World Champions Preparing for Title Defense

If anybody in Blog Land is still reading, I will be updating the Phillies for the 2009 season. Here's some quick news bites to get started...

-The Phillies cut ties with RHP Adam Eaton on Saturday. Eaton was banished from the team -- and the World Series parade -- last year. 

-Jayson Werth is sideloned with an apparent shoulder injury that could be worse than what the Phillies are letting on

- Chase Utley should be ready by Opening Day

- Marcus Giles is raising some eyebrows with his play. The former All-Star second baseman was out of baseball last year, but is fighting for a roster spot on the Phillies' bench. Unfortunately, unless the Phillies decide to get rid of the versatile Eric Bruntlett, only way Giles makes the Open ing Day roster is if Utley remains out.

- Competition for the fifth spot in the starting rotation is heating up. So far, Kyle Kendrick, Chan Ho Park, J.A. Happ and Carlos Carrasco have all pitched very well.

- Pat Burrell received a warm hand from the BrightHouse Network Field faithful Saturday, as the visiting Rays fell to the Phillies in Grapefruit League action. Burrell is still trying to get used to the idea of no longer playing with the organization that drafted him No. 1 overall in 1998. Good thing is, Burrell will be on hand when the Phillies receive their World Series rings April 8 against the Braves

-More news and blogging to come...

Injured Quad Might Keep Easley Out For Rest Of Regular Season

A day after losing Fernando Tatis for the rest of the regular season, the Mets got some more bad news despite winning last night's game 9-7. Veteran infielder Damion Easley is at least a week away from even pinch-hitting as he recovers from an injured quadriceps muscle.

Asked Wednesday if he is through for the season, Easley sounded unsure at best."I don't know if that's true," Easley told reporters. "I mean, anything is I guess possible. I know it's not going to be a hundred percent. At the same time I've got to get it past a walking stage. I feel it walking, sitting, getting up from sitting. Just the initial moves, just normal functions. Until I can get past that stage, it's useless trying to do anything." "I want to be healthy right now, but that's not reality," he added.

It's a difficult situation for Easley, who has never been to the playoffs in 17 big-league seasons. Nor is it a good situation for the Mets, who will have to carry on the fight for their playoff lives with rookie Argenis Reyes or veteran Luis Castillo at second.

Easley had been seeing the bulk of playing time at second base, even though Castillo, who signed a four-year, $25 million deal in the off season returned from the disabled list in late August. In 108 games, Easley is batting .272 with six home runs and 44 RBIs. Mets manager Jerry Manuel said Easley is at least a week away from even being able to serve in a pinch-hitting role.

Easley was hurt Saturday trying to beat a throw on a double-play grounder. He said he felt a "pop" in the leg. However, despite Easley's hopes of finally reaching the postseason, he's not going to rush his recovery. "You've got to be careful," he said, "because if I go out and lie and say I feel good and I wrap it up and the first day I do it I take two steps out of the box I pull it. Then I make Jerry look bad. I make myself look bad. The team that was counting on me can't count on me."

Tatis Done For Year After Separating Right Shoulder In Loss To Nats

The Mets shot at making the playoffs took a huge blow last night when one of their key players got injured. Outfielder Fernando Tatis is out for the season after separating his right shoulder in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals, which was a game that the Mets lost 1-0 to continue their September soon.

Tatis was hurt when he attempted to make a diving catch on Pitcher Odalis Perez's double. Tatis landed on his shoulder and stayed on the ground as the ball rolled past him for a double. He was replaced by Nick Evans.

New York manager Jerry Manuel said Tatis would not return during the regular season or for a possible playoff run."He's done. "That's very discouraging, to lose a big piece of where we are and what we've accomplished so far."When we lose Tatis, we definitely have to reassess where we are offensively."

A pleasant surprise since coming up from the minors, Tatis batted .297 this season with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. He did a nice job filling in for injured outfielders Moises Alou and Ryan Church. Losing Tatis hurts the Mets, who fell out of first place in the NL East, a half-game behind Philadelphia with the loss. New York is also missing second baseman Damion Easley (quadriceps), another productive right-handed bat.

