Omir Santos Is Better Than Brian Schneider (Sheff Wins It With His Legs)

(Paul J. Berreswill/AP)

Tonight Omir Santos showed us all again that he should be the everyday Mets catcher, even after Schneider gets back, as he is a better catcher all around then anyone the Mets have used since LoDuca. He can run, and do it well, as the infield had to play in and not double-play depth when he was up because of that speed, and that is why his hit got through the left side to score the Mets winning run.

With Brian Schneider coming back tommorow, the Mets are trying to deal Ramon Castro, and the White Sox, and Mariners have been teams thrown around, and if a trade will be made, it will be made before tommorow’s game at 1:10, versus Florida. Omir Santos will most likely be sent to the bench upon Schneider;s return, but Schneider could end up getting traded because of Omir’s play, and it appears to have not gone unnoticed with Mets hierarchy , as they are looking to deal Castro. Could Schneider be dealt to a catcher-less team like the Yankees? Or if Wieters is a bust for Baltimore and needs more Triple-A? 

Mike Pelfrey was great, and is looking his best all year reminding me of last year, or maybe even better. He gets groundballs, but is now mixing strikeouts in with that, and is showing that Omar was wise for putting him in the two-hole, and I think he could be a one for some teams, and I would not mind him being the Mets number one if we did not have Johan. He went eight innings of one run ball, against Florida who he struggles against in his career.

The bullpens for both teams were great, but in the end it was the Mets’ pen that triumphed. After Pelf came out Jerry went with Parnell, who threw 1/3 of an inning, without allowing a run. Frankie Rodriguez came in and threw a scoreless ninth, and his ERA leads the Mets at .76. JJ Putz is looking great, and has the pop back in his fastball, as he threw 1 2/3 innings of shut out ball in the 10th and 11th innings, but left Pedro Feliciano with a daunting task of facing a right handed batter (they hit over .300 off him), with a runner on third and two outs, but he got him to fly to Beltran to end the inning.

In the 11th inning, I was laughing at how much attention Gary Sheffield was getting from Brian Sanches on first base nonetheless, but he shocked the world. Sanches threw at least 7 pickoffs to first base, but with Tatis up, he went! Ronny Paulino threw off line to the first base side and it sailed into centerfield, which allowed Sheffield to advance to third on the play, with one out( Sheffield was credited with a stolen base, his second of the year). Then on the next pitch, and I think intentionally they hit Tatis in the back with a fastball, I think they did it to scare Mets hitters, and set a double play up with Santos coming up. Omir of course came through with a base hit to score Sheffield, and Put it in the books!

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