy will always just be a fill in. He sucks in the infield and we all know how bad he can be in the outfield so let’s just hope he doesn’t completely embarrass himself in front of all New York this weekend.
THE EDGE: Yankees 85% to 15% - Can you tell that I have a tough time believing Daniel Murphy is a Major League starter.
Second Base
Holy Christ of Christmas, we knew 2B would be an amusing act to watch in Met-Land, and so far it has been. Did they find their answer this weekend with Justin Turner’s break-out performance in Houston? Big homerun and five RBI’s…wow! Guess what? Most Mets fans still don’t know who the hell this guy is. It’s really not worth typing this hard and wasting my thoughts. Robinson Cano is so far better than Turner I’m laughing while I write this. Cano has not hit the ball as well as last year so far, but the potential is proven to be there where as Justin Turner is just happy to be in the lineup at all. He is 12 for 39 at the plate with 9 RBI’s and hopefully could bring some life to a hurting offense.
THE EDGE: Yankees 100% - There is nothing more to explain. It you don’t agree, you shouldn’t be reading this.
Short Stop
Now we get interesting people…now the discussion begins. The Captain, Derek Jeter deserves all the respect in the world or at least the baseball community. Absolutely. Jose Reyes, he’s the Mets spark plug. If all is running right he can wreak havoc on the base paths and hit doubles and triples galore setting up his teammates with the power to bring him home. The age difference is remarkable, but that’s no one’s fault but their own parents. We are talking 2011 baseball and right now Jose Reyes has the highest batting average on the Mets with a solid .310. That’s a leadoff hitter. That’s what you want to see as a fan. It’s understandable that experience in baseball goes a long way and I’d take Derek Jeter as a SS on my team any day of the week…until this week. Reyes has 10 more doubles and six triples to Jeter’s none, four more RBI’s and has practically double the captain in total bases this year.
THE EDGE: Mets 65% to 35% - I’m so sorry #2, but time is something you run out of.
Third Base
The faith I put behind these two superstar players in conversations with Met and Yankee fans is unheard of. I’m a sad Pirate fan in every way and I’d die or at least give my left pinky toe to have either A-Rod or D. Wright on my team. Yes I know...they are extremely frustrating with Wright’s disgusting 43 strikeouts in 146 at bats. Having a well below average of .226 to start 2011 is just mind blowing. Then there’s Alex with his fast start this year only to free-fall down to unprecedented numbers. He is not the biggest production hitter in the Yankee lineup. It’s weird but true. Watching New York baseball I can say that I’ve seen two really great players for both teams play 7 plus years for each team and hit game winners, do the unthinkable and show off their talent at a regular pace. And they are also a pain in the ass to watch sometimes regardless of what situation they are in. Now, David has not been the same player he was a few years back before a fastball hit him in the skull. A-Rod was great, then a mess in the playoffs, then hurt, then good, then awesome in the playoffs. Can you follow? Neither can I. Who’s his girlfriend now? He plays better when he tries to impress the celebrity he’s sleeping with. Has David Wright ever dated anyone? He has weird looking eyebrows as well. This has gotten way off topic…
THE EDGE: Yankees 60% to 40% - I know Wright has it in him for the fact that he will soon lead most Met all-time offensive categories, but where the hell has he been.
OUTFIELD
This is tricky…well not really it’s just a straight up close call because of inconsistencies. On paper the trilogy of Granderson, Gardner and Swisher looks to be hands down the better OF then the aging Beltran, the always problematic Jason Bay and the missing link in CF. Whether it is Pridie or one of the average Hairston brothers without Pagan in the Mets lineup you can call it a significant gap in center. Brett Gardner is so bad this year he can’t even accomplish stealing bases like he did last year. 5 stolen bases while being caught 5 times. That’s no good for anyone let alone a speedy Gardner in what put him on the map in the first place a year ago. Jason Bay is better on paper then the numbers he produces each year. The Met lineup is no doubt better and at the least well-rounded with him in it, but with Ike Davis now the missing piece Jason Bay sees less good pitches to hit. In RF the resurgence of the crippling Carlos Beltran is very interesting. His trade value broke wide open last week when HRs were flying off his bat. With 8 HRs 24 RBI’s and a respectable .285 batting average came to, Beltran now trounces anything the stumbling Nick Swisher has done so far this year.
THE EDGE: Mets 55% to 45% - Curtis Granderson rounds out the Yankee outfield with 13 HRs this year and seems to be the only one doing anything. So even without an everyday centerfielder the Mets take the cake because of what Beltran has been doing and what Bay should be doing.
Catcher
All the sports writers in New York continuously put Russell Martin down below the Mendoza line after the Yankees picked him up in the offseason all the way through spring training while this guy, understood the move and how valuable a two-time all star could be. With a fantastic April under his belt and a slow May you can safely say he’s here to stay. At .245 plus the power of 7 HRs Russell can’t be asked to do much more. He also has Cervelli backing him up on off days which has to be a comfortable feeling for any catcher in the big leagues. The Mets on the other hand went with the rookie Josh Thole, who killed spring training, but as soon as the pitchers turned it up he wound it down. He has a big goose egg in the HR category after hitting eight in the worthless month of March. The Mets also got the drug-filled Ronny Paulino back from suspension and he came out on fire. Too bad the past shows he’s not as good as the first week he played for the Mets in 2011.
