What a Difference a Week Makes!

Last Monday was Memorial Day, and the Mets had found yet another way to blow a game.  Jose Valverde was not even allowed to return to the clubhouse- he would leave through the fan gates, the Mets forwarding his luggage, and the hitting coach, Dave Hudgens, getting fired.  Most fans felt that Valverde had overstayed his welcome long ago (which is tough to do in May).  As for Hudgens, my problem with him was his comments about booing.

At the time, I was bothered by the New York Times essentially writing the team off.  They were only 6 games under .500, and one good stretch could easily cure that.  Well, one week later, having gone 6 of 7, suddenly they are 1 game under, and 4 out of 1st place.  They are scoring runs.  I thought they scored a few too many (11) last night.  They may need those runs later in the week.

They have good starting pitching Colon, Wheeler, Niese, de Grom.  Matsuzaka has pitched well in every role.  The bullpen seems to be filled with Garanimals- just mix and match.  I seem to recall the Mets originally projected Mejia as a future closer, and he's off to a good start in that role.

Keep your eyes crossed!  Um, er, better make that your fingers.  You're going to want to watch this summer!

Boo Hudgens!

So, on Monday, after another disastrous loss.  The Mets released losing pitcher Jose Valverde and Hitting coach Dave Hudgens.  Much of the talk about Valverde centered on why it took so long to pull the plug.  I was not going to talk about Hudgens.  In my last post, I had mentioned that the Mets hitting was actually getting better.

Hudgens got to me when he mentioned the "booing" of the fans.  My snark reaction was that he was fired because Ike Davis is now batting .295 with Pittsburgh, and it looked like a rebuke of Hudgens.  I didn't really believe that.  Here is the thing about that booing.  If these players aren't hitting because they are getting booed, then why weren't they hitting when they weren't getting booed?

Granderson and Chris Young were good signings this off-season.  Most fans were excited about this team.  I don't know how many bought into Sandy Alderson's goal of 90 wins, but they should be competitive.  So we did not boo Grandy or C.Y. to start the year.  It was only after they had gone several weeks hitting around the .200 mark that the Boo Birds appeared.  Birds fly south for the winter and never return before May.

It's not as bad as it looks

Okay, so today's loss makes our performance in the opener yesterday look competent.  Yes, we're losing games at home to losing teams.  However, things could be worse.  A few weeks ago, a story in the New York Times remarked that we were on pace to win 91 games, and just the other day, that same paper said we were headed for another losing season.

There really is good news.  Our starting pitching has been very good.  We've been hitting more of late.  While it is true that we've left a ton of players on base lately, you can't do that unless you are getting on base in the first place.  Five double plays in a 9 inning game may have tied a record, but that proves it's an aberration.  You need to have hitting before you get clutch hitting.

It may look ugly right now, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a swan emerge.

At the Break

As we hit the All-Star Break, let's look at where we are.  The Mets are in 4th place in the East, 9 games under .500.  However, there are a lot of positives to look at.  There win percentage is currently .451, and earlier this year it was under .400.  Their opening day starter, on the DL for about a month, is going to return.  Matt Harvey has established himself as a legitimate Ace.  Jeremy Hefner, Dillon Gee, and Zach Wheeler round out a solid young 5 man rotation.

Offensively speaking, they have been scoring runs, averaging more than 3 runs per game for the last month.  We were the first road team to win a series in Atlanta, we swept the Giants.  Losing 2 of 3 on the road in Pittsburgh is nothing to be ashamed of.

When we return from break, continue making positive steps.  Third place should be the immediate goal followed by .500.  Unless somebody really wants Marlon Byrd, I don't anticipate any moves before the trade deadline.

The State of the Mets

As the Mets prepare to play the Yankees in the 2013 edition of the Subway Series, I thought I would examine where they are this season.  I have said that the slogan for the 2012 season was, "Mets 2012: Check back in 3 years!"  As of this date last season, we were 6 games over .500.  This year we are 11 games underwater.  So, are we headed in the wrong direction?

I don't believe so.  The Mets were over performing early in the season.  They had few players that could charitably be considered starters at their positions.  It's now official, Daniel Murphy can hit, and at 2nd base he is not a defensive liability.  Ruben Tejada showed last year that he is ready for prime time.  David Wright continues to be David Wright.

I asked the question at the beginning of the season whether anyone in the Mets lineup instills fear in anyone other than manager Terry Collins.  Lucas Duda and Ike Davis have the potential, but in order to hit for power you must first hit.  I do see signs of life in both of their bats lately.

The starting pitching makes me wonder about the chicken and the egg.  Are they pitching tightly because the offense is in soccer territory, or is the offense anemic because they are pressing to score more?  I'm inclined to blame the offense.  A quality start is defined as going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs or fewer.  The Mets rarely score 3 runs in 9 innings, which means the game is lost before a pitch is thrown.  When Matt Harvey is on the mound, they score more runs, indicating that they believe that they're more likely to win.

The Mets are a team of puppies.  The offensive leader, David Wright, has really only just now hit his prime.  John Niese is the de facto leader of the pitching staff until Matt Harvey puts more innings under his belt, and that's not a bad thing.  Gee and Hefner are nice pitchers and Wheeler is on the way.

I said this would happen

So the Mets win game 1 11-2 and game 2 8-4.  Truth be told, a 4 run win is not an outrageous wasted of runs.  But as I said after opening day, they were going to need some of those 11 runs.  Having lost game 3 2-1.

Some observations:

You have to feel good that the starting pitching has been good.
Home runs have been hit at home.
It's too soon to get on Ike Davis' case.
3 games in and we're still above .500

Save some runs for tomorrow

Watching opening day,  I was very pleased to see Jon Niese and the boys cruise into first place with an 11-2 victory.  But really, 11 runs???  Did they really need to score 11?  Why couldn't they stop at say 7 and save those other 4 runs for times when the offense is struggling or the pitching has a hiccough?  I know it doesn't actually work that way, but I can hope.

I was wondering why Ruben Tejada was batting in the 8 hole, but apparently he's there to set the table for Niese, who helped his own cause as they say going 2 for 2.  The magic number to clinch is now 161.  Let's go Mets!