Talking Jets with Brian Bassett
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Daniel Ray Herrera’s screwball
Via Amazin’ Avenue comes this 2008 Hardball Times piece about Daniel Ray Herrera’s screwball, a rarity in contemporary baseball. I just tried throwing it as described with a Wiffle ball in my office, and now my shoulder hurts.
Minor League Furious Five
MB1C
Randy at the Apple presents merchandise celebrating Miguel Batista’s 100th win. This is awesome:
Just this morning I parked my car behind one with a DJ3K bumper sticker. That’s a pretty big commitment to the Derek Jeter 3,000-hit campaign, but it’s no Melky Car-brera.
Make this happen
Position-player candidates to be called up: first baseman Valentino Pascucci and outfielder Mike Baxter. The 32-year-old Pascucci, named Triple-A Buffalo’s MVP, last appeared in the majors in 2004 with the Montreal Expos.
– Adam Rubin, ESPNNewYork.com.
Do the Mets stand to gain much by calling up Val Pascucci? Not really. He’s 32, defensively limited, and probably not a big part of the team’s future.
Should they? Hell yes they should. Make this happen.
Hear me say stuff
I joined the gang from KinersKorner.com on their podcast last night to discuss the Mets and embarrassing photos of Cole Hamels. Check it out.
Because for some reason I now keep track of this
As I’ve mentioned about a dozen times: Last year the Mets gave 1633 plate appearances to position players that finished with on-base percentages below .300, by far the most in their division.
So far this year: 88, by far the least in their division.
Last year’s Mets offense ranked 26th in the Majors with an 89 OPS+. This year’s Mets offense ranks 7th with a 103 mark. Last year’s team finished 25th in on-base percentage with a .314 rate. This year’s team is fourth, with .335.
New Mostly Mets Podcast
With Toby and Patrick, as usual. We taped this last night, so there’s no talk of the Einhorn stuff or the K-Rod return. But there’s still some talk about bacon:
It’s on iTunes here.
Breakdown:
1:00 David Wright’s defense
5:00 the Marlins are so Marliny.
8:30 Jason Bay, Center fielder
15:20 Blogger Bait
26:00 Email
30:00 Bagels and Bacon – (Our weekly Bacon digression)
32:00 Twitter Questions
– AFL Roster Assignments
– Pitching Prospects, avoiding Gen K’s Fate
52:00 First September Callups: Setting an MLB record (Josh!)
55:00 – Paying Jose Reyes
1:05:00 – Things that are awesome
Talking Yankees with Mike Salfino
Mike’s from SNYWhyGuys.com.
Mets get two guys
The New York Mets today announced the team acquired lefthanded pitcher Daniel Herrera and righthanded pitcher Adrian Rosario from the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the trade that sent righthanded pitcher Francisco Rodriguez and cash considerations to the Brewers on July 12.
– Mets press release.
So who are these guys?
Herrera’s a short, 26-year-old left-hander with 93 innings’ worth of Major League experience. In those innings, he posted a 106 ERA+ with a high 1.537 WHIP, but proved effective against left-handed batters. He held lefties to a .218/.278/.306 line, meaning he’d make a pretty decent lefty specialist if nothing else. Major League righties crushed him, though.
In 42 2/3 innings in the Triple-A (and hitter friendly) Pacific Coast League this year, Herrera held lefties to a .173 batting average and a .196 on-base percentage.
Rosario, a 21-year-old righty in Single A, hasn’t had a ton of success in the low Minors. One interesting note, though: In every stop in which teams used Rosario exclusively out of the bullpen, his strikeout rate spiked. Of course, it’s a bunch of small samples and he’s still in Single A, so it’s hard to get too excited. Toby Hyde has more.
Patrick Flood had a great post about bullpen construction yesterday that you should probably check out and which, I believe, endorses acquisitions like these ones. Herrera appears to be a guy the Mets could use next year in place of Tim Byrdak without having to shell out Scott Schoeneweis money on the free-agent market. Plus he appears to have good hair.
Tedquarters 