| Jeff Pearlman's Breakdown |
|---|
| Giants |
|
Mets |
| How key is it for the Mets' pitching staff to come through? Consider: The Giants
were second in the NL in batting average and slugging percentage, third in runs
and home runs. They have the two leading MVP candidates (Jeff Kent and Barry
Bonds), an overlooked superstar (Ellis Burks) and three players with 10 or more
stolen bases.
|
OFFENSE The Edge:
 |
New York is slow (Lenny Harris and Edgardo Alfonzo lead the team with eight
steals apiece), meek and -- save for Mike Piazza and Alfonzo -- unintimidating.
Robin Ventura finished the regular season with a .232 average. That lack of
production can't
continue. |
|
| J.T. Snow is a lock for a Gold Glove at first, but Jeff Kent is a sub-average
defensive second baseman. Bonds' arm is questionable in left.
|
DEFENSE The Edge:
 |
Much has been written about the Mets' defensive decline, what with shortstop Rey
Ordonez out for the year and first-base virgin Todd Zeile handling a new
position. D-D-D-Don't believe the hype. Mike Bordick may no be Ordonez, but he
is a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop who gets to every reachable ball and rarely
muffs the routine
plays.
|
|
| Many a pitcher has cruised through the regular season, only to find life -- and
pressure -- much more difficult in the playoffs. Although righty Livan
Hernandez, the Giants' Game 1 starter, was the World Series MVP with Florida in
1997, his San Francisco cronies (Shawn Estes, Russ Ortiz and Kirk Rueter) are
young and untested.
|
STARTING PITCHING The Edge:
|
The Mets counter with left-handers Mike Hampton (9-0 career vs. the Giants)
and Al Leiter (three World Series appearances), two veteran big-game pitchers
with Dolly Madison cool. Always, always go with veteran
pitching.
|
|
| Robb Nen is the San Fran counterpart of Mets fireballing closer Armando
Benitez, but John Johnstone, Alan Embree and the gang ain't too
inspiring.
|
BULLPEN The Edge:
|
New York's bullpen is the best in baseball -- a diverse, masters-of-many-tasks
collection of oldies (40-year-old lefty John Franco) and newies (Benitez);
crafty vets (lefty Dennis Cook, righty Rick White) and eccentric bulldogs
(righty Turk Wendell). Toss in left-handed starter Glendon Rusch, who was one of
baseball's great surprises this year, and the Mets are fantastic.
|
|
| Infielder Russ Davis has been an under-the-radar godsend for San Fran. He
can play multiple positions, his glove is sound, he has been through pressure
situations with Seattle in the past and he's hit nine home runs. Along with
Felipe Crespo and Armando Rios, he is part of a capable group of reserves.
|
BENCH The Edge:
|
Todd Pratt is the best backup catcher in baseball, but the Mets will rely
heavily on rookie outfielder Timoniel Perez, this year's Melvin Mora. Mark Quinn
Lesson No. 1: Never, ever rely heavily on
rookies. |
|
| There is no better skipper than Dusty Baker, which explains why every team
this side of the Mahopac (N.Y.) Little League Reds craves his services. Baker is
cool and calm, the James Dean of managers. He has players who don't exactly get
along (Bonds and Kent, Bonds and everyone), but chemistry has never been a San
Francisco undoing. |
MANAGER The Edge:
|
Bobby Valentine is -- as he'll tell you -- one of the game's top minds. But
there's something uncertain about the man ... a choke potential that has yet to
be 100 percent
disproven.
|
|
| Russ Ortiz this, Ross Ortiz that. Everyone raves about Ortiz and his amazing
multiplicity of stuff. As hot a prospect as he may have been, Ortiz's numbers
don't add up: He had 14 wins this season, but also posted a 5.01 ERA and zero
complete games. The Giants are likely to be down 0-2 in this series. They'll
need Ortiz to pitch a huge Game
3. |
'X' FACTOR The Edge:
|
No secret here: Since Sept. 1, Mike Piazza has batted .222 with five home runs
and 12 RBIs. He has a tendency to weaken late in seasons, an alarming factor for
a club with minimal firepower. Piazza hit .467 vs. the Giants this season. If he
rolls, so do the
Metropolitans.
|
| Pearlman's Prediction: Mets in
4 |
|---|
| |
