Matt Harvey Shines in Debut

The New York Mets may be free falling at the moment (2-8 in last ten games), but their season is quickly becoming marked by historically great pitching performances.

Rookie Matt Harvey added to that narrative Thursday with his major league debut. The 22-year-old righty struck out a team-record 11 batters in his first game. Harvey went 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 11 K against the Arizona Diamondbacks to pick up his first win. The 2010 first-round pick provided momentary excitement for a team 11.5 out of first in the NL East.

A University of North Carolina product, Harvey first appeared on the Mets A+ squad. At 22-years old, Harvey went 13-5 with 156 strikeouts in 135.2 A+ and AA innings in 2011. Harvery opened his 2012 year in AAA. Before his call-up, Harvey was 7-5 with a 3.68 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 110 innings. Batters were hitting .232 against him.

Harvey’s debut included fastballs at 98 mph, something his manager, Terry Collins, took note of.

“I haven’t seen a 98 [mph pitch] out of a starting pitcher in quite some time,” Collins said. “And I saw several out of him today. He’s lived up to exactly what everybody has talked about. Now I want him to go out the next time and be a little more comfortable and pitch as effectively as he did today.”

Harvey also found time to pick up two hits, including a rip over the center fielder’s head for a double. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first pitcher in the modern era to strike out 11 batters and collect two hits in his big league debut.

The only blemish on Harvey’s night was his control. He threw 106 pitches, 41 for a ball. His next appearance in San Francisco will come with the challenge of cutting down his pitch count.

Harvey enjoyed a magical debut Thursday. From here on out, he will just be one of the guys.

The Big Guy

Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

Who’s Hot

1. Ryan Zimmerman– In the month of July Zimmerman is leading the N.L. in hits with 33 and is batting .413 during this month. Zimmerman has 8 doubles, 9 homers, 22 RBIs, .472 in base percentage, .850 slugging, and a 1.322 ops for the month making him the hottest hitter in the N.L.
2. Andrew McCutchen- McCutchen has continued to impress and make noise for the N.L. MVP into the month of July. With 33 hits, 7 homers, and 15 RBIs McCutchen has an average of .464 for the month. McCutchen can still arguably be the best hitter right now.
3. Paul Maholm- Maholm is the hottest pitcher going 4-0 giving up just 4 runs in 30 innings pitched. Maholm has a 1.20 ERA and a .97 WHIP for the month of July.
4. Homer Bailey- Bailey has gone 4-0 in the month of July giving up just 6 runs in 30.2 innings pitched with a 1.76 ERA and .98 WHIP for the month of July.

Who’s Not

1. Satrlin Castro- Castro is batting .208 in the month of July with just 15 hits in 73 at bats with 10 strikeouts. Castro has lowered his average by 18 points to .281 on the season.
2. Hunter Pence- Pence is batting just .188 for the month of July with just 13 hits in 69 at bats including 18 strikeouts. Pence has lowered his average 18 points, to .261 during the month.
3. Johan Santana- Santana has started 3 games in the month of July and is 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA. Santana has last just 12.2 innings while giving up 19 runs off 28 hits during the month.
4. Jordan Lyles- Lyles is 0-3 in the month of July with a 7.54 ERA in just 22.2 innings. Lyles has given up 22 runs of 36 hits during the month and is now 2-7 on the season.

There ya have it. Who’s Hot and Who’s not in the month of July

Cocach Tom

Chris Sale vs. Johan Santana

I have heard many people starting to talk about the comparison of young Chris Sale to Randy Johnson, but when you look at the numbers they are not the same pitcher. a better comparison would be Johan Santana. Randy Johnson was a 6’11,left handed, flame throwing, late blooming star, who did not have a career winning record until he was 29. Johnson was a wild throwing pitcher who led the league in walks from 1990-1992. Johnson also led the league in hit batters in 1992-1993. Johnson finally figured out his control at the age of 29 and never walked more then 86 batters in a season after 1992. Sale has already figured out the strike zone. In his first 3 years, Sale has 213 strikeouts while walking just 26. Sale is young and ready to be a star in for the White Sox. It took Johnson until he was 26 to have his first winning season.

