I May Be Wrong, But…

1. When the Mets pitching coach tells you that Johan Santana’s velo is “around last year”… that’s MetsSpeak for “it still sucks”. Santana’s velo has been diminished for two years now and the only effective pitch he has left is his change-up. I sure hope no one in the organization is hoping for a miracle here.

2.Regular readers here will remember that I have consistently said that Mike Nickeas is not only the best defensive catcher in the organization, but that pitchers love to be “managed” by him. Through 9-7’s game, Nickeas has a 2.87 ERA, while Josh Thole comes in a7 4.26, and Ronnie Paulino 4.37. Interesting.

3. I saw where http://www.deepleagues.com was the first site that ranked P Zack Wheeler ahead of Matt Harvey. It came BEFORE Wheeler threw 98 in St. Lucie’s playoff game on Wednesday. Frankly, some scouts are questioning whether Harvey has that plus-plus pitch needed to be an ace, and the comparisons to Mike Pelfrey scare the hell of me. I think we all are going to see a maturation process of these two, next season, which is going to determine the fate of this team for many years to come.

4. I’m very proud of what RP Josh Stinson is doing. It goes to show you that anyone can reinvent himself with the right amount of confidence and talent. And, it makes you wonder how many other pitchers in the organization (Brandon Moore, Colin McHugh, Mark Cohoon) could do the same thing. Remember, all a reliever needs is two plus pitches, one of which is a plus-plus. It doesn’t have to be a fastball. Just twitter Mario Rivera and ask him.

5. I tried getting the Mets to do something special for a friend of mine who is dying. I was met with “what do you want from me now? I do all this for free, one reason being because people like you enjoy it. It has nothing to do with the organization. It is all about the players.