Runaway Train

10 in a row, and this was certainly a game you could've thought the Mets would lose when Santana proved to not be up to the task today and the bullpen was iffy. But the Mets kept battling, even in the top of the 9th, and came out on top. Good to see, good to win a game like that, but lets not make a habit of it. David Wright comes through with a clutch hit, a home run that if this was two weeks ago you would've been sure was going to be caught. This is probably a good question for metswalkoffs, but how it seems like David Wright has a crazy amount of walk-off or game-tying hits off of opposing closers. I guess it's logical that these kinds of hits come off of closers, but I may start calling David Wright the Anti-Save anyway.

10! in a row and tied for first place. The Phillies get Joe Blanton and even if that made them feel better, that feeling barely lasted three hours. The Mets go for history Friday night, trying to tie the franchise record for wins in a row at 11. This team has made a complete 180 since about two weeks ago, and I cannot see a catalyst for it. Players just started playing well, pitchers started pitching, and instead of finding ways to lose, they're finding ways to win. Maybe they just flat out ran out of ways to lose games?

Have to Listen to the Leaders

Reyes: Fly Like the Wind

Here's my take on the Reyes thing, I support him fully in this. I think it was a mistake to keep Manuel while firing Willie. If a change was going to work, it needed to be a clean slate, not someone leading that's been through the same problems. So when Manuel starts his tenure by pissing off Wright and Reyes, it doesn't look good.

Wright and Reyes, by example or otherwise, are going to be or already are the leaders of this team. The team revolves around them, and Manuel needs to work with them and allow them the ability to do that.

At least give Reyes the chance to walk it off, jog in the outfield, really see if he's hurt. Manuel, admittedly, said that it was his first day played into his decision. This isn't about Manuel though, it's about Reyes and winning the game, which we had less of a chance to do with Easley. Reyes wanted to play, and the only message this sends besides “I know best” is that he doesn't have to play hard when he's not feeling 100%. Reyes is who he is, and we don't need him molded into some media-darling cookie cutter player. So what if he throws a tantrum? Haven't so many of you been saying how you want to see fire and fight with this team? Well Reyes has got it, he is who he is and trying to make him something else is detrimental to the team, as we saw early in the season when Beltran reminding him to stop worrying about how he's perceived and play the game the way he knows how.

This whole firing situation reeks to me of setting up the team to fail. It sounds like “You can't fire me, I quit!” by Mets management. They've decided the team isn't going to win, set up a fall guy, and laid the groundwork for next year. What they forget is it's early June. I still think the Mets can and will break out of it, but it also feels like the media and management are fighting against it. The team needs to be able to relax, and it doesn't look like this is going to afford them that. Only time will really tell; will this team be counted out on August 1st and pull a Colorado Rockies to make the playoffs after the pressure is off? It's still too early for that too.

Subway Series loses some luster, but the Mets gain some

The Subway Series this year was very subdued. I'm still a fan of it, I like how it takes over the city and the general feel of it, but most of the novelty has worn off. It's certainly no longer a David versus Goliath type match up like it was when it started, or when it reached what I think was it's peak in 2000. It's no longer a competition to see who is the better team, but who isn't the worse team. Both clubs had issues to work out, and the opponent at the moment wasn't important enough to matter. The fans, excepting when trying to shout down opposing chants and cheers, were almost quiet. I only saw half a dozen fights at the Stadium Sunday night. I'm sure a lot of that atmosphere was due to the game being a blow out, but it was more important that the Mets won, than it was who they beat.

And they did beat them. They played better baseball; hitting, fielding, and pitching. Derek Jeter, who always does well in these competitions, did well with the bat, but was average at best everywhere else. He failed to make the only high-caliber move he has at shortstop, his leaping throw to first, early on Saturday. He also got thrown out trying to stretch a single in that game. On Sunday he couldn't keep his foot on the bag while fielding a bad throw from Giambi during the Mets first rally.

The Mets, particularly Church, played great defense, hit the cut offs and made great plays. They hit, Reyes hit, Wright hit, and they scored 18 runs. They also pitched well, Santana to Wagner on Saturday and Perez went as far as Santana before giving the ball to Smith and Schoeneweis.