Now lets battle between Sale and Santana

The Chicago White Sox brought up Chris Sale at the age of 21, and used him mainly as a 7th-8th inning role, getting just 12 saves over his first two seasons. In 2012 Sale was originally going to be the White Sox closer until his first blown save. Sale was then brought up to the starting rotation where he is now 11-2

The Minnesota Twins brought up Johan Santana at the age of 21 as well, and used Johan as a reliever for his first 2 and a half years until Santana would be put into the starting rotation. In 2003 Santana got his chance to finally stay in the lineup and went 12-3 finishing 7th in CY young award standings. Santana had a plus fastball, plus slider, and a plus change up.

Santana led the league in WHIP in his first 4 seasons in the starting rotation, and strikeouts the first 3 seasons. Sale is currently 3rd in WHIP, and 12th in strikeouts, but Sale is still a year ahead of Santana in age before being put into the starting rotation. Sale has a plus fastball, plus slider, good curveball, and a good change up.

There are still many questions to be asked before Chris Sale can officially start being compared to all-stars like Johan Santana and Randy Johnson. I believe that Chris Sale will have a great career, and in the in he should have the numbers to talk about being compared to anyone.

Coach Tom

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good

Matt Garza

The Cubs starting pitcher got the win in a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete the 3 game sweep. Garza went 7 innings giving up 0 runs off 5 hits while striking out 7. Garza got his 5th victory of the season and is now 5-7 with a 4.02 ERA.

Stephen Strasburg

The Washington Nationals starting pitcher got his 10th victory on the season in a 4-0 victory over the Miami Marlins. Strasburg went 6 innings giving up 0 runs off 6 hits while striking out 7. Strasburg now has a 2.66 ERA with 135 strikeouts on the season, and is just 2 wins behind R.A. Dickey for the lead in wins in the NL.

Ben Sheets

The Atlanta Braves starting pitcher got his first win in nearly 2 years after a 6-1 victory over the New York Mets. Sheets got his first start after coming off injury that has kept him out of the league for the past 2 seasons. Sheets is homing to help the the Braves make a push for the top spot in the NL East.

Andrew McCutchen

Despite the 1-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, McCutchen went 3-4 on the night to stay hot. McCutchen had 2 singles, a homer, a run scored, and a RBI on the night to extend his hitting streak to 6 games, with 14 hits during this span. McCutchen is now hitting .371 with 21 homers, 119 hits, and 64 RBIs on the season. MVP anyone.

Martin Maldonado

The Brewers catcher, Martin Maldonado went 3-4 in the Brewers 4-1 victory over the Pirates. Maldonado had a single, 2 doubles, and an RBI on the day. Maldonado is now hitting .285 with 3 doubles on the season for the Brewers.

Cole Hamels

The Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher got his 11th victory on the season with a 5-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Hamels went 8 innings giving 1 run off 6 hits while striking out 7. Hamels is now tied for 2nd in wins in the NL with 11, and is 4th in strikeouts with 125. and innings pitched with 126. Hamels is 11-4 with a 3.04 ERA on the season.

Buster Posey

The San Francisco Giants catcher, Buster Posey, went 3-4 in the Giants 3-2 victory over Astros. Posey had 3 singles, and 2 RBIs in Sunday’s game and is now batting .297 with 11 homers, 16 doubles, and 47 RBIs on the season.

Matt Cain

The Giants starting pitcher, Matt Cain, got his 10th victory on the year over the Houston Astros. Cain went 6.1 innings giving up 2 runs off 5 hits while striking out 6. Cain improved to 10-3 on the year making him 6th in wins in the NL, 2nd in innings pitched(126.2), 6th in the NL in strikeouts(124), 5th in ERA(2.56), and 1st in WHIP(0.96). Cain is a definite candidate for cy young.

