By Richard Schortemeyer III
Last season, the New York Mets experienced the worst late season collapse in MLB history. Leading the Phillies by seven games, with 17 to go, the Mets somehow, someway, and against the two weakest NL East teams (Marlins & Nationals) lost 12 of those games and let the division title slip into Philadelphia’s hands.
This came after the disappointment that happened in 2006, with the Mets losing the NL Championship Series to the underdog St. Louis Cardinals. As a result, manager Willie Randolph’s seat was hotter than a honeymoon hotel. Coming into 2008, many baseball people predicted the Mets would come back and regain the NL East title.
Early in the season, it looked like the Mets were still suffering the effects of their unbelievable collapse. Offensive inefficiency, blown saves, and mental mistakes surrounded the team, and Randolph’s job was more in jeopardy as each day passed. Then, on June 17, after New York defeated the AL West leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the first game of a three-game series, Willie was finally given the pink slip.
With the Mets one game under .500 (34-35), in came assistant Jerry Manuel. Just over a month later, New York is close to double-digit games over .500 and closer to looking like the $138 million team that we expected to see. With the Fighting Phils, and Florida, not going away, this NL East division seems like it’ll still be up for grabs in September.
In this edition of “On the Record”, we’ll talk about the hottest hitter across the border, a former ‘idiot’ in Boston now looking like a genius on the mound in Cincinnati, and a veteran fireballer making history in the Arizona desert.
Question #1
Who is currently the hottest hitter for a non-U.S. team?
Well, if you already figured out, the Toronto Blue Jays are the only team that qualifies. With that, the clearcut winner is OF Adam Lind. Key Toronto OFs Vernon Wells and Shannon Stewart are out with injuries, and someone desperately needed to provide the offense to makeup for their loss. Lind has done more than enough recently.
This past month has seen this former third-rounder hit a few HRs and drive in over 20 runs while batting around .350. All of this production has come from hitting in the bottom-third of the lineup. One of his more impressive games came this past Tuesday when the lefthander was 4-for-5 with a HR and three RBIs, with all of his hits coming against left-handed pitching.
In spite of all of this impressiveness, there are a couple of flaws. First, consider his first Major League action in 2007. Lind hit only 11 HRs, drove in 46 runs, and batted .238 in 89 games. So, his resume isn’t that solid. Secondly, his surroundings are less than ideal.
In last Thursday’s game for example, Lind batted 7th, with DH Matt Stairs (.237 BA) in front of him and OF Brad Wilkerson (.232 BA) and C Gregg Zaun (.239 BA) in the 8th and 9th spots. It’s obvious that Lind isn’t in the prime spot in Toronto’s lineup. The only solid hitter around him is veteran 3B Scott Rolen, who is batting around .270, but his not so blazing speed doesn’t give Lind any solid RBI opportunities.
In conclusion, you should watch Lind play a couple more weeks before even thinking about picking him up. If you do pick him up, considering his not so attractive lineup, you would have to be somewhat desperate for some O.
Question #2
What former two-time 14-game winner is looking like himself again in Cincinnati?
After starting out his career slowly in the Steel City, Bronson Arroyo was given a better chance to showcase his pitching skills in Beantown. It was a solid first full season as a starter for Arroyo who, in the backend of that quality, veteran, Boston rotation, went 10-9 with 142 Ks and a BAA of just .249.
That regular season success continued into the postseason as his relief efforts were one of the keys to Boston’s magical ending of the Bambino Curse, resulting in their first World Series title in 86 years.
Arroyo followed that great ‘04 campaign with a 14-win 2005. It looked as though he had a promising career in Boston. However, with Boston needing more outfield punch, they decided to take a gamble and get Willy Mo Pena from Cincinnati in exchange for the up and coming Arroyo.
Arroyo was obviously upset that he suddenly went from a title contender to a team that’s struggled forever to be an over .500 ballclub. However, he seemed to swallow his frustration and have his best season as a pro, going 14-11 with a 3.29 ERA, along with 184 Ks and a .243 BAA, in 2006.
But, Arroyo’s record almost turned 180 degrees last season, going 9-15, allowing batters to tee off and bat .280. Then, that ‘out of nowhere’ and disappointing ‘07 seemed to roll over in the first few months of ‘08.
On June 24th, he had, by far, his worst outing as a pro, and one of the worst outings by any pitcher in MLB history, giving up 10 earned runs - including three HRs in just one inning of work - against Toronto. That outing dropped his record to 4-7 and skyrocketed his ERA nearly one full run (from 5.55 to 6.52).
After that horrible outing, it seemed like Bronson just flipped on the switch and started to look like that once promising pitcher of a couple years ago. Arroyo has gone on to win five straight decisions, including two of them against World Series contenders (Cubs, Mets). He has seemed to go back to his laid back rocker attitude and pitch in a solid comfortable state.
The bullpen is arguably Cincinnati’s biggest negative, but with a young, good-looking offense who can light up the scoreboard, I would definitely ride the Arroyo Express for the long haul.
Question #3
What future HOF hurler is starting to reheat in the Arizona desert?
After just starting ten games last season, due to back problems, many were concluding that veteran fireballing SP Randy Johnson was going to hang up his large cleats this past offseason. However, Johnson came back, and came back strong, in ‘08, going 4-1 in his first seven starts. But, it looked as though the age and injured past viciously returned into RJ’s body soon thereafter, as he went 0-6 in his following eight starts, raising his ERA from 3.83 to 5.46 in just over a month.
The rollercoaster season has gone back upwards as Johnson has won his last three starts. In his last start, not only did he improve to 13-0 lifetime against the Cubs, Johnson made history by becoming the first pitcher in MLB history with 2,000 Ks for two different teams.
What started out as a gray stormy sky before ‘08 began has become a lot bluer for Johnson, as he’s on pace for over 200 innings and 170+ Ks. In addition, with a strong bullpen and a young, good-looking offense, RJ could be a nice #4 in your starting rotation.
Check back next week to see who’s “On the Record.”
Until next time, Adios all.