More importantly, whether a result of a team meeting or something else, the Mets played with enthusiasm. They played with energy and heart and they really came alive during these two games. Wright was already on the mound encouraging Perez by the time Matsui's ball went over the fence, everyone was excited when they got hits and scored runs. Maybe the Mets fans' unwillingness to boo their own players in the hostile environment of Yankee Stadium helped, and maybe the Mets can go and put together a nice streak of games over the next seven so that when they return to Shea, there isn't a single person we want to boo....besides Hanley Ramirez of course.

Bring Back Professor Reyes!

Bring back Professor Reyes!

I know Jose Reyes decided to focus more on baseball and cut out some of the dancing and theatrics. It's a move I disagree with, but whatever makes him play better. His replacements for the Professor Reyes' Spanish Academy are pathetic though. I'm glad John Maine is getting some attention, but Maine Street USA is very lame. It's basically the same thing they did last year without him, with giving three hints and having you guess the city. The other one is even worse, with David Wright. I believe it was called Do The Wright Thing, and it was all about making sure you 'always wear your helmet'. It was very bad, and he must've repeated the sentence 15 times. Good intentions..maybe the other ones will be better, but I doubt it.

How Many Strike-Outs for Mets Pitching This Year?

Tomorrow is the day. At noon tomorrow the moment we've all been waiting for since Glavine walked off the mound that Sunday afternoon. His upgrade, Johan Santana, will report to Port St. Lucie and officially start the 2008 baseball season. It's not quite the regular season games we're waiting for, but having daily news, even if it isn't much, to look forward to everyday will be a much needed joy.

David Wright will be showing up this weekend, as ready to get started as we are for him to get started. Wright is the player I think we have the most confidence and faith in. He played his heart out last year, all year. He truly cares, truly wants to win, and plays the game the right way both on and off the field. I would rank the players I have the least questions about going into next year like this. David Wright, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran. I also have few worried about John Maine, or even Pedro Martinez.

I know most people probably think I'm insane for not worrying about Pedro, but I'm not. As the time came for him to return last year, I thought he'd have a good couple of starts, and that he could really contribute in the playoffs. We never got there, but Pedro did pitch well. Now everyone is saying you can't count on Pedro, but I don't think that's true. His pitching in September proves that the injury he recovered from isn't going to inhibit him, and he's only recovered more from it now. He's still an ace pitcher, he still knows how to pitch, he still has that ability. And he's healthy. Sure he's brittle, but he's always been brittle, whatever that means. It's possible anyone can get hurt in 2008, but I don't think Pedro Martinez is more likely, and certainly not a given, to get injured. Plus Pedro is a competitor. I think he'll truly thrive on this come back of his, plus I think he'll thrive on the friendly competition he'll have with Santana. They are going to feed off each other all year. A thriving, strike-out thirsty 1-2 punch of Santana and Martinez is going to have opposing batters at Shea Stadium whiffing so much it'll change the wind patterns.

However, this team did come off a horrible collapse, and we're going to need to see something from them to really regain our confidence in them. One thing that comes to mind would be to see a combined 3-22 stat from Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell during the opening series. That would really make us feel good, although we can't forget that Rollins and Burrell had a pathetic showing during the opening series at Shea in 2007 also.

A quick word on the former player Roger Clemens. I listened to some of the hearings today, and I was actually laughing at Clemens. He comes off so badly in my opinion, that I'm absolutely convinced he did steroids. It's no longer a he said, she said situation, it's a he said, THEY said situation. From the little I heard, McNamee, Pettite, Pettite's wife, and Mike Stanton all have said Clemens has taken steroids. Clemens countered most of this with garbage like “I don't remember that.”, or “Pettite must have misheard”. It doesn't look good, and I'm done with all the attention this is getting, it's time to talk about baseball now that spring is finally here.

The Collapse, and 2008

I've been thinking about this, and it has a lot to do with David Wright and how he's easily the captain of this team.

The Mets maybe be an 85 win team next year, but I don't think so. I think they're going to be angry about last year, angry and ashamed.

You know how the the Patriots played after being caught cheating in week 1? That's how I see the Mets next year. Up 9-2 going into the 9th? Why not go for another run? There will be no 'taking it for granted'. And I don't care if it pisses off Hanley Ramirez or anyone else. I want them to take the confidence of 2007, but not think they deserve anything. They should go out and play the Phillies(and the Braves and Marlins and Nationals) like they punched their mothers.

