Results tagged ‘ Jose Reyes ’
Jose Reyes and the launch of a promising acting career
A light moment for the Mets this afternoon, when Jose Reyes and his teammates noticed an old SportsCenter commercial playing on a clubhouse television:
Reyes said he filmed the commercial back in 2007 — no dreadlocks back then — and laughed when he recalled it.
“I had to teach that guy how to dance,” Reyes said, referring to ESPN anchor Karl Ravech.
Seems Reyes may have a job waiting for him when his baseball career is over.
—–Follow along on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Do you remember this Mets lineup?
Try to find something significant about this Mets lineup from April 13, 2009:
Jose Reyes, SS
Daniel Murphy, LF
David Wright, 3B
Carlos Delgado, 1B
Carlos Beltran, CF
Ryan Church, RF
Brian Schneider, C
Luis Castillo, 2B
Mike Pelfrey, RHP
Give up? That’s the last time the Mets fielded a lineup with all eight of their regular starters. It happened against the Padres in — get this — the first regular season game in the history of Citi Field. Since that time, due in large part to injuries to Beltran and Reyes, the Mets have gone more than 15 months and played 247 games without ever fielding their ideal starting nine.
Until now. The team’s incompleteness should finally change Monday, when Castillo returns from the disabled list and Reyes plays his first game of the second half. Monday, barring something unforeseen, the Mets will field a team full of first stringers (albeit a drastically different lineup than they had 247 games ago) for the first time since last April 13.
The lineup (knock on wood, Mets fans) should look something like this:
Jose Reyes, SS
Angel Pagan, RF
David Wright, 3B
Carlos Beltran, CF
Ike Davis, 1B
Jason Bay, LF
Rod Barajas, C
Luis Castillo, 2B
Mike Pelfrey, RHP
—–Follow along on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Grading the first half for the Mets
Time to grade some key Mets on their first-half performances. Without further ado:
Johan Santana: B
What a strange season for Santana, who alternated dominating stretches with periods of pure mediocrity. The overall results have been fine, though hardly ace-like. Safe to say the Mets are expecting more from Santana in the second half, with last winter’s surgery now squarely in his rear-view mirror.
Mike Pelfrey: A-
Ignore the past few rocky starts for a minute. If I told you before the season that Pelfrey would go 10-4 with a 3.58 ERA in the first half, I think you would have taken that. Truth is, without Pelfrey, the Mets might not be close to postseason contention.
Jon Niese: A-
Injury aside, Niese has been brilliant at times, and as consistent as any of the five Mets starters. Like Pelfrey, he has given the Mets more than they ever could have expected in Spring Training.
R.A. Dickey: A+
When the Mets signed Dickey, he was nothing more than aging organizational depth. Now he is a legitimate starting pitcher, a cog in the rotation and a key reason why the team is still in this thing. Dickey deserves as much credit as anyone.
Hisanori Takahashi: B+
Like every other starter not named Santana, Takahashi has given the Mets more than they ever dreamed. His few bad starts have handcuffed them, yes, but between his early-season bullpen appearances and his role in the rotation, Takahashi has been stellar.
Jose Reyes: B
Yes, the fact that Reyes made the All-Star team was remarkable considering all he had gone through in the preceding year and a half. But Reyes was useless to the Mets for the first month of the season, and he has done nothing to shed his injury-prone image. Got to dock him some points for that.
Angel Pagan: A
Leading the army of overachievers was Pagan, a player who has finally begun to fulfill his potential. The Mets hardly missed Carlos Beltran this season in large part because of Pagan, who played stellar offense and defense in his absence.
David Wright: A-
Just like that, he’s back to being an All-Star. The Mets have to be pleased with that, considering the miserable season Wright endured last year.
Ike Davis: B
He’s gotten more credit than perhaps he’s deserved, considering his pedestrian offensive numbers. But Davis has played a solid first base while giving the Mets a measure of offensive pop from the position. That’s something worthwhile.
Jason Bay: C
The Mets’ one big free agent acquisition has been something of a bust. Bay is not hitting for power, and that’s the one thing he’s supposed to do well. Now down to sixth in the lineup, Bay must bust out for the Mets to succeed.
