The Main(no 'e') Problem

Regrettably ignored by me thus far, but still ridiculously true, the Mets defense is bad. Today, the Mets had the embarrassing total of 3 errors: 1 each for Maine, Castillo, and Wright. That is just an atrocius number.

The Mets can't hope to play for too long (i.e. October) if they don't get over this sloppy spell. It's just not going to happen. They have good fielders in center, right (now that Church is back) and behind the plate. Left is not that good, unless it's the great Endy Chavez. The entire infield, however, is remarkably inconsistent. It's not that Reyes or Wright is terrible - they both make a lot of good plays. But, they make a ridiculous amount of misplays that just don't add up to a winning situation.

John Maine had a rare bad outing today, giving up 5 runs (3 earned) in just 4 innings. The offense had another day off, and it led to another blowout.

The Mets, at 40-42 and playing remarkably inconsistent baseball, are still just 3.5 games behind the division-leading Phillies. It's still June, and this thing is far from over.

It's Ol the Same Story

The Mets won two; the Mets lost two - what else is new? Who would have thought that Oliver Perez would pitch better - clearly better - than Johan Santana? Who could have anticipated Sidney Ponson's great start or Pedro Martinez's bad one?

Oliver Perez, Carlos Delgado and David Wright are looking good - good luck to them, but I think you can get even money that the Mets will be 81-81 come the season's end.

Singing in the Maine

John Maine pitched well (2 runs in 6 innings), and the Mets found themselves in relatively uncharted territory - the victor's seat.

It'd be hard to say that the offense began clicking tonight, after all the mighty Miguel Batista and four relievers held the Mets to just five hits, but #5 proved worth his salary tonight with a coupla home runs and 3 RBI (and a walk). Everyone else went 3-for-26, but at this point, you have to take it. It may be all you can get.

The real newsworthy news is happening over the weekend in a four-game Subway Series. If the Mets win 2, that's good. 3 or 4 would be amazin'. While the Yankees boast a superior record to their New York rivals, the Mets are actually not in such a bad position.

Pitching: The Mets starting pitching is clearly superior. Johan is good. Pedro is a maybe. Oliver Perez is going to pitch very well because he pitched so badly last start. Mike Pelfrey's been pretty consistent. The Yankees counter with Rasner, Geis, Pettitte and Joba. If the Yankees get more than two quality starts, you should be surprised. That is not the case with the Mets.

The bullpens are relatively equal.

Hitting: The Yankees seem to have better hitters than the Mets. However, most of the Mets have been underperforming this year, hitting-wise. I wouldn't be surprised if they hit well over the weekend.

Still, Times Aren't That Bad

Considering all of the Mets problems, they are in a pretty good position. At 37-39, they're just two game under .500, and a manageable 4 games behind the Phillies. That's closer to first than the Yankees or Detroit. Tonight's game features John Maine against Seattle hurler Miguel Batista.

If the Mets offense is looking to cash in, tonight is the time. Batista is 3-9, with an unsightly 6.26 ERA. John Maine, on the other hand, is a healthy 7-5, with an above-average 3.78 ERA (20th in the league).

"Next GAME is now."

Here We Go Again

Inconsistent. That, in a word, sums up the 2008 New York Mets (as of June 25). Omar Minaya and Fred Wilpon (and to a lesser extent, Jerry Manuel) are really going to begin to look stupid if this team doesn't start playing well. Delgado is not what he used to be - I can live with that. Beltran and Wright are around .270 - I can live with that. Santana is less than great. Heilman is less than good. Perez is less than average. You hire a left-fielder who's more consistent than anyone in the game - consistently on the Disabled List. I can live with any of this. But the team can't live with all of it. That's ignoring the fielding on the left side of the infield.

For the Mets to turn it around, things have to change. The hitting has to hit, Howard Johnson. David Wright. Carlos Delgado. Carlos Beltran.

Otherwise you're going to keep losing games 2,3,4 to 1 (or 0).

Jo, What's Up

Johan Santana gave up a grand-slam in the second inning. To the pitcher. On an American Leauge team.

Was he A) not paying attention/frustrated with Wright's error, or B) trying to challenge Hernandez and make sure he didn't walk in a run?

Off auto; onto Manuel

Willie's gone, Jerry's in. I have absolutely no idea why. There's no way that anything is Willie's fault. I guess Omar's just dumb!

Nixon' the Holes

Trot Nixon is here. I hope he's raring and ready to go crush the Yankees in the Subway Series in 2 weeks. Here's wishing him well.

David Wright with a weird play yesterday. Check it out.

Losing Streak

The Mets are currently mired in a funk- a slump.

Hats off to Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes for hitting the ball.

Happy Birthday, Jose!

Ty Cobb and Jose Reyes are the only dudes with 250 steals 50 triples by age 25.

