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May 3, 2006
Upcoming Series: Pittsburgh Pirates Pitchers
After a pretty disappointing series split with the Nationals, the 8-20 Pittsburgh Pirates come into Shea for another short two game series. Really, there isn’t much to be said about this. The Pirates are gawd awful, but they’re throwing two rookies — otherwise known as Met Kryptonite. The Mets are good, but their offense is in a terrible slump — and they could really use a big night from a big bat to get this whole thing up and running again. With the Braves on the horizon, the Mets are essentially wasting (though there isn’t anything they can do about it) their two aces in this series. In the first game, the undefeated Pedro Martinez (5-0, 2.94) is taking on Ian Snell (1-2, 5.79). And, in a battle of lefties, Tom Glavine (3-2, 2.29) goes one-on-one with Paul Maholm (1-3, 5.86). Game 1: Ian Snell What’s the Story? Snell has been considered one of the Pirates best pitching prospects in recent years, but his promotion to the majors has been tough on the righthander. So far, he’s sporting a nifty 5.71 ERA and opponents are hitting .290 off him in his eighty-two career innings of work. His control was something of an issue last season, as well as earlier in the year, but he’s gotten better as this season has progressed. Over his last two starts (thirteen innings) he’s allowed only two runs off of eleven hits, and has walked three while striking out ten. Snell has got some nice stuff; a low-to-mid 90’s fastball, a solid late-breaking curveball, a decent changeup and an all right slider. Last Year: Snell did not start against the Mets, but did get an inning of relief in against them. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out nobody. What to Expect: Snell’s biggest criticism has been his lack of maturity on the mound. He’s a bit of a headcase in the Carlos Zambrano mold, only without the success. He tends to overthrow his fastball — which hurts his command of the pitch, flattening it out and making it even more hittable. Though he throws a nice curveball, this is really his only reliable offspeed pitch — both his change and his slider are average pitches that he’s continuing to develop. He’ll throw a ton of fastballs and a ton of curves. As he’s a fairly erratic pitcher, he doesn’t really focus on zones so much as the entire plate — he’ll keep the ball down, and if hitters don’t swing against him they can probably eke out a couple walks. Game 2: Paul Maholm What’s the Story? Maholm is yet another of the Pirates top pitching prospects, though he entered the minors with a little more fanfare than Snell did. The eighth overall pick in 2003, Maholm posted solid-to-dominant numbers in every stop of his minor league career before making his terrific debut (3-1, 2.18) late last season. Maholm’s stuff is by no means overpowering, and he’s gotten through the minors with terrific command, something he’s lost this season — which has hurt him pretty badly. Still, Maholm is usually in control of his pitches, and he’s got four solid big league ones in his arsenal. He’ll throw a high-80’s fastball, a nice curve, a solid changeup, and a decent slider. Last Year: Maholm has never faced the Mets in his career, nor has any Met faced him. So, you know what that means. What to Expect: Maholm’s not as bad as he’s pitched this season, and when you couple an a.) rookie pitcher with b.) offspeed stuff, that equals c.) no run support once again for Tom Glavine. Maholm’s a Brian Bannister type, in so much as he doesn’t have one dominating big league pitch, but a bunch of solid ones. Just like Snell, he throws a lot of fastballs and a lot of curves. Maholm really, really likes the bottom right hand corner of the plate, and will throw a lot of strikes there. He also works predominantly in the strike zone. Upon closer inspection, he’s a very similar pitcher to Tomo Ohka, and we all remember what he did last time against the Mets. Overall: This is a disappointing series even if the Mets take both games, because it effectively wastes Pedro and Glavine going into the far more important Braves series starting on Friday. With the terrifying tandem of Trachsel, Zambrano and Maine going against Kyle Davies, the newly revitalized Tim Hudson and Jorge Sosa, the Mets really need to take both these games to sustain, or even add to, their hold on the NL East. Sadly, I don’t think that’s happening. The Pedro start looks like a solid, winnable game, but I’d bet good money on Glavine not getting out of Thursday night with a win. The Mets split the series, 1-1. Though, with the way this offense is set up, if somebody could just get it started this could be an easy two game sweep. It’ll be up to the offense on this one — the pitchers should hold up their end of the bargain. Predicted Record: 14-12 61 Responses to “Upcoming Series: Pittsburgh Pirates Pitchers”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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If they were smart, teams that face us should just call up random AAA junkballers to start every game of the series.
