Just Practicing ...

(If I ever give up on the Mets, I'm going to become a Dodgers fan. Would I ever be able to maintain the blog if I did?)

Interesting to see Joe Torre's lineup card tonight, featuring Juan Pierre as his #2 hitter. The little guy is on a hot streak as of late and has actually raised his OPS+ over the 100 mark, a mark he's only topped once over an entire season in his nine-year career. Torre would be still be better served using Pierre as a fourth outfielder/pinch runner, while starting Andre Ethier in left field. (Matt Kemp seems to have locked down right field, a happy development for Dodgers fans.) But since Pierre is hot, it's not so bad seeing him that high in the lineup.

The problem is that Pierre's only real skill is speed - he's a good contact hitter who is highly unlikely to hit anything other than a single. Defensively, Pierre still covers ground and rarely makes mistakes, but has an arm like a wet noodle. Like Luis Castillo on the New York Mets, he's better served hitting out of the eighth spot in the lineup, where his speed and his usual .330 OBP could be more artfully deployed to get past the pitcher.

Pierre has been much maligned after signing a $5 year, $44 million deal with the Dodgers in 2007. It's a horrible deal for a player who is incredibly overrated, of course, but the money is already going to be spent. Torre shouldn't be blocking Ethier in the first place, but he has a responsibility to minimize Pierre's negative effect on the offense by batting him lower in the lineup - regardless of how much Frank McCourt is paying him.

Link Review: Mets Grrl

The blog roll is starting to fill up and Mets Grrl is another worthy inclusion. She's been to a lot more games than I have this season, she knows how to keep score and she linked this site even though she's very clear about her rules for link exchanges. Since I didn't write to her (although I have to admit I have been doing this with some other Met blogs I like) and she still linked me, I'll consider it an honor.

Personally, I think we all get a little thrill about seeing our name in print (why else would we do this?) and I've never known a person who didn't appreciate recognition for their abilities or their accomplishments. It's why I write to other bloggers who haven't yet linked me and why I like to write a little bit about the sites I link. And I genuinely like Mets Grrl's site; it combines analysis, humor and pictures well and has a much more professional looking layout than I have.

By the way, I hope my readers know that they should be clicking on my links every once in a while to read what some other people have to say. There's so much good stuff out there and so many intelligent points of view - take advantage of what's linked to the right.

Moving Past 100 Pitches?

I thought this deserved a brief mention: the Springfield Cardinals are increasing the pitch-count limits for their starting rotation, effective immediately. Apparently the hurlers for the Cardinals' AA affiliate will have more rope, with a max workload of about 120 pitches. From the article:

Said St. Louis pitching coordinator Dyar Miller, one of the architects behind the ramped-up rule: "I'd like to see more competition, to be truthful about it.

In the big leagues," Miller added, "if you keep getting them out, they'll leave you in there. You pitch until you run into trouble."

That's not actually true, of course. Today's managers pull their starters after seven shutout innings and only two hits if their pitch count has gone over that mythical 100 number. But fair play to the Cardinals for trying this out. Someone in the organization - presumably Miller - must've realized that the 100-pitch limit may not be the final word on protecting young pitcher's arms.

Is this the first shot in the revolution against the oppressive tyranny of the 100-pitch limit? I certainly hope so.

Link Review: The Musings and Prophecies of Metstradamus

Not only have I been deficient with actual content this week, but I also haven't done a good job of supporting my fellow bloggers. Metstradamus and I are colleagues over at Flushing University and his blog has been sending a lot of traffic to my page (God bless Sitemeter!)

First of all, the man is a sharp cookie. When you get the Friday slot on FU's weekly roll of columnists, your article gets to stay up on the front page through the weekend. The good news is that he's a solid writer with some nice insights, so weekend visitors are getting good stuff right off the bat. It's more of the same on Metstradamus, with a lot of humor balancing intelligent analysis. The links section is incredible (and not just because I'm now on it!) and links to fan pages for just about every team in the league,

The blog has a lot of fun stuff in addition to regular Mets content; the Hate List and Critics are always interesting. (What did Mike Bibby ever do to you, John?) Plus the man has a WhatifSports ad on his page; with my luck he's probably been thrashing my Pepperdine Hoops Dynasty team for a few seasons now.

Roster Move: Moises Alou activated from DL

First of all, I apologize for the lack of content this week. Things are very busy at work - the end of the academic year always brings about some interesting behavior and my boss has officially left for Texas, so I'm picking up the slack. It may be a little slow for the next two weeks, but once finals are done I'll get back into the groove. Just an extra little bump: I got picked up at BTF for the second week in a row. I might have a fan in Repoz, who has been kind enough to link me twice - if you read this, drop a line in the comments section!

Anyway, Moises is back, for as long as his brittle body can stay together. The lineup should see a huge boost; the old man can still rake and it pushes Carlos Delgado further down in the lineup. I loved the Mets' lineup last night - Church second, Alou fifth and Castillo eighth is perfect. Like I wrote earlier in the week, Castillo as an eighth hitter can make him a very important and effective part of the lineup. Church strikes out a bit, but if he's going to hit like this all season it's worth it to keep getting him at-bats. Why Willie pitched Sanchez in the ninth instead of letting Feliciano finish the game with a five-run lead is just beyond me.

Gus Molina was sent back to New Orleans to make room for Alou. Sorry, Tim. Let's take a look at the active roster now:

STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
Oliver Perez
John Maine
Mike Pelfrey
Nelson Figueroa
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez-DL
Pedro Martinez-DL

RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Jorge Sosa
Joe Smith
Matt Wise-DL

CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Raul Casanova
Ramon Castro-DL

INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley

OUTFIELDERS
Moises Alou
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Marlon Anderson
Endy Chavez
Angel Pagan