Ty Cobb is rated 5th best baseball player by Bill James. That includes pitchers and Negro League players. Of course, a lot of people would say that James is crazy - Cobb's .367 career batting average would have to make him first or second best player. Of course, either way, Reyes is in good company (hitting-wise).

Hmmmm

Befoe yesterday's ridiculous 10-2 loss, the Mets had won 5 out of 6. Wright and Reyes were hitting, as was Tatis. Tomorrow, Pedro's pitching. We'll see what happens.

Change of Plan

Due to time constraints brought about by Finals and other pressing things, this blog has been changed and will now be receiving 1-3 posts a week, instead of the previous 5-7. Hopes are that in the relatively near future we will revert to our previous status.

On a Metropolitan note, don't ask? The Mets just got swept in a 4 game series by the rival Atlanta Braves. It's simple: Reyes and Castillo are below their potential (and Beltran), Church and Alou are hurt, Delgado is aging, and the pitching is scarily inconsistent, beyond Maine and Santana.

If Pedro comes back, the big boppers get hot, Pelfrey and Perez pitch better, or Reyes and Delgado start playing like 2006, the Mets should keep pace with the pack. If all those things happen, you can welcome October with a grin.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

After my brief hiatus, the Mets are looking, precariously good. Second thing first: The Metropolitans looked quite good in sweeping the crosstown-Yankees in an abbreviated series. Johan pitched alright. Perez pitched very well. Reyes hit; Wright hit - everything was good. Carlos Delgado hit a home run a long drive that the umpires, after a coffee-break and a conference, decided was foul even though it was fair. Bravo! Fortunately, the Mets won.

The Mets are a game back of Florida.

Bullpen Failure

In a disappointing defeat against the Nationals, the Mets managed just 6 hits while losing to the Nationals 6-3. Jason Vargas pitched a great game, giving up just 2 runs in 6.1 innings.

Ryan's Rockin'

Ryan's Rockin' - Ryan Church that is. The Mets new right-fielder continues to hit the tar out of the ball at a Ruthian clip. His 2 hits today raised his average to .324. His 4 RBIs lifted him to 30, which is good for (a tie of) sixth in the league.

John Maine's stellar outing today (1 earned run in 6 innings) lowered his ERA to 2.81, good for 11th in the league.

Moises Alou and Brian Schneider continue to hit. They recently joined Church as regulars in the lineup hitting above .300 (for Moises Alou, at .364, way above). Even John Maine, a notoriously bad hitter (see this) did some work at the plate today, getting a single off of John Lannan.

In other baseball news, Andruw Jones is hitting .170, Robinson Cano is hitting .183, and Jason Giambi, by going 2 for 2 today, raised his average to .194. I think these three ballplayers are making a combined 40 million dollars (approximately). Meanwhile, Johan Santana is hitting .222. I know it's impossible, but maybe he should ask fo,r a pay raise.

The Mets, at 20-17 are in 3rd place, half a game behind the Phillies and two games behind the Marlins.

Not Quite Stellar

10-4. That was the score of today's game. It's also a very good representation of it. Nelson Figuerroa did not pitch well. The most optimistic person will look at the stats, and note that Nelson gave up 4 Earned Runs in 5 innings. Never mind that of the two Mets errors, one was made by him. Never mind that he walked more men than he struck out. There are no two ways to look at it - Nelson was ineffective.

On the other hand, he wasn't terrible. Even with all his walks, hit-by-pitches and hits given up, he still limited the Nationals to 6 runs (4 earned). The man who lost the game is Jorge Sosa. Sosa once again proved himself inadequate of handling major-league pitching. He gave up 4 runs in just an inning rasing his ERA to an astronomic 7.06. Sanchez, Smith and Wagner each contributed a scoreless inning; Wagner retaines a pristine ERA of 0.00!

The hitting was on tonight: Reyes, Beltran and Alou had multi-hit games, as did super-sub Damion Easley. Wright and Easley homered. The only thing that the Mets lacked was clutch-hitting.

David Wright is currently 3rd in the league in RBI with 32.

The Mets are currently in third place at 19-17, 1/2 a game behind the Phillies and 3 games behind the Marlins.

Bounceback Performance

In an encouraging performance overall, Oliver Perez was Mr. Encouraging himself. He pitched quite well over six innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks over a respectable 6 innings. Even in this start, he showed both sides of himself: Through 5, he was the dominant pitcher who became a number 2 starter when Pedro went down; in the sixth he was the inconsistent pitcher that the Mets have met over the last few weeks. But there's no denying his performance - he bounced back from a bad outing and put in a solid effort, overall.