Aroldis Chapman

The Cincinnati Reds closer, Aroldis Chapman, got his 13th save of the season in a 4-2 victory over the St.Louis Cardinals. Chapman improved his ERA to 1.70 on the season with 79 strikeouts. Chapman struck out the side Sunday night, and now has 20 strikeouts over his last 8 innings.

The Bad

Hanley Ramirez

The Marlins 3rd baseman, Hanley Ramirez is went 0-4 in the Marlins 0-4 loss to the Nationals. Ramirez struck out once, and now has 5 strikeouts over the last 3 games, and just has 4 hits over his last 33 at bats giving him a .246 average for the season. 

Johan Santana

The New York Mets starting pitcher, Johan Santana, got his second straight loss Sunday against the Braves. Santana went jsut 5 innings giving up 6 runs off 8 hits.Santana has now given up 21 hits and 13 runs over his last 9.2 innings thrown. Santana has a 6-6 record with a 3.59 ERA on the year.

Pedro Alvarez

The Pittsburgh Pirates 3rd baseman, Pedro Alvarez, went 0-3 in the Pirates 1- loss against the Brewers. Alvarez has 3 strikeouts, giving him 7 strikeouts over the last 3 games. Alvarez is just 7- 31 over his last 10 games giving him a .226 average on the season.

The Ugly

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost 7-2 Sunday against the Padres thanks to 5 errors on the day. This was a season high in errors for the Dodgers, and the3rd baseman Hairston Jr. had 2 errors in the same innining. The Dodgers are now 48-42 on the season, leaving them 1.5 games out of first.

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros have won just 1 game over their last 14 games, and are now officially the worse team in the NL. The Houston Astros are now just 33-56 on the year. Many of the problems come from the bats. The Astros are ranked 23rd in runs, 24th in batting average, 25th in on base percentage, and 25th in slugging percentage. Also on the rubber side the Astros rank 27th in ERA, 16th in quality starts, 27th in WHIP, and 28th in batters average,

Coach Tom

Does This Look Like a Man Who Would Miss His Child’s First Birthday Due To A Mets Game

Meet Rafael Diaz, age 32 from Louisiana. Diaz was attending the Mets game Friday June 1st when Johan Santana threw the Mets first no hitter in Mets history. Diaz then proceeded to run onto the field to celebrate with the team as if it was a college football game. After his 5 seconds of celebrating with his favorite team Diaz was then arrested and spent 2 days in the New York jail. Now none of this would be so bad if it wasn’t his child’s first birthday that weekend. So instead of having the joy of celebrating his child’s first birthday, Diaz decided that the 5 second joy of celebrating the team 1st no hitter was good enough him and he spent the weekend in jail telling his son happy birthday half way across the country in an orange jumpsuit.

Coach Tom

Can The Mets Keep It Up?

Entering the 2012 season the New York Mets were predicted to finish last in the N.L. East and were predicted to be one of the worse teams in all of baseball, but as they say it, this is why we play the game. Now it is June 4th and the New York Mets are sitting right in the thick of things just a half game out of first place with a record of 31-24. The real question is how are the Mets doing it in one the toughest divisions in baseball. Well lets look deeper into the team roster to see just how they are making this impressive run.

The Bats

David Wright 3B

      The Mets 3rd baseman is having a career through the first 2 months batting .361 as of today. Is this because Wright has finally figured it out, or is it just another player having another great contract year. Wright is leading the team in average .361, on base percentage .464, and hits with 66. Wright is a major reason why the Mets are in the position they are in and he will need to keep it up all year to give the Mets a shot at the playoffs.

