Mets Offense Continues Torrid Stretch

Except for Santana's start Friday, the offense of the Mets has really come alive in the last week. They pounded out 9 runs on 14 hits and almost look like the team we all hoped for coming into this spring.

If anything can be said about Jerry Manuel's managing, it's the improved mind set at the plate that's most noticeable. No longer do the Mets seem to quit once they fall behind or lose a lead. They continue to get hits, draw walks and score runs. They show grit and toughness while never appearing to give up. All too often this year the Mets would fall behind and never mount any type of threat or comeback in games. Jerry has seemed to change that mindset and the results have been noticeable. The Mets are hitting double digits in hits and have scored numerous runs in the last week. Everyone seems to be contributing except Beltran. Easley, Reyes. Wright. Castro, Church, and Delgado have all had multiple hit games this past week. Jerry is true to his word about rewarding success. Schneider hasn't been hitting, so he's been sitting. There is even talk of moving Beltran into the 2 hole to get him out of the funk he's been in all season. That would move David or Ryan into the clean-up spot, and have the other in the 3 hole. Easley has been everything Castillo hasn't been, healthy and productive in the field and at the plate.

Although the offense is becoming the force that it should have been, there hasn't been the consistent winning that should follow the hitting. Santana appears snake bit. His last 6 starts he's only gotten 12 runs in support of his efforts. If the Mets can get the offense to show up EVERYDAY of EVERY INNING, maybe they can put some pressure on the Phillies. The Mets need to get a winning streak going and get some momentum for the second half of the season. As of today they stand 4.5 games behind Phillie. If they can win the next 2 games they'll be breathing down the Phillies neck and give them something to think about over the break. After Phillie the Mets have the Giants and the Rockies. They should be able to win 4 out of those 6 games and maybe sweep both of them.

The pitching has been very good if not problematic. The starters have done their jobs and have been keeping the runs allowed to a minimum. The bull-pen has been good, great, or maddening depending on the pitcher and the situation. Heilman throws one pitch last night and strikes out Howard, but gave up critical hits against St. Louis. Smith and Feliciano have been mostly good, but have had their bad moments too. The 8-7 lose to the Cardinals should have been a win, but the bull-pen failed. Muniz has had his shutdown innings, but gave up the walk-off hit Wednesday. One thing that has continued is the practice of waiting on the mound for the reliever to come into the game. I like the starter handing the ball off to the reliever. It's a way of keeping everyone on the same page and it's like passing the baton in a track meet. It helps to build team work and unity. Two things every team needs to be successful.

If the Mets can keep Ollie focused today and get 7 strong innings from him, it will go a long way to calming all our nerves. Ollie has great stuff, but seems to never know what he's doing from one pitch to the next. The new pitching coach Dan Warthen has started working more with Ollie and has some results to show for it. Perez isn't flying out all over the mound and his velocity has back were it should be. If Perez pitches today like he did against the Yankees, it could be a long day for the Phillies.