Ok, ok. We were swept by the Cubs in a short two-game series in Chicago. The Cubs are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the National League this year, and since you can’t win ‘em all, at least we didn’t lose to a crummy team. Tonight begins the next chapter in the novel we call 2008…
The Mets, without a doubt, must sweep the Nationals, in this also short two-game set. Our pitching is better. Our lineup is better. Our team is better. And quite frankly, after losing three in a row, this team has to win the next two.
There is one thing I would like to know…exactly how long is this organization going to put up with Delgado, Castillo and Heilman? I know the Mets have an investment in all of them. If they let them go, they still have to pay their salaries, and in order to trade them, somebody has to…well…want them! Then they would all have to be replaced and is there anybody else who is that much better, or for that matter, available? On the pre-game show yesterday, Matt & Mazz were talking about Alou’s return and how that may help Delgado. I can’t see how. Delgado is a seasoned veteran and knows what he has to do. There is not a soul in this world that can tell him anything he doesn’t already know. This is not the same as Beltran telling Reyes to go ahead and be himself and everything will fall into place as it should, and has. Delgado either has to snap out of it, or face the fact that he is done.
Overall, I have to admit that I am not particularly impressed with anything this team has done so far. Nothing special has occurred yet, in my opinion. David Wright, Jose Reyes, and a small handful of others have done what they are supposed to do, and because of that, in combination with the lack of success on the part of others, we tend to consider these guys as being “on fire.” Granted, Wright and Reyes had unbelievable series in Philly, and really were on fire, but this team is still not living up to potential, capability, or expectation.
On another note, how unfair is it that even when a pitcher pitches well, if the team doesn’t score any runs and aids in the opposing team scoring, the pitcher gets the loss? Let’s say for argument’s sake that the Mets did not score the one lousy run they did in each of the past two games, and were shutout. Were Maine’s and Figueroa’s performances that bad? Not at all. Was the defense a problem? Yesterday, it was. The team did not support their pitchers, neither at bat, nor in the field. Yet the pitchers take the loss. Fact is, no matter how well a pitcher is on any given day, if the rest of the team doesn’t do their part, it’s the pitcher’s fault they lose. You only need one run to win. But by scoring no runs, you can’t win. And when your pitcher keeps you in the game, as Maine and Figueroa both did, it’s the rest of the team who should take the loss. Now, obviously the team does take a loss as far as their record/standings go, but how about rewarding starting pitchers, who go at least the five required innings for a decision, who give up no runs and get no run support and/or whose poor defense leads to unearned runs? I know thy have the stat "quality start", but why should the starting pitcher get tagged with a loss?
One final note to Phillies fans…I know this comes a bit late, but you are still deserving of it – YOU SUCK! It’s one thing to seriously think you “came back and won the division” last year, (when we all know in-fact that the Mets just blew it and handed it to you), but it’s another thing to stand up and cheer when one of our players appeared to be seriously injured, and then boo upon realizing that he was okay. Have you no decency? You want to rub it in our faces that you so-called "beat us" last year, fine, we can take it like adults and our turn will come. But when you start putting a player’s health, any player’s health, at the brunt of your jokes, you don’t deserve to even have a professional baseball team in your town, no less a winning one. You should all be ashamed of yourselves and an apology to the Mets and Jose Reyes, without a doubt, is in order. And as far as I am concerned, the city of Philadelphia and the Phillies organization are equally responsible for making things right. My goodness…
