http://www.yardbarker.com/rss/player/696 Recent articles about Matt Wise en-us After striking out the side on Monday night, the Mets rewarded Joe Smith with a demotion. The Mets sent Smith back to the minors to make room for a spot starter for Wednesday's game, rather than pitch Johan Santana or Mike Pelfrey on short rest. Tue, 13 May 2008 12:09:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266468 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266468 David Lennon in Newsday relays info that Pedro Martinez has begun throwing off a mound in Port St. Lucie. Adam Rubin reports in The Daily News that both Matt Wise and Ramon Castro may be activated by next weekend's series against the Cincinnati Reds. Mon, 05 May 2008 06:19:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263504 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263504 Looking at the pitching staff just 2 years ago, it's easy to see why the team finished 75-87. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:59:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/237239 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/237239 Matt Wise, who is suffering from forearm stiffness, looks like he's heading to the disabled list, according to Adam Rubin. The Mets will call up Carlos Muniz. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:03:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/232085 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/232085 Sure, he hit a walkoff home run to win the game for the Florida Marlins, but Robert Andino's night quickly changed when he received a text message from his wife. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:27:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/226595 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/226595 One of the best aspects of baseball is the off-season. Unlike any other sport, baseball certainly has the most exciting and active off-season. I've been covering every transaction since the 2007 baseball season ended, and here is my recap.We'll cover, Best Performances by a GM, Worst Performances by a GM, Best Trades, Worst Trades, Best Signings , Worst Signings, Most Surprising Moves, Big Winners, and Big Losers. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:06:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/213014 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/213014 This will by my final installment of polls for determining the best of what the NL East has to offer. The Mets have been crowned the NL East's best rotation, while the Phils have garnered top honors for outfield and infield. I'm not even going to bother debating coaching staffs, or get into farm systems. I'll stick with concrete tangibles that you can see on display at the MLB level, which leaves me with the bullpens. *Career era and whip, and pitching arm in parentheses. Atlanta Braves: Closer- Rafael Soriano (2.93, 1.02, R). Key Cogs- Mike Gonzalez (2.29, 1.23, L), Peter Moylan (2.23, 1.13, R), Manny Acosta (2.28, 1.14, R), Will Ohman (4.33, 1.42, L), and Tyler Yates (5.15, 1.56, R). Filler- Royce Ring (3.12, 1.38, L), Jeff Bennett (4.59, 1.43, R), Blaine Boyer (3.71, 1.49, R), Buddy Carlyle (5.96, 1.43, R), and Chris Resop (5.48, 1.83, R). Overall this is a solid group of relievers. There are question marks about Soriano's ability to handle the closer's role (13 career saves), but when Gonzalez gets healthy he's a great fallback plan. Never underestimate the Braves knack for turning mediocre arms into quality pitchers. Florida Marlins: Closer- Kevin Gregg (4.12, 1.33, R). Key Cogs- Justin Miller (5.33, 1.59, R), Matt Lindstrom (3.09, 1.30, R), Lee Gardner (2.46, 1.31, R), Henry Owens (3.00, 1.37, R), and Taylor Tankersly (3.46, 1.47, L). Filler- Daniel Barone (5.71, 1.68, R), Logan Kensing (5.50, 1.55, R), and Renyel Pinto (3.46, 1.40, L). This is a rag-tag group the outperformed expectations last year, but I expect some growing pains this season. Gregg is not a great closer, and I think he'll end up being a 1 season wonder. Lindstrom and Owens have upside, but they're surrounded with a losing atmosphere that trades their young talent away when it gets too expensive...that'll play tricks with your psyche. New York Mets: Closer- Billy Wagner (2.40, 1.02, L). Key Cogs- Aaron Heilman (4.04, 1.27, R), Pedro Feliciano (3.20, 1.34, L), Matt Wise (4.18, 1.26, R), Jorge Sosa (4.59, 1.46, R), and Matt Schoeneweis (5.01, 1.46, L). Filler- Ruddy Lugo (4.39, 1.48, R), Joe Smith (3.45, 1.56, R), currently DL'ed Duaner Sanchez (3.81, 1.37, R), and Brian Stokes (6.46, 1.80, R). I hate that rat bastard Billy Wagner, but he's still a top closer. Heilman and Feliciano are nice setup men, and Wise was a decent cheap offseason pickup. This is a seasoned group that has proven they