Ceetar's Ready To Watch the Mets Again

When the Mets start there game tonight after the break, Rickey Henderson will be the new hitting coach. I like Rickey, despite all his baggage. I thought Rick Down was a good coach, but I'm not going to be upset over the switch of someone I almost never see save for an occasionally spot with the SNY guys.

I think this can only be good. Rick Down certainly wasn't the reason the Mets hit last year, they hit because they are good players. There's always more Reyes can learn about base stealing from Rickey, and I'm sure so can Beltran and Wright. It's just a shame Gomez is injured and will have to wait for those lessons. Rickey is also a superb hitter, and at the very least I'm sure he can lend some insight to some of the struggling bats.

I think the Mets are going to start hitting again anyway, but this move will basically give Rickey the credit. In general the Mets have had a rather lackluster first half. It had it's moments, but it certainly wasn't great. Now is the time to push towards the playoffs, get some distance in the division, rediscover that offensive stroke and fine tune the team. Pedro looks like he'll be back, Alou supposedly will be back. Endy will be back. Maybe the Mets make some changes here and there, bench and bullpen and get better. They're only looking at a pace to win about 91 games, but I think they'll have a good enough second half to win at least 95.

Lastings Milledge will by all accounts be back with the Mets, hopefully over Ledee, tonight. It's been almost a year since he's had any real major league experience, and I expect that this time he'll have more success. I kind of like the guy, he's got some personality and excitement.

The Home Run Derby and All-Star Game are fun in their own ways, but I'm looking forward to the Mets again tonight. I'll be at Shea for my 18^th and 19^th baseball games of the season tomorrow and Saturday for Endy Chavez bobble head night and Ralph Kiner night.

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?

Beltran's First Inning Runs

Feb 21, 2007 02:13 PM

Beltran seems confident this year, and thirsty to improve. It's good to see a player that had a good year last year still striving for more. He wants to win an MVP, and steal more bases. This will lead to more walks for Delgado, and will put David Wright in the situation to really hurt teams early. The Mets excelled at first inning runs last year, and with Reyes poised to steal at least as many, and probably more, and Beltran looking to eclipse his totals from the last two years in this year alone, the Mets look like they'll be able to continue the trend of scoring first.

When Reyes and Beltran are on, opposing pitchers are looking at the possibility of having to retire both Delgado and Wright or risk at least two runs. Another bonus, especially on the road, is the effect on the Mets pitchers. Having a lead early is obviously a good thing, and with a lot of the Mets starters being young and inexperienced, this could help them settle in and help win games.