The Mets to this point in the season, are 1 game over .500. Met nation, no need to adjust your glasses or wipe your screens, the Mets are 1 game over .500. The Mets, haven’t been “firing on all cylinders” as of yet either. What can happen when this team is firing on all cylinders, is what has me excited.
Henry Blanco and Rod Barajas have been major upgrades defensively at the catchers position. Both have made a few excellent plays…Offensively, Barajas has supplied some power, and calls an excellent game. Blanco’s veteran savvy and defensive skills even at age 38, are beautiful to behold. The B and B boys are just what the Doctor ordered for a pitching staff that needed “on field pitching coaches”. When they both click a bit better offensively, The Mets will have something cooking behind the dish.
The Commander-in-Chief is Ike. Just like the more famous Ike, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Davis, for whatever reason, chemistry, better mix, better player, has solidified his status and asserted himself as the Met 1st baseman of the future, and the here and now.
Everyone’s whipping boy, Luis Castillo, has been very consistent offensively, he is just a singles hitter. But, it’s working right now. As for defensively, prior to spring training, I wrote the following:
Defensively, he needs to improve his footwork around the bag. Luis shouldn’t be admonished for his lack of range, rather, the coaching staff should be chided for not realizing that Luis has lost a step and using better positioning to enhance the range Luis does have left.
It seems to have taken hold as Castillo has shown increased range. He’s also been positioned better defensively. Kudos to the coaching staff…
Jose Reyes, has taken to the 3 hole akin to the proverbial duck in water. Reyes, it was obvious, was dog tired after trying to compress 2 months of conditioning into 2 weeks. The day off he asked for, and J-Man provided prior to Game 2 with the Cubs, seems to have helped, as he went 4-5 in that game, and hasn’t looked back…
David Wright, has struggled offensively for most of April. But, defensively he seems quicker to the ball. Wright will hit, mechanically he’s not right as of yet. It’ll come. His glove work has been very good so far. With the slick fielding Davis at 1st, David may cut his throwing errors down.
Jason Bay has been coming out of his funk. He seems to be hitting better. With the warmer weather, Bay will heat up. The power will return. He’s a streaky hitter. Defensively, he’s been outstanding. Excellent at playing the ball off the wall, accurate throwing, I just don’t get where the poor fielding tag came from.
Angel Pagan’s been very good. Both offensively and defensively. His bonehead base running gaffes have disappeared for now.
Frenchy Francoeur has been streaky, but has shown increased discipline at the plate, his recent slump notwithstanding, he began to press a bit, but reverted to his early season form recently again. Defensively, he’s “top notch, top notch” as Ted Knight would say in Caddyshack.
The Pitching has been great since the 20 inning affair in St. Louis. Both the bullpen and rotation deserve hat tips. With the exception of a few uneven performances and the increase in walks, which is a bit alarming, they’ve been pretty good to near very good. In some exceptions, exceptional. (That’s for you Michael Pelfrey)
The bench, now with more defined roles, has been better as of late. Fernando Tatis’ 2 run HR last Tuesday against the Cubbies indicates that it’s possible he was being overexposed playing in a platoon. He may be more suited to a spot start and PH duties exclusively.
So in closing, to say the Mets haven’t even played their best baseball, and are 10-9 only 1.5 games out is not only surprising, it shows this team hasn’t hit it’s stride yet. When Bay and Wright begin to hit, this offense and this team may become lethal. Look out Philly, we’re coming at you…A week ago, we the fans were circling this team like buzzards to pick at the dead carcass that this team wreaked of being.
What a difference a week makes… And to think, the race is only just begun, Jerry Manuel the jockey riding this horse, hasn’t even gone to the whip yet…
