Mets Daily Thoughts

And... back to .500 are the Mets. Now comes a big test for them in Detroit and against the Yanks this weekend.  These next 6 games are big. 

Absolutely big...THE NEXT 13 GAMES ALL THE WAY UP TO THE ALL-STAR GAME ARE BIG!

Gotta go 10-3 to get into a decent position for the 2nd half...need a good July to get to the Trading Deadline with some purpose beyond clearing out the payroll.

I also agree with other posters I have seen...Carrasco and Acosta gotta go...Bring up Thayer.

IT'S BALLS TO THE WALLS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

<blockquote class="QuoteMessage">I'm not worried about Dillon Gee</a>, although <strong>ATW</strong> brought up a good point in watching his durability over the rest of the season.  Today, Gee overcame an early case of nervousness and gave us 6 effective innings vs. a potent Rangers</a> line-up.  I was unaware, but they mentioned during the broadcast that Gee followed Texas growing up as a kid.  That'll do it to ya'. </blockquote>

Gee between last year and his unreal start this year had been coasting with no adversity at the MLB level.  Last week he hit a wall to the tune of a 4 runs in 4 IP.  Not good but in the long and short of a season not important.  What was important?  To see if he could bounce back and give the Mets a quality effort.  The rookie did just that with 3 runs of 6 innings.  I'd take that everyday and twice on sunday! <br /><br />So when faced with his first trouble in the big league, Gee attacked it with the same level head, focus and mental toughness we can see when he's on the mound.  That to me bodes well and is much more important than a one game set beck.

On Gee it was a good thing he started mixing in the curveball.  The first inning he was mainly fast ball, so we can also say Paulino did a good job getting him back together but the Jose Reyes play was also crucial.  He also had a lot of family at the game, nerves definitely came into play, but after the 4 inning outing and the first inning it was really nice to see him pull it back together.

I would like to see Taylor Bucholtz find his way back as well.  how much fatigue was there to keep him out so long?  I also think Corrasco has to go and Thayer may be the guy, but when Taylor left we have dropped off fast and Taylor wasn't even the top shelf, I am wondering what kind of glue this guy might have been though...

Nice to see the bats coming alive for some of the guys and efficient run scoring.

I agree with NYFAN's take on the Gee situation.  You can't expect him to go out there and win every day (obviously) and he's going to get knocked around here and there, but the key was to see how he reacted.  He not only reacted well compared to the previous start, but he was poised throughout the game even though he didn't have his best stuff.  He came out there late and gave them important outs after going through some tough spots.

It was also great to see them tack on late runs.  That's something that's been badly missing over the last couple of seasons, but this year they seem to do it all the time.  It didn't matter in Sunday's game, but it has several times this season.

To me this weekend is gonna be a big test for Gee. I know it's only one game but i wanna see if he can pull off the win against the Yankees.

Welt, tonight's final score. Mets 14 - Tigers 3

And with the victory the Mets are now over .500 for the 1st time since the 5th game of the season.

R.A. Dickey did a decent enough job tonight at shutting down the Tigers' lineup, He did allow 10 hits overall but only 3 total runs, which was nothing compared to the amount of runs the Mets scored. 

What an offensive explosion by the Mets! The 3rd game in a row that the bats have come alive...

Jose Reyes 4-4, a walk, 3 runs scored. This guy is unstoppable right now. His 40th multi-hit game already. He hit yet another triple and almost hit for the cycle.
 
Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran each hit a grand slam!  The Mets went 299 games without hitting a grand slam and then on the 300th game they hit 2 of them off the same relief pitcher.

Pagan, Murphy, and Thole each had a mutl-hit game as well.

Impressive stuff by the Mets.  Of course they gotta keep getting them wins though, this was just one game no matter how impressive the final score was. Gotta keep winning. If this team can make it to the all-star break at 6 or more games above .500, the FO is gonna have some hard thinking to do. 

Tonight was awesome, I don't really know what else to say.  You know it's a good night when Bay jacks a salami!  Let's Go Mets!  Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose!

Good post ATW, tonights game felt like a dream. Awesome to watch, and great to see the Mets finally get over that hump (.500).
Things are looking up, pretty excited to see what does or doesn't happen throughout the trade deadline.