Last year they had what I felt to be a good attitude, but they seemed to lose it on the field. 2008 is going to be a good year.

Mets Extra

At the end of 162, it's the Philadelphia Phillies 89, the New York Mets 88.

Wow. That sucked. So much for my optimism. I'm not going to be one of those fans that throws blame and anger all over the place, calling for heads and trades and all of that. I will break down the team and next year and what I want to see happen sometime in the near future. I expect I'll update a bit through the playoffs (I'm rooting for the Cubs) talk about awards and all of that. After October I'll still post, maybe once a week, or when other things happen. I'm proud of myself for getting through the entire season with this blog, and look forward to making new bloggie friends in the off-season and next year. Here is my postseason prediction, and my in-season stats for the year.

I think the Rockies win tomorrow.

AL Divisional Round
RED SOX defeat
ANGELS (3-1)
INDIANS defeat YANKEES (3-0)

AL
Championship
RED SOX defeat INDIANS (4-1)

NL Divisional
Round
ROCKIES defeat PHILLIES (3-1)
CUBS defeat
DIAMONDBACKS (3-1)

NL Championship
CUBS defeat ROCKIES (4-2)

World Series
RED SOX defeat CUBS
(4-2)

Personally I went to 33 baseball games this year.

My record at Shea Stadium was 15-12.

My record at Mets games was 17-12.

My record for the hometeam was 18-15.

My record for the Nationals was 3-2. (This included three stadiums, RFK, Shea, and Dolphin Stadium)

This year I attended games in 4 stadiums(Shea, RFK, Yankee, and Dolphin)

I've now been to 13 Stadiums(Shea, Yankee, Fenway, Wrigley, Citizens Bank, Dolphin, RFK, Petco, ½ old Busch, ½ new Busch, Dodger, Angel, San Fran, McAfee)

Next year the goal is to check out Camden Yards, Nationals park, and Tropicana field.

The Optimistic Mets Blog player of the year is: David Wright.

Is there any doubt? David Wright is looking so good. He was the most solid, consistant player on this team. He struggled in April when the team didn't, and since then there have been very few games he hasn't gotten a hit in. He's now in the top two or three in career Mets avg, slugging, obp and ops. He's got a .311 career Mets batting average. He expanded his game, learned from his peers, and took on more of a leadership role. He's a great fielder who needs to figure out his throws a bit, but I'm so glad he's on our team.

Welcome to the 30-30 Club

David Wright reached the 30 home run and 30 stolen base plateau Sunday with his home run in the 7^th inning. He became the third Met to do it, and the first since his hitting coach, Howard Johnson, did it in 1991. This is especially impressive considering he basically did it without the month of April where he didn't hit a home run and only stole three bases. I thought Wright had a good chance to do this this year, and it turns out I was correct. I also thought the Mets could win the World Series, so we'll see how that goes. I also think Jose Reyes has a shot to be a 30-30 guy in the future, but only time will tell.

Wright plays a smart game and is a great player; I fully expect this to the first of many 30-30 years he racks up. I don't think Howard Johnson's knowledge should be overlooked here either, I like Hojo as a batting coach. In a season that in June looked like the Mets would struggle to have even one player get to 100 RBIs, Wright has managed to put up some impressive numbers as an MVP candidate.

Also performing well after a bad start is Pedro. Pedro didn't actually have a bad start, he didn't have a start at all. He's three starts in and all three have been superb. It looks like he'll for sure get a start in the playoffs, the only downside is with his still healing rotator cuff, it will be tough for him to go deep into games. I'm interested to see how the bullpen shakes up during the playoffs. Presumably Maine and Perez will both be there in the division series, so hopefully they can get the job done and guys like M*ta and Sele don't need to make the roster, leaving room for guys like Joe Smith or even Willie Collazo if he can get the job done.

I know Collazo is too much of a rookie for Willie to go to him in the playoffs, but hopefully he finds a suitable substitute that he can use where we don't have to worry when the starters don't go 9.

Luckily, I think the Mets committed all the rest of their errors for the season and postseason this weekend, so it should be smooth sailing here on out.

