24 Games Down, What Do We Know?

Last night was my first game of the season at Citi Field and represented 30 years of going to games with my Dad, that's a pretty solid streak if I say so myself.  A more modest one came to an end last night as the Mets 3 game winning streak was snapped in a come from behind extra inning loss to the Marlins.  Normally a game like this would distress me more but a win today is another series win for the Mets and considering the doom and gloom predictions by many of the New York media pundits this has been a pretty solid campaign so far.

The negatives are wide ranging of course.  Granderson has yet to do anything but play hard, he hit into some bad luck again last night, but I remain confident he will turn it around and be an offensive force (this is not Jason Bay, I swear!).  The bullpen scares the ever loving excrement out of me.  With a dearth of young yet unproven arms and three veterans who are trying to resurrect their respective careers this rendition of the Mets pen is rife for failure.  They have pitched well of late and haven't repeated the disaster of opening weekend since (although last nights go ahead homer allowed by Farnsworth may qualify).  The offense still struggles to produce.  All too often men are left in scoring position with less than two outs.  Those runs last night would have changed the game and the team could have absorbed the 5 run sixth inning and still won.  This team is in desperate need of another bat, Wright has been ok, Murph has hit but is by no means a clean-up hitter and as mentioned earlier Granderson has yet to get off the mat.  D'Arnaud is showing signs and his hustle and heads up play last night will endear him to the fans.  There is a lot of effort but they lack the pay off for that effort as of yet.

The positives include the starting pitchers which have been stellar for the better part of three weeks.  A dud every now and again is par for the course so I tend not to worry, if Gee goes 7 solid for a win today all is well in the world.  The defense has been adequate thus far.  While they aren't the 1999-2000 Mets, they have made the routine play more often than not and have yet to hurt themselves defensively.  Getting Lagares back into the fold will improve that greatly as he may be the best center fielder in baseball (yeah, I said that!).

It was great to be in the ball park last night and I feel like the team is one or two positive moves away from taking off.  One bat, a more reliable bullpen piece and who knows.  Forget ownership and the bullshit they bring to the table.  Leave the constant Matt Harvey drama on the back burner and get behind the team.  Too often we get caught in the mire of what goes on around the team and the focus is off the field and in recent years that was justified, however, this year may be and should be different.  Get on the band wagon bitches!!

Mets pitching has been good as of late.

#Mets starting pitching has a 1.91 ERA over the last 9 games. That's lights out good. Now, imagine if they had an offense to go with that?
— Michael Baron (@michaelgbaron) April 24, 2014

This is great. And the bullpen has been good as well. But, even for the best rotations and pens in the league this is not sustainable. The offense needs to be better. Lucas Duda is getting it together after an 0 for 6 start and that needs to continue and bottom line he needs to get his cuts in against lefties. David Wright had a twelve game hitting streak and then decided to disappear for most of the Cardinals series which concludes today. At this point, Granderson isnt' really worth talking about. He is getting today off which is just what the doctor ordered and it appears Bobby Abreu will get the start in RF. Yikes.

I watched most of the game last night and while I didn't count they stranded quite a few runners. Runners in scoring position with less than two outs isn't going to cut it. Terry seems to be tinkering with the lineup but what he has put out there this Cardinal series isn't getting it done. Daniel Murphy is NOT a clean up hitter I am sorry. Two hole suits him best with Wright batting third and move Duda up.  As a fan it is nice to see the pitching do well but I also want some runs. Give someone a beat down and give this fan base something to get excited about.

Follow me @jwil25

Ike Trade Is The Best Thing For Everyone

The #Mets have agreed on a trade to send Ike Davis to the Pirates, according to @JonHeymanCBS. Plenty more coming on http://t.co/wpSrYDFl14.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 18, 2014

Well, it was going to happen at some point, and now it has.

