The Mets Open a New Chapter

Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed opening day as much as I did. Johan Santana, with a little help from David Wright, has sent the Mets down the path to a new season full of hopes and dreams.

Santana was all that we as fans had been hoping for. He was a stud Ace on the mound and gave the Marlins little reason to believe they were ever in the game. 7 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, and only 2 runs. His only mistake was a hanging change-up to Willingham that was promptly parked in the left field seats. But, I doubt anyone would complain about the 1st of many victories that Johan will bring to the Mets. His fastball was hitting between 90-94 mph, and I saw a change-up as low as 78. That's nasty. He also mixed in a good slider and pitched to both sides of the plate. All in all, I'll take starts like that any time he walks to the mound.

Johan wasn't the only star of the day. David Wright has picked up where he left off in 2007. He had 2 doubles and drove in 3 runs in the 4th inning to break open the game. He now has a 18 game hitting streak dating to last season, and seems to be comfortable at the plate already. I see a possible MVP season for him this year. Ryan Church was also good today. He saved an out with a nifty move to aviod a tag at 1st, and had a RBI single against a left handed pitcher. He also drove a ball deep to right field, and had a hit robbed from him on a great stop by Rameriz. I think he gets a bad rap about hitting lefties. Let's hope today is a sign of things to come with him. Reyes was good also. He had a couple of hits and kept his swing level. No pop-ups to the outfield for him. Beltran had 2 doubles and Castillo got on base 3 times today.

And lastly today, the bull-pen picked up where Johan left off. They struck out 3 batters and only gave up 2 hits. It was nice to see Willie keep Wagner out of the game. There are enough good arms in the pen to cover 2 innings in a non-save situation. Hopefully Billy will be used only in save situations this year. On non-save nights, the rest of the pen can hold down the fort for 2 innings a night. I think Heilman and Sosa will prove really effective at closing out games in those situations. They both have great change-ups and Sosa's slider and Arron's fastball are deadly to hitters. If Willie follows that pattern, Wagner shouldn't be tired or hurt when needed in the fall.

It was an all around good game by the Mets. Good pitching, timely hitting, good baserunning, and effective defense. If those things continue, we'll all be enjoying a banner season as Mets Fans.