Notes from Early September

Pedro: He’s looking better and better. Hopefully the end of the season doesn’t come before he peaks.

Book review: I just finished a new Mets book, my write-up to come.

David Wright: You all know the story here, and it's really no surprise. He’s an uncrowned leader and most valuable player of at least the Mets.

Bullpen: It’s looking better. Remember that in the playoffs it'll also have one or two of our five strong starters.

A-Rod: Suddenly talk has risen about him surpassing Roger Maris. I don't think he will; he’s actually four or five behind the pace. I’m torn about whether I think he’ll tie the Babe at 60 or fall one short. The Curse of the Bambino will permit nothing else.

Tonight’s game is an example of how the Mets just aren’t going to win every single game, but Reyes has three doubles so far, which is nice to see. Reyes does get into a funk every once in a while, and I think the grind of the season caused Reyes to take longer to break out of it this time.

I really like Wright batting third. I didn’t think I would at first, but somehow this lineup just seems right. Reyes has been getting some criticism about his production this year, but I think it’s mostly unfounded. He doesn’t have as many RBIs or home runs this year, but that’s not his game, and lately the complaints have been that he’s popping up the ball too much. I think he has improved; his runs are a little behind this year, but I actually think they reflect better on him this year. He’s gotten more of those runs manufactured this year, through his many stolen bases, whereas last year Lo Duca and Beltran and Delgado were driving him in. This year the offense behind him was a little slow, which kept him from scoring more often than not.

I will be at Shea tomorrow night, courtesy of the free tickets from the Mets for attending the Mets at the Movies promotion. I’d invite you to come say hello, but the tickets are for section 41, row Q. I think I can find two seats a teensy bit closer than that at least. I’ll also be in my usual seats (UR section 15, Row G) for Saturday too.

7 game series

I was right. The Mets gained ground in the division race over the road trip. If I had any nagging doubts about this team, they're gone now. The playoffs are decided on a best of seven series, and the Mets just played one against two teams that will likely be participants and opponents. The Mets won, winning game seven where they failed last year.

Now they come home to play the Nationals and Pirates. Hopefully they can continue this stretch of play and pick up more games in the division. They're currently on pace to win 91 games, but with a good stretch run they can easily win more than that. The trade deadline arrives soon, and with it hopefully another little piece to this team.

I like the way David Wright is swinging the bat. He looks like he's in a good place right now, a place where you can get the big hits and carry this team a little bit if he needs to. If the opposition starts pitching around him, hopefully Carlos Delgado can make them pay. Delgado is working on a eight game hitting streak, and has hit in 12 of his last 13 games. This is the kind of consistency that was missing from him all year, and while he only has two home runs in that stretch It gives more more confidence then when he hits a bunch of home runs over a weekend, but then stops hitting again. I've predicted that Delgado would atone for his slow start with a hot finish; I expect by the start of October for him to be right in his groove.

Could the worry warts please shut up about Beltran? I know his average is a little low, but he's playing well. I have been very busy lately, and haven't had a chance to really sit down and just watch a baseball game, but whenever I do it seems like Beltran is coming through with a big hit. Don't compare him to the small sample size with Houston in the playoffs, don't equate a dollar value to production ratio based on his contract. Take him for what he is; a great player, but not the only great player, on this team.

I've been saying it for a little while now, I think we may have gotten all we're going to get out of Jorge Sosa. With Pedro vanishing into the Carribean, and Pelfrey being a strain on our offense I'm not sure what the solution is here. Maybe Sosa turns it around, but even if he doesn't, I don't want any sort of panic moves out of Minaya that bring a mediocre starter in here at the expense of any worthwhile prospects. Maybe he can pull off something like last year where he pulled in Perez and Maine from seemingly nowhere.

A day off, and then I'll be on the field level at Shea for Tuesday night's game. I'll get to see John Maine pitch again, who after a couple of iffy performances is going to settle down again. I expect to see the offense play well again, and I fully expect it to be a fun day.

