6-0 Braves

The only reason to watch Mets games now is Josh Thole and Daniel Murphy (and when he plays, Jerry, Nick Evans). Yesterday, Thole went 1/3 with a walk, and now has a .409/.417/.455 line with a OPS of .871. Nick Evans got a pinch hit appearance, and fouled out. The Mets got 3 hits and 3 walks off of a very impressive Tommy Hanson, who struck out 8 (11.6% swinging strike!). Daniel Murphy had 2 hits, and is batting .260/.310/.406 for a .716 OPS. As late as May 9th he was at .308/.369/.473, but it kind of went down hill, though he did have an okay August. Pat Misch was pretty bad for the seconsd start in a row, going 5 innings, giving up 4 runs and not striking out anyone. Elmer Dessens and Brian Stokes gave up single runs.
Jeff Francoeur saw 10 pitches in 4 plate appearences and has an OBP of .303. Ryan Church has an OBP of .339, and also leads Francoeur in batting average, .274 to .273. But not slugging, but he does win in OPS. 3/4 for Church. By the way, there are 17 games left in the season, and the only thing we can blow is our draft pick. But that would involve winning.
Stupid Decision of the Day: I don't think Jerry could change this game.
Up Next for the Mets: Mets at Braves, 7 PM
Bobby Parnell (3-8 5.49 ERA 4.27 FIP 4.39 tRA) takes on
Derek Lowe (14-9 4.47 ERA 3.78 FIP 4.33 tRA)

It wouldn't of lasted; Lose 5-3

In yesterday's game, Nelson Figueroa struck out 8 Cubs (bringing his total to 18 against them), gave up 7 hits and 2 walks in the 6 innings, and got 14.95% swinging strikes. However, he also gave up 4 runs, both on 2 run homers. The Mets struck out 10 times against Rich Harden in 5 innings, and 13 times overall. Harden had a 22.5% swinging strikes. Cory Sullivan hit another home run (power surge!) and now has a .287/.368/.455. He has a wOBA (weighted On Base average, stat that gives a value to everything in runs, and divides by Plate appearances, it's on a On Base Percentage scale) of .366 (average is .325). Josh Thole went 2/4, so he's now batting .444/.444/.556 for a 1.000 OPS and a .463 wOBA. He also hasn't swung at a pitch outside the strike zone yet, showing great plate discipline. (Frenchy, take notes) Luis Castillo went 2/5, and is now batting .311, with more importantly, an OBP of .400, which is good for 11th in the National League and 16th in all of Major League Baseball. David Wright went 1/4 with a sac fly, but also struck out a hat trick of times. He now has 113 strikeouts, and is on pace for 137.
Stupid Decision of the Day: Well, the fact that the Mets left 10 on is not Jerry's fault.
Random Thought of the Day: Nick Evans only pinch hits. C'mon Jerry, play him. Please.
Clutch Play of the Game: Pagan single in 7th. +.121 WPA.
Up Next for the Mets:
Mets vs Cubs 1:10 PM ET
Mike Pelfrey (9-10 5.03 ERA 4.29 FIP 4.97 tRA)
Randy Wells (10-7 2.90 ERA 3.83 FIP 4.49 tRA)

It's all Thole: Win 8-3

The Mets have finally found their future catcher. While Josh Thole will not be a Mike Piazza, he can still be an effective hitter. He went 2/5 yesterday with a steal, as he singled in his first major league at bat. His line stands at .400/.400/.600. He also showed what he could on the defensive side, committing one passed ball, and calling a great game. Yes, I am saying that Pat Misch's second good start is the result of Josh Thole. Misch went 7 inning, gave up 2 runs, both on homers, struck out 3 and walked 2, for his first Major League win. Despite not getting many strikeouts, he did miss some bats, with a swinging strike percentage of 7.4%, just below the major league average. The homers were back to back, and came in his last inning; Misch did a good job of keeping the Rockies off of the bases, giving up 6 hits and the 2 walks. If he continues to pitch like this, I see no harm in letting him try for the number 5 spot in the rotation next year. Every Met position player had a hit; Thole, Murphy and Hernandez had 2; Wright and Pagan had 3. Wright had 3 rbi's wearing a normal helmet; Murphy had 2, both on his 2 run homer in the 9th. Pagan had an rbi and scored twice. All in all a good day for the New York Mets.
Stupid Decision of the Day: I give Jerry a thumbs up for this performance. Though it was all Thole.
Random Thought of the Day: Knowing the Mets, Thole won't play for another week.
Clutch Play of the Game:Wright 2 run double in 5th. +.125 WPA
Up Next for the Mets: Back to Citi Field against the Cubs, 7:10 PM.
Bobby Parnell (3-7 5.81 ERA 4.32 FIP 4.53 tRA) makes another start.
Carlos Zambrano (7-6 3.91 ERA 3.89 FIP 4.61 tRA) pitches for the Cubs.

Thole Called Up

Josh Thole will be called up when rosters expand. He will wear number 30.
Well now, at least we don't need to worry about him and the Rule V Draft.
Up Next for the Mets: Mets at Rockies, 8:40 PM ET
Mike Pelfrey (9-9 4.80 ERA 4.10 FIP 4.81 tRA) takes on
Jorge De la Rosa (12-9 4.72 ERA 4.08 FIP 5.23 tRA)

By the way, this is the 100th post of Mets MD. Hopefully the Mets will win, on our 100th post day (?).

Another Great move by Jerry

Mets won today, recap later
But some news: Jerry Manuel is going to platoon Josh Thole when he is up. He'll only face righties. BTW, it's pronounced toll-ee.
Josh Thole vs righties: .328/.396/.437/.833
Josh Thole vs lefties: .328/.391/.388/.779
granted they are MiLB stats

Omir Santos vs lefties:
.234/.268/.377/.645
congrats, Jerry