With a PTBNL that is expected to be more significant than the first piece coming to the Mets, relief pitching prospect Zack Thornton, we really can't weigh the success of this deal even initially. It seemed like there were stronger offers this spring than a couple of minor prospects, but again, we don't know yet.

Ike was a popular guy in the clubhouse, but the situation had become untenable. Three players trying to shuffle around at first base is a waste of at least a spot on the roster, with Satin unlikely to see any time elsewhere on the field. Ike and Duda, neither of whom seemed to hold any personal animosity toward one another, simply could not co-exist on this team. So, much as I would have liked to see Ike come back in a big way with the Mets, it had become impossible. One of them had to go, and as Ike said yesterday, it looked like it was going to be him for about 8 months. I hope he does do well, and think a smaller market may benefit him mentally.

N̶e̶w̶e̶n̶h̶i̶s̶e̶ N̶i̶e̶u̶e̶n̶w̶h̶i̶s̶e̶ Kirk Returns, OF Still In Flux

Michael Baron

Kirk Nieuwenhuis was the beneficiary of the Juan Lagares injury, coming back to the big club last night in a big way. He smacked a homer among his three hits and knocked in three runs to boot. It was a good night for a guy who started in the minors this year after the Mets spent the offseason bringing in Curtis Granderson and Chris Young. If he keeps this up, however, it will add to the outfield conundrum of only so many positions for so many outfielders.



When Lagares returns, he needs to go back to playing every day. A good fourth outfielder is a great tool to have, but there is no reason for there to be a regular four man rotation through the outfield. Eric Young, Jr., still strikes me as the guy who should be the odd man out in all of this, but the team seems bent on having him atop the lineup. Nieuwenuis will have to do quite a bit of the same as last night to prove he belongs up here after his previous stints with the Mets have had a mixed bag of success. Granderson, despite his early struggles, and Chris Young are going to see a lot of time this season if only because of the financial investments in them. Lagares is significantly better than EY, but the franchise's fixation on a fast leadoff hitter seems to be blinding them to that.

Of course all of this could be moot if all of these guys are never healthy at the same time. Maybe this overload of playable outfielders isn't an overload at all, with the team already having to dip into the minors.

Where Were We?

We apologize for the delay. Back to your regularly scheduled terrible blogging.

10 Games In, 86 Wins To Go...

After 10 games what have we learned about this year's edition of the New York Mets?  On the positive side they have some fight in them as evidenced by a few comeback wins in Atlanta, Juan Lagares may prove to be the real thing after all and needs to play every day.  EY Jr. is off to a good start and that is cause for optimism.  The team is 4-6 and neither Wright or Granderson have done anything significant.

On the negative side, this team is still very sloppy defensively, the bullpen may be a Jekyll and Hyde act and who the hell is the first baseman?  This team has hamstrung its roster by carrying three, yes three, first basemen when they could have a more traditional utility player and maybe another bullpen arm if and only if they pick an every day guy at first.

It's been an uneven start and the concerns about this teams ability to play at home have caused concern.  The Mets are one of ten teams last year that had a winning road record but the only one to finish under .500 and one of three that didn't make the playoffs.  The disparity between home and away records is stark at best and needs to be corrected if this group ever has a chance at competing.

While I have enjoyed the last few series, watching as many of the players seem to have gotten their feet under them I still wonder if a trade including one of the first basemen for another bat or solid bullpen arm would help solidify some weaknesses as well as eliminate the uncertainty swirling around the starting nine.

I'm happy to see they haven't laid down and died in the first two weeks but I also want to see some aggressive and proactive moves by the front office in an attempt to improve in-season.  We may be "stacked" with pitching but if the offense cannot consistently produce runs we will see more wasted starts which has been an all too prevalent problem over the last five years.

Compete, by all means, win more than 74 games, please.  All these things aside, please, please, please improve this f@#*ing offense!!  Trade someone, somewhere and get someone back that can add depth to this lineup and protect Wright and Granderson.

It's only been 10 games yet it has felt like a full season already.