link - Hitting coach Howard Johnson acknowledged sternly lecturing the team's position players before Friday's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The scolding came a day after manager Jerry Manuel labeled the team's offensive performance "pathetic" following getting three-hit in Houston. "It was a little bit out of character for me yesterday. But, you know what? It was OK, because I think certain guys respond to that," Johnson said before Saturday's game against the Pirates, as batting practice concluded. "... I think the fellas took it right." The Mets have scored 46 runs in August, fewest in the majors. Since the All-Star break, the Mets are hitting .225, also last in the majors.
link - The Red Sox signed Carlos Delgado to help fill the void that Kevin Youkilis left due to injury. It didn't take long for Delgado to get injured himself. The 38-year-old first baseman was placed on the PawSox' seven-day disabled list due to soreness in his side, Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced prior to Saturday night's game against the Blue Jays. Francona specified that the pain was in Delgado's left side, which is not the side of his surgically repaired hip. Delgado, thought to be used as a platoon option at first base with Mike Lowell, has played in five games for Triple-A Pawtucket, in which he batted .231 on three singles in 13 at-bats. He struck out six times and drove in two runs.
New York Mets - Draft picks signed: RHP Matt Harvey (1), RHP Greg Peavey (6) - Released: 1B Alex Gregory - Placed on restricted list: LHP Lachlan Hodge - Recalled: OF Jesus Feliciano -
Optioned to Triple-A: OF Fernando Martinez - Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Chris Schwinden, OF Fernando Martinez, OF Jorge Padilla - Reinstated from DL: 1B Travis Ozga - Reinstated from inactive list: 2B Andy Green
8-21-10 from: - link The day eventually will come, whether next year or the year after, when Carlos Beltran has moved on to another team and the Mets will settle upon a different center fielder. If that is next April, the new center fielder could be Angel Pagan. If it is later, it could be a minor leaguer named Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who has made rapid progress through the Mets’ system. Currently playing center field for the Class AAA Buffalo Bisons, Nieuwenhuis has done well enough that the Mets have begun to think of him as a possible center fielder of the future. If that happens, or even if he ends up in right field, Nieuwenhuis will probably become the second everyday major league position player, along with first baseman Ike Davis, to come from the team’s talented 2008 draft class.
link - One of my favorite players in baseball is a gritty corner outfielder who plays for my hometown team, and although fans derided him as a backup during the off-season, he's proven the doubters wrong so far by playing in 116 games in spite of his lack of power and ridiculed style of hitting. I decided to compare him to Brett Gardner. What you see above are the players with the highest swing rate in the league (60.9%) and the lowest (31.1%). The contour lines indicate the area inside which each batter is 50% likely to swing at a pitch. This means that a pitch that might hit Jeff Francoeur's knee, and he's as likely to swing at it as a pitch right down the pipe to Gardner.
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