Halfway Mark - Projections

Midseason Projections

Some interesting notes. The Mets had a bad June, and without a swoon like that in the second half, I forsee these numbers being a little higher. If they have a better second half than first, Carlos Beltran and David Wright both have a chance to be 30 Home Run and 30 Stolen Base guys. Another key note is that Scott Schoeneweis should have significantly less IP than Feliciano, and he doesn't. Heilman's not been very good this year, but somehow he's the most used reliever. Maybe he just needs a little more rest to be the most effective. I left out Aaron Sele because he's horrible, but his numbers look like 51.1 IP with 74 hits. That's really all you need to know about him. I want to see Feliciano, and even Smith get more pitching, rest Heilman a little more and Schoeneweis a lot more.

Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	Hits	R	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB
Jose Reyes	.316	.397	.453	208	114	34	8	68	80	90
Carlos Delgado	.229	.293	.418	140	78	38	26	90	4	50
Carlos Beltran	.271	.346	.475	164	90	32	28	100	26	72
David Wright	.290	.378	.505	176	92	42	28	88	36	82
Paul Lo Duca	.280	.329	.371	148	62	18	10	48	4	32
Shawn Green	.276	.331	.436	134	70	32	14	54	12	38
	Win	Loss	ERA	IP	BB	SO	HR	Hits	SV	SVO
Tom Glavine	14	12	4.39	217.1	78	104	28	228
John Maine	18	8	2.74	204	76	168	20	158
Oliver Perez	14	12	3.14	189.1	74	170	22	146
Orlando Hernandez	8	6	2.78	144.2	50	118	18	104
Jorge Sosa	14	6	3.92	128.2	46	76	12	110
Aaron Heilman	12	6	4.19	77.1	18	58	12	70		6
Joe Smith	4	0	2.73	66	32	66	2	56
Billy Wagner	2	0	1.73	62.2	18	98	8	48	32	34
Scott Schoeneweis	0	4	5.46	59.1	40	30	10	64		2
Pedro Feliciano	2	2	1.76	61.1	30	52	2	34	2	2

Fiery Ejections and Walk-off Doubles

At Shea for my usual Saturday season ticket plan, I finally got to see the Mets with two in a roll, win a series, and it was fun. The attendance was over 52,920, and it seems that many of the bloggers I read were there as well. The Faith and Fear duo, Metsradamus, and Metswalkoffs. I think they all had better seats than me too.

It was a great game, Orlando Hernandez was pitching well, and so was Joe Blanton. El Duque let up some base runners, but they always got out of it, and he battled through the 7th with nearly 120 pitches. One could think that scoring only one run is just the Mets slumping again, but that's not the case. All the credit there goes to Joe Blanton, who pitched through eight innings. The Mets did have Ricky Ledee thrown out at the plate on a nice 2-out, runners in scoring position, double by Carlos Beltran. I think Evan Roberts really needs to rip Joe Benigno about that on their show on WFAN Monday, because he's playing very well. He was running full-speed on Wright's walk-off double, even though his run was meaningless. He was excited, and he came charging around third, almost catching Castro. It was a botched play in right field, as if he had played it on a hop, Castro wouldn't have scored. It didn't matter though, as I had faith in Delgado getting a fly-out there to score him. After struggling against Joe Blanton, as soon as he was lifted for a guy with a 0.00 ERA in 12.1 innings, they jumped all over him. Castro leads off with a double, they walk Belran to the boos, and David Wright hit's another double the opposite way to right, game over.

The Mets win a series again, every other team in the East loses, and just like that the Mets are again three full games up on the competition. Four and five games in the loss column over Philadelphia and Atlanta. The Mets now have added another team in the A's that they don't have a losing record against, having tied the Cubs all-time earlier this season, also on a walk-off ninth inning hit. A pitcher's duel, a temper tantrum with an ejection and throwing stuff on the field, and a game winning double by David Wright. What more could you ask for in a game?

I did notice a little less campaigning for Paul Lo Duca at the game today, and I wonder why. I think the Mets may have started that push a little early. Now if Paulie overtakes Martin in the voting Monday, Dodger fans will be motivated to vote hard. We should have waited until after that tally came out to push for him, and get him past the unsuspecting Dodger fans. So remember, Lo Duca still needs our votes next week, and you can vote 25 times per email address you type into that box.

Projections

With just over one third of the season done, and after playing a couple of games with stunted offense, lets take a look at the projected stats of some of the Mets.

The Spark of the Mets offense, Jose Reyes.
.316BA, .398OBP, 213Hits, 126 Runs, 24 Triples, 78 RBI, 90SB and maybe the most telling of all, 90 walks.

