Even Jason Bay hits HR's in Week 1
NEW YORK
METS (7 – 3)
2nd Place, ½ game back
Four games over .500 going into
Tuesday night…who would have thought?
Well I’m glad I’m here to tell you.
The answer is no one. This is a
good thing though for all Mets fans across the country, because low
expectations create wide smiles when the team you love plays over their
heads.
The season
began with a promising start from Johan Santana that lead to a three game sweep
of division rivals Atlanta and took them to a rebound start from sophomore
pitcher Dillon Gee last night in Atlanta to make it four straight against
them. The starting pitchers, (including Big Pelf) have been
outstanding keeping this scrappy offense in every game so far here in
2012. Not sure if this will last, but
let’s just ride the wave before it tumbles.
While Ike
Davis opens the season in a struggle, David Wright starts it as a top hitter in
the league. His strikeouts are
significantly down and the contact he has put on the ball is finding holes and
reaching fences. David has only struck
out twice in 24 at bats and raised his early season average to .542 with 2 HR’s
and 5 RBI’s. It’s a real good thing to
see as maybe it’s finally time he realized he needs to be a leader and the
93mph fastball to the head a few years ago was something of the past. Matt Cain took all of Wright’s confidence
away at the plate on August 16th 2009. He hasn’t been the same ever since, but this
year…so far…he looks like that old David Wright. The one that will hold most of the Mets
franchise records in offensive categories.
Let’s look back on that fateful day
one more time then leave it in the past forever…
Still gives
me the chills.
7 – 3, a
start to remember and the bats are not even doing everything they can. This is yet another good thing, because you
want strong pitching. You need strong
outings. You build confidence with wins
and meld closer as a team. They are not
playing terrible teams; THEY were supposed to be the terrible team. Three against the Braves, then fell off a bit
by loosing two out of three to a really good Washington team without David
wright in the lineup and then beat the Phillies two out of three. The missed facing Roy Halladay, but beat
Cliff Lee. It all looks to be rolling
the right way right now with the Flushing crew and I want to give Terry Collins
a lot of credit. I’m sure the biggest
issues will be questioned like when will the bullpen fall apart completely, or
when will they really put some runs on the board consistently? Both great questions and we saw the bullpen
explode on Sunday when they had the chance to sweep the Phillies, but losses
will happen. It’s baseball. It’s how well you recover and how quickly you
stop a skid in this sport.
So far for
me, I have really enjoyed the play from Torres’s replacement Kirk Robert Nieuwenhuis, who we all understand will be back down in the
minors when the old man gets back and I’m also really impressed with Ruben Dario Tejada, who is batting .289 with
sic doubles after the first ten games of the season. (Full
names look very professional). As
I’ve said earlier the pitching seems to be working, Jon-Joe Niese has not
indulged in the “contract-hex”, you know when you sign a multi-year deal then
fail absolutely, but it’s still early.
Between Raunch, Byrdek and closer Frank Francisco they have pitched 13
and 2/3 scoreless innings. Four out of
the five starters have their ERA’s below 3.00 and the sun continues to shine (for now) in the Mets world.
THE FUTURE;
The Mets have two left in Atlanta and escape the month of
April winners against the Braves regardless. Then the fly back home for a weekend series
against the Giants and finish the home-stand welcoming Jose Reyes (with a video tribute I hear through the
grape-vine) and the new Miami Marlins back to Queens for the first
of many times this year.
I figure the team should come down a bit from flying so
high, but sometimes miracles begin this way.
0-3, the 3-0...here we go!
NEW YORK
YANKEES (5 – 5)
3rd Place, 1 GB
Number 2, Derek
Jeter, the man. The veteran SS has 3 HR’s
and 7 RBI’s washing away his horrific 2011 start with an outstanding first ten
games in 2012. The team has been scoring
runs left and right, but besides Jeter there has been no “one” shinning
star. The offense is spreading around
the wealth with Swisher and Ibanez leading the team in RBI’s but well below in
the batting average category. Robinson
Cano has struggled at the plate with no home runs and only one RBI. Granderson has already struck out 12 times
but also jacked 3 HR’s. The man behind
the plate, Russell Martin is off to his slowest start ever batting a mere .160
in ten games, while A-Rod and Big Tex have a combined 5 RBI’s. Where’s the balance? Where’s the power? Brett Gardner is second in batting average on
the team with a .269 out of the everyday starters. WHAT?
