The road trip that began with a stumble in Philadelphia mercifully ended with a fall this afternoon in freezing Denver. The Mets left Citi Field at 4-2 and will arrive home tomorrow at 7-7. After losing two of three to the Phillies, the Mets won two in Minnesota in brutal conditions, then lost three games in Colorado, including today’s 11-3 mauling of Jon Niese, and of course, the bullpen. ON THE MOUND: Niese was not [...]

Replacing Jose Reyes was never going to be easy, but with Ruben Tejada’s fielding prowess if he could hit just a little that would be acceptable to the Mets. Perhaps that should read, “former fielding prowess.’’ Trouble is, he’s not hitting or fielding. He’s not even just holding his own; he’s been poor at both, actually terrible. Tejada has committed six errors in 13 games – a pace for just under 80 – and the Mets have already lost [...]

Not surprisingly, yesterday’s game at Minnesota was bagged by the weather, which doesn’t figure to be much better in Colorado this week. I wrote last week Matt Harvey could pitch against Stephen Strasburg in the first game of the Washington series, and depending on possible postponements it could still pan out that way. The Mets will have the back end of their rotation in the first three games of the Colorado series, with Dillon Gee, [...]

You can Google Ike Davis with dozens of different questions, but here’s one you won’t find an answer to: Why isn’t he as good as advertised? It was May of 2011 when Davis was hitting .302 with a .383 on-base percentage and resembling the slugger the Mets had trumpeted he could be when he ran into David Wright and hurt his left ankle and missed the rest of the season. Then came last year, the [...]

Of all the tweets in all the world of Twitter, the one with Target Field blanketed in snow is the most telling. There is five inches of snow with more forecast in Minneapolis where the Mets play tonight. The high for the series is forecast at a blustery 43 degrees. It will be colder with the wind. I would love to see Twins owner Jim Pohlad sit with Commissioner Bud Selig in short sleeves tonight [...]

The night Dillon Gee had in Philadelphia happens to all pitchers. It happened to Stephen Strasburg the other day. It will happen to Matt Harvey. It is premature to worry about Gee two starts into the season. It was not a game worthy of capital punishment. It was a file-and-forget game. “There’s not a whole lot to say. A terrible night,’’ Gee told reporters. “But you’ve got to move past it.’’ He’s right, so let’s move on to something worthy [...]

This one was over early when the Phillies scored four runs in the second and three more in the third off Dillon Gee. Ryan Howard, Michael Young and John Mayberry all homered within five pitches. The game wasn’t worth watching after that explosion in the Phillies’ 8-3 rout over the Mets. ON THE MOUND: In losing his second straight start, Gee authored the worst outing by a Met starter this season. Gee threw 56 pitches, many of them hit hard, in [...]

If the Mets are to beat Cliff Lee tonight – the second Phillies’ ace in as many nights – they’ll have to do it without Ike Davis. Davis is struggling out of the gate, hitting .148 with one homer and showing no signs of breaking out. He’s on the way of repeating last spring, which morphed into a miserable first half. “I don’t know if I can say I am better for going through that,’’ Davis said during [...]

They are hot, so as Crash Davis said you don’t mess with a streak. This is not a time for the Mets to be making wholesale changes, but there are things they could consider. The Mets don’t have the multitude of power options that say, Ben & Jerry’s has ice cream choices, but Daniel Murphy appears to becoming one. Lately, he has been driving the ball for power; something I always thought he was capable [...]