Buffalo bats by the numbers

In the context of facilitating any discussion about near-future minor league hitter call ups, courtesy Baseball-reference.com here are the Buffalo Bisons’ batting statistics after 37 games (13-24).

Rk		Age	G	PA ▾	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1	Fernando Martinez	20	37	156	143	20	41	13	2	7	23	2	0	11	28	.287	.340	.552	.892	79	2	1	0	1	0
2	Jesus Feliciano	30	32	125	116	7	32	6	0	1	9	5	1	5	11	.276	.306	.353	.660	41	1	1	1	2	0
3	Cory Sullivan	29	35	119	104	11	21	4	0	2	8	1	1	12	17	.202	.280	.298	.578	31	4	0	1	2	0
4	Argenis Reyes	26	30	111	92	12	25	4	1	1	4	5	0	17	15	.272	.385	.370	.755	34	2	0	2	0	3
5	Jose Coronado	23	29	100	85	4	12	2	0	0	3	2	0	11	22	.141	.240	.165	.404	14	3	0	4	0	1
6	Nick Evans	23	22	87	75	5	7	1	0	3	7	0	0	12	27	.093	.218	.227	.445	17	4	0	0	0	0
7	Mike Lamb	33	21	81	76	6	12	6	0	0	8	0	0	4	5	.158	.200	.237	.437	18	3	0	1	0	0
8	Robinson Cancel	33	22	79	73	7	16	3	0	0	2	4	0	4	7	.219	.269	.260	.530	19	3	1	1	0	0
9	Jonathan Malo	25	17	74	69	4	12	3	1	0	2	1	0	5	15	.174	.230	.246	.476	17	1	0	0	0	0
10	Michel Abreu	30	23	74	70	5	15	4	0	2	10	0	0	4	16	.214	.257	.357	.614	25	2	0	0	0	0
11	Wily Mo Pena	27	17	56	52	3	12	2	0	1	8	0	0	3	12	.231	.268	.327	.595	17	1	0	0	1	0
12	Jason Cooper	28	16	43	38	3	8	3	0	0	2	1	0	3	10	.211	.302	.289	.592	11	0	2	0	0	0
13	Rene Rivera	25	9	36	32	1	5	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	10	.156	.200	.219	.419	7	1	0	1	1	0
14	Ramon Martinez	36	9	35	31	5	9	1	0	0	1	0	1	4	5	.290	.371	.323	.694	10	0	0	0	0	0
15	Bobby Kielty	32	8	33	26	3	6	0	0	1	3	1	2	7	7	.231	.394	.346	.740	9	0	0	0	0	0
16	Andy Green	31	8	27	22	2	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	4	.182	.296	.227	.524	5	0	0	0	1	0
17	Javier Valentin	33	6	22	19	2	6	0	0	1	4	0	0	3	2	.316	.409	.474	.883	9	1	0	0	0	1
18	Omir Santos	28	3	15	13	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.231	.333	.231	.564	3	0	1	0	0	0
19	Angel Pagan	27	3	14	14	2	4	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	3	.286	.286	.571	.857	8	1	0	0	0	0
20	Mike Nickeas	26	2	7	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.000	.143	.000	.143	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	Rob Mackowiak	33	2	7	6	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	1	0
22	Brandon Knight	33	4	7	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.250	.250	.500	.750	2	0	0	3	0	0
23	Dillon Gee	23	4	7	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	.143	.143	.143	.286	1	0	0	0	0	0
24	Rafael Arroyo	26	2	7	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	.000	.286	.000	.286	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	Jon Niese	22	3	5	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	2	0	0
26	Frank Diaz	25	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000	.333	.000	.333	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	Kyle Snyder	31	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	Tim Redding	31	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	Casey Fossum	31	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	Michael Antonini	23	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	Tim McNab	29	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	Freddy Garcia	34	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	Nelson Figueroa	35	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0					0	0	0	1	0	0
	39 Players	27.4	37	1341	1193	105	252	56	6	19	99	24	5	116	242	.211	.282	.316	.598	377	29	6	17	9	5

Jerry, man. Method or madness?

Newsday’s David Lennon has this inside look at Jerry Manuel’s managerial methods.  Click the link for the long version.  The short version:  Jerry uses his eyes, and his gut, not just a stat sheet.

Jerry Manuel

Jerry, man

Daaaaaaaaarryl! Daaaaaaaaarryl!

According to bisons.com Darryl Strawberry will be appearing at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, NY Saturday, May 23 in conjunction with Darryl Strawberry bobble-head day.  The first 4,000 fans in attendance will receive Darryl bobble-heads, and Strawberry will be conducting an autograph session on the concourse during the game.  Gates open at 12:00 noon, first pitch at 1:05pm.  It is also High School Saturday, and high school students with valid ID can purchase 2 tickets to the game for $12.00.  The Buffalo Bisons are the AAA affiliate of the Mets.

Who’s Next?

Thursday, May 21, 2009 is a travel day for the Mets as they return from the west coast swing of their current road trip.  Games resume with the opening salvo of inter-league play Friday night at 7:10pm when the Mets visit Fenway Park to begin a 3 game series with the Boston Red Sox.

