New Bullpen, New Ballpark, New York Mets

The boys who used to play in Shea finally figured it out it seems. Fix the back-end of your bullpen, shorten the games to accommodate an under-performing starting rotation and find yourself leading a mildly competitive National League East. Mix all of these factors, shaken, not stirred, in a margarita shaker, along with the Mets playing in a pitcher friendly ballpark and you have a team riding a seven-game winning streak. Riding a streak of this magnitude in early May can pay huge dividends in the confidence department as the season progresses. As of May 11, the New York Mets are a game up on the now stagnant Florida Marlins, who started the season a sparkling 11-1 but amassed six of those wins against the Washington Nationals. No cellar-type jokes needed here as those become overran by April 18 each season. The book is out on the Phils-Mets rivalry this time around as the teams split two games in Philadelphia at the beginning of this month and the Mets swept a two-game series at ...