So is Beltran the best player in baseball when the game is out of reach or what?
He may be up there…but my personal choice would be Alex Rodriguez. He is a true specialist of 3-run homers when the team is up or down 10.
Neil - I would give the nod to A-Rod.
Is that true? Are there stats available as to how a player does when the game is close? For example, Ed Kranepool over the years put up pretty poor stats but they would be ten times worse if you didn’t count how he did when the game was out of reach. I would guess that he bat around .400 with a high slugging percentage when there was a five run differential or more. Ed Kranepool may have been slower on the base paths than Ramon Castro even though he had much smaller head for less drag. He had a pretty good glove but no range.
I beg to differ. There is nothing disappointing about winning 2 out of 2 against any team, regardless of who pitches. As last night’s games exemplifies, and as you have pointed out in your article, young/unknown/mediocre pitchers can win on any given day against any given team. And the Mets do seem to struggle against these types of pitcers. So it certainly isn’t “wasting” Pedro or Glavine if we get the wins. You can only play the game against the team on the schedule, and at the end of the season, nobody subtracts wins from the record based on the caliber of the opponent. Lets win these two, then worry about the Braves.
Actually i would consider Beltran to be very clutch, i recall times last season when he either tied the game or put us ahead with a big hit or homerun, late in the game.
The ESPN splits have a “close and late” split: “results in the 7th inning or later with the batting team either ahead by one run, tied or with the potential tying run at least on deck.”
Beltran this year is hitting .286/.400/.714 C&L, versus .265/.415/.612 overall. Hard to say that this year he has been cranking it up in lost causes. For the last three years he’s been better close and late as well, .903 vs. .833 OPS.
Hey Andrew, how exactly do you put these pieces together? Obviously the historical background on records and whatnot is straightforward enough, but where does something like
come from? Do you read scouting reports, watch all these guys even when they’re not playing the Mets, play videogames — what’s the secret?
I always look forward to reading these — keep up the good work.
Delgado looked terrible last night against the lefty - as he has for the last few years against lefties. Why not sit him on Friday? I would say the same about Floyd, but he at least had some good rips last night…
With Pedro and Glavine going up against such an awful team, there should be no reason as to why they can’t take both games.
Of course this offense really needs to start producing on a more consistent basis. And Wright looks just about as bad as I’ve ever seen him. Something must be off with him. He’s too solid a player to be struggling like this on both sides of the field. Wasn’t there some kind of groin pull that he was dealing with? Not to mention the fact that he’s been plunked quite a bit thus far. Maybe he needs a rest, though with the Braves coming up, not sure when you sit him. Maybe both of these games. Hell, if they can’t beat the Pirates without an already struggling David Wright in the line-up, then this team’s got really big problems.
Off thread but since I’ve been a big basher of Matsui, I’ve gotta give him props for the crazy hightlight play he made last night on the hopper over the middle. That was an all world play.
AFOMG,
It’s pretty much a combination. ESPN.com’s schedules go five games ahead, so far more often than not I can watch a game the pitcher the Mets are going to face on DTV’s Extra Innings a week beforehand. Doing that I can make my own opinion on the pitchers, as well as get the opinions of the broadcasters. I’ll read some scouting reports, too, but not any one in particular. If you ever look, you’ll find that the majority of reports on the internet are a year or two behind.
Eli- awesome.
I agree. I figured we would get a split with the Nationals because we were facing some unknown guy - but these two we can take. We have aces 1 and 1a going against Ian Snell and Paul Maholm. If you don’t think we can take both of these at home, then what series can we sweep???
This kind of logic irks me in my current disenfranchised Mets state. We just scored two runs off the Terrific Tandem of Ramon Ortiz and Mike O’Connor. Ortiz with a career ERA of 4.72, and O’Connor with a Minor League career ERA of 3.71. Two runs. Both off the Mets favorite trick — the solo homer.
Now we’ve got Ian Snell and Paul Maholm, who are in all probability better pitchers, and two guys whom the Mets have one inning of experience against, and people are once again expecting the Mets to sweep.
The Mets offense is horrendous right now. They’re averaging 2.8 runs a game since their series with the Braves. It doesn’t matter how good your pitchers are if you don’t hit.
