Chris Young will make his 2nd start of the season today.
Today the Mets continue with their interleague play, as they open up a three game set with the Rays in Tampa tonight. I chatted with Jason Collette from draysbay.com to get a grasp on what exactly the Mets are going against this week.
Me: The Rays are currently sitting atop the AL East. Who have been there MVPs so far, and who has been a disappointment this season thus far?
Jason: Matt Joyce has been the one consistent cog in this offense. Everyone else around him has been hurt or struggled at points this season but he has been the team’s most consistent run producer and has become an asset out in right field. Both Carlos Pena and Luke Scott would have to be considered disappointments so far as neither has been able to help fill the gap in the lineup left by Longoria’s injury. Both have struggled mightily since May and haven’t show much signs of turning it around of late.
Me: Cobb, Price and Hellickson are slated to pitch for the Rays against New York. How have their seasons been so far?
Jason: Cobb’s season has been brief at the major league level. His minor league numbers were not terribly impressive mainly because the defense down there is sub par and he needs a good defense behind him as he is not a big strikeout guy. Price has been the ace of this staff and just ended a run of seven straight starts of 7+ innings in starts. He is complete command of all of his pitches now and can drop a change, curve, or cutter in there at any point in the count unlike in the past when he would try to blow the ball by everyone when he got into trouble. Hellickson has picked up where he left off last year and has been at his best when runners are on base. The league is just 5 for 47 against him this season with runners on base and is hitting something around .135 against him in those situations dating back to the start of last season.
Me: Who has been hot and who has been slumping lately for the Rays?
Jason: Elliot Johnson has been hot of late, to the surprise of many because he was such a non-factor offensively last year and in April. Regular playing time seems to suit him well. Scott and Pena have both been sub .200 hitters over the past few weeks with a lot of strikeouts and unproductive at bats.
Me: The Mets are 1-5 in interleague play so far this season. What are your thoughts on interleague play in general?
Jason: I deplore interleague play. NL teams get the advantage of an extra hitter coming into AL parks while AL teams play at a disadvantage when pitchers have to hit in NL parks. Pitchers hitting is no more enjoyable than watching players pitch in blowout games. Just put the DH in both leagues and be done with it already. I’d keep interleague play if they did that and if they got rid of the natural rivalry thing. Playing the Marlins six times a season is boring and nobody here cares about the series.
Overall, this looks to be another tough series for the Mets. The bright side is both Santana and Dickey are slated to pitch. Tomorrow’s match up of Dickey and Price looks like it could be a special one.
Big thanks to Jason for taking his time to participate in a Q&A. You can check out his blog here. Also, you can follow Jason on Twitter here @jasoncollette for analysis and commentary throughout the series.