About that Dillon Gee post,
It sort of reminds me of last year and Pelfrey faceing the Yankees when he was (8 or 9-1, something like that). Only Pelfrey got bamboozled, and the rest of his year was basically history after that.
I'm also intrigued to see what Gee does against the Yankees. By far, should be his most important start of his career (you would think). Interested to see how he handles it at Yankee stadium. I will sure be watching and rooting for the guy.

And,
I think we have the best player in baseball playing for our Mets. Jose Reyes is a beast. Can anyone stop him? By far, the most exciting player in baseball. Fun to watch, runs like a deer, awesome to have him playing for my favorite team. AHHH, resign him?

If this team can make it to the all-star break at 6 or more games above .500, the FO is gonna have some hard thinking to do.ATW


Thats a tall order 6 games over, we would have to go 9-3 with 9 of those on the road and do it against the first place Tigers and Giants on the road and the first place Yankees at home.  The only break is 4 on the west coast against the Dodgers.  7-5 will get us to 3 over, I'll sign for that now.  You don't need to worry about the FO they already have plenty of hard thinking going on right now.

It's not too often I can fall asleep during the 7th inning (jet lag) and know I wouldn't miss anything.  What a win that was.  Easily the biggest moment was Bay's grand slam.  He's hitting a lot better and this might be a sign of a whole different Bay in the second half.  He looked satisified for a change in the dugout afterward.  The team just looks relaxed and is playing with a whole different attitude right now.

Dickey could've been better.  It would've been nice to get a complete game out of him when they were cruising, but he was adequate enough, and if you're going to have an off day this is the one to have.

Wow, what is up with this offensive explosion? It just keeps going like that friken energizer bunny, and it's been relentless. Mets set a new club record tonight - 52 runs scored in 4 games! The most ever!


Here's what the Mets hitters did tonight..

"The human dynamo" Jose Reyes?  Yet another multi-hit game. 2-6, run scored.

Justin Turner - 2-6, 2 runs scored.

Beltran - 2-6, 2 runs scored.

Ronny Paulino (batting cleanup for the first time) -  4-6 with 2 doubles, 4 runs scored, 1 RBI.  This boy can hit! Is this guy signed through next year or what? 

Jason Bay - a hit, 4 walks, 3 runs scored, 1 RBI.

Angel Pagan - 4-6 with 2 doubles, 3 runs scored, 4 RBI's!  Another huge night.

Scott Hairston - a huge bases clearing triple, 2 walks, a run scored and 3 RBI's.

Daniel Murphy - 2-5, 4 RBI's! 

Tejada - 2-4, 1 RBI 

Every hitter in the lineup hits, 7 Mets have a multi-hit game, 7 hitters score at least 1 run, most of them several. Unbelievable offensive explosion in the past 4 games. And more importantly, it looks like this team has been forming something really special. Something much more than mediocrity. The atmosphere and player attitude toward the game is totally different under this new leadership, it's tougher now. There is grit, feistiness. It's almost like every Met hitter that comes to the plate is saying "ok my turn now, let me show what i can do." The spirit of this team is strong now, confidence is high.  The team is playing with determination, playing to WIN. The importance of the words WIN and PRIDE have finally gotten to the Mets' heads again! The Mets are on fire lately, dare I say they look like a playoff team?


As far as tonight's pitching goes.. 

Chris Capuano did not have his best stuff tonight for the Mets, giving up 5 runs over 5 innings, but that was mostly because of Met-killer Miguel Cabrera's 2 bombs. Capuano gave up no walks and 6 hits total. So Capuano still got the W and got the job done overall, just not his best outing or as good as he's been pitching in prior games this month. The bullpen for the Mets tonight was rocky, not good but it didn't impact the game that much with the Mets hitters continuously producing. 


Very happy with the way this team has been playing. I think its clear that the team's weakness going forward is the bullpen. Hopefully they can address this issue a bit by the trade deadline. But as long as the Mets keep fighting and winning, that's all I care about.

Prior to the season opener, Who would've thought that the 2011 Mets would've supplied us with a historic stretch of OFFENSE like we have witnessed over the last 4 games?    52 runs scored = a new Franchise record.   In the 14-3 game, we finally ended our near-2 year Grand Slam drought with two in one game.  Man, these games have been FUN to watch. 

Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Daniel Murphy, Angel Pagan, the list goes on.  The one thing that impressed me the most tonight was that the Mets cranked out 20 hits, scored 16 runs, and they did it all without the benefit of a single Home Run.  Yes, our pitchers combined to surrender 5 HR's against tonight, but at this current level of play... who cares??!!!  Simply Amazin'. 