can pitch and mixed with the Mets outstanding rotation is a great pitching staff collectively. Philadelphia Phillies: Closer- Brad Lidge (3.30, 1.20, R). Key Cogs- Tom Gordon (3.93, 1.35, R), JC Romero (4.30, 1.50, L), Ryan Madson (4.14, 1.38, R), and Chad Durbin (5.75, 1.57, R). Filler- Mike Zagurski (5.91, 1.69, L), Clay Condrey (4.84, 1.53, R), Scott Mathieson (limited experience), Francisco Rosario (6.02, 1.76, R), and Fabio Castro (3.30, 1.21, L). I'm glad to have Lidge because it allows Bretty Myers to go back to the rotation, but I am leary of his ability to lock down leads with high frequency. To be honest, I dislike this bullpen, as Gordon is fragile, Romero has a flair for imploding, Madson is a crapshoot, and the rest are less than stellar to say the least. Washington Nationals: Closer- Chad Cordero (2.79, 1.19, R). Key Cogs- Jon Rauch (3.74, 1.22, R), Luis Ayala (2.82, 1.20, R), Ryan Wagner (4.79, 1.59, R), Jesus Colome (4.54, 1.50, R), and Saul Rivera (3.58, 1.44, R). Filler- Ray King (3.43, 1.34, L), and Chris Schroder (4.40, 1.21, R). They may not have a lot of depth, but this is a decent group. Chad Cordero is a very good young closer, if on a contending team (ie. BoSox or Yanks) would get much higher praiser. John Rauch is the biggest dude to ever chuck pitches in MLB, Wagner is a former 1st round pick of the Reds, Colome can bring heat, and King is like a Weeble- he wobbles but he doesn't fall down. Click on URL to vote in the poll. Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:58:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/143066 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/143066 So even thought I've been holding it off for so long I finally found the right time to do it so let's start out with the twisted N.L East. So i'm gonna break this down from the best team to the worst teams. 1.Phillies This is a really good team with a awesome offense and a pretty good defense.They have probaly the best infield in the league with Howard on 1st,Utley on 2nd, Rollins at short, and either Wes Helms or Gregg Dobbs at 3rd. They also have one of the better prospects in the last 10 years in Cole Hamels who pitched lights out last year with a 15-5 record and a 3.33 and showed everyone that he'll dominate the league for the next 10 years 2. Mets The reason why I have the Mets at number 2 is of there average to bad pitching even though it's getting better with some of there young prospects like John Maine and one of there recent signings Matt Wise. Also like a said about the Phillies the Mets have a great lineup but this is probably better with the fact that they have a good combination of average with the likes of Luis Castillo, David Wright who's also a great power option,power with Carlos Beltran, and speed with the always great Jose Reyes. 3. Washington Nationals Yes you might think I'm crazy but this young team will be hungry and looking to beat the living crap out of anyone that comes in there way One thing that i don't like about this is because of there pitching which is very young and it take a year or two for them to get used to major league hitting. The main reason why i put them ahead of the braves is the mix between of there prospects and vets, the young guys which they got this offseason, Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes both great great youngsters. They also have great veteran players willing to help the youngsters out and can play some ball. 2 of there vets I like are Paul Lo Duca who joins former teammate in Lastings Milledge,also one of the surprise players of last year in Dmitri Young who had a great .320 BA and also should do the same in 08'. 4. Atlanta Braves Remember when this team won the East every single season for 15 years straight, all i have to say is where did that team go. First let's start with there pitching ok all i have to tell you is Smoltz is a year older, Tom Glavine is a year older. Two things I like about there pitching is Chuck James and Tim Hudson, Chuck James I love this guy for two things his name is legendary and he's a very good pitcher. TIm Hudson I always kinda liked this guy but as Smoltz and Glavine get up there in age Hudson and James have to learn to step up as the 1 and 2 starting pitchers. 