The Mets had a pretty successful opening weekend in Philadelphia, beating the Phillies in two out of three games. After nine games, all within the Eastern Division of the National League, the Mets find themselves at 6-3. Not too bad at all. So here are the 3 and 3 from this weekend.
3 Up:
It’s All About David: David Wright, broken finger and all, returned to the Met’s line up on Saturday. First pitch to him, over the fence for a homerun. That’s what leaders do. Make no mistake, this is David Wright’s team. So long as David stays healthy, the Mets will compete.
Jon Niese: New nose, new contract, and a near shutout in the bandbox called Citizens Bank Park. On Saturday Niese went 6 2/3 innings, scattering five hits and giving up no runs. Niese is on his way to becoming a front end of the rotation guy.
Bay & Ike: Jason Bay went yard in the first inning on Saturday, and Ike Davis turned the trick on Sunday. As much as David in the heart and soul of the team, he can’t do everything by himself. Ike will need to be his old self, while Bay needs to do something to prove he’s not the worst contract since George Foster.
Honorable Mention: The opening to the Mets coverage on WFAN radio is fantastic. WFAN celebrates 50 years of Mets baseball. It’s great to hear Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, and even Gary Cohen calling great plays on the radio side. Nice job by WFAN.
3 Down:
Too Many Mistakes: The Mets are not an elite team by any stretch of the imagination. In order for them to be successful, the Mets must execute every play. There have been way too many walks, wild pitches, bad defensive miscues, and base running errors. Simply put, they cant give the opposition all those extra chances if they’re going to win some games.
Josh Thole: On Friday night, Thole pulled off the base running gaffe of the season, and maybe the next few seasons at that. With Thole on first, R.A. Dickey lays down a bunt. Thole runs to second, sees Jimmy Rollins holding his hand up as if the ball was foul, and gets caught off base, off guard and out. Everyone got a good laugh laugh out of it which kind of bothers me. The point here being, Rollins isn’t Thole’s teammate, why would Thole pay him any mind at all? Was the first base coach screaming at Thole to slide? This was a boneheaded play, and I’m sorry, I don’t find the humor in it.
Washington Nationals: While our Mets were winning Friday and Saturday, the National were also winning. The Nats ended a four game winning streak on Sunday, but the their starting pitching has been lights out (1.58 ERA after nine starts). Let’s hope the rest of the hitters in the National League solve the National’s pitching riddle.
It’s off to the house of horrors known as Turner Field for night games on Monday & Tuesday and a Wednesday getaway matinee. As always LETS GO METS!!
