8
2011
These Mets Are A Resilient Bunch With No Quit In Them
An article by 
Believe me when I say this, but I am not taking a drink of the Kool-Aid. I never expected the Mets to contend this season and don’t expect that to change.
I still think over the next six weeks the Mets will attempt to shed payroll in the names of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Francisco Rodriguez. I don’t know what will become of David Wright, but I know they won’t, and can’t, trade him now because he’s injured.
Despite the low expectations from this team coming out of spring training, and regardless of the maddening ball they play at times – they still don’t hit with runners in scoring position and I can’t believe Reyes didn’t get that ball the other night – they are fortunate to be 29-31, an amazing two games under .500.
If they had any kind of bullpen, the Mets would be over .500 and we’d be thinking about the wild card.
Even though that’s not the case, the Mets are playing some surprising ball considering all that’s gone awry. Truth be told, when you look at all their issues, they are lucky they aren’t ten games or more under.
Let’s look at it:
* They haven’t have Johan Santana all season and don’t figure to get him until July, if at all. That’s an immeasurable loss.
* Their de facto ace, Mike Pelfrey, has been inconsistent. Not Oliver Perez inconsistent, but he hasn’t taken the next step expected of him after last season. There were many who thought he could evolve into a 20-game winner this year.
* Chris Young is out for the season. He was a reach anyway, but pitched well in spots before he was injured.
* R.A. Dickey, last year’s surprise, has been off, although he’s pitched better lately despite being 3-6.
* Jon Niese had high expectations, but is 4-5 after a slow start.
* The Mets’ bullpen is ranked 25th in the majors with a 4.37 ERA, and has a 10.43 ERA over its last 14 games. The Mets have been outscored 42-18 in the seventh inning and 38-26 in the eighth. They have been outscored 103-65 from the seventh inning on.
* The Mets have lost eight games when leading after the sixth inning. The Mets have lost nine one-run games and four two-run games.
* Josh Thole has been hot lately, but overall his .234 average has been a disappointment. Defensively, he’s had his problems with passed balls and throwing out runners.
* Ike Davis has been on the disabled list since May 12, and there’s no word on his return.
* Wright is on the disabled list with a stress fracture of his lower back, but prior to that was hitting .226 with 18 RBI.
* Jason Bay was on the disabled list to start of the season, but has rebounded to hit .216 with two homers and 10 RBI. Rebounded, of course, was written with sarcasm in mind.
* Angel Pagan was on the disabled list for a month, and last year’s surprise is hitting .229 with home homer and 10 RBI.
This was supposed to be an ugly summer, and despite all that’s gone wrong it hasn’t turned out that way. The Mets have been remarkably competitive and it makes one wonder what things could be with a healthy roster, some players performing to their expectations and a better bullpen.
When you look at the total picture, which also includes the distractions from ownership and the potential of a roster purge, the Mets have played surprisingly well and fortunate to be where they are record-wise.
If we could be sure the team would stay intact the rest of the year, and even add a piece, it could make for an interesting summer.
Would be nice to find out, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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look bro, i respect your opinion, but there are other many wrong things about this article or things you forgot to mention..
the mets ARE in wild card talk, as they are only 4.5 gb
the mets as bad as they’ve been can only get better, not worst, you forgot this team got talent
bay sucks, wright sucks, and our bullpen sucks… but turner, izzy, beato and DILLON GEE have been good to great at times to help the team.. hell, even murphy has been doing good lately.
dickey has struggle, our “ace” has struggle, yet we only 4.5 games out of wild card, no team in the NL is complete, not even the phillies, so we do have a fighting chance, as long as we have reyes we’ll be able to weather the storm, once ike davis comes back our team will be better, and if we’re in contention come july and santana is coming back don’t you think management will be FORCE to make a move or 2 to help the team get better?
look, i get about u or anyone not drinking the kool aid, i dont even think collins is a good manager (good leader), but to say they don’t have a chance in june 8th when everyone in the NL pretty much suck is an aberation..
last but not least ypu said: ” I don’t know what will become of David Wright, but I know they won’t, and can’t, trade him now because he’s injure” while i agree he SHOULD get traded, we need to see how he’ll perform once he comes back first.. if he keeps striking out and being unclutch, then no choice but to trade him imo…
* The Mets have lost eight games when leading after the sixth inning.
That is the killer. get back even just 1/2 of those games, and they are 6 games over .500 and right there for the WC.
plus, as Alex notes, they actually have a realistic chance of getting better as players return (unlike the last few years, where they played OK then died as players dropped).
the pen was very good for a while, but not recently. if that can stabalize (and expect a few more arms to circulate through, going for the live arm/hot hand), the team will continue to compete.
No one knows what will happen in July 9trades), but if they can hold around .500 for another month (up to the ASB), and Ike/wright should be back (who knows about santana), even losing Beltran (a big loss) and they might make some noise down the stretch.
