SB Nation - Steve Trachsel

Holiday Filler: Carlos Beltran's Greatest Hits

James Kannengieser — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:00:18 -0000

by Henny Ray Abrams - AP

Here is a respite from the rumor mill, the top ten most valuable plate appearances of Carlos Beltran's Mets career, as ranked by WPA. There's some pleasant memories here:

10. 4/16/2005
Play: RBI single off Todd Jones in the 8th inning
WPA: .331
Game Result: Mets 4, Marlins 3

Beltran had a rocky first year with the Mets but was great in his first two weeks (.884 OPS). He tied the game with a single in the 8th and the Mets took the lead on a Mike Piazza single one batter later. Braden Looper blew the save in the 9th but earned a vulture win after Ramon Castro's walkoff base hit.

9. 5/31/2008
Play: Two-run homer off Jonathan Broxton in the 8th inning
WPA: .337
Game Result: Mets 3, Dodgers 2

Fernando Tatis put the Mets ahead three batters after Beltran tied it up. Mike Pelfrey pitched great and then went on his mid-summer hot streak.

8. 5/12/2009
Play: Bases loaded walk off Jeff Bennett in the 10th inning
WPA: .344
Game Result: Mets 4, Braves 3

Sadly, this was one of the better moments of the 2009 season. The walk happened on a 3-2 count and it's possible the pitch was really strike three. Just nine days until 2010.

7. 5/23/2006
Play: Solo homer off Ryan Madson in the 16th inning
WPA: .362
Game Result: Mets 9, Phillies 8

A sixteen inning, five-and-a-half hours long marathon ended about the best way possible: walkoff homer off Madson. The Mets bullpen gave up just two runs in eleven innings. Those were the days.

6. 9/25/2008
Play: RBI single off Kevin Hart in the 9th inning
WPA: .388
Game Result: Mets 7, Cubs 6

This was a must-win game, coming one night after the infamous David Wright vs. Bob Howry matchup. Micah Hoffpauir aided this walkoff single with some spotty glovework but not before going 5-5 with two home runs in a career night.

5. 4/10/2005
Play: Two-run homer off John Smoltz in the 8th inning
WPA: .415
Game Result: Mets 6, Braves 1

Pedro Martinez was spectacular in this one (9 IP, 1 R, 9 K) and a go-ahead two run bomb off Smoltz was all the Mets needed to win. Smoltz struck out fifteen in 7.1 IP.

4. 6/11/2008
Play: Two-run homer off Edgar Gonzalez in the 13th inning
WPA: .436
Game Result: Mets 5, Diamondbacks 3

Billy Wagner blew the save but Beltran picked his teammate up in extra innings. Willie Randolph would be unemployed just a week later.

3. 9/23/2005
Play: Three-run homer off Gary Majewski in the 10th inning
WPA: .454
Game Result: Mets 5, Nationals 2

Carlos Baerga tied the game with a two-run homer in the 9th off Roberto Hernandez but Beltran's three-run shot sealed it one inning later. Steve Trachsel tossed six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

2. 8/29/2008
Play: Grand slam off Kevin Gregg in the 9th inning
WPA: .723
Game Result: Mets 5, Marlins 4

This put the Mets up three runs heading to the bottom of the 9th, which might as well have been one run given the bullpen at the time. Luis Ayala did what everyone expected him to do: allow two runs and give every Met fan a heart attack after allowing a mammoth foul ball home run which would have given the Marlins a win. Thanks for the memories Luis!

1. 8/22/2006
Play: Two-run homer off Jason Isringhausen in the 9th inning
WPA: .789
Game Result: Mets 8, Cardinals 7

Many fans call this their favorite regular season game ever and with good reason. I was in attendance and was treated to two tape measure shots from Carlos Delgado (one of which was #400 for his career), two homers from Albert Pujols and a Beltran come-from-behind walkoff.

Mets Decade Rankings: Innings Pitched

Eric Simon — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:40:31 -0000

Num	Player	IP	From Year	To Year
1	Tom Glavine	1005.1	2003	2007
2	Steve Trachsel	956.1	2001	2006
3	Al Leiter	954	2000	2004
4	John Maine	502.1	2006	2009
5	Pedro Martinez	486.2	2005	2008
6	Mike Pelfrey	479	2006	2009
7	Oliver Perez	473.2	2006	2009
8	Aaron Heilman	450.1	2003	2008
9	Johan Santana	401	2008	2009
10	Jae Weong Seo	397.1	2002	2005

Jae Seo! Number ten!

Don't forget to tell your grandkids that the Mets' two most prolific pitchers of the aughts were Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel. Glavine is almost universally reviled by Mets' fans, though he actually had a pretty decent stretch with the Mets that was unfortunately bookended by his two worst starts. He would also show up his fielders on occasion and at times seemed to drift into clock-punching mode.

