Again, that's because Easley and Chavez have had to start a lot of games this season. Geez. Some common sense please? And it seems to me that your outlook is mostly negative. On one page in this thread you critscized the announcers twice, Endy Chavez, and Julio Franco.
two potential rbi balls foul by inches. that was our chance. dammit. I don't see a comeback in the 9th here.
Ew. I think the offense will get back on track once Jose Valentin returns. Easley has played great, but he's a bench player and will be exposed by too many at bats.
Again, that is utter nonsense. As of May 15, Franco had pinch hit 15 times, Chavez had pinch hit 12 times, and Easley had pinch hit 8 times. If you split the season into two week increments, Franco pinch hit 4-5-4-7-4 times, Chavez did 2-6-4-1-0 times, and Easley did 2-4-3-0-0 times. The lack of pinch hit at bats for Chavez and Easley in the last 3-4 weeks were because of the injuries, but Franco was NEVER third man off the bench, even when Alou, Green, and Valentin were healthy. None of which really matters, either, since the real point was that Franco should not be on a major league roster. Geez. Back up your statements with some actual facts, please?
Franco started off the season well though. It wasn't until mid/late April that he really began looking outmatched. Why can't Julio Franco simply be slumping? It happens. Considering that he played very well last year, he hasn't necessarily completely lost it. You make it sound as if Julio Franco is an albatross dragging the entire team down with him. It seems to me more like you're grasping at the only thing you can find to complain about.
franco is not slumping. as someone who has watched franco over the last two seasons, I'm pretty sure Franco is just done. He's just not much of a hitter anymore.
Didn't you just say that I've been complaining about lots of things? Franco did well his first four pinch hit at bats, although two of the four were by walking. Since then he's been awful, and as you note, has been completely overmatched. This is a guy with exactly one extra-base hit in 42 plate appearances. He's 48 years old, with absolutely no chance of being any better than what he is - at best a guy who is pretty much incapable of hitting a major league fastball with any authority, and who really can't field any position at a major league level either. The minors are filled with journeyman players who can play first base or the outfield, who can do a hell of a lot better than a .540 OPS, and who maybe could turn out to be better than expected, and that's the kind of guy who should be your #1 (or #2) righthanded pinch hitter. That is especially true in today's game, where teams carry 12 pitchers on the roster. That's what I actually said, as opposed to your absurd characterization of what I said. You know, you haven't actually responded to a single thing I've said (including you not acknowledging that your earlier comments about Franco not being used very much as a pinch hitter were simply untrue), other than to attack my quality as a Met fan in your view, as well as highlight my supposed lack of common sense. All that does is make you look foolish. I've been watching Met games since they played in the Polo Grounds, and I'm not going to defend myself to you. If you really think that I am a consistently negative poster, then you obviously haven't been in too many Mets threads (or threads in general, for that matter) on this board.
Giants blow a 7-3 lead over the Phils, tie it in the top of the 9th, and then lose on a walkoff HR in the bottom of the 9th. The Giants can't blame this one on Benitez. One more game tomorrow against SF, and then the Phils come in to Shea on Tuesday.
That would be because you misunderstood my comment. I didn't say he's not used much as a pinch hitter. You decided to pretend I said that, because it provided you with a point that you could disprove easily. What I said was that, with everyone healthy, he's essentially the last guy on the bench. When they're not needed in the starting lineup, Chavez and Easley will be used ahead of him off the bench.
as much as the guys suck it's hard to bitch about people that wouldn't be playing if it weren't for a ton of injuries. especially with wright and delgado unable to sustain any kind of hot streak they just haven't been a whole lot of fun to watch lately.
I'm not upset about johnson, endy, or gomez playing. that's what happens when you have green, beltran, and alou as your starting outfield. bench guys will get time. what upsets me is guys like franco and schoenweis.
Oh, I see, being "the last person on the bench" would result in being called on to pinch hit more than other people. Funny how in this post you talked about Franco's pinch hitting, in this post you claim that he's only pinch hitting because of injuries to the rest of the team (never saying that pinch hitting is not relevant), and in this post you claim that he started out hitting well (when all he had done was pinch hit), but now all of a sudden pinch hitting has nothing to do with the question. What exactly do you think being the last player on the bench means, other than other players play more than you do (including pinch hitting)? Franco had MORE pinch hit appearances than those guys after two weeks of the season, four weeks of the season, six weeks of the season, eight weeks of the season, and now. If that to you is being the last person on the bench, you have a real interesting way of defining your bench order. I have no idea what will happen when Alou, Chavez, Green, Valentin, etc., come back, and neither do you, but it is simply completely untrue that Chavez and Easley were used before Franco when those players were healthy. And once again, none of this has anything to do with my original post, which was what prompted your comments: Franco has 1 extra-base hit and 12 strikeouts in 42 plate appearances, and is 48 years old. Even if it were true that he was the last person on the bench, why have that person be someone who isn't too likely to ever help you win a game, and has absolutely no upside other than immediate benefit?
I agree completely, and really don't understand why this is difficult for anyone to grasp. Playing kids is also part of what a team does to build for the future, but 30+ year old players should only be on the team if they can help now. I might even give Schoeneweis a pass for now, given that he was pitching decently until about 3 1/2 weeks ago, and hasn't been put in important spots that much, except when necessary. In today's game, where teams carry 12 pitchers, you can afford to have a pitcher or two who are just sacrificial lambs, but with only 5 bench players total, you just can't do that with position players. I also find the idea that it's okay to lose opportunities early in the season to be ridiculous. Ask the Phillies, who in 2005 started 16-22 and ended up 1 game out of the wild card, in 2006 started 36-44 and ended up 3 games out of the wild card, and this year started 4-11 and are currently 5 games out of the wild card if they feel that way (or if the teams that barely beat them out would have been okay with giving away an opportunity to win early in the season).
Just to throw this into the mix... pinch hitting AB's aren't the only criteria for "coming off the bench". If Endy comes off the bench in the 7th inning to replace somebody for two innings that might only show up as one pinch hit AB but it's surely more important then a situation like today where Franco get's up takes a few hacks and is done for the day.
I've also now seen far too much of Julio Franco. Maybe he'll do the Mets a favor and retire pronto as a player. If he did that, I guess the Mets could make him a coach of some sort right away. Maybe reactivate him as a player-coach in September after the rosters expand. Let him start a couple games if the Mets clinch the division early.
