Why yes, 2-4 is a bad record, especially when you’re playing the dregs of your own division. However not all is yet sunk and there are some positive footnotes to focus on.
Pelfrey delivers a strike against the Nationals
1. Jose Reyes is back. Despite being treated with kid gloves so far, Jose Reyes is back and healthy and that’s important for the future of the New York Mets. Reyes has two hits and a walk so far in his return, and it’s only going to get better from there.
2. The Bullpen. Currently the Mets are tied for the fewest amount of earned runs given up by the bullpen and have the second lowest ERA. The strength of a good bullpen should not be underestimated. The Mets did as well as they did in 2006 in a large part because of their solid bullpen, and they failed the way they did in 2007 because even when they rallied back from a deficit the bullpen gave it right back. Not only is the Mets bullpen looking good this season, but they’ve got depth in guys like Kiko Calero waiting in Buffalo.
3. The Starting Rotation. The rotation hasn’t exactly been superb, even if it’s been better than league average so far. However when you compare it to how they were predicted to do prior to the season starting, they look excellent. Six starts so far and while a couple of them have been bad, they haven’t been “Oh my this game is over” bad. They’ve kept them in the game with a fighter’s chance to come back.
4. Jeff Francoeur. A guy that stat-heads hate because they feel he’s one of the worst outfielders in the game. He’s out to prove them wrong so far this season. He’s already shown a great arm and head out in the outfield. He’s shown the ability to drive the ball. He’s even started drawing more walks. Temporary hot streak or not, there is no way he shouldn’t be hitting higher than 6th or 7th right now.
As far as small sample sizes go, six games would qualify. Sometimes slow starts are just the way of things, especially when a lot of the team is returning from injury that may take a little while to really get the gears going full speed again. While they obviously can’t go 2-4 during every stretch of six games, the first big test doesn’t come until the end of the month when they play Philadelphia. After that series we should be able to get a good read on this team and what they need to do to finish first.
Written by:
