New York Mets vs Washington Nationals: Rapid Fire Series Preview Interview

Frank Gray
MM Editor

The last week has been very cold and very frustrating for the New York Mets. With three days of postponed games, a double header that they were swept in and a fourth game not even played, the Mets are happy to return home to thaw out.

That is the good news. The bad news is they face off with Washington Nationals and their dominant pitching staff all weekend. The Mets need to forget the past week and be equal to the task if they are to get back on track.

To help us put this upcoming series into proper perspective, we turn to our friends at "Centerfield Gate". We asked this wonderful Nationals blog our five questions. Here's what they had to say.



MM- What is the biggest news story for your team entering this series?

CG- The biggest news for Nats fans is the puzzlingly poor fielding play of Ryan Zimmerman. The normally steady Zimmerman has been unsteady, and Nats fans are waiting for him to turn himself around. Is his shoulder injured -- or is he just going through an early season fielding slump. This series will answer that question.


MM- Who is the one pitcher due to break out in this series?

CG- Gio Gonzalez has been inconsistent, and this from a hurler who defines consistency. He needs a good outing against the Mets, and a good year for the Nationals to win the NL East,


MM- Who should the Mets be afraid to face right now and why?

CG- That's easy: Jordan Zimmermann. In an up-and-down early going, everyone on the Nationals has seemed to have an off day. Not Zimmermann: he's been lights out,


MM- Who on the Mets are your fans most interested in seeing and why?

CG- Hmmm. Well, I don't know about Nats fans, but I want to see Matt Harvey. He's the one young thrower on the Mets that will define the New Yorkers in the years ahead. And every time I see him, I think 'God, I wish we had him',


MM- What are your predictions for this series and why?

CG- The Nationals are struggling and the Mets are rebuilding, but were playing well. I think the Nationals will take the series, but they won't be as dominating as pre-season pundits predicted.



***For more from Centerfield Gate, please click here***

New York Mets vs Minnesota Twins: Rapid Fire Series Preview Interview

Frank Gray
MM Editor

In hopes of shaking off an abysmal series in Philadelphia and the first leg of their road trip, the Mets head westward into the eye of the wintry storm that is hitting the midwest. Their destination? Minnesota.

The Twins are coming off of a horrible road series of their own as they were swept in Kansas City by the red hot Royals. They only scored four runs in the entire series.

It is with the two struggling teams playing in cold weather serving as a backdrop that we turn to Twins blogger Jesse Lund of "Twinkie Town" to give us a deeper look at the Twins in our five question series preview.



MM- What is the biggest news story for your team entering this series? 

JL- Right now it's probably the magic act being performed by Kevin Correia. Most of us expect it all to come crashing down any moment now. Well, it's either that or the debate over whether the Twins made the right decision in awarding the center field job to Aaron Hicks. Some fans are questioning whether it would have been better to leave him in Triple-A to start the season, since he's never played above Double-A.


MM- Who is the one pitcher due to break out this series? 

JL- I think it'll be Vance Worley. I only say that because, if you've taken a stroll through our rotation options, there aren't many breakout candidates. Worley is due for a good start since he's had one decent outing and one pretty discouraging outing.


MM- Who should the Mets be afraid to face and why? 

JL- Pedro Florimon has been making a habit of being the proverbial thorn-in-your-side, but outside the Mauer-Morneau-Willingham trinity it's also a good idea to keep an eye out for Trevor Plouffe and Chris Parmelee. Both can generate some power while being works-in-progress. If the Minnesota offense is going to generate runs, both of these guys will need to contribute in the six and seven holes.


MM- Who on the Mets are your fans most interested in seeing and why?

JL- David Wright is a stud. I'd say Johan Santana but that has to be a sore point for all parties. It'll be nice to see old friend LaTroy Hawkins once or twice. If there's one pitcher I want to see though, it's Matt Harvey.


MM- What are your predictions for this series and why? 

JL- Both teams are at a point where they really just want to get as many wins under their belt right now as possible, because there's no guarantee of how many they'll be able to pick up later this summer. But the Twins' offense has been soft so far this season and I like New York's starters in this series, so I'm giving the Mets two games and Minnesota one.


***To read more of Jesse's work or Twinkie Town, please click here***

New York Mets vs Philadelphia Phillies: Rapid Fire Series Preview Interview

Frank Gray
MM Editor

As the Mets continue their first tour of the NL Est this season, they visit the Philadelphia Phillies. To get us better prepared for the series, Mets Menu turns to Alec Snyder. Mr Snyder is a Featured Columnist for the Phillies at Bleacher Report. He knows his team inside and out. For this intense rivalry, he is the perfect source to ask our rapid fire questions to. Here's the result.

MM - What is the biggest news story for your team entering this series?

AS - I think the biggest news story at this point for the Phillies remains Roy Halladay’s potential velocity and command concerns. Despite topping out at a surprisingly high 92 mph last start and striking out nine batters in just 3.1 innings (becoming the first pitcher to do so since 1900), he walked three batters and of the 95 pitches he threw before being taken out, only 55 were for strikes.

In addition, he threw many more offspeed pitches and was reluctant to throw many cutters and sinkers. Unlike last year, when he actually started out with a very dominant April following a disastrous spring training, Doc seems to be starting out slow. Is this a sign of a season full of problems for Halladay, or can this just be attributed to still gaining a feel for pitching this season? Knowing Halladay’s work ethic, the former unfortunately seems more likely, but considering it’s still early in the season, anything is possible.

MM - Who is the one pitcher due to break out this series?

AS - If not Halladay, who’s due to break out whenever he can, then Kyle Kendrick, who starts on Thursday against Jeremy Hefner. Kendrick had an encouraging second half of the 2012 MLB season and the hope has been that his string of success would carry over into 2013. With a big dropoff in ability after the Phillies’ big three (or big two if Halladay fails to maintain a high level of production), Kendrick will need to step up and be able to shut down lineups on a consistent basis throughout the season.

While he wasn’t able to do that the entire game on Friday in the Phillies’ home opener against Kansas City, he was flat-out dominant for 4.1 innings before everything went downhill. If Kendrick can take his potential and see his next start as an opportunity to maintain that potential for a longer tenure throughout the game, good things could happen. I wouldn’t put it past him, either—despite a 5-7 record against the Mets all-time, Kendrick has a career 3.56 ERA against them to his credit.


MM - Who should the Mets be afraid to face and why?

AS - The Mets should be shaking in their boots to face Cliff Lee, hands-down. Lee tossed a gem against an Atlanta Braves lineup last Wednesday night that didn’t look major league worthy against him. Averaging a strikeout an inning and issuing no walks in eight two-hit shutout innings, Lee saw nothing faze him.

While expectations have always been high for Lee as he’s a proven ace in the majors, he’s a dark horse to be the Phillies’ best pitcher in 2013. With a career 4-1 record with a 2.09 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 56 strikeouts in 56 innings (9.0 K/9), Lee should be even better against the Mets than he was against Atlanta, if that’s humanly possible.


MM - Who on the Mets are your fans most interested in seeing and why?

AS - Maybe I’m alone in this, but I think I speak for most educated Phillies fans when I say that Matt Harvey intrigues me more than anyone else on the Mets. I’m not trying to say this in a demeaning way, but with the Mets lineup, you pretty much know what you’re getting with everyone. Harvey faced off against Phillies minor league pitcher Tyler Cloyd in late August last season when both were making their MLB debuts, and while both looked solid, Harvey looked better.

Considering he has more potential as a pitcher than Cloyd, it came as no surprise, but he’s got a bright future ahead of him. After an incredible performance against San Diego, I’m curious to see if Harvey can build on his momentum on the road against a Phillies lineup that carries more of an offensive threat, at least on paper. He’s going to be fun to watch in the years to come. Mets fans should be excited about him.


MM - What are your predictions for this series and why?

AS - I don’t think Halladay’s going to be nearly as bad against the Mets as he was against Atlanta since he’s at home and has a better track record against New York. However, I’m expecting a solid performance from Matt Harvey that could shut the offense down and I’ll give the Mets a 4-3 victory.

Cliff Lee should topple the Mets’ lineup, so even if the Phillies don’t score many runs against Dillon Gee, they should be able to defeat the Mets. I’ll predict the final score of that game to be 3-1 Phillies.

Game 3 of the series is more of a toss up, as both Kendrick and Hefner can be either lights-out or can blow a game in the blink of an eye. I’m predicting an above average performance by Hefner, but I think the Phillies will provide more run support for Kendrick than the Mets will for Hefner.

I think it could come down to the bullpens, and since the Mets still have a below-average bullpen, I’ll give the edge to the Phillies, assuming Charlie Manuel plays his cards right (which can’t necessarily be assumed at all). I think the Phillies win their first series of the year with a 4-2 victory over the Mets in Game 3.


***For more of Alec Snyder's work please click here****

My take on Fandom and Twitter

Wendy Adair
Contributor

And now for something completely different...

Instead of making this about the Mets players performance, I am devoting this post to fans interacting with celebrities and professional athletes, something I am very much in favor of and truly enjoy the experience.

My list of people that I follow on Twitter is downright ridiculous but you know what, I have a blast interracting with people that I have never spoken to face to face.  Pauley Perrette and Michael Weatherly of NCIS, Peter Gallagher and Christopher Gorham of Covert Affairs are all very engaging,  I have had several tweet conversations with all of them.

Justin Turner and Matt Harvey of the Mets are two of my favorite people to interract with, and now they even have Dillon Gee on Twitter with the fans.

They love posting pictures and encouraging fans for Q & A sessions during their down times, waiting for a plane, or even a long bus ride.

Even things such as asking advice for stadium music or twitter pictures is something that these guys ask from their fans and followers, they truly enjoy putting pictures on instagram and sharing it with their followers.

Some players are too private and would not go on Twitter, and that is fine, that is their feeling on the topic.  Other celebs may not interract because lets face it, people can be cruel and abusive if they are so inclined, and that ruins the dynamic of this person putting themself out there for the public.

Josh Thole, now in the Toronto Blue Jays system, was on Twitter but many fans were beyond cruel to him, criticizing and personal bashing, which is uncalled for, it is a shame that people can be such keyboard cowards.

I say that because they use Twitter and other social media outlets to say nasty things to people that they would  never have the nerve to say to their face, so they hide behind the keyboard and try to stir up trouble.  This is very counterproductive, although all users can block and restrict people who are abusive, it really ruins the dynamic of cyber relationships.

Well have a great day everyone, Lets Go Mets and fry some fish!!