Apologies for taking a short hiatus last week from providing the masses with my Man Crush and Dog House Resident of the Week, but I’m back, and decided to share a quick little review of the last week in a bit of a different way.
The Good
I’ve been sternly in the camp of Mets fans that were completely confused as to why Jenrry Mejia was in the majors as a reliever, when he really should’ve been in the minors as a starter. At least, in baseball terms. As a business move, it made perfect sense. His stuff looked good, he threw hard, and he looked like a piece that would help the club in the later innings, not to mention help Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya keep their jobs. The problem with all this was, he just wasn’t panning out as a dominant reliever. He’s got 15 walks and 3 hit batsmen in 27.2 innings pitched. The bigger problem I have with Jenrry being in New York as late as yesterday involved the spots that he being used in. He was brought into games that were essentially over, stunting his development. Baseball America’s #1 rated Mets prospect had no business being in the Major Leagues, so I was pleased to hear that he was optioned to AA Binghamton following yesterday’s conclusion to the 2010 Subway Series. There, he’ll be converted back to a starter, and perhaps will help the big league club in the future, or, as is being speculated, will be used as a trading chip for a starting pitcher before the deadline.
The Bad
Is Johan Santana ok? This is the question everybody’s asking today after the “ace” of the staff got touched up for 4 runs off the bat of one Mark Teixeira in yesterday’s loss to the Yankees. Granted, it all came on one pitch, and someone can argue that he was fine if you erased that one pitch. But guess what? That pitch happened, and you can’t erase it. His velocity has dropped, he looks eminently hittable, and frankly, I don’t remember the last time I didn’t hear the following: “Santana’s battling through this start like a true ace, because he clearly doesn’t have his best stuff today.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what that even means anymore. His “not best stuff” has recently become “his stuff,” and I’m more than a little bit concerned. The good news is that he’s known as a second-half pitcher, so there’s still time for him to look like Santana again. Is he capable, though?
The Ugly
Who in the blue hell came up with that awful, awful Go Gaga For Wright promotion? Who thought it was a good idea to give fans a blue foam finger to fans to hold up to ramp up support for an All-Star Game appearance? That person needs to be fired, and banned from being within 250 feet of any Major League ballpark. If you ask me, David Wright’s made a great case to go to the All-Star game in June, but this promotion is just… you know what? I have no words. Oh wait, I do. Horrible.