5. Florida Marlins This could by far be the worst team in the N.L but in 5 and 10 years this team will be scary for what I'm bout to say. Hanley Ramirez this guy is a scary scary player, he has it all power,average,speed,fielding,good eye with less than 100 strikeouts. Remember that trade a few weeks ago when they traded Cabrera and Willis they got 2 of the top 30 prospects in baseball with Cameron Maybin who got 5 stolen bases in only 25 games but this fool needs to get his average up. Also Andrew Miller who did pretty good for himself in the 13 games he started he got a 5-5 record and a 3.63 ERA. Last but not least my 08' blogging breakdown I'm gonna go by the time I'm gonna do them from January to April and then around march I'll do another one like this December 22-January 1st A.L preview . After i finish my N.L preview I'm gonna go straight to my A.L preview do screwing around. January 5th- Feb 3rd NFL playoffs game by game review until the super bowl and maybe pro bowl. Feb 1st- March 1st my HUGE sorry i had to use caps but it's gonna be a big big fantasy baseball preview with top 50's of each positions with breakdown of each player in each league. March 1st-March 30th day by day team breakdown with some special guest of Ryan Parker and maybe Dontrelle Willis Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:30:13 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/49239 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/49239 Hey everyone sorry I didn't do this in the morning I was too busy and i just got done recovering from the greatness of the Gagne's conference in which was awesome so now to the rotation and the bullpen. First let's start with the rotation. 1. Ben " Fragile Tiger" Sheets, Sheets when he was healthy he did awesome with a 12-5 record and a pretty good 3.52 ERA 2. Dave " The Pittsburgh K King" Bush, even though he's an average starter i guess that average is good enough to make the spot of the # 2 starter and you get the glory of me having your jersey! 3. Claudio " The Dominican Bandit" Vargas. The guy who i think should go ahead of Bush but my Bush senses are saying make Bush # 2 and Vargas #3. Another player who had a good win loss record, but had a sub par ERA and a pretty normal to bad WHIP. 4 Yovani " The Great Mexican Amigo" Gallardo. Gallardo who did fantastic in the few starts he had last year after coming out of the Minors with a 9-5 record and a 3.67 record. 5. Jeff " Supalicious'' Suppan. Jeff after coming off a great 06' postseason with the Cards came to the Brewers expecting what he did in 06 but we were wrong!!! Even though Jeff had a 12-12 record with a 4.62 ERA but he's still a good #5 starter. You know what there are too many players in this bullpen so it's almost impossible to break all of the players down so here are the top 5 that will make a huge difference. 5.Matty Wise. The one player that probably have been forgotten in all this signings. Matt who is a very good 7th inning pitcher hopefully will hold a spot on the team and make a big impact on the team. 4. David " Risky Business" Riske. Man i love the way this guy played for the Royals. But now he's with the Crew it's a shame that he has to be in the 7th spot if not the setup but now that we got Gagne it looks as if that spot will be on Turnblow's shoulders. 3. Seth McClung. Yes I said it not Torres and not Mora but little known McClung. So you think I'm crazy but his last 10 games he allowed 2 ER's and 5 hits in the 8.2 Innings he pitched. 2 Derrick Turnblow. You can't have a Crew bullpen list without this guy. I really don't like this guy, he blew too many games and he allowed too many players on base but of course they take his 05' season and still think it was for real and not a fluke. Brewers what are you thinking,get rid of this bum 1. Eric "The only French Canadian Closer" Gagne. Remember he's Cy Young style years in L.A well I might be a little crazy but I think he can return to that level and get at least 40 saves. Even though I think that they over payed a bit for him he'll try to return to the style that Fransisco had last year before he started to blow a bunch of games around September. Guys there you go my pitching part of my 3 part preview. I'll have my next post by tomorrow night. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 03:32:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/42445 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/42445 The Phillies came back from a 5 run deficit in the 9th inning against the previusly untouched Brewers' bullpen to tie the game at 6-6. And then, 3rd baseman Wes Helms drilled an 11th inning 2 out, 2 run double to rightfield as the Phillies upended the Brewers in their series finale by an 8-6 score. Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:53:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/22477 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/22477 Looks like a committee may emerge. I havent seen any consensus on the net over who will be the new guy from this unimpressive cast of characters: Dan Kolb, 5.87 ERA, 1.56 WHIP Matt Wise, 4.27 ERA, 1.36 WHIP Brian Shouse - 2.84 ERA, 1.42 WHIP Jose Capellan. - 4.04 ERA, 1.24 WHIP Sat, 22 Jul 2006 17:56:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/759 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/759