Trachsel was dubbed the "Human Rain Delay", and while he was usually a chore to watch on the mound -- and though he utterly crapped the proverbial bed in Game 3 of the 2006 NLCS -- he was a useful pitcher for a number of years, consistently outperforming his FIP. Not a great pitcher by any stretch, but he gets credit for showing up and not being terrible.

Adam LaRoche Unstoppable: Braves 6, Mets 0

Eric Simon — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:56:29 -0000

If not for Josh Thole and Ken Takahashi everyone on the Mets would have contributed negatively to the team's overall win expectancy Tuesday night. As it was, Thole and Tak contributed only negligibly. Other times the Mets have lost 6-0:

8/14/2001 - My wedding day only five years too early, Junior Herndon went 7.1 strong as the Padres beat Steve Trachsel. Herndon would win only one other game as a big leaguer.

5/9/2001 - Former Met Mike Hampton and the Rockies beat (then) current Met Rick Reed. Mets feature outfield of Benny Agbayani, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, and Alex Escobar.

7/31/2000 - Glendon Rusch allows five runs in six innings as the Mets fall to Scott Williamson and the Reds.

4/21/1998 - Mike Hampton again on the winning end of a 6-0 game against Rick Reed, this time as a member of the Astros. Tim Spehr goes 0-for-4 as the Mets' catcher.

8/2/1997 - No joke: Mike Hampton again, still with the Astros. This time, Bobby J. Jones is on the short end for the Mets. Outfield of Butch Huskey, Carl Everett, and Alex Ochoa. Not sure if Everett was yet a dinosaur denier.

8/17/1993 - Bobby Ayala and the Reds shut down Dwight Gooden and the Mets. Joe Orsulak in left; Kevin Baez at shortstop. Dave Telgheder allows two runs in two innings of relief.

6/8/1992 - The Expos' Ken Hill goes the distance against Anthony Young. Willie Randolph starts at second for the Mets. AY is in the midst of his epic losing streak, but still has a long way to go.

7/17/1989 - In the first game of a doubleheader with the Astros, Jim Deshaies goes eight strong against Ron Darling, Jeff Innis, and Wally Whitehurst. A Mets' offensive attack led by Juan Samuel manages just two hits overall.

Haiku by Howard Megdal

Dominant Hanson
Keeps Mets' bats from supporting
Mediocre Misch

Swag Contest

Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Talking Chop Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Josh Thole, +0.7% WPA, Ken Takahashi, +0.2% WPA
Big losers: Pat Misch, -15.7% WPA, Anderson Hernandez, -6.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Murphy double in second, +4.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: LaRoche solo homerun in second, -10.6% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -17.4% WPA
Total batter WPA: -32.6% WPA
GWRBI!: Adam LaRoche

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Michkin; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	Michkin	36
2	fxcarden	20
3	firejerrynow	15
4	MetsKnicksRutgers	12
5	Delgado	10
6	David G	4
7	metsguy234	3
8	MetsFan4Decades	3
9	HotChipWillBreakYourLegs	2
10	Evan_S	2

The Brewer Advent Calendar #18: Jeff Suppan

KLSnow — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:00:09 -0000

Another day, another door. Behind today's door on the Brewer Advent Calendar is...Jeff Suppan!

via assets.espn.go.com

Jeff Suppan has started 366 career games, which is a lot more than any of his 2009 Brewer teammates. Unfortunately, he hasn't won a lot of them.

In fact, he's almost lapped the field for least career wins by a pitcher with 366 or more starts (since 1961):

Pitcher	GS	Wins
Jeff Suppan	366	128
Jim Clancy	381	140
Mike Morgan	411	141
Bobby Witt	397	142
Kevin Gross	368	142

Now, that's not entirely fair, almost all of the pitchers I'm comparing Suppan to in that chart had more than 366 starts. But, since 1961, Suppan also has the 14th lowest winning percentage among pitchers with at least 366 starts:

Pitcher	W	L	%
Mike Morgan	141	186	43.1
Jim Clancy	140	167	45.6
Kevin Gross	142	158	47.3
Steve Trachsel	143	159	47.4
Bobby Witt	142	157	47.5
Mike Moore	161	176	47.8
Tom Candiotti	151	164	47.9
Danny Darwin	171	182	48.4
Bob Knepper	146	155	48.5
Charlie Hough	216	216	50.0
Claude Osteen	196	194	50.3
Frank Tanana	240	236	50.4
Rick Wise	188	181	50.9
Jeff Suppan	128	123	51.0

Note: Suppan is the only active pitcher on that list signed for 2009. Steve Trachsel hasn't officially retired, but is still a free agent. Assuming Trachsel and Kenny Rogers are retiring, here's the active leaderboard:

Pitcher	W	L	%
Jeff Suppan	128	123	51.0
Livan Hernandez	147	139	51.4
Tim Wakefield	178	157	53.1
Jamie Moyer	246	185	57.1
John Smoltz	210	147	58.8