One thing this 2011 Mets Team has shown is resilancy. They don’t lay down. Their not sitting around waiting for someone to come back. Their not allowed to wallow in pity over the injury excuse. Collins has done a real good job so far. He wasn’t handed a great bench or bullpen but he hasn’t allowed that to stop him from demanding people stay on their game and win compete for a win every night. That was job #1.
Shedding expensive, under performing players and bringing in some competition even among lesser overall talent keeps the team from getting comfortable. Having a guy like Collins not tolerating mistakes and poor play and sometimes going unconventional when need be (Dickey and Capuano out of the pen in Atl when things were really teetering) keeps the focus on guys doing what they can to win right now.
That attitude will serve us well when the talent level is increased.
Developing the talent Omar brought in is key as is adding to it systematically and religously. Building a competitive team without spending draft picks, trading from the farm and then going all out in the IFA market where their is no draft (nor should there be as Citizens of another Country should never have their options limited by US Corporations) and there are no slotting guidelines.
Quite simply the ML free agent across the board fails to live up their deal 75% of the time and flat out busts about 50% of the time.
Spend half of that money going over slot for the best talent and spend the other half on international amateurs. Build a scouting infastucture in domestic summer leagues, sponsor foreign amateur programs in South and Central America and the Caribbean and spend the money on a thousand high ceiling amateurs instead of one aging dinosauer.
That’s the way to get competitive and stay that way both within your own organization as well as the Majors.
Have to agree with you on Collins. Hasn’t pushed the right buttons every time, but who does. With the old regime it felt a lot like when someone got hurt they went into “stay afloat until player A and B get back.” With Collins it never seems to be an excuse. I love his attitude of no matter who is out there on any given day, they should win regardless.
Jose Reyes (339 1 23) who leads the league in batting, hits and triples along with 19 SB is third, with 774,000 votes, about 11,000 votes behind Rollins (267 3 18) who is in second, and about 700,000 votes behind Tulo (250 11 33).
this shows how many idiots are out there…
btw, i still think tulo is another product of coors field, to me overrated as hell, adn to think ppl on this VERY SITE thinks he’s 10x better than reyes..
You are so off base, Mr. Delcos…..The Mets bullpen has not been awful all season but instead in a few short periods. Think about this for a second. Our team has not hit well at all from the 7th inning on. Because of that any leads we have had are easily lost unless the bullpen is always good. We have suffered again with injuries. Ike Davis has missed a month and it may well be two until he gets back. Pagan missed a month but he wasn’t hitting at all at the time he got hurt. He has done much better since his return. David Wright has missed a month and that too will be longer. Other than one hot streak, David has not hit well but it amay be due toi his injury which he played with for weeks before having to stop. If you add in no Santana and the not so hot starts for Pelfrey and Dickey then it shows that this team has actually been pretty good despite all that has happened. Terry Collins has done a good job with all….The bottom line is the financial situation. If the Wilpon’s are still in trouble and are forced to unload salary as in giving away a Jose Reyes then we will know that the plan is to throw in the towel for a few years!
Tons of credit needs to go to the cast of Murphy, Turner, Tejada, and Pridie too. These guys have made Collins’ and Aldersons jobs a lot tougher on who plays and who doesn’t when regulars come back. The fault of past Mets teams have been lack of depth when someone goes down. This year, there aren’t enough positions on the field to play everyone you would want to. Gotta win with who’s playing now, but I’m holding hope for when the power bats come back.
Right. And credit should go to Minaya for adding to AAA and grabbing those guys. He didn’t have those options his first couple of years. In my opinion that was one of the things he could have and should have excelled at.
In any event at least he grabbed some guys that didn’t cost draft picks.
Excellent title the post, and I agree these Mets aren’t pushovers. I doubt Jose Reyes will be going anywhere, anytime soon. I think it’s great and exciting to watch the “kids” play and they are getting to job done.
I think there is a ton of parity in the NL this season. There is not a standout team. With that in mind I think the Mets have to be talked about in the Wild Card Mix. What hurts is inter-league play (it doesn’t help that they are the only team that has to play the Yankees 6 times….) However, the Mets have as good a shot as any other team….
Mets will get better as injured players return plus with all the players on the field because of injuries Mets now have an idea what they have coming up and what is available if someone gets hurt.
We now have Murphy, Turner, Tejada, Pridie, Martinez, that can contribute to big club if needed and now we don’t have to go looking to sign any over the hill vets for bench, despite Harris and Hairston, cause you have Murph/Turner or Tejada for 2b or 3b, Evans for LF or 1b plus Murph at 1b also so we do have major league ready talent to fill in or take over 2b if needed.
This season has shown Mets and fans that we do have some talent ready to help, Gee!
When David, Ike and Johan return if we remain around .500 or over it, I don’t see why thhis club can’t compete if, BIG IF, and Wilpons don’t start don’t start dumping salaries while team is competing. If they do then it will take more a few years to regain fans trust in my opinion.