The idea has been beaten to death: The Mets bullpen is the worst in baseball and has been the major reason for the team’s skid to open the second half. But looking a little deeper, it may not totally be the bullpen’s fault. In fact, the pen, mainly Jon Rauch, Josh Edgin and even Manny Acosta since being recalled, has actually been somewhat decent recently. Granted, the bullpen certainly has contributed to the second-half slide, [...]

Updated Post 8/9 According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Terry Collins said he no longer plans to use R.A. Dickey on short rest through the remainder of the season. Collins intends to use Jeremy Hefner in the rotation if he needs to give a starting pitcher extra rest, but will continue to use Dickey in his normal turn through the rotation. Updated Post 8/3 Terry Collins told reporters before the game that he does not [...]

  As the Mets continue sinking faster than the Titanic, all eyes will be on Matt Harvey tonight in Arizona as he makes his highly anticipated Major League debut. The 23-year-old is likely feeling tons of pressure to be the savior of the franchise based on how the team has gone through its annual post All-Star break collapse. But Harvey has to just take a deep breath and take it one step at a time. [...]

It must be great to be a San Francisco Giants fan. Not only did a late push of fan votes elect three starting position players (Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Melky Cabrera) to the NL lineup, but now the Giants will also have Matt Cain as the starting pitcher. John Harper of the New York Daily News tweeted at 9:23 a.m. that “Source says Dickey is not starting All-Star Game. Will be Cain vs. Verlander.” [...]

Everywhere you look, baseball analysts and fans alike are saying the Mets will need a significant bullpen upgrade in order to make a playoff push. Though Sandy Alderson brought in Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez, it may take a different cast of characters to get the job done consistently in the late innings. Yes, the starting pitching has been terrific, but especially down the stretch, the Mets need to be able to close [...]

Coming off a 17-1 victory against the Cubs, the Mets will open a three-game series against the first place Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets desperately needed that win and came through in huge fashion by clubbing four home runs. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are coming off being swept by the San Francisco Giants without scoring a run in the series. Former Met starter Chris Capuano will take the hill tonight for the Dodgers. After a decent [...]

Yesterday, WFAN’s Mike Francesa discussed how Mets broadcasters Howie Rose and Gary Cohen were “out of line” during this past weekend’s Subway Series. Francesa said that it’s great that the Mets have fans as announcers, but that they sometimes take it too far in rooting for their team, especially against the Yankees. Frankly, I love that Rose and Cohen are as die-hard of Mets fans as I am. Yes, I agree that there should be [...]

Check out my video coverage of last night’s induction of John Franco into the Mets Hall of Fame.

Update 12:18 Andres Torres had a big night offensively, but he credited the pitching staff for their stellar performances lately. “Pitching is a big key for winning games, and all our pitchers are terrific.” He thinks tonight was his best offensive game as a Met. He’s not focused on being in first place right now, since it’s still so early. Torres was a home run shy of the cycle. I asked him if he was [...]

Two months into the season, the Mets have used an inordinate amount of players thus far. This has been due in part to injuries, but it has also been the product of the Mets organization’s unwillingness to deal with mediocrity. Jack Egbert, the “power-hitting” Jeremy Hefner, Chris Schwinden, Rob Johnson, Omar Quintanilla, Jordany Valdespin, Vinny Rottino and even Kirk Nieuwenhuis all started the year in the minors and weren’t expected to be big-time contributors this [...]