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Who’s up for a fish fry at Shea this weekend? Well, I hope that the Mets are. The Marlins currently set in third place in the NL East with a record of 40-36 as they come to Shea for a weekend series. The Mets currently find themselves in the NL East cellar, a position they have become far too accustomed to in recent years. However, this Mets team has some exciting young players on the rise rather than a collection of aging veterans and castoffs. They can be exciting to watch and they offer hope for the team’s future.
Probable Starters
Friday - LHP Tom Glavine (5-7, 4.93) vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (5-5, 3.14) – This will be a contrast of styles. Glavine’s finesse against Burnett’s power. Glavine will try to get the Marlin hitters to expand the strike zone and chase change ups out of the strike zone. Burnett will challenge the Mets hitters and attempt to blow them away with his fastball and slider. The offense will need to step up and give Glavine some support for the Mets to get a win.
Saturday – RHP Kris Benson (6-2, 3.69) vs. RHP Brian Moehler (2-6, 3.05) – Benson has had a fine season thus far. Hopefully he can build on his strong effort at Yankee stadium in which he was stuck with a hard luck loss. Moehler has lost his last 6 decisions and has alternated between good and very bad. If he continues his history of alternating, the Mets offense should be in for a good night on Saturday.
Sunday – RHP Victor Zambrano (4-6, 3.84) vs. LHP Dontrelle Willis (12-3, 2.04) – It’s all about control for Zambrano. If he throws strikes and challenges hitters with his nasty arsenal of pitches he should do fine. Unfortunately, he often walks every but the beer vendor. Five or six innings and a hundred plus pitches is pretty standard for Zambrano, so the bullpen will need to help out if the Mets want to win this one. Dontrelle Willis is having a phenomenal season and is a Cy Young candidate to this point in the season. Willis leads the NL in both wins and ERA. He works deep into the game, going 7 or more innings in most of his starts. He seems to thrive against the Mets and has a career record of 5-0 with a 2.31 ERA against the men of Shea.
The Bullpen
Closer – RHP Braden Looper (0-2, 13 SV, 3.95) vs. Todd Jones (1-2, 13 SV, 1.41) - Looper has struggled compared to his breakout season last year. Still, he remains a relative bargain for the Mets. Looper has struggled to get out left handed hitters this season (.322/.987). Todd Jones seems to have found a home and prosperity in sunny Florida. The Marlins are his fourth team in as many seasons, but the reliever no one wanted is having a very good season for the Marlins. No one is having much success against him.
RHP Roberto Hernandez, RHP Heath Bell, RHP Aaron Heilman, and LHP Dae-Sung “Mister” Koo try to get the game to Looper with a lead. Hernandez has been solid, but the others have been pretty inconsistent this season. The Marlins will counter with RHP Nate Bump, RHP Jim Mecir, and RHP John Riedling. They have collectively less than stellar this season. If the Mets can make the Marlins pen, outside of Jones, pitch many inning they should be able to put some runs on the board.
Who to Watch on Offense
Mets
Cliff Floyd (.289/.903) is putting up impressive numbers on the field rather than on the DL. His 21 home runs rank him fourth in the NL. When he’s hot, he can practically carry the offense.
David Wright (.295/.890) is having a great season at the plate. It is seldom that a hitter can have such an effect on a team’s offense from the seventh spot of the order.
Mike Cameron (.301/.942) has handled the transition to right field quite well. He has, as expected, provided superior defense in right field while experiencing a resurgence at the plate. Who needs Sheffield anyway?
Carlos Beltran (.258/.740) has stumbled through the month of June (.204/.656). The Mets need him to step and be an offensive leader if the team is to have any chance of contending for a play off spots. He needs to get his bat going before the boo birds at Shea make him their favorite target not named Matsui.
Marlins
Paul LoDuca (.302/.753) – Not much power, but he just keep getting on base (.354 OBP). He absolutely murders left handers (.351/.965) so Glavine will need to be careful with him tomorrow.
Carlos Delgado (.309/.960) – He was signed to supply power to the Marlins offense. He is having another fine season at the plate, but he can’t carry Mientkiewicz’s glove.
Miguel Cabrera (.344/.980) – Emerging as one of the young stars of the game. At the tender age of 22, he is quickly becoming one of the best players in the game.
Juan Encarnacion (.272/.609) – Provides a nice compliment to the big boppers in the Marlins’ line up. Can go yard and drive in the runners if the pitcher makes a mistake.
Missing in Action
Mets
Kaz Matsui – 15 day DL – Bruised left knee.
Doug Mientkiewicz – 15 day DL – Strained hamstring.
Miguel Cairo – rehabbing in St. Lucie – day to day.
Marlins
Josh Beckett – 15 day DL – Blister of middle finger.
Antonio Alphonseca – 610 day DL – Right elbow. (upon Edit: Only 60 days are due to his elbow, the other 550 are attributable to a chronic "beer gut")
Who’s got the power? The Mets do. The Mets have hit 81 home runs this season while scoring 341 runs. The Marlins have hit 61 home runs and scored 325 runs this season. Cabrera and Delgado account for practically 50% of the Marlins home run production (30 of 61 home runs).
Who’s on first? For the Mets it will likely be Woodward, Anderson, or possibly Cairo. For the Marlins there is little doubt that Delgado will be on first. The most important Marlin to keep of first seems to be Juan Pierre. Pierre hits .327 with 32 runs scored and 16 RBI’s in the Marlins victories this season,. Pierre has hit a meager .177 with only 10 runs scored and 3 RBI’s in the Marlins losses this season. So the man the Mets really need to keep off first base is Juan Pierre.
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