It’s no secret that Ike Davis’ hold on the everyday first baseman’s job is in serious jeopardy.  In 141 at-bats this season, Davis is the owner of a .156 batting average and .212 on-base percentage.  That’s nowhere near the production expected of a starting first baseman.  In fact, it’s more in line with R.A. Dickey’s career numbers at the plate.  (Dickey has a .189 batting average and .219 on-base percentage over 132 lifetime at-bats.) But [...]

The Mets gave up a couple of touchdowns to the Toronto Blue Jays in their 14-5 loss on Friday.  But I’m not going to talk about that.  I’m also not going to talk about the whiplash Jonathon Niese must have suffered from turning his neck so quickly to watch all the home runs leaving the yard.  Here, let me just show you what I’m going to talk about. R.A. Dickey: 8 starts, 50⅓ innings pitched, [...]

Jonathon Niese pitched six shutout innings.  Kirk Nieuwenhuis started yet another rally.  Mike Baxter got well-deserved respect as a premier pinch-hitter.  Justin Turner won another battle against Heath Bell. And the Mets still lost. After Nieuwenhuis started a two-run inning for the Mets in the fourth inning with a single, Niese continued to pitch shutout ball before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.  Ramon Ramirez relieved Niese hoping to protect the lead. Triple. [...]

Last night’s game against the Miami Marlins was already going to be special for the Mets because it was to be their first game in the Marlins’ new ballpark.  But Mets historians such as myself will remember the game for another reason, as it was the 8,000th regular season game in franchise history. In their first 8,000 games, the Mets have emerged victorious 3,829 times, while falling short on 4,163 occasions.  They have also played [...]

Jon Rauch has been outstanding for the Mets in the bullpen this year.  After getting credit for his team-leading third victory in the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins last night, Rauch has now pitched 9⅓ scoreless innings in ten appearances.  But the zero in the runs allowed column is just the beginning of the story. Rauch has faced a total of 32 batters over his first ten relief outings, retiring 28 of them.  [...]

In Saturday’s 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants, the Mets blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning, costing Mike Pelfrey a chance to get his first win of the season.  Pelfrey pitched eight strong innings, allowing one run on six hits while throwing 102 pitches.  Despite stifling the Giants’ bats all day, manager Terry Collins decided to pull Pelfrey from the game and go with Frank Francisco in the ninth inning, less than [...]

The always witty and original Ed Leyro, penned this fantastic piece on the Mets futility in tossing a no-hitter only three days ago. But in light of the exploits of one Philip Humber, I felt this was definitely worth a second read. Enjoy…  JD  When R.A. Dickey gave up a second-inning double to the Braves’ Freddie Freeman during Wednesday’s rubber match with Atlanta, it marked the 7,980th consecutive game that a Mets pitcher has failed [...]

Shhh.  Don’t tell anyone.  But R.A. Dickey is quietly approaching a few Mets greats in the team’s record books. With last night’s 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, R.A. Dickey recorded his 14th consecutive quality start (minimum of six innings pitched with no more than three earned runs allowed), dating back to last year.  It is currently the longest such streak in baseball. Over the streak, which began last July 25 in Cincinnati when Dickey [...]