AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 16
Monday, October 16, 2006
Lefties needed to beat Mets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If this NL postseason has told us anything, other than the power-laden Mets lineup can put a lot of crooked numbers on the scoreboard in a hurry, it’s that teams serious about beating the Mets next season better invest in lefties.
Are you listening, Braves? A healthy Mike Hampton coupled with Chuck James — and maybe Horacio Ramirez — would be a great first step, but the Braves simply must add another quality lefty reliever to go with Macay McBride.
No excuses, it has to be done — not just to stop the Mets, but that’s one good reason to do it.
Make no mistake, the Mets are going to be the team to beat again next year. They’ve got speed, power and swagger, and they’ll spend money to refortify their starting rotation this winter. Count on that.
But as great as this Mets lineup is, a team with good lefty pitchers can beat it as it’s currently constructed. These Mets can destroy right-handed pitching, but put them up against a team with a couple of good left-handed starters and a couple of solid lefty relievers, and things would get interesting.
In the division series vs. L.A., the Mets hit .321 with seven extra-base hits, 15 RBIs and an .862 OPS in 78 at-bats vs. right-handers, and .208 with one extra-base hit, three RBIs and a .571 OPS vs. lefties.
So far in the LCS vs. St. Looie, they’ve hit .243 with 14 extra-base hits, 16 RBIs and an .832 OPS in 115 at-bats vs. righties, and .222 with one extra-base hit, four RBIs and a .561 OPS in just 18 at-bats vs. lefties. (That’s right, only 18 at-bats vs. lefties in four games against the Cardinals, who just don’t have strong lefty pitching.)
The Mets in the regular season hit .268 with an .896 OPS vs. right-handers, but only .254 (15th in the NL) with a .738 OPS vs. lefties. Huge difference, obviously.
Things will get interesting in the World Series vs. Detroit, assuming the Mets get there.
And they will get there, after what they did last night, when they denied the Cardinals the opportunity to put a stranglehold on the series. Game 5 is set for St. Louis tonight, but it almost certainly won’t be played until tomorrow, or at least that’s the way it looks this afternoon as I sit here looking at rain that’s been falling for 6 hours. It’s 40-something degrees, windy, wet, miserable).
Amazing how a few powerful swings and 12 runs can turn around a series, which is what’s happened with these Mets. Carlos Inc. has helped them regain the home-field advantage, with Beltran and Delgado fueling a resurgent offense.
If the Mets win Game 5 — and remember they have Glavine going against Jeff Weaver, so there’s a good chance they’re going to win — the series is over. No way the Cardinals win two games at Shea.
In other news, if you guys only knew how many people come up to me in the pressbox and ask whether the Braves are going to trade Andruw Jones… Believe me, they’re going to get a lot of offers. He’s a special player, the kind who sells tickets, or at least that’s what a lot of teams believe. No word yet from sources on how strongly the Braves might push to re-sign him this winter.
OK, enough baseball, or at least enough until I get over to the ballpark.
Wanted to put in another plug for this fantastic group from Athens, the Whigs. Dare I say the best band to come out of Athens since REM? Maybe, folks. Maybe.
Save your money and don’t even think of buying the new Killers CD. It stinks. Buy the Whigs’ CD, “Give ‘Em All a Big Fat Lip.” This is real rock and roll.
The Strokes are millionaires bloated on their own fame and worried more about dating models and actresses than living up to the hype that followed them on their solid first album. They’ve put out two CDs since, one terrible and one mediocre. The Whigs are what the Strokes should’ve and could’ve (maybe) become.
(Why am I picking on the Strokes? Because they p’d me off, being so disappointing since their first album that had so much promise.)
I say maybe could’ve been because I don’t know if the Strokes really have the musical chops of these latest lads from Athens, and I KNOW the lead singer doesn’t have this dude from the Whigs’ voice. This band is awesome, folks, and believe me, I don’t even know them, so I’m just plugging it because it’s great.
Between these guys, My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers and Kings of Leon, the South has at least four bands than can be compared favorably with any four new or relatively new rock bands from any corner of the world.
Seriously. Think about it. That’s pretty cool. It’s like the heyday of Southern rock all over, only with a bit more of a hip edge.
Not saying any of these bands will be the towering force that the Allmans or Skynyrd was, but they’re all great bands, and two from Athens, DBT (aren’t they from Athens, sort of?) and the Whigs.
OK, gotta get to the park to watch the rain. Later.
