Now the other shoe or four will start to drop, as we’ll see if John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez can keep the Mets in games this season.  It also remains to be seen if the lineup can consistently drive in runs like they did on Monday.

But I will say this.  With all of the pundits (myself included) picking the Mets to finish third or fourth in the division and having absolutely no chance to make the postseason, there seems to be an air of “whatever” about this team.  It’s not that they don’t care or don’t want to play hard, but that the expectations have been lowered to the point that they really can only exceed them.  And sometimes you never know if players will have career years or at least play to their capabilities.  So if they all do that, it’s not exactly a pipe dream to think that this team CAN succeed and reach the postseason in 2010.  It’ll be a big surprise to us all, and maybe even to them, but surely, stranger things have happened.

So will tonight be the start of reality setting in, or will it be continued good fortune as well as good baseball that began earlier this week?  Let’s Go Maine, and Let’s Go Mets!

You’ve got Strasburg, who is projected to reach the big leagues as early as July of this coming season.  Then you have Florida’s Josh Johnson, the Met Killer.  And Philly, despite trading away Cliff Lee, replaced him with the perennial all-world Roy Halladay.  The Braves are the only NL East team without a so-called “ace” (or in Washington’s case, potential ace) at the top of their rotation.

Sure, the Nationals and their fans have earned the right to have the type of dominant pitcher that comes along a few times every decade.  Strasburg is being compared to a young Pedro Martinez, and that’s really saying something.  But Johan had another elbow surgery, he’s a year older, and the Mets’ rotation behind him has more question marks than ever.  So every time we see a guy like Strasburg or Johnson or Halladay join a rival team or get called up, it’s effectively and by association making the Mets a little worse.

I’m curious what you all think, so feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions on this matter below.

Take off your Mets blinders momentarily, and tell us who you think is the best pitcher in the NL East.

I decided to add some other worthy candidates just to make it a little more interesting.

The stats I used are from the 2009 season and are meant to provide some additional depth. Remember that some pitchers may have spent time on the DL or in the minors, so do consider their overall body of work as well as reputation and whether they are on the downside, upside or prime of their careers.

I eliminated wins because it’s not really an indication of how good a pitcher really is. I added strikeouts per nine innings ratio and strikeouts to walks ratio as it makes it easier to compare pitchers who may not have had similar innings pitched.

If you could have just one of these pitchers on your team right now, which one would you choose?

Who is the real Beast of the NL East?

First of all, the Phillies are not exactly going to be worse…they have won the division three straight seasons and have been to the World Series twice.  They will more than likely have Cliff Lee for a full season and most of the other starters returning.

The Marlins are no slouches.  They are an exciting young team led by a trio of very good pitchers in Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez.  The Marlins won almost 90 games in 2009.

The Braves, who were right there behind the Marlins with 86 wins this past season, also appear to have bolstered their team with the addition of ex-Met Billy Wagner and also of former Dodgers’ closer Takashi Saito.

Then there are the Nationals.  Yeah, I know, these guys lost 103 games in 2009.  They had a decent lineup with good pop, but a putrid pitching staff that could never hold a lead when the Nationals got one.  Still, there is hope here, starting with top draft pick Stephen Strasburg.  You know, the guy who throws 100 mph.

The Mets finished 70-92 this past season, 16 games back of the third-place Braves and only (gasp) 11 games ahead of the Nationals.  If Minaya intends to fix this team with band-aids as it appears he will, a .500 season would be about the best we could hope for.  Another 70-win season is more likely, and don’t think the Nationals won’t be in that same range in 2010.

Can Omar do something to give us more optimism?  Time will tell, but I’m not holding out much hope.

Now with the rubber game today pitting our ace against Cy Johnson, I feel extremely uneasy. Johan will once again be expected to be his stellar self, and will probably deliver like the ace he is. But the Mets have not figured this Josh Johnson kid out, and I have a bad feeling it’s going to come down to a boneheaded play in the field again, with someone playing a position they have no business playing. You’re all thinking the same thing, aren’t you? With Murphy in left, we have to hope Johan makes the Marlins hit everything to right, or not out of the infield.  

I also scanned the USA Today stats yesterday, and I swear I was looking for positive things to say. But it’s ugly, folks, it really is. Through Sunday, Castillo is hitting .365 but only has 5 RBI. David Wright has one homer and 6 RBI, adding one last night. Ryan Church is hitting .357 but only has driven in 7 runs. The Mets are batting .283 as a team, third-best in the National League, but have driven in only 73 runs, 11th best in the NL. Their 11 homers is tied for worst in the league with the Giants, and only better in the entire league than Oakland’s paltry 7 (aren’t you all glad we didn’t get Matt Holliday?).

For team pitching, the Mets rank 13th with a team ERA of 4.60, which I’m sure took more of a hit last night as Babe Cantu continued his torrid hitting of Mets’ pitching. Dude is hitting .411 against our Mets this season and blasted two homers last night, including the dagger of a 3-run bomb off Sean Green. And did any of you feel like the Mets would overcome a 3-run deficit? I know I didn’t, and I don’t think Jerry Manuel did either.

 ”Three runs shouldn’t be something that’s insurmountable,” Manuel said. “It appears when we get in that position, it’s an insurmountable lead. We have to address that.”

 You’re telling me, Jerry.

 Are you all as nervous as I am about today’s game?