Glad to be back

After our unexcused absence of the last few week's, we at this blog are glad to announce that there is a new poll up. Enjoy.

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Today, Sunday May 17th, 2009, the New York Mets are in first place.

If you're just tuning into the season (which you had better not be - but if you are), after hearing that statement, you probably figure that Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, John Maine and Livan Hernandez have all pitched rather well. You probably think that the Mets' bullpen has been everything it wasn't in 2008. You probably think that Reyes and Murphy have gotten on base consistently and Wright, Delgado, Beltran and Church have been driving them in. You probably think that they have played well defensively.

Frankly, you're probably wrong.

Oh, not on every count, certainly not. Johan Santana has pitched even better than expected. Beltran and Wright have hit like All-Stars. But on the whole, the Mets journey to first place has not gone as planned.

Oliver Perez pitched his way onto the disabled list and Carlos Delgado is injured, as well. Jose Reyes has missed the last three games with a tight calf.

The secret for the Mets success has a lot to do with the success of the role players. Fernando Tatis, Gary Sheffield, Alex Cora and Ramon Castro have all been effective. Johnathan Niese and Nelson Figueroa have each contributed a quality start. And the regulars, even when less than expected (see Ryan Church) have been good enough.

And when you've got your number 3 starter and your cleanup hitter on the disabled list and you're still in first place, that's about all you can hope for.