Those are some nice numbers. You especially like to see Jose Reyes taking those walks, and he's still steadily improving. This should at least put him in the discussion for MVP.

David Wright.
.272BA, 96Runs, 24HR, 84RBI, 39Doubles, 33SB, 955 pitches seen

These numbers are not quite up to his usual stats. He struggled for much of April, and hasn't put together a really good stretch yet. The numbers aren't horrible, and he's got more stolen bases then you'd expect. It's probably just a matter of time with him, maybe once Moises Alou gets back to batting behind him he'll find some more pitches to get and get into a groove.

Carlos Beltran
.297BA, 24HR, 105RBI, 21SB, 99Runs

Nothing to special here. His numbers are solid, but nowhere near what he was doing last year. He said he was going to steal more bases this year, and 21 is not bad. The Mets have a lot of speed, and as long as Beltran is taking smart bases here and there, it will help without him swiping 40.

Paul Lo Duca's numbers don't quite tell the story. He's been having a good year, getting hits when needed, and doing what needs to be done at the plate. He doesn't strike out much, and he's gotten 3 sacrifice flies and 2 sacrifice hits. Add in what he adds behind the plate with the pitchers, and how he's drastically improved his throwing to second base, and he has a huge impact.

We all know Carlos Delgado has been struggling this year, but he still will have 24HR and 99RBI if he stays on pace, and if he really starts hitting well again, look out. David Wrights numbers might suffer just because Delgado isn't leaving anyone on for him to drive in.

Walk Off Balk? Almost..

Where oh where did my little Brave go?

I have a message to Giant fans. “Get rid of Armando.” It's good for at least two wins for your team. The only way last night could've been better is if Joe Smith didn't throw that wild pitch and the Giants didn't score that run on no hits in the top of the inning. Then we could've won the game on a walk-off Balk. The Mets have been finding different ways to walk-off, and that certainly would've been a memorable one. Drag-bunts, walks and home runs are nice too though.

Two home runs for Delgado again. He's back, although as he said in his post game interview, he never went anywhere. Now if we could only get David Wright to put together a hot streak, his batting average is upsettingly low. Although to me he's been showing some good signs, looking a little better. I don't think it's a case of anyone figuring him out, or him not being as good as he looked in the past, it's just some struggles, he'll get there. I'm as confident in that as I was that Delgado would show up again.

One thing that bothers me is pinch-hitting for Gomez with Julio Franco. I guess I shouldn't complain because Franco did what he needed, which was place one up the middle that was grabbed in an awesome play by Vizquel, but I'd much rather have Gomez. I understand that a lot of it's about 'taking your lumps' and the rookies don't get to bat 4th, and get pinch hit for, but Franco? Bleh.

In the comments of Metsradamus's blog entry about this game, someone mentioned that Gotay and Reyes were doing some sort of hex thing at Russ Ortiz? I'd love to see a clip of this or something more descriptive. That kind of excites me, I love seeing stuff like that. I actually miss(figuratively since I'm not old enough to remember) the days when players used to stand in the dugout shouting stuff at the opposing pitcher. Do you know how many pitchers nowadays who could get rattled by that? It would be great. I expect the reason it's fallen out of style is how much baseball has seemed to develop into a fraternity. Baseball players generally don't hate the guys on the other team, they see themselves part of the same group of people, peers not opponents. Couple this with all the changing teams most players do, and these guys were once they're teammates and friends. Could you see Glavine shouting stuff at Smoltz? If he did, it'd be totally friendly, and a joke.

Mota returns today, and I hate that he was rewarded with a new contract. I hope the only reason he was good last year wasn't steroids. I'm not going to cheer him when he arrives, but I hope as penance he gives up a home run to Bonds, as long as it's inconsequential. After that I hope he's lights out, although I do like A. Burgos, who got sent down for him, and he seems better than Scott Schoeneweis. Only time will tell.

