Mets Geek » Random Thoughts from Turner Field (Mets vs. Braves 9/20-21)

September 22, 2008

Random Thoughts from Turner Field (Mets vs. Braves 9/20-21)

by: Mike Newman on Sep 22, 2008 9:55 AM | Filed under: Journals

I just returned home from a weekend in Atlanta and had the opportunity to see the Braves and Mets play both Saturday night and Sunday. Watching the Mets live brought back many memories from when I was a kid and would go to games with my father to watch Straw, Doctor K, and company. I came away with some random thoughts I wanted to share while I watch my Tennessee Volunteers get throttled by the Gators on TIVO in what is shaping up as an absolutely abysmal season. I can’t believe I avoided a bunch of places all weekend just so I wouldn’t hear the score.

New York Mets -

* Pedro Martinez is certainly a fighter on the mound……so is Livan Hernandez. I never thought I would see Pedro struggling to break 80 MPH on the gun. He didn’t seem loose to start the game as his velocity fastball was 80-82, topping out at 85 in the first. From the second inning on, he hit 90 once, 87 a handful of times and was consistently at 85 MPH.
* Daniel Murphy is going to be the Mets version of Rusty Greer and will quickly become a fan favorite for his ability to play the game. Greer’s career was cut short by injury, but he averaged .310 20 HR 100 RBI in his prime. I think Mets fans will be very pleased. Of course I said the same about Matt Murton a couple of years back for the Cubs.
* Speaking of Murphy, would the Mets be satisfied if he became a similar player to the Braves Kelly Johnson? Johnson started out in the outfield with less initial success than Murphy, but was later successfully transitioned to the infield.
* As if Mets fans didn’t already know, Carlos Delgado is a beast. While I wouldn’t be keen on an extension, picking up his option is a no brainer as he should have another big year or two in the tank.
* Was Ryan Church and Brian Schneider really the best the Mets could do for Lastings Milledge? Those two are worthless. I know Mets fans will defend Church because of the concussion problems, but his splits are in line with his career averages and he has always been considered an injury risk. Milledge could end up haunting Mets fans dreams for years to come.
* Mike Pelfrey could use another year pitching at the back of the Mets rotation. Throwing him in the playoffs would worry me as he couldn’t shut the door against a AAAA lineup.
* David Wright will win the NL MVP in 2009 with a Pujols-like .320+ 40+ HR 130+ RBI season. The first of 4 or so MVP type seasons which will cement him as the best hitter in New York Mets history.
* How dominating would Jose Reyes be if he had just a little more grit?
* Luis Castillo may vie for the title of “worst 2b in MLB” next season. How he could be extended is beyond me.
* When Johan Santana pitches, the Mets win because of Omar Minaya’s handy work. The other four days, the Mets win in spite of it.

Atlanta Braves -

* Jeff Francoeur should be one of the initial favorites for comeback player of the year award should he refine his hitting mechanics. His swing looks more like a slow pitch softball swing than one tailored for baseball. No player can be successful by dropping his hands and stepping in the bucket like he does.
* Where is the Charlie Morton I read reports about throwing 92-95? He was 88-92 on Sunday with little feel for his change and poor control.
* Martin Prado is a nice little player. He could be a starting 2B with a number of teams and could make Kelly Johnson expendable.
* If the Braves decide to go cheap this winter, Rocco Baldelli and Juan Rivera could be cheap, experienced alternatives.
* Could Brian McCann be the Braves version of Thurman Munson?
* Jorge Campillo is fun to watch. He doesn’t look like he can get out junior varsity hitters from the stands.

Turner Field was a good, but not great ballpark to visit and watch a game. I’ll be making a yearly pilgrimage there to catch a couple of games with my son. The fans were great as we met a number of nice people who actually knew the game unlike my visits to Pro Player stadium to watch the Marlins where the fans were neither nice nor knowledgeable. I just wish the Braves didn’t advertise the game as “sold out” when each game had ten to fifteen thousand empty seats. I would have liked to have received tickets in the section promised to me when I bought my vouchers back in May.

Unfortunately, my son had much more fun doing the “Tomahawk Chop” than trying to say “Let’s Go Mets” so I fear he may be lost to the dark side forever!

