I have been on record thinking the Mets are not as bad as everyone believes through the first two weeks of the season. Yes, there are concerns about the message being sent down by Omar and Jerry, but the release of Mike Jacobs is a start towards putting the best lineup on the field. The Mets lost their fourth straight series to start the season, but here are some things to chew on as they start a critical 10 game home stand. Perhaps a defining stretch to start the season:
1. Mike Pelfrey – If the Big Pelf we saw the first two starts is for real, then the Mets might have a 1-A on their hands and the heir apparent to Santana as the ace. Not every team has 5 solid starters like the Yankees, even Philadelphia has some questions in the back half of their rotation. A solid 1 and 2 can make up for “ifs” in 4 and 5.
2. The Bullpen: The move to put Jenrry Mejia in the bullpen looks even worse now because of the apparent depth. This group navigated 11 scoreless innings Saturday night (not counting Pelfrey). Takahashi and Igarashi have been pretty good, Nieve does yeoman’s work pitching nearly every day, Raul Valdes has done a nice job and removed the word “perpetual” from Pedro Feliciano, and you have to believe K-Rod will be ok sans 100 warm up pitches. If there was one thing to be impressed with this offseason, it was Omar Minaya’s construction of the bullpen.
3. Jeff Francoeur – Yes, it’s still a small sample size, but the approach at the plate is very encouraging. If he continues with the right process I can’t see why he won’t hit .300 with 20 homers and 80+ RBI. Could a .330 to .350 OBP be out of the question? I think this new version of Francoeur will make us forget the Lastings Milledge trade and could be a great resume builder for assistant GM John Ricco, who is rumored to have pushed for it last July.
4. Ike Davis – he will be here soon, perhaps as early as today. Mets first basemen have a .516 OPS after last night’s game in St. Louis. I don’t care how much of a development curve Davis displays, he has to be an upgrade. Also, don’t discount his defense since both Fernando Tatis and Mike Jacobs have been awful. The hope is this could be the Mets homegrown version of John Olerud and that should be very exciting to fans. It also allows Daniel Murphy to beef up the bench corp.
5. Bay, Reyes, and Wright will be better – Unless you believe they will continue to struggle (yes, outside of a walk rate, Wright is struggling), then it’s amazing the Mets have won 4 games with their core hitting as poorly as they have.
6. Carlos Beltran will be back – I know there are concerns about the lack of progress in this area. You can’t blame Beltran for taking the cautious route in his rehab. If done properly the hope is he will return to form offensively and not lose too much in centerfield. My appreciation for what he does defensively has increased tenfold after watching Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr. on a daily basis.
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