Time to get hot

In last nights game both Wright and Delgado had hits. RBI hits. Big hits. Delgado hit a home run into the water, and Wright has the 2-run double that gave the Mets the lead. Off Armando Benitez too. Gee, didn't see that coming? A lot has been made about Wright's lack of home runs, and while he should be hitting more, he's not a power hitter. He claims that himself, and if you look back, a lot of his big hits are just that, hits or doubles into the gaps or down the line or over Johnny Damon's head. He has his share of big home runs too, but he doesn't go up there swinging for the fences, knowing a 2-run double can be just as important. I don't think there is any reason to worry about David Wright, haircut or not.

They secured the game last night, getting runs when they needed it. However, we still feel like we're waiting for them to click, but when you look at the record, it's not like they're struggling. Sure it's not as strong a start as last year, when we'd only lost one series to this point and already had a huge division lead, but we didn't think it would be this year. Despite the 21-12 record, it's apparent the Mets have another level that they haven't yet reached. The 5-2 road trip was good, but it wasn't dominating. Remember that west coast trip the Mets went on last year? Where they basically scored in the first inning every day and just didn't lose? I'm sure they have a streak in them like that this year. And maybe it's coming. As we saw when games went from meaningless spring to grudge match against the Cardinals, the Mets can find strength in playing tougher teams. The Brewers and Cubs and Yankees are all coming up, all pretty good teams. 10 game homestand, where they haven't yet played well, only going 7 and 7 in their first 14 games at home. This looks like as good a time as any to go on a tear. 8-2 or 9-1 homestand asserting their dominance of two of the better teams in the National League and one of the best in the American?

The season's starting to really get going, and It's time for the Mets to make their move and gain some distance from the Braves.

Heating Up In The Desert

By now I'm sure everyone knows about how great the Mets play in Arizona. Maybe if they moved their spring training camp, like the Dodgers will do next year, they'd play better in the spring too.

Easley came through again Thursday night, to take back the lead in the top of the 9^th. Wins like that are so invigorating. David Wright kept the inning going with a 3-run home run of his own, and Billy Wagner probably didn't know whether to cheer or cry. I'm sure he wanted that save. He got his 6^th last night, giving up a walk but getting a nice double play. For the first time in May Wright didn't get a hit, and facing the reigning Cy Young award winner Brandon Webb might cool Wright off before he has a chance to really get going. I doubt it though, I expect David's starting to remember how to really smack the ball, and someone's gotta keep this streak against the Diamondbacks alive tomorrow, so why not him?

Randy Johnson looked mediocre yesterday, and you wonder when he'll finally realize he's no longer the dominant pitcher he once was and retire. Of course he's young and spry compared to Julio Franco, who had both a stolen base and a home run yesterday. It's obvious he can still play, but I worry that the long season will wear him down, as it appeared to do last year. Luckily the bench with Chavez, Newhan and Easley as well as Franco seems like it will fare much better this year. Add the possibility of players like Ben Johnson, Ruben Gotay and Lastings Milledge to the mix and they're looking good.

The Mets don't play any really bad teams in May, the Giants and Cubs being more dangerous than their record suggests and the Marlins having enough young talent that you never know how they're going to look. A lot of people think the Braves are going to stick around all year, and it'll be interesting to see as this month progresses if anyone pulls away a little. The Mets will visit Turner Field after playing the Yankees this month, and that might be the time to start making that move. We know June may just be one of the toughest scheduled months in baseball, which them meeting six of the seven playoff teams from last year. Putting together a streak here in May would go a long way to keeping Atlanta at bay, whether or not they fall of the pace. After losing four of six to the Braves, if it's still this close on May 22^nd, I expect the Mets to reassert who's the team to beat in the National League (East).

Injuries, but things may be picking up

May 03, 2007 12:32 PM

Two days into May, and David Wright has 5 hits with a home run. John Maine and Jose Reyes win April awards, first time both awards have been won by the Mets since 1985. Joe Smith is still pitching good, and Ruben Gotay pitched in with an RBI Wednesday filling in for Valentin.

Sure the injuries to Orlando Hernandez and Jose Valentin aren't going to be easy to overcome, but Pelfrey finally started pitching well after the first inning Tuesday, and John Maine and Oliver Perez have been terrific. With Wright starting to hit again, and Delgado hopefully on the horizon as he starts to be more selective and get more walks, the loss of Valentin for a bit isn't a big deal; especially since he was the 8th batter on this team. I saw some of Gotay in spring training, and his defense is good, and Easley should be fine there too. The two biggest issues right now are Aaron Heilman, who just isn't pitching well, and the errors. This team has been playing a little sloppy as of late, and it needs to stop. I don't know if Heilman will give over his struggles, or maybe scouting reports have caught up to him. Maybe Joe Smith nipping at his 8th inning job will motivate him.

