Giants are underdogs in the NFC East

Following up on the earlier post, team rankings were recently released, and it seems the Giants football jerseys are underdogs in the NFC East, according to the as yet unreleased Madden 2011.

The Dallas Cowboys are way ahead of the rest of the pack with a 87 ranking, tying them for sixth overall with the Packers. The Giants are second in the NFC East with a ranking of 81. To put this in context, that is less than Atlanta, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, the crowsstown Jets, and New England. Philadelphia is right behind the Giants with an 80 ranking, and the Redskins, despite the addition of McNabb and Shanahan, are still in last place with a 76 ranking.

Pelfrey, who went through a light session before Sunday's series finale Brandon Jacobs against the Giants, is still looking for his first career victory over Arizona. He's 0-4 with a 5.22 ERA in five starts against them, including An 0-3 mark with a 7.16 ERA in three starts at Chase Field.

Manuel said that despite Hisanori Takahashi's poor outing Saturday, he'll make his regularly scheduled start Thursday at Los Angeles. Takahashi never made it out of the third inning, allowing six runs on seven hits in his loss to the Giants.

"He's struggled but he's also pitched some big games," Manuel said. Eli Manning "We're not ready to pull back yet. We're not down on him. He needs to continue to settle down and get better."
Perez to Join the Mets as a Member of the Bullpen

Left-hander Oliver Perez was expected to rejoin the team on Monday Ahmad Bradshaw as well, but Manuel said the move was unrelated to Takahashi's situation. Perez will be used out of the bullpen.

"Ollie could be important to us," Manuel said. "I still think that as a reliever he can offer us something."

Perez pitched into the seventh inning in his last rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday, allowing three runs and striking out seven.

"I'd probably like to see his velocity better but it's my job to put him into situations where he could have some success," Manuel said. "As I see it, he'll be in the bullpen."
Addition of Castillo Good for Mets Depth Chart

Manuel also infielder Luis Castillo should be back with the team "sometime before we get to Los Angeles." There's a likely chance that he will take the spot of rookie catcher Josh Thole, who has five hits in six at bats as a pinch hitter.

"He gives us offense back there but you have to be careful in creating situations where there's not continuity at that position," Manuel said. "He's certainly down a good job when he plays and he gives you a good at bat but Rod (Barajas) is our guy."