Not Again

After building up a three and a half lead over the Phils with 17 to go, the Mets have only won one game thanks in large part to a bullpen that has continued to implode.

Tonight, Pedro Martinez and the Mets lost to the lowly Nationals by a score of 7-2. After tying the game at one on a Jose Reyes ground out that scored Brian Schneider, Nationals Starter John Lannan shut down the Mets by giving up only one hit in seven innings, which was a double by Brian Schneider in the top of the third.

The Nationals took a 4-1 lead in the sixth thanks to a double by former Met Anderson Hernandez that scored Right Fielder Elijah Dukes who walked earlier in the inning, and Third Baseman Ryan Zimmerman who singled to lead off the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh with two outs and nobody on, the bullpen imploded again as Duaner Sanchez came in to relieve Ricardo Rincon. However, Sanchez provided no relief at all, as he gave up a walk, a single, and a three run homer. The three run homer was hit by Elijah Dukes.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets had the bases loaded with one out, but David Wright grounded into a double play to end the threat, and any hopes of coming back in the ball game.

With the Phillies red hot after sweeping the slumping Brewers, the Mets have a slim 1/2 lead in the division. If the Mets and specifically the bullpen keep struggling, they will be watching the playoffs from home again this year thanks to yet another collapse.

Mets Blow Big Lead, But Outlast Nats To Extend East Gap

David Wright had an assortment of hits to choose from Wednesday night. There was the long two-run homer in the eighth inning. A sharp double down the leftfield line in the first? A lead off hit in the go-ahead seventh?


Nope. None of those worked for him as the hit that might be the elixir for solving his hitting woes. Wright preferred the run-scoring blooper, a jammed shot to center in the third for his breakthrough at bat in the Mets' 13-10 win over the pesky Nationals after blowing a six-run lead.


"The at-bat that I drove in the run wasn't necessarily a great at-bat, but you get the results. All of a sudden you get it in your head that you can relax a little bit," said Wright, who came in hitting .214 for the month. "One of the biggest problems I've had with runners in scoring position is that it's been in my head that I'm putting too much pressure on myself."

Wright, who scored four runs, has worked hard the past few days in the cage and on the field Tuesday, taking extra batting practice to work out his struggles, which he said was due to poor timing on his swing.

Well, his timing is back and the Mets couldn't have benefited more on the second straight night New York's starting pitcher. This time, Mike Pelfrey couldn't hold down the lowly Nationals. "The way that we continue to fight, continue to add on I think this is what championship teams are made out of," Wright said.


The NL East-leading Mets swept the two-game series against Washington and moved 3 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia. The Mets rode Carlos Delgado's second straight multi homer game Tuesday night for a 10-8 victory after blowing two leads. On Wednesday, Delgado hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, Carlos Beltran had three hits and Jose Reyes swiped a bag to become the Mets career leader for steals.


"I'll tell you what was good about the game was I felt we were going to continue to score," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "There have been times during the year where I felt we wouldn't come back." The Mets began their embarrassing collapse at this point last year, wasting a seven-game lead in the division with 17 games to go. They have 17 games left after this victory over the Nationals, who won five of six against New York down the stretch last year to contribute to its fall.


"I don't think anybody in here is thinking about what happened last year," Wright said. "I just think we're going out and finding ways to win. Last year, it seemed like everything went wrong. This year when a part of the game goes awry for a day or two another part of the game steps up and gets the job done and that's the big difference." Delgado's sinking liner scored Wright and gave New York an 8-7 lead. Brian Schneider added had a two-run single off of Reliever Saul Rivera in the inning.


"This happens. We got a lot of runs. Enough to win, but they have a lot of good hitters over there," said Shortstop Cristian Guzman, who homered twice and finished with five RBIs for Washington, which became the first team in the majors to lose 90 games. Guzman's three-run drive in the eighth ended Reliever Brian Stokes' 12-inning scoreless streak and cut it to 11-10 but Wright went deep in the eighth to give New York some room.


