FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Based upon some of the decisions Lou Piniella made over the three game series with the New York Mets, Piniella must want the Mets to win the NL Wild Card. If the Mets do win the Wild Card, they would play the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS.

Jon Heyman from cnnsi.com reported on Wednesday that several scouts think the Mets will be easy pickens in the NLDS, primarily due to their leaky bullpen and lack of quality starters after Johan Santana. "I hope we play the Mets," one NL scout said, flat out. Another scout was quoted as saying that the Mets bullpen is "*&$#% garbage." Were those Cubs scouts? Could be. Could have been the Dodgers scout, whose team would play the Mets if the Mets come back and win the division. Piniella's antics could help the Dodgers, too.

Also, many scouts fell that David Wright is in bad shape in trying to carry the Mets on his shoulders...and felt Wright's shoulders aren't big enough. These scouts are correct because when a player tries to "do too much" at the plate, they swing at bad pitches and get themselves out. This is exactly what Wright is doing.

I was thinking this might be the case during the first three games of the series, but last night's game cemented the thoughts.

With a two run led in the bottom of the 8^th, Piniella normally would have gone with Carlos Marmol, arguable his most effective relief pitcher. Then it would be Kerry Wood in the 9^th inning. Neither one shoed up last night and Wood only recorded 4 outs the entire 4 game series. Word is that Piniella wanted to give his big guns extra rest. No way is that the case. Guarantee they both pitch against the Brewers this weekend.

Marmol coming in the 8^th inning last night was a no-brainer, especially when he did not pitch Wednesday night. The Mets then score two in the 8^th off Neil Cotts and Bobby Howry to tie the game, and score the game winner off of Kevin Hart in the 9^th.

Hart is a relief pitcher with the worst possible combination of lacking talent: he surrenders lots of hits and allows too many walks. Whitey Herzog once told his closer Todd Worrell that he didn't care if Worrell gave up five hits and blew a game - JUST DON'T WALK ANYBODY. Hart walks guys, then gives up big hits to score them. 

Coming into the 9^th inning last night, Hart has allowed 59 base runners in only 25 innings! For the sabermetrics out there, that is a 2.360 WHIP! Those are terrible numbers, but, last night Hart actually increased those numbers by allowing three base runners, including the winning run! After last night his ERA is now over 7.00!

Piniella also did not start his regulars Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez or Geovany Sota - his all star catcher. Didn't start and didn't even pinch hit. Many Met fans are rationalizing this by saying that Piniella "wants to see who his 23^rd thru 25^th men are going to be." Let me help Sweet Lou here - Kevin Hart should not be on your post season roster. I think Lou probably realized it before Hart appearance last night. Then why was Hart in the game?

Because the Cubs believe they are much better than the Mets and want them to win the NL Wild Card.

Want more proof? Piniella will play his regulars much more this weekend against the Milwaukee Brewers, who are currently tied with the Mets for the Wild Card lead.

"We have two days off, Monday and Tuesday [before the NL Division Series begins], so we have to play our regulars," Piniella said. "I don't want them sitting for four or five days."

He will also pitch Marmol and Wood, too, especially if the games are tight in the later innings. As Mets radio announcer Howie Rose says "you can put in the book," that the Cubbies will play the Brewers very tough this weekend, with their regular players, not those from AAA Iowa.

No one thinks the Phillies will lose two of three this weekend to the Nationals, with Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer and Cole Hamels going this weekend. But, if they do, the Mets would need to sweep the Florida Marlins this weekend to win the division. They won't. But, if the Mets lose tonight and Cubs do their job against the Brewers, the Mets will need to win both their remaining games. That means on Sunday Johan Santana will have to pitch (and win) just for the Mets to win the Wild Card, and Santana would only pitch one game in the NLDS against the Cubs.

And Lou Piniella would really be smiling because he was one of the architects.