More side notes:


Beltran said today that he is completely willing to waive his no trade clause this July. Beltran is thinking about a new team, he is well aware that the Mets won't be the ones to give him the new contract he wants so badly.

David Wright is still rehabbing and should make his return immediately after the all-star break. I'm not sure whether this is good or bad for the current chemistry of the team, who have had all of their success without him.  Hope David can finally get his act together, but I certainly have doubts. Wright's performance in the final 3 months of the season will likely be a huge determining factor on whether he stays with the team or not in the offseason.


Mets have no more off days until the all-star break. 11 straight games, 11 straight days for us Mets fans to follow the team's progress each day.

Tomorrow we gotta take on Verlander, who is 5-0 with a .86 ERA in June.  We ride with Pelfrey. Again, cross your fingers.

If we get to Justin Verlander today, that will be something else.  He has been untouchable for almost 6 weeks now.  I don't really know what to say, I'm just really digging this squad right now.  It's the heart and playing baseball the right way.  I am thinking back to Collins outburst after the 7th inning undoing that sent him into a rage a while back.  He stated a fact, the Mets are not a team who can afford not to play baseball 100% fundamentally correct 100% of the time(that was the jist anyway).  This group has bought into what Collins is selling and man are they becoming fun to watch. 

Besides that, Jose Reyes is just an unbelievable gamechanger right now.  One competing GM(from Heyman on SI.com) referred to him as Mozart on a baseball diamond.  My conversation with my good buddy last night during the game was that no leadoff man has had the impact of Reyes since Rickey Henderson in his prime.  Or in other words, the best leadoff man in about 20 years.  He is in his baseball prime and I just hope we figure out some way to keep him part of our organization.  Not only have they bought into Collins, but truly they go how Reyes goes.  If his season continues on this way who knows what could happen, maybe Wild Card isn't out of the realm of possibility.

 If his season continues on this way who knows what could happen, maybe Wild Card isn't out of the realm of possibility.-NAVY



flunky started a Thread yesterday, Stepping Stones that to me had a distinct 1973 feel about it.  Gotta read it if you haven't yet done so, essentially flunky is laying out our path to the playoffs.  I think it is terrific that averaging 13 runs a night for a stretch kinda rounds the sharp corners off some of the pessimists, so here's to a strong second half and what evers happens...happens.  By the way, David and Ike who.  Kidding.

Seriously on the David Wright though, anyone who worries about his return having a negative effect is being pretty ridiculous.  He is a great team guy and his presence will benefit the Mets without a doubt.

Seriously on the David Wright though, anyone who worries about his return having a negative effect is being pretty ridiculous.  He is a great team guy and his presence will benefit the Mets without a doubt.-NAVY Yeah a lot of you say this with fanboyism rather than brains though. The reality of it is that Wright was hurting the team this year, no matter how much you like him or want to make it sound like he can't do anything wrong. Best of luck to him when he comes back in a few weeks though.

Might I also add as I have been an advocate of getting rid of Hairston and Harris, that they also have stepped up bigger than I expected lately.  It was almost like when Duda came up they said here is your last chance and both have been doing their parts.  We do have an extra energy about us and today's game will be fun to follow.

Arguably the hottest pitcher right now and for the season versus the hottest offense right now.  Two locomotives running at each other full bore, let's see which one stays on track.  Justin Verlander has been amazing and I hope we can continue to be ourselves.

This has just been an incredible week.  It's almost impossible to list all of the positives on the offensive side of the ball.  I mean, 52 runs in 4 games?  There's a good chance we might never see that again.  The best thing is, it's all done by stringing hits together and with contributions from everyone.  It really tends to build the "team" feeling.  I liked how last night Beltran was telling Murphy (I think it was Murphy) to relax from third while he was facing Albuquerque.  I thought Murphy had no chance once he had two strikes...and he came through with that seeing-eye single to score two.  For me, that was the best moment in a game filled with great moments.

Yeah, today's game won't be the same unless there's some crazy miracle, but if they can put up 5 against Verlander who knows?  Obviously the man of the hour is Pelfrey so let's see if he can ride this wave of enthusiasm and come up big.

You've got to love this kind of production going into a statement weekend.  They're just firing on all cylinders, including cylinders I didn't even know they had!

3 walks from Pelfrey in the first inning?

On the road?

I have a feeling this won't end well.