10 Responses to “Random Thoughts from Turner Field (Mets vs. Braves 9/20-21)”

Comment posted by Simons on September 22, 2008 at 1:31 pm (#854744)
Nice field report. But -1 for the comment about Jose’s grit factor ;)
Comment posted by Danny on September 22, 2008 at 4:10 pm (#855056)
* How dominating would Jose Reyes be if he had just a little more grit?

What does this mean?

Comment posted by Mike Newman on September 22, 2008 at 5:51 pm (#855236)
I don’t get to see Jose Reyes much, but watching him in person, I was surprised at his overall lack of hustle which may not show up on TV.
Comment posted by Athena on September 22, 2008 at 6:12 pm (#855240)
I know Mets fans will defend Church because of the concussion problems, but his splits are in line with his career averages and he has always been considered an injury risk. Milledge could end up haunting Mets fans dreams for years to come.

Obviously, this remains to be seen. But so far, it’s certainly not keeping me up nights. And I’d be very surprised if anyone considered two concussions in the first half of the season to be a credible injury risk before it happened.

And I might as well put in my two cents on the Jose comment. This has been discussed countless times here, so I won’t belabor the point. But I think it is an unfair (knee-jerk?) characterization of a talented and hardworking player. Who runs himself into the ground, in virtually every game of the season, for far too little credit.

I guess I just belabored it, huh? ;-)

Comment posted by Dep on September 22, 2008 at 6:15 pm (#855243)
hahahahaha, damn LAZY LATINOS

they b killing us!

Comment posted by Chris in GA on September 22, 2008 at 7:21 pm (#855332)
I wish Jose Reyes had a big heart like David Eckstein. David’s heart produces so much grit that it fuels whatever vehicle he is driving. True Story

Comment posted by Mike Newman on September 22, 2008 at 8:45 pm (#855771)
Athena,

Church has made a handful of trips to the DL during his career and was considered an injury prone player with the Nats. His concussions were fluky, but the Mets knew what they were getting when they dealt for him.

Milledge is only 23 and was very badly mishandled by the Mets. He has been well over .300 during August/September which may be a sign of a big breakout in 2009. He’s just scratching the surface of his ability and looks like a 25+ HR 35+ SB threat in his prime.
Comment posted by Athena on September 22, 2008 at 9:13 pm (#855871)
As I said, Mike. Only time will tell. Milledge is a talented player, so we might well be sorry not to have him in a season or two. We’ll have to see how it plays out, but I don’t miss young Lastings all that much.
Comment posted by Ed in Westchester 2.0 is an optimistic yahoo on September 23, 2008 at 3:54 pm (#857047)
Church has made a handful of trips to the DL during his career and was considered an injury prone player with the Nats. His concussions were fluky, but the Mets knew what they were getting when they dealt for him.

Milledge is only 23 and was very badly mishandled by the Mets. He has been well over .300 during August/September which may be a sign of a big breakout in 2009. He’s just scratching the surface of his ability and looks like a 25+ HR 35+ SB threat in his prime.

sorry, the correlation does not fit.
He had no other injuries besides a fluke.
Now, if he had hurt a leg or something, I would sort of agree, but you cannot equate this year with the past.

BTW, didn’t Milledge go on the DL this year?
And last year?
And the year before?

As for Church, the argument could be made that the Nats mishandled him as well, considering they stink, they should have let him play and work on facing lefties. they had every other player playing, yet not this guy.

Comment posted by Mike Newman on September 23, 2008 at 9:46 pm (#857847)
In terms of development, Church receiving his first decent chunk of playing time at 26 is not the sign of a top prospect. His 2005 season was injury plagued and he acquired the reputation for being soft. His 2006 season began so badly it led to his being sent down in favor of Nook Logan. To say he was mishandled is to assume he was a great prospect to begin with. Yes he was the #3 prospect in the Expos organization entering 2005, but their organizational ranking was 26th overall at the time after finishing 30th and 29th the two previous seasons. He was #3 by default.

Milledge peaked at #9 overall on Baseball America’s prospect rankings during his age 21 season. In comparison, Church was in the NYP at the same age after being drafted. Has Milledge been injured? Yes. Does he have the talent, raw ability, and time to overcome missed time and still become an all-star caliber player? Yes. Does Church? No. Keep in mind Church is in the middle of what are supposed to be his prime seasons and Milledge is putting up equivalent numbers with four seasons until he even enters his prime.

To compare the two as equivalent talents is unfair to both players.