THE EDGE: Yankees 61% to 39% - I have to go with experience on this one and Russell Martin looks pretty set in his ways batting eighth or ninth for the Bronx Bombers.
Bullpen
Yankees started out great. Mets started out last and awful. Joba was too fat, Izzy was too old. Soriano is a sick set-up man…then he’s hurt. The Mets went through three set-up men and still don’t have an answer. Mariano Rivera is the best that ever was. Francisco Rodriguez used to be K-Rod, now he’s just Frankie. I’ve seen the Met bullpen a lot more because of the weak starting pitching they’ve had plus the fact that they’re in the National League. Call me bias or whatever, but I gotta go with Mo. No betting man could go against him 1-0, 1.53 ERA and 13 saves on the year.
-If I were a betting man I see this series going one or two ways. 3-0 Yankee sweep after being turned out by Boston last week or the most shocking turnaround of the year as the Mets surprise all by taking 2 out of 3.
(Subway Series I prediction, 3-0 Yankees)
Living in a Fantasy 1-2-3:
- Who Killed It? – 1. Finally after his breakout year in 2010 taking all fantasy leagues by storm, Martin Prado had his best week of the year. He displayed his power and consistencey by hitting 3 HRs and having a multi-hit game in all last week, but Sunday. He added 8 RBI’s on the week and 7 runs scored. 2. He’s been here before and he’ll be here again I can garentee…Ryan Braun went nuts again this week after doing absolutely nada the previous week. He blasted 2 HRs and knocked in 10 RBI’s. He also holds a sweet streak of having at least one RBI in his last five games. 3. Slump? Did you say slump or not worth the money? No, nobody did, but Adrian Gonzalez showed his Padre power for Boston this week doubling his HR total with 5 this week alone. He did this feat hitting 5 HRs in six games.
- Dead as a Doornail – 1. I picked Gordon Beckham pretty late in my draft and after the first week this supposedly future star was batting .667. It looked like the smartest 2B pick in a weak position this year. Then came reality. He’s 24 years old and still has a shot to break out, however every time he seems to be on his way the strikeouts soon pile up. Since week one he is batting .179 going 17 for 97 since April 11th. 2. Funny to see someone pick up trash and get garbage as a result. A few people did it this past week when they thought Seattle’s closer Brandon Leauge who was 9 for 9 at that point who help their team in anyway. Well, hello Mr. Blown Saves…Brandon blew four straight games, yup four…almost impossible sounding. He is now 0-4, 7.31 ERA, which doesn’t sound much like a closer now huh? 3. Last but not least another fucker I drafted late, but this one I officially dropped (while putting Beckham on my bench). Boston’s John Lackey has been completely and utterly awful this year. In four of his seven starts he has given up 6 runs or more…puke. He is 2-5 with a 8.00 ERA…ugh! Lastly to round out this out of touch and lost starter he has walked 18 batters and struck out 19…ahh, Wow! Drop the bastard now!
- Who’s on Deck? – 1. Kansas City has a bunch of young prospects waiting in the wings. Up 1st this year Eric Hosmer who hit his very first major league HR in Yankee Stadium Wednseday night. His family was there as the YES Network continuously showed and beat to death as well as the “Turkey-Leg” guy. (You’ll soon all know of this vulture in the box seats soon enough.) Hosmer also added a game winning RBI in the 11th inning as the Royals went on to beat the Yankees 2-1 for the series win. At 21 years old he looks to have the right stuff. 2. Another man making his second appearance in this little fantasy piece, my new favorite, Darwin Barney. I’ll call him Starlin Castro’s side show. With only 5 games this past week he went 9 for 21 with 3 RBI’s and struck out only once. The young unknown is a serious contact hitter and might help boost your average in Roto leagues or just boost your second base option, especially if you were the one who picked Gordon Beckham. Ha-ha! 3. Jeremy Hellickson, another Tampa Bay kid with all the right stuff. We saw how good he could be witnessing the few starts he had in 2010 and so far this year as a full time starter he has proven his stuff in every game. The only downfall is that he won’t get you many innings in most starts as Madden tends to be real careful with him, but he did just pitch his first career complete game. 9 innings, 4 hits and 1 walk. He in 4-2 on the season with a 2.97 ERA. Either trade high or trade for. If you have a dynasty or keeper league sought after this kid quickly.
Adam Hammer’s Loose Lips
- 
David Wright hit Ike Davis when the two were chasing a pop-up this week. It was the biggest hit Wright has had since 2006.
David Wright hit Ike Davis when the two were chasing a pop-up this week. It was the biggest hit Wright has had since 2006.- Bartolo Colon was injected with stem cells, and some are wondering if this is considered performance enhancing. Hell, I'm just happy for Bartolo that someone let someone inject something of his into them.
- The Mets Chris Young is out for the year. He isn't hurt, he would just rather play video games at home than play for the Mets.
And now for your reading pleasure…
***
The Future; According to the Late-Great George Carlin
“Children will be required to attend school only when something comes up in conversation they do not understand.”
NEXT WEEK
Monday May 23rd
(Week Seven May 23rd – 29th)
“True Champions”
Last Quip by Doctor KAS – “Weeks continue to pass as days barely exist anymore. Some believe May 21st we (the earth) will suffer from one giant simultaneous earthquake killing us all…Actually one guy believes this all others just follow. My thought is to get these believers together and the December 21st 2011 believers together and blow them all the fuck up, so we don’t have to hear about this nonsense anymore.”
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