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.