The pitching match up Friday features Johan Santana (5-2, 1.36)

versus Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1, 12.76).

Santana is coming off his worst start of this season in which he allowed 4 earned runs, the most earned runs he has allowed since 7/17/08 at Cincinnati.  He will have had 5 days rest prior to the start.  This season with 5 days rest Santana is 2-1, 0.45 in 3 starts with a WHIP of 0.80 and a K/BB ratio of 15/1.  His career record at Fenway Park is 1-3, 6.89 in 15 2/3 innings spread among 3 starts and one relief appearance.  His most recent appearance at Fenway was 9/21/06, a 6-0 loss by the Twins in which Santana started, allowing 4 runs, 2 earned, over 5 innings.

Matsuzaka has not pitched since 4/14/09 at Oakland, a no-decision in which he allowed 5 earned runs in 1 inning before being removed with a right shoulder strain which landed him on the DL the next day.  Matsuzaka has never faced the Mets in a regular season game.

Kevin Youkilis returned from the DL Wednesday, and as the Mets arrive the Red Sox finally find themselves able to field the lineup they anticipated using the majority of this season, with

• CF Ellsbury
• 2B Pedroia
• DH Ortiz
• 1B Youkilis
• RF Drew
• LF Bay
• 3B Lowell
• C Varitek
• SS Lugo

which as of Tuesday is a lineup they have only used 3 times so far this season.

Jose’s knee

According to Mike Francesa of WFAN, Jose Reyes has been diagnosed with tendonitis behind the right kneecap.  He cannot do any further damage, has rejoined the team and is day-to-day.

From about.com:

What is tendonitis?
Sometimes the tendons become inflamed for a variety of reasons, and the action of pulling the muscle becomes irritating. If the normal smooth gliding motion of your tendon is impaired, the tendon will become inflamed and movement will become painful. This is called tendonitis, and literally means inflammation of the tendon.

What causes tendonitis?
The most common cause of tendonitis is overuse. Commonly, individuals begin an exercise program, or increase their level of exercise, and begin to experience symptoms of tendonitis. The tendon is unaccustomed to the new level of demand, and this overuse will cause an inflammation and tendonitis.

Another common cause of symptoms of tendonitis is due to age-related changes of the tendon. As people age, the tendons loose their elasticity and ability to glide as smoothly as they used to. With increasing age, individuals are more prone to developing symptoms of tendonitis. The cause of these age-related changes is not entirely understood, but may be due to changes in the blood vessels that supply nutrition to the tendons.

Sometimes, there is an anatomical cause for tendonitis. If the tendon does not have a smooth path to glide along, it will be more likely to become irritated and inflamed. In these unusual situations, surgical treatment may be necessary to realign the tendon.

UPDATE: According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, this diagnosis was originally made Saturday at AT&T Park by ‘a doctor.’  Below is an excerpt from his article published 05/17/09 7:38 PM ET:

{But on the bench Reyes will remain, at least for one more game. For the fourth straight day, Reyes insisted that his calf had improved, but for the fourth straight day, the Mets were unwilling to take a chance. Reyes saw a doctor Saturday at AT&T Park and received a new diagnosis: a mild case of tendinitis in the leg.

Rest was the prescription, along with his now-usual routine of ice, heat and massage.

“I have to be worried about it, no doubt,” Reyes said, rattling off a few contradictions. “It’s getting better, but I mean it’s slow. I don’t think it’s going to be that long before I get on the field.”

Originally feeling the injury prior to Wednesday’s game, Reyes tried to run since then but was met with pain. He has been taking regular fielding and batting practice and could conceivably pinch-hit in a close game, as he did Saturday, but running — a Reyes forte — remains an issue.

“It’s affecting my running,” Reyes said. “I’m not able to run the way I want to. That’s dangerous. If I play like that, maybe I can make it worse.”

“We just have to be careful with it,” manager Jerry Manuel said, expressing surprise at how long the calf has taken to heal, but insisting that Reyes is not considering a trip to the disabled list. “It’s still a little tender.”

Manuel’s only relief is that the Mets are doing just fine without Reyes. In three games against the Giants, the Mets have scored 24 runs, rapped out 42 hits and — here’s the kicker — stolen 13 bases. That latter statistic is a franchise record over a three-game span.

Yet Reyes is missing the party.

“It’s too boring for me to be on the bench,” he said, hardly joking. “There’s nothing to do there.”}

Speaking of future Mets…

From Toby Hyde’s wonderful http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/

At ESPN.com, Jerry Crasnick wrote about nine prospects who could see the Majors in 2009 and make an immediate impact.  He placed Fernando Martinez at #7 on his list.

There are also industry rumblings that he’s older than 20. No surprise there.

“There’s a lot to like,” an AL talent evaluator said. “But you’ve got to play him every day. He can go in and out of approaches, so he’s not the type of hitter who can play two days, then take a day off, then pinch hit, then take another day off. You need patience with him, and I’m not sure that kind of guy fits in a stretch run.”