The over abundance of pitching
options hasn’t been favorable as well.
CC has yet to win a game (as I
write this he is up 5-3 in Bot 3), Kuroda had a rough first start in Tampa
then put together a wonderful Opening Day performance against the stacked “O”
from Anaheim. Freddy Garcia will be the
first starter to lose his job with two awful appearances with Phil Hughes not
too face behind him. Ivan Nova has been
the only starter to have two decent starts and kept his winning streak alive at
14 winning decisions straight, most by any pitcher since 1951. So to all the skeptics, me included, you have
to give the kid some credit. We all
realize he has a great Yankee offense behind him, but a win is a win is a win
fourteen times and counting. The
bullpen has been pretty valuable if you are talking about David Robertson and
Mariano minus game one, but have you heard about David Edward Phelps? By now you should have as the 26
year old is doing his job as a middle reliever with 8 1/3 innings pitched with
one hiccup. He looks real strong with
his 9 K’s and could be help for a struggle Soriano or the soon to be back in
the minors Clayton Rapada.
So you can see why they lost three in Tampa Bay and then re-surged to beat up on the Orioles, but they need to find some consistency. Obviously they will. Big Tex will hit, Cano will straighten things
out at the plate and become the number one 2B in the Majors and yes people, I
still believe in Alex Rodriguez. The
bastard is signed through 2017 so he better have something left in the
tank. Andy Pettitte will fill a void in
the rotation and bring the clubhouse even closer together then they already
seem to be, but that’s not for a couple more weeks. The Bronx Bombers are still in tacked and
their usually in nothing to big to worry about so early in the season when a
team like this one can streak for 8 to 12 games in the winning column a few
times a year.
THE FUTURE:
After the Millionaire’s finish with Minnesota, they leave
their comfy home in the Bronx for two big matchups that have October written
all over it…a weekend series in Boston then three in Texas. Following that the monsters in Tiger land
will meet them back in the Bronx, but let’s slow it down a bit. For it’s still April my friend.
ADAM HAMMER’S “Loose Lips”
-
Bobby
Valentine created waves in Boston by accusing Kevin Youkilis of not being in
the game. When questioned about it, Bobby said it was actually his twin who
said it, the one with the glasses and mustache that managed half a game for the
Mets.
- Johnny Damon has finally
found a new home in Cleveland. The Indians are calling him the anti LeBron,
going from Florida to Cleveland. (Boooo!)
- Giants closer Brian Wilson
appears to be headed for Tommy John surgery. Unfortunately, his elbow is not a
machine, unlike his friends.
Fantasy 1-2-3
PLAYERS
Matt Kemp – 6 HR’s 16 RBI’s hitting just under .500, what
he said might come true.
Chris Young – 5 HR’s 12 RBI’s and only struck out 5 times so
far…that’s new.
Ian Kinsler – 4 HR’s 7 RBI’s with only 2 K’s himself, surprise
surprise.
PITCHERS
Chad Billingsley – Best pitcher in baseball…as of Monday
Night. 14 INN, 15 K’s and a 0.68
ERA. Hard to believe.
Matt Garza – 1-0 with 14 K’s and a 1.22 ERA for a bad Cubs
team.
Matt Cain – Already pitched a CG one hitter, but it was
against the Pirates…yea! 1-0 with 15 K’s
and a 3.00 ERA
False Hope:
Kelly Johnson – Just wait
until the strikeouts pile up my friends.
Bartolo Colon – play someone
besides the Mariners and we’ll see how long you last.
Chad Billingsley – Best pitcher in baseball…until week two.
WATCH OUT!
J.D. Martinez – 3 HR’s 9 RBI’s and a .379 AVG…something to
watch in Houston this year, maybe the only thing.
Javy Guerra – Sounds like a type of hot sauce. He already has 5 Saves in 5 chances for the
9-1 Dodgers.
Chris Sale – The White Sox pitcher was almost turned into a
closer last year. Now he begins 2012 in
the rotation with two decent starts. 6 and 2/3 against CLE giving up 1 run on 3
hits and 5 innings against the powerful Tigers giving up 3 runs and striking
out 5.