Daniel Murphy 2B

     The Mets 2nd baseman is second on the team in both hits with 66 and doubles with 15. Murphy is hitting .307 on the year, but is the best Mets hitter with runners on. Murphy is almost .50 points batting .348 on the season. The biggest difference with Murphy this season is his ability to hit in the clutch and the Mets will need to keep in up throughout the season.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF

     The Mets biggest surprise of the year and a major reason for their success is the new comer Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Nieuwenhuis was drafted by the Mets in the 3rd round in 2008 and now he has finally made it to the majors and making the most it. Nieuwenhuis is batting .299 on the season with 53 hits, 8 doubles, 3 homers, and 19 RBIs. If the rookie center fielder can keep this up in the 2nd half of the season then the Mets have a great chance of staying in the run.

The Pitchers

R.A. Dickey SP

    Dickey already has matched his wins from last season with 8 and is on pace for a break out year. Dickey is 8-1 on the season with career low 2.62 era on the season. Dickey has surprised everyone with his start to the season and is looking like a candidate for the N.L CY Young Award. Dickey’s performance is key to the Mets chances of winning a pennant.

Johan Santana SP

Just one season removed from injury and Johan Santana is already coming back to the Johan of old. In his last start Santana pitched the New York Mets first no hitter in franchise history. Santana is just 3-2 on the season, but has an impressive 2.38 era. Santana’s come back is a huge plus to the Mets season and if he can continue to look like the Santana of old the Mets chances are looking good.

BOLD PREDICTION

I know the Mets are surprising all of America with their incredible start to the season, but i do not believe they have enough to get them to the playoffs and here are my reasons.

• N.L. East. The fact of the matter is that the Mets are stuck in the strongest division of the N.L. and they just don’t have the talent the other teams have to continue this run for the whole season.
• Batters- Right now the Mets are riding the wave of many players on their team having career months throughout the month of April and May. At some point the bats will cool down and the Mets hitters will go through some major slumps.
• Pitching- Yes Santana and Dickey look awesome through the first 2 months, the rest of the staff will not have enough to get the Mets through the lineup of the Marlins, Phillies, and Atlanta. Someone else is going to have to step up to prove me wrong.
• September- Everyone knows as the season goes on the Mets slowly get worse and worse and this year will be no different. Sure most the summer could be fun, but when all is said in done the Mets will not be in first place.

I believe the Mets will still surprise people this year, but look for them to finish at best 3rd in the division behind Atlanta and the Phillies.

Coach Tom

Jorts on the Diamond!

As soon as Johan completed his no-hitter last night, some guy in a Gary Carter jersey and a killer pair of jorts ran on the field and joined to mob scene on the bump. Gotta admit, the guy’s got guts…wearing jorts is some kind of power move. Oh, and celebrating the first no-hitter in team history on the field with the players, yeah that takes some balls too.

Johan’s No-No

Fifty years, 8,019 games, zero no-hitters. No more.

Five years after moving east from Minnesota and in the midst of his best season as a Met, Johan Santana reached a pinnacle no Mets pitcher had ever achieved before.

It was not easy for Santana. He needed 134 pitches. He walked 5 batters. He threw first-pitch strikes to only 18 of the 32 batters he faced. He gave up 16 fly balls to only 3 ground outs. On his 27th out he went to 3-0 before rallying to strike out Cardinals third baseman David Freese.

Every no-hitter requires a bit of help and Santana found his tonight from third base umpire Adrian Johnson. A Carlos Beltran rip down the third base line that clearly kicked the white just over the bag was called foul. But in a game that resists replay and embraces human error the game went on.

Now with back-to-back complete game shutouts, the pitcher who missed all of 2011 appears to have returned to the form he has maintained since he broke into the big leagues full-time in 2002. A bit of an afterthought in a city obsessed with the Yankees, Santana has also been overlooked due to his 24-18 record over his past two seasons.

Not like that was his fault. The 33-year-old has never posted an ERA higher than 3.13 or a WHIP higher than 1.21 in The Big Apple. His 133 career wins belie his 3.07 ERA over 274 career starts.

The lefty with the devastating change-up pushed his team to 29-23 and within 1 game of the NL East leading Washington Nationals.

Power knuckleballer R.A. DIckey (7-1) will take the hill for New York against Cardinal Lance Lynn (8-1).

The Big Guy