Mets Weekend Update

I was only able to watch the game on Friday night, and followed the last two games loosely via mlb gameday/radio as I was returning back to the tri-state area. I will post a review by tomorrow afternoon of Target Field (went to the Saturday night game when Joe Mauer pinch hit with the bases loaded).


But back to the Mets. Obviously we need to be happy being able to win two of three games, but it would've been extra sweet if we could've held on to win the game last night after they battled back despite Oliver Perez being a complete disaster. He is not any where close to being a major league pitcher right now, and I'm not sure what the answer of what to do with him is, but what I do know is that if the Mets want to be a playoff contender, he can not pitch for them every five days hoping he figures it out.

Some people were clamoring for Dillon Gee to take Oliver Perez's spot in the rotation after he threw two consecutive shut outs to start the year, but he has now returned back to Earth and has a 5.81 ERA over the past four starts, due to a significant increase in walks (3.3 W/9 which is just average; he had allowed only one walk in his first two starts) and some bad luck (extremely high BAPIP; Hat Tip Toby Hyde of MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com). Since Dillon Gee is not on the 40-man roster, I didn't do a scouting report for him, but here is a short and sweet one (if he does get called up I will write up an expanded post). He has fringe-average stuff, with a fastball that is 88-90, topping out at 92. His best pitch is his change-up, and also mixes in a cutter/slider and a slow curve. He needs to rely on his impeccable control to be successful. Missed most of last year (May 25th was his last start) due to a torn labrum, which he opted to do rehab for instead of surgery. He's 24 years old, and was ranked the Mets 23rd best prospected by Baseball America, and 22nd by MetsMinorLeagueBlog.

Right now I would give Takahashi a chance to start, and call up RA Dickey as an insurance policy in case he runs out of gas after 4 innings/isn't effective and Dickey can give the Mets numerous innings without depleting the bullpen.
Some other news/notes:

• F Nieve is now on pace to pitch in 104 games. That would tie the major league record Jerry. Just an FYI.
• J Mejia gave up a wind-aided two-run HR that was the difference maker in yesterday's game. At least they are utilizing him in higher leverage situations and not completely wasting his talents, although I still believe he should be a starting pitcher in the minors right now.
• Where is Daniel Murphy?? He has disappeared. Ok, I'm slightly exaggerating, but why is he not playing in any minor league games? He's in extended spring training trying to be a utility player, which I disagree with, but wouldn't he benefit from seeing real game experience in addition to extra fielding practice versus only going through spring training drills? At the very least, he has to be a better left-handed pinch hitter than Frankie C. from Smithtown.
• Chris Carter is still tearing up AAA in case any one cares about him, because apparently the Mets don't. His slash numbers for the season are: .339/.395/.615. He too would also be a significant upgrade on the bench over Frank C. and/or Gary Matthews Jr. Here was my scouting report for Carter in March: Chris Carter.

Feel free to post your comments/your thoughts on what the Mets should do with their bench spots, and/or what to do with Oliver Perez, as well as your expectations for C Beltran and when he will return (here is the link to the two Beltran posts from Today and last Tuesday).

As always, thanks for reading.