Rod Barajas: B
After a hot start, Barajas has cooled off plenty. But he did carry the Met offense for much of the early season, and he deserves some credit for the success of the pitching staff.
Jeff Francoeur: C
Other than his rocket right arm, Francoeur has contributed little to the Mets this season. Now, with Beltran back, he’s going to lose significant playing time because of it.
Luis Castillo: D
After justifying a portion of his contract with a strong year last season, Castillo has reverted back to an old, broken-down second baseman. He’s on the DL now, and there’s no telling how much he’ll be able to help when he returns.
Bench: C-
Gary Matthews, Jr., Frank Catalanotto and Fernando Tatis were all massively ineffective during their time with the team. Chris Carter helped for a while but has since faded. The Mets have yet to find a pinch-hitter who can give them consistently good at-bats. The one player here who deserves mention is Henry Blanco, who has worked well with the pitching staff while providing better-than-expected offense when he plays.
Bullpen: C
Francisco Rodriguez has walked a tight rope all season but ultimately has gotten the job done — and quite well, if you consider his numbers. Pedro Feliciano was overexposed against right-handed hitters, but has been just as effective as ever against lefties. Other than those two, the Mets have found no consistent answers in the back end of their bullpen. It’s the most conspicuous weakness for the team heading into the second half.
—–Follow along on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
(In)fielding a homegrown team
When the Mets used an infield alignment of Ike Davis (1B), Ruben Tejada (2B), Jose Reyes (SS) and David Wright (3B) against the Marlins this Friday and Saturday, they accomplished a rare feat — especially for a big-market team. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time since 1991 that the Mets had used a starting infield composed entirely of players who had never played for another professional organization.
The last time the Mets used an exclusively homegrown infield alignment, back on the final day of the 1991 season, it consisted of Chris Donnels (1B), Keith Miller (2B), Jeff Gardner (SS) and Gregg Jefferies (3B). And those guys, as a unit, weren’t particularly good.
Using as many homegrown players as possible is a goal for every organization, but one that few achieve. The Yankees have two of the best homegrown players in the league at shortstop and second base, but huge-ticket free agents at the corners. The Phillies have gone with a consistent alignment of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins in their infield, but usually start an outsider at third.
Homegrown players, in general, are cheaper, younger and better. They are also more popular, as Wright, Reyes, Howard, Utley, Rollins, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano can attest.
Consider the World Series winners of the past decade. Most of them — yes, even the Yankees — have had homegrown players at their core. And that, if nothing else, bodes well for the Mets.
—–Follow along on Twitter @anthonydicomo.
A more radical lineup suggestion
Mets manager Jerry Manuel shook up his lineup Saturday, shifting Jose Reyes back to leadoff and plugging Angel Pagan into the third spot. Maybe that will give the Mets a jolt, but I just don’t see it.
I’m from the school that you want to have your best hitters bat most often. And as well as Pagan is playing right now, he just does not qualify as one of the Mets’ best hitters. Which is why I’d prefer to see him lower down the lineup, with the more productive hitters clumped up top.
Here is the lineup I would try. Note that the Mets’ three leaders in on-base percentage (Wright, Davis and Bay, in that order) are all in the top half of this configuration:
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. David Wright, 3B
3. Ike Davis, 1B
4. Jason Bay, LF
5. Rod Barajas, C
6. Angel Pagan, CF
7. Jeff Francoeur, RF
8. Luis Castillo, 2B
If you want to let Chris Carter start over Francoeur for a couple days, I won’t argue. If you want to keep Castillo in the two hole and push everyone else down a spot, I won’t fight you there, either. And if Francoeur ever starts swinging the bat well, he could shift as high as five in this configuration, making it more ideal.
It’s a little radical, and maybe it wouldn’t work. But I’m not just sure how much Manuel’s minor shakeup is going to change things.
Mets poll: If you were GM for a day
Time to try something new here at Mets Cetera. Based on your comments both on this blog and MLB.com, I can tell there’s a certain amount of restlessness within the Mets fan base right now. So I’ll leave it up to you: if you could alter only one aspect of this team, would you…
Anthony DiComo
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