I take issue with the comment that Beltran’s stats come in garbage time - That’s just not true. Please don’t project A-Rods short comings on CB.
For the record: When Eddie Kranepool played EVERY game was out of hand!
It seems like Woodward is getting the shaft. At the very least, have him pinch hit over Valentin, who doesn’t even deserve to be on a major league roster!
I have no stats to back this up but the offense even when they are scoring runs are not really doing it in bunches like the first week. It seemes like we are an AL team waiting for the 3 run HR. It has been a long time since the lineup has strung together 3 or 4 hits. Pretty much everyone is slumping right now. It won’t last but it sure is frustrating.
What is impressive is that we are 9-6 in the last 15 and no one is really hot.
Right now:
Reyes - maybe coming out of his slump, swing still iffy
LoDuca - pretty locked in right now
Beltran - solid
Delgado - slumping, swinging early on curves
Wright - not hitting any line drives, taking outside pitches he smoked last year
Floyd - not locked in, but not bad either - mostly just bad luck
Nady - great one AB, terrible the next
Kaz - after the last few games, now seems to be in a slump
If Reyes gets on base, we’ll score enough. Otherwise, we won’t. (A few more solo HRs wouldn’t surprise me.)
I agree. Willie’s being cautious at the wrong times. With guys in scoring position in a close game, don’t worry about later injuries and double-switches, go with the best hitter.
Ramon Castro is on fire right now, he should be getting some of these ABs. Screw the “but what if your starting catcher gets hurt?” BS — how many times will LoDuca have to leave the game in the 8th with an injury all year?
That’s exactly why I added that second part to my statement. What do you think about giving Wright this two game series off? Could Woodward do any worse at third the way Wright is struggling both in the field and at the plate? If anything, at this point, he will perform just as good if not better. The guy needs a breather, and it’s more important to have a fresh David Wright for the Atlanta series, then a worn out David Wright for the Pittsburg series.
There is no way Willie should ever give Wright two games off back to back right now. That’s just crazy talk. And yes, Woodward could do much worse. The offense will come back around.
When do we stop paying guys who have no business in the majors? I was just about to ease up on Oliver when he gave up the HR last night. There must be somebody more useful than Valentin out there, anybody. He gives us absolutely nothing at all.
Thing is ….im not so sure david wright is worned out right now. He did have that stretch last season before the all star break if im not mistaken where he did seem a lil tired but its only may 3rd, i doubt fatigue is the reason for the slump. But I do think he should sit out a game anyways..its probably a good idea tired or not.
I think that’s a solid idea, P. While I have all the respect in the world for D-Wright playing hurt, it’s obvious that he’s a shell of his former self right now. I’ve got no problem giving him a day off, or even two… so long as Valentin isn’t starting in his spot. Woodward at full health is probably the equal of an injured Wright, so why not? We need Wright as healthy and rested as he can get with the Braves coming up, especially now that they’re looking like they’re getting hot.
off topic trivia (data from Mets.com)
What Mets pitcher has pitched in 3 shutout Met victories on May 3rd?
and he’s hitting EVERYTHING in the air!!
but hey, can’t we forgive him? everyone slumps on occasion
Wright and Delgado both look lost at the plate. I would sit Wright tonight and Delgado tomorrow night, giving Valentin and Franco each a start. Valentin has actually been okay lately - 3 for his last 8, only 1 K. The more at bats he gets, the easier it will be for Omar to decide whether to keep him around.
Valentin is the left handed pinch hitter. When a righthanded pitcher is in, he should get the AB. That said, he is absolutely horrible and I would prefer the Mets get Dave Magadan out of retirement and off of the Padres coaching staff, but you can’t fault Willie for using the LH hitter v. a RH pitcher when that is what he is intended for. He is putting him in the best position to succeed and the guy isn’t performing. I fully support getting rid of the loser, but Woodward shouldn’t be hitting against a RH in a pinch hitting situation.
It only takes once and I don’t think anyone wants to see Woodward behind the plate in a close game…
Obviously, the Mets lineup is mired in a slump, but as we all know that can change very quickly. The thing that amazes me is certain pitchers in the rotation seem to garner better run support than others. Whenever Pedro pitches, he usually gets a few runs to work with, but Glavine tends to get bupkiss. I’ve never understood why this should be, taking into account the law of averages, but the phenomenon does exist. I guess we’ll see if the pattern holds tonight.