Closer Luis Ayala got three outs for his seventh save in eight chances. The Mets blew a 7-1 lead, but Reliever Joe Smith stopped the surging Nats for the second straight night to give the Mets a chance. Smith entered after Reliever Aaron Heilman allowed a tying two-run homer to Guzman and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

After Surgery, Wagner To Miss Rest Of Season, Most Of '09

After winning the second game of a day-night doubleheader 6-3, which was a huge win that pushed the Mets ahead of Philadelphia by two games with 19 to go, the Mets confirmed today that Closer Billy Wagner will be out for the rest of the season as well as the 2009 season.

He will have surgery this week to repair the MCL ligament in his left throwing elbow. "It is a tear of the flexor pronator," Mets VP of public relations Jay Horwitz told 1050 ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand. "He will have surgery and is expected to be out a year." GM Omar Minaya will be held a conference call with reporters at 4 p.m. today.

Wagner has been sidelined since Aug. 3 because of a tender pitching elbow. He has tried several times to work his way back but hasn't been able to shake the pain. Wearing a protective sleeve on his left elbow, Wagner tested his arm Sunday with disappointing results. Between games of the doubleheader, he went to the mound and faced teammate Gustavo Molina. A wild Wagner hit the reserve catcher on the left foot with his 13th pitch and walked off the field to consult with a trainer and the Mets' coaching staff.

The 37-year-old Wagner is 0-1 with a 2.30 ERA and 27 saves in 34 chances. He is in the third season of a four-year, $43 million contract and ranks sixth on the career saves list with 385.
"He was trying to get us to activate him today," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said Sunday. "The last pitch he threw, he really felt some discomfort in the elbow area. He didn't want to risk it. We are going to be conservative."

To the Mets credit, despite Wagner's injury, they are 22-11 since Wagner went down thanks in large part to Carlos Delgado, who continued his tear with another multi-home run game in the night cap last night.

Luis Ayala, acquired from Washington last month in a trade, has quickly become manager Jerry Manuel's closer. Ayala, who struggled with the Nationals most of the season, is 5-for-6 in save opportunities for the Mets. Ayala allowed an unearned run in the ninth Sunday night. Before that, Mets relievers had not allowed a run in 23 innings since Aug. 31.

Still, Wagner's loss is a huge one for a bullpen that has been unreliable much of the year. Manuel has mixed and matched as much as possible with his relievers during the past month."Anytime you have a guy such as him and you lose him, it becomes a big challenge," Manuel said. "I think they have matured somewhat down there very well. We have some candidates down there to get outs. We just have to continue matching them up."

If there is a silver lining to all of this, the Mets have money, and I believe K-Rod is a free agent at season's end.

Phillies Insider: Schmitty Offers Rally Cry

Mike Schmidt is like the happy wanderer.

He'll poke his head through the clubhouse now and then. He'll make his annual week-long cameo at spring training, working with the hitters and such.

He'll go on national television and discuss how he pisses a lot in the middle of the night.

Other than that, he minds his own business.

Well, Mike Schmidt just dropped a bomb. No, it wasn't his latest bowel movement.

Phillies.com reported that Schmidt sent the Phillies an e-mailed message prior to Friday's series opener against the Mets. It was posted in the clubhouse before the must-win game.

It read:

"Guys,One pitch, one at-bat, one play, one situation, think 'small' and 'big' things result. Tough at-bats, stay up the middle with men on base, whatever it takes to keep the line moving. Hot offense. 27 outs on defense. The Mets know you're better than they are. They remember last year. You guys are never out of the game. Welcome the challenge that confronts you this weekend. You guys are the best.Good luck,#20."

What strikes me is the "Mets know you're better than they are" comment. Boy, if that doesn't light a fire under the Mets -- who, may I remind you Mr. Schmidt, had won 10 of 15 against the Phils heading in Friday's game -- what the hell will??

Jimmy Rollins, who thankfully had arrived to Shea Stadium early enough to know what was going on, said, "that part is true," regarding the Schmidt comment about the Phillies being better than the Mets are (or, the Mets allegedly knowing that the Phillies are better...)...

I sense a major storm coming... and it's not the remnants of Hanna.

This can backfire in a hurry. I love Mike Schmidt, but I'm pretty sure the Mets aren't going to take this with a grain of salt.