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Interview with LHP Brett Cecil |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 |
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 LHP Brett Cecil drafted by the Blue Jays as the 38th overall pick in last week’s MLB draft.
Suffering through their worst losing streak of the season, the New York
Mets limp into an interleague matchup with the defending American
League Champion Detroit Tigers this weekend.
The
Mets have lost four in a row and are coming out their first home sweep
since late 2005. The Tigers, on the other hand are coming off a sweep
of the Texas Rangers.
Due to a combination of injuries to their
starting outfield and an inability to generate clutch hits, the Mets
offense – one of the NL's best -- has been terrible of late. During the
course of their four-game skid, the Mets have scored a total of just
seven runs.
Conversely, the Tigers' offense is healthy and quite productive.
Magglio
Ordonez and Gary Sheffield are doing much of the damage, as Sheffield
had 16 home runs and Ordonez is batting .365 and 54 RBIs.
New
York right-hander Jorge Sosa (5-1, 3.22) will get the chance to tame
the Motown bats in the series opener. Sosa has been the biggest
surprise this season for Mets, and ironically, Mets' GM Omar Minaya
said recently that he wasn't initially in favor of signing the veteran
right-hander. In this case, relying on his inner circle, Sosa has been
nothing short of brilliant, as opponents are batting just .197 against
him. During his most dominating season – for the Braves in 2005 -- his
BAA was .241.
For the Tigers, Chad Durbin (5-1, 4.75) will take
the hill. This has been Durbin’s first year as a starter since 2001
when he started 29 games for the Royals. While his record is superb, he
hasn’t pitched quite that well. His 1.45 WHIP is high, and he has
walked 27 batters in 60.2 innings. He's has also given up 10 home runs
over that span, which is less than optimum.
In Saturday's
nationally televised contest, left-hander Oliver Perez (6-4, 2.80) will
face off against Detroit right-hander Jeremy Bonderman (5-0, 3.27) in a
very exciting matchup.
Bonderman is the first Tigers pitcher in
40 years to not have a loss after his first 10 starts. The Tigers have
scored a load of runs for Bonderman, in his last six starts they have
scored 60 runs. Bonderman is 5-0 in those games.
Perez had not
gotten the same support Bonderman has. In his last four starts the Mets
have scored a total of 12 runs. Like Sosa, Perez’s numbers this season
have been better than his numbers in 2004. His average against,
slugging against, and on-base against are all lower. It really looks
like Rick Peterson’s pitching magic has helped Perez turn around his
career. He is becoming the ace of the team.
In the finale the
Mets will send 41-year old and 295-game winner Tom Glavine (5-3, 3.63)
against 22-year old and one-game winner Andrew Miller (1-0, 0.00).
Miller has started one game this season and pitched six shut out
innings. Miller was selected by the Tigers in the 200g MLB draft. He
was ranked as the top player in the draft by Baseball American but fell
to number six due to signability issues. He has a 93-95 MPH fastball
that tops around 98. He has a mid-80’s slider that is already
considered a Major League out pitch. He and Glavine are two totally
opposite pitchers.
Glavine is known for his change of speeds and
his in and out pitching. The Mets have scored three runs the past three
games for Glavine. Five times this season Glavine has allowed three or
less runs and has lost. The ways it’s going it’s looking like Glavine
will get win 300 in late August. Watching Andrew Miller should be a
treat as he is ranked as one of the top pitchers in the minor leagues,
it will be interesting to see if the Mets can finally get Glavine some
runs with all the injuries.
Notes
Expect Mets OF Shawn
Green back for this weekend series. ... The Mets faced the Tigers in
Detroit in 1997 and got swept. ... SS Jose Reyes has only two home runs
this year and is on pace for six……OF Carlos Beltran has only one hit
since coming back for his knee injury.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 June 2007 )
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