RUN SUPPORT!!!
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GIVE THE MAN SOME RUN SUPPORT!!!
Holy crap. Mets up one, bottom of six, runner on second, chance to add to the lead on a night when the game may end early because of rain, and Willie is removing Pedro for a pinch hitter. You guessed it: Mr. Ground Round himself. Just astonishing that Willie really is convinced that Valentin is his number one pinch hitter.
Aaaaahhhh! Why not just take an automatic out and spare the risk of someone getting injured?
this might sound stupid but it i feel bad for david….he knows he is doing bad and is trying hard but hes in a slump….and then people are actually down on him dissing him…cmon guys…this is david wright here not bobby bonilla or rey ordonez…davd wright for god sakes…he is the chosen one who is bringing the ship to shea!!!!!! lolll
and as i type this he hits a great pitch up the middle for a single…lets go mets baby, dont be so pessimistic fellas….this is the mets i kno..but these arent the mets of 2001-2004….this a new team and a new age..LETS GO METS
oh man guys i love our bullpen
noone in the league can match these top 4 guys in our pen
wagner
sanchez
heilman
bradford for the righties
by the way guys…assuming glavine finishes the season pitching strong and trachsel as well..what do u do in offseason..sign either or both or let both go?
after this season the rotation stands as pedro, bannister , zambrano
by the way jose reyes song CHACARON is awesome
CHACARON CHACARON AHHHHH bwwuahahahwwuwuwuahahwuwuwhahahahahahahahahwuahahahauiahwahuah chacaron chacaron riggy ron chacaron chacaron
Still love our bullpen???
Grrrrrrrr
I thought we got Wagner so we didn’t have to go through this.
Nice move by the organization offering free tickets to everyone who toughed it out at Shea tonight.
It isn’t Wagners fault. It is my fault. I watched the whole game delayed because of work, but fast-forwarded the DVR in the 9th breaking the karma. My bad.
Also, how screwy was this weather? It didn’t start raining on the Upper West Side till the 8th inning, and it was Hurricane Wilma at Shea…
Is Wagner worrying anyone else. How can he not convert this save, walking Pirates? Atrocious.
Endy CHavez is having a career night. He should have 5 hits and that catch was awesome
I dont know how many people are being force feed this pirates feed but Bob Walk has no clue. He wasnt a great pitcher in his career but he was effective yet you wouldn’t know it because he has no clue about changing speeds and keeping guys off balance. Im surprised he lasted in the league over 10 seasons.
WAGNER WILL BE FINE!
Glad I got that out of my system. Even the best blow saves every once in a while, for people to expect Billy Wags to never have an off night is not fair.
That being said, the offense really needs to start murdering these young pitchers, this is starting to piss me off.
Delgado rules
Still worried about Wagner, but decent win. Should not have had to work this hard for it.
Wagners fine. Lets see. In my opinion, he’s had to bad appearances, this game and the none save situation against @ washington. The two blown saves he had,the first one he challenged Zimmerman w/ a high fastball which Zimmerman will probably never see again and the other blown save was after he had the third out and Wright rushed a throw to 1st with Alou not even 3 steps away. I know how Met fans need to find something wrong everytime something happens and point out that they have such and such concern about who just had an off night. I’m guilty of it too.
With all that being said, Wright could use a day off tomorrow. I missed his one hit but those strikeouts were very uncharacteristic and seemed as though he had no gameplan other than making contact. I think he was looking to pull in his first two strikeouts which we know is not like Wright when he has two strikes
Can Endy Chavez play 3rd?
I have confidence in Wagner based on past performance, but his early season rendition of Looper and Benitez is disturbing. Fortunately for all involved, the mets have pulled out at least 2 of his BS - don’t remember the third result. The fact that the Mets have been able to pull out at least two of his BS is giving him some shade right now. Were it Looper or Armando, it would be getting ugly in Metworld right now. Let’s hope he pulls an anti-Benitez and gets this stuff out of his system in April/May vs. Sept/Oct.