The hitters were having a blast today, pounding 14 hits against hapless starter Johnny Cueto and 4 relievers. Beltran and Church homered, for Church his 7th blasting him past David Wright for the team lead. Beltran also had a double, and Luis Castillo had a three-base hit to help the Mets to victory. It's good to note that while their batting averages are still quite low, Beltran, Castillo, and Reyes seem to be getting going. If they can hit consistently, who knows where this lineup can take the team?

Beltran and Wright are each in the top 10 in walks. Hence, while they've been struggling, they both have good On Base Percentages.

David Wright is currently tied for third in the leagues in RBIs, having amassed 31. If Reyes and Castillo start hitting like they have historically (and Wright does, too) there is no saying what kind of numbers he can end up with. 150 RBIs? 160? Time will tell.

The Mets are currently 19-16, tied for second place with the Phillies at three games behind the Marlins.

50/50

I guess you can describe today for the New York Mets as average - no more, no less. With a record of 1-1 today that would seem to fit. More on this soon.

You could easily look at today's two games as essentially similar for the starting pitching. Both pitchers pitched pretty well. You coud delegate the difference in scores between the two games to two things: 1. the Mets relief pitching; and 2. the Mets offense. And you might be right. But, in reality, there was much more than that going on. Johan Santana, the greatest pitcher this side of Tom Seaver, pitched okay (at the best). He gave up 3 runs and 10 hits in just 6 innings of work. Now, I'm not getting down on him, that's a great game if it's one of your worst (which it is), but still, not a great performance. Mike Pelfrey, on the other hand, has been down on his luck recently. His previous 3 starts had a composite ERA of over 8. Today, he pitched 6 innings - not more than you'd expect for a number 4 or 5 starter) and gave up just 2 runs, while registering 6 strikeouts. That's a pretty darn good step in the right direction.

Funnily enought, with the starting pitching going down in the first game and up in the nightcap, the hitting provided a veritable contrast. In the first game, 5 Mets had multiple base-hits (Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Schneider), including 3 who had been slumping. They amassed an impressive 12 runs on 12 hits. In the second game, the whole team got just 4 runs, mind you, this was with somewhat of a B lineup with Alou, Church, Schneider, and Castillo being replaced by Anderson, Chavez, Castro (Welcome Back) and Easley. Note: All 4 of the hits were by the four regulars: Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Delgado.

Beltran and Delgado got multiple extra-base hits.

The Mets are currently in third place at 18-16, a game behind the Phillies and two games behind the Florida Marlins.

Maine Alive

Maine Alive - John Maine is a terrible hitter. Before today's game, he had no hits in 11 at-bats this year. Well, you might think that that is just because it's early - he hasn't gotten into a groove yet. However, the facts remain that going into today's game his career average was a minuscule .074. His season high (last year) was .109. In his entire career, he has just two extra-base hits. Now, would you have guessed, going into the game, that he would bat in more runs than he would give up. Personally, I doubt it. The fact remains that he pitched extremely well, giving up a lone run in 8.1 innings, and doing all right with the bat, 1 for 4, with, get this, 2 RBIs.

Of course, it wasn't really necessary. Offensively, the Mets did quite alright without him. Ryan Church had 3 hits (including a home run) and Luis Castillo, Marlon Anderson and Raul Cassanova had two apiece. Everyone else in the starting lineup had 1 hit except Jose Reyes who walked twice and scored a run. All in all, quite satisfactory.

By the way, with a total of 13 runs scored in today's game, I think I made a slightly bad prediction on Monday. Wednesday afternoon should be a low-scoring game, with John Maine facing off against Brad Penny. I guess everyone has to get their share of mistakes.

The Mets are currently in third place, one game behind the division-leading Phillies and Marlins.

Defeat tastes terrible

Last night, the Mets played a pretty bad game against the Dodgers. Oliver Perez, while showing some improvment by only walking two batters, gave up 5 runs in 6 innings. I'm not going to say that hope is lost (like some others), but he definitely didn't contribute too much yesterday. I mean, three home runs, please!

The batters seemingly took a day off, with the whole team accumulating just 5 hits (2 for extra bases).

The two (relative) bright spots in this game were the defense and the bullpen: Both played adequately in an otherwise unproductive Mets night.

The Mets are currently 16-14. They trail the Marlins by half a game and the Phillies by 1.5.

On the road to LA

The Mets are currently having trouble hitting Dodger Chad Billingsley. Wright has two strikeouts, and the Mets have yet to score a run after four innings of play.

This game is the first of 3 for the Mets against the Dodgers on this last stop of their road-trip. Tomorrow night Nelson Figueroa will face Japanese import Hideki Hiroki Kuroda. Wednesday afternoon should be a low-scoring game, with John Maine facing off against Brad Penny.

According to this, with the Mets impressive win yesterday, they improved their record while wearing black uniforms to 4-1. Some people may argue with the black uniforms objectively, but 4-1 is not the kind of track record you can argue with.