Mets Midway

Mets Midway Report

Lets be honest...something Mets fans have gotten ridiculously good through the course of time. NO ONE, expected them to be sitting in the position they are in now, at this juncture in the season. If you are telling people you did, you’re a liar. Personally, I thought they would be competitive and better than the pundits and chris russo had given them credit for in the beginning of the season. But I did not expect them to be within striking distance of first place, and a LEGITIMATE playoff contender. The Mets have played with an energy and tenacity that we have not seen since the 2006-2007 years. Every time it seems like its going to go horribly wrong, re-confirming our greatest and stereotypical Mets fears, they rise from the depths and get on another roll.

Not to say the Mets are a great team, they’re not. They fizzled away against the Yankees, they can’t seem to beat the abysmal Cubbies...they still don’t hit for enough power and their “revamped” bullpen is a colossal joke (4.94 ERA is highest in majors) and their fielding is atrocious and Jason Bay is still on the payroll. (Actually his absence is a legitimate contribution to the Mets success...the mets have sizzled this year with 2 outs and runners on...situations like this have caused Bay to breakout with an allergic reaction in the batters box)  Put all that shit aside though...The Mets are contenders.

There are a great number of reasons for this but Let me throw 5 names out there...David Wright, R.A. Dickey, Johan Santana, Terry Collins and Dave Hudgens....Who is Dave Hudgens you may wonder. He’s the Mets hitting coach and I (as well as my man TC) credit him with the Mets ability to put runs on the board this season. Despite their lack of power, they are working counts extremely efficiently, balancing selective and aggressive hitting impeccably and make EVERY SINGLE AT-BAT COUNT!

David Wright is having an MVP season. This notion hasn’t crossed my mind since he was first rockin the Orange and Blue years ago. He is more relaxed at the plate, striking out less and hitting as clutch as ever and has carried this offense through the thick and thin of this season.

R.A. Dickey has been an aberration. He is having (half-way through) one of the greatest season’s a Mets pitcher has ever had. If he keeps this up, he is in a Seaver-Gooden type of class in terms of single season performances. All the more, he is doing it as an old man who throws the most effective and baffling knuckleball in the history of baseball. I actually think he will have a better second half because I think he has begun to command his knuckler more than it has commanded him....also Tony La Russa is a rotten fungus covered scrotum for not starting Dickey in the all-star game...but i’ll take A Cy Young award instead thanks.

Santana is another reason. Its cliché but his presence, just the mere fact that he’s stayed healthy and pitched very well is an undervalued morale boost for this team. He has had his moments where his age and diminished abilities have shown but he is still an elite pitcher. Never more evident than when he pitched not only the first no-hitter in Mets history. It was one of those moments that you’ll never forget no matter where you watched it. (Actually I didn’t watch it live because im in the fucking desert in Abu Dhabi right now so the SNY replays had to do but they still brought tears to my eyes.) 

Finally, Terry Collins has been a godsend. He really has. He has these guys playing so fucking hard, they want to come to the ballpark every day, they truly believe in themselves, the team and their manager. He has adapted his balls-to-the-wall, fiery coaching style to a more player friends but still extremely intense style. He has made a few technical head scratchers this year in the way he’s handled some of the pitching but, the Mets bullpen usually makes all their managers look stupid anyways. He deserves to be locked up for a long term contract as much as any manager in baseball.

Others have contributed to the success. Daniel Murphy has shown signs of greatness and his fielding has improved. Ike dragged us through one of the worst slumps I’ve ever seen but now he’s fucking killing the ball. Ruben Tejada has honestly made me forget about Jose Reyes. No he’s not the flashy, speedy, can’t-miss dynamo that Reyes is, but he’s been a more consistent hitter and a solid fielder. Duda’s power potential is exciting, although he looks like a Clydesdale horse with a glove in the outfield. Niese has shown legitimate signs of taking the next step (I thought he had actually taken it until that last Chicago game) The rest of the Mets, mostly home-grown guys, have all contributed in a positive way and not to many (minus all of the bullpen) have you wondering what the hell their doing on the club. Turner and Nieuwenhuis have had clutch hits, Hairston has crushed lefties. Thole has been solid as usual and Valdespin brings a punk swag to the club that makes for good entertainment.

I think moves have to be made for them to be real contenders, but that’s what real contenders do anyways. Make the necessary adjustments to make that next push. Barring any horrible injury I think this team’s resilience carries them to one of the wild-card spots and finally back to October baseball. CGS on that.