Lets just hope we’re cruising into September and don’t have to rely on Wags at all. I have ZERO confidence in him in a big spot. This is May against the Pirates at home. What are we going to see in late September versus the Braves on the road? I shudder to think…
Just a thought…how much do we really lose with Chavez starting in center? Is it just me, or does it seem Carla just does not care anymore? In any event, he’s the best .241 hitter in the league!!
I was at the game tonight. It was a good one. Lets Go Mets. Endy’s play in CF-RF was awesome.
Pirates 1st run in 9th:
Why did Castro call 2 sliders in a row on a hitter who couldn’t catch up to a fastball all night (with Wagner throwing 98 mph on the mound)?
2nd run:
Why did Wagner throw only fastballs to a fastball hitter?
None of the balls hit against Wagner were hit very hard, and he was hitting 98 on the gun. Still, his control has been pretty spotty all season. He has three blown saves now, which is not real good. He’s pretty mentally tough, so I think he’ll battle through it, but he gives me agida when he comes in the game.
AP YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I OWE YOU.
I’ve been talking to people about this song for over a year now, and I had NO IDEA what it was. You just got me my at-bat music for the entire summer.
Can we get off the whole Wagner thing. Somebody said it correctly before. (This is not the 2001-2004 mets) Guys this is a new team, new attitude, and belive me in “86″ Orosco was not automatic. Wagner will get better. It was nasty as hell there (I was there), and he really had no business being out there. To even further back him up, the hits were cheap. The Bonds Homer was steroid induced and the Zimmerman digger was a fluke. He will be fine and quality later on down the road. We are up on the braves 6, thats all, that matters.
Sure, the hits were cheap, but what about the walks? If you put guys on base, you’re playing with fire. Wagner’s control has been spotty, I don’t think there’s any denying that. He missed badly on several pitches tonight.
Pedro and Heilman pitched through the brutal conditions just fine. Every other Met pitcher blew the Pirates away.
Don’t forget Dirty… he NEVER seems to have any trouble.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m worried about Wagner’s ability to close out games with the type of consistency we expect, but we just entered May and he already has 3 blown saves. He had 3 blown saves ALL of last season. Worried, no. Confused, and curious as to why he is struggling this much this early, yes. But then again, he is a NY Met now. And while that reasoning may sound illogical to just about every other basball fan on the face of this planet, Met fans know what I’m talkin bout.
Yeah, because Wright was just so scary great at the plate last night, there was NO way we could have ever won that game without him.
Look, this is the PIRATES! Blown save notwithstanding, that should have been a relatively easy victory last night. It should be again tonight, and this club should not need Wright in the line-up to get it done. ESPECIALLY a struggling Wright. He should have sat last night, and he should sit again tonight. Woodward can fill in and do just as good a job at both ends of the field as a struggling David Wright.
I stand by what I said earlier: Having a more rested and healthy Wright is more important against the Braves than having a worn out Wright against the Pirates.
Put my vote in for Wagner being just fine. I know its irrational, but when he comes into a game, I automatically start thinking “game over.” Even though he has been erratic at times, he (as well as Sanchez) were really getting squeezed by the home plate ump last night. Yes, he has done a good Franco/Benitez/Looper imitation thus far, but when steps on the mound, my stomach does not churn the way it did when it was any one of that trio coming into the game. Again, I know that kind of confidence as a Met fan is irrational, but there you have it.
Can we get a hit with RISP? C’mon, would you please?
anyone here watch mlb tv>, whenever i watch the mets and the feed is sny does anyone else have this problem….most of the time if not all the time they never show the graphic in the top right or left corner showing the diamond and the count and whos on etc….they never show it plus another problem is they never show the replays…like i will hear the news of the flash of different screens liek they are showing the replays but i never see them….what the heck>….anyone else have these problems?
What is Willie doing pitching Dirty in a 6 run game?
Yeah I was wondering why Duaner was coming in. This is an ideal spot to build confidence for Julio in Shea.
Pelfrey got shellacked tonight; 13 hits in 4 innings. That may slow the fast-tracking down a bit. :( I still hope he can help us after the AS break. And before I post, Duaner gets the DP, so hopefully not many pitches.
AP,
I watch the games via MLB.TV and the graphics are hit and miss. Sometimes they’re there, sometimes they’re not. Its highly annoying. Hopefully this is simply a bug that MLB.TV needs to work out.