Paul Lo Duca, who happens to be my favorite current Met, has fallen to second place behind Russ Martin in the All Star voting. I will do everything in my power to make sure that does not happen. Please click on the All Star voting link in the right column and vote for your team. You can vote up to 25 times with one email account, so I expect each of you to vote at least 50 times! (Don’t think I don’t know you all got a second email address!)

It was good to see Shawn Green back, but what the heck was he doing in the 2 spot? Why wasn’t LoDuca back in his rightful place batting second, and Green back hitting sixth and driving in runs?

At least Willie finally had the good sense to put Wright in the cleanup spot. I hope he is there for good!

I am trying to ignore the big orange and blue elephant in the corner, but that is getting very hard to do. I’m not good at handling adversity when it comes to the Mets. Somebody please stop me before I get all negative on the team. I have so many gripes, that I don’t even know where to start. Yes there are some positives, but damn, it seems like there are a lot more negatives.

Here is a list of just some of those positives and negatives, with a spaghetti western twist to it.

The Good

  1. Jose Reyes has been absolutely amazing with increased walks and even more stolen bases.
    Paul Lo Duca is as clutch as they come, and has been the most consistent Mets hitter in the lineup. 
  2.  Billy Wagner is having one of the best years of his career and is among the top closers in the NL. 
  3. The starting pitching has exceeded expectations and continues to be very effective. Jorge Sosa, John Maine, Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez have been solid, while Oliver Perez has been dominant, but somewhat inconsistent.
  4. David Wright is on fire, batting .342 with 4 homers and 8 RBI in the last 10 games. he now leads the Mets in home runs, doubles, total bases and slugging percentage.

The Bad

  1. Carlos Beltran has only two home runs since early May and has seen his average dip to .286 in the past month.
  2. The bench has been rendered useless due to overuse caused by injuries to several starters. There is some hope in guys like Ruben Gotay and Damion Easley, but Julio Franco and Ramon Castro are hitting around .200, and Newhan and Johnson have already been optioned to AAA.
  3. Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano have taken some hits after fast starts, but they could easily be back in the good column with the talent they both have shown.

The Ugly

  1. Scott Schoeneweis, Guillermo Mota and Aaron Sele have a combined Earned Run Average of 8.25 and continue to give up hits and runs at an alarming pace.
  2. Left Field is in complete chaos especially with the news that Moises Alou may be out even longer. Endy Chavez will not be back before August and the Mets continue to get zero offense from the assortment of players they have trotted out there. A trade might be the only way to fix this gaping hole.
  3. The Mets can’t win at home, and after having the best road record in the NL, they have since lost 3 of 4 and play a hot Yankees team at Yankee Stadium this weekend.
  4. The Mets are stranding base runners at an alarming rate, and since May 15th, nobody has stranded more.
  5. The Mets have now lost three straight series for the first time since 2005, and with another loss against the Dodgers, it will be four straight series heading into Yankee Stadium.

Did I miss anything??

Have you voted for Paul LoDuca yet?? (Come on already, what are you waiting for!)