I was at yesterday's Mets game, and I think the theme of the game was probably “Past a diving Uggla”. All in all it was a good game, despite the two errors from Wright. They could've capitalized with some more key hits, but they got the win, had a three run lead through the last couple of innings, and Wagner got his 5th save without much problems.

Back In First

Apr 14, 2007 12:19 AM

Sure they're technically tied for first, but it's first nonetheless. I have a feeling this might be the closest any team gets for the rest of the season. The Mets are playing all division games for the next week, and I expect them to heat up with the weather. Expect to see some home runs when the Mets visit Philadelphia on Monday. I would not be surprised if the Mets hit seven in the two days, including two by David Wright.

Enough predictions, I'll be out at Shea for my third game tomorrow, seeing John Maine pitch again. He had a little bit of control problems on Monday, and with the slightly warmer weather tomorrow, 51degrees, I expect him to have a little better grip. I'm thinking 7-2 Mets. Oops, i thought I was done with predictions.

David Wright swiped his third base of the season last night. He stole 20 last year, and right now is on pace for 48. I doubt he'll reach that, but with Beltran looking to steal more this year too, you've got spots one, three and five in the batting order that look to be pesky and distract the pitchers. I'm sure this was one of the considerations Willie was thinking of when he thought about batting Wright second.

I'd love to see both Reyes and Wright one day be 30-30 players. How awesome would that be?

That Home Run Swing

Apr 09, 2007 12:46 AM

David Wright’s power numbers were down the second half of last season and he’s off to a little bit of a rough start this year. However, one thing I’m tired of hearing about is the Home Run Derby and how it messed up his swing. This is not an exclusive argument to Wright and has been applied to many players. Obviously the biggest detractor from the argument is to look at how the Derby champion, Ryan Howard, did afterwards. His swing certainly didn’t look messed up.

I find it really hard to believe that a professional hitter, which is what all of the participants of the Derby are, can be messed up by a couple of hours of extracurricular fun. Why do those 50 or so swings have a bigger effect then the dozens more a player does between the derby and his next regular season game. At the very least he’s got the All-Star Game and any warm-up associated with that, plus batting practice of the next game after the break. Besides the hours of batting practice Wright and other such players had for the last 80 games or so, there is also a hitting coach and 24 other players (Okay, more like 12 other hitters) on the team that can help out if his swing looks a little off.

So does the Home Run Derby actually affect a player’s power numbers for the second half of the season or is it just another stat anomaly that people read too much into? My bet’s on the latter.

Excited

Feb 15, 2007 11:47 AM

Maybe it's because it's the first year the Mets have made the playoffs in a while, or maybe it's because of how devastating it was leaving Shea after game 7, but i'm very impatient about the start of the 2007 season.

Even though the roster is still unknown, there are a lot of young pitchers out there ready to make the team and shine. And a lot of them will get the chance to. Orlando Hernandez will probably miss a couple of starts here and there, and there are always injuries and switches during the season. On top of this, Pedro rarely pitches a whole season, but this year it will be the first part of the season he misses, so that when the time comes to pitch in the playoffs, not only will he hopefully be energized from missing it last year, it'll feel like July for him as he'll only have been pitching a couple of months.

We've got enough relievers out there to find something that works and Wagner...well, he's not Rivera, but what else is there?

Delgado is a very smart player, and after his struggles last year, I think he'll be having a monstrous year, Reyes is only going to get better, i'm predicting 70+ steals this year. David Wright is only improving too, and as of yet he's the only position player in Port St. Lucie right now. He's going to hit 30 home runs and 130 rbi's this year. I've been saying this all off-season, and he's been doing great in the games he's been playing, I think Anderson Hernandez is going to be a starter on this team.

I miss Cliff Floyd, and I think he's going to have a huge year this year, but I think are outfield can get it done. I'm interested to see what happens with Milledge.

I'm strongly considering trying to goto Spring Training this year, but if not, I have every intention of winning the lottery and scoring tickets for opening day.