Any series loss to the Yankees is disappointing, I’ll admit. But things have to be kept in perspective with regard to what we saw from the Mets this week. The Subway Series is something that is especially important to the Mets, as it’s a chance to take a swipe at the “arrogant big brother,” the “Evil Empire.”
But having already won the previous series against the Yanks, we’ve got to be content with a split in this year’s Subway Series, considering the pre-season expectations.
On the road, the Mets went and swept two really bad teams. Now, while the Orioles and Indians are bad, you can never expect two sweeps on the road, much less treat it as “taking care of business.” A really good team does “take care of business” in that way, not just an average team.
If you told me last week that the Mets would go 7-2, I would have signed for that immediately. And we got it. Sure, two straight losses to the Yankees with arguably our two best on the mound doesn’t make us happy, but two series sweeps in a row is nothing short of great.
Now, you go into two series against two good teams this week. And you want to go 4-2. But I still think that 3-3 is acceptable against two very strong NL teams.
The Mets are exceeding expectations, and I don’t think they NEED to continue this hot streak. Playing consistently is the most important part of being a good baseball team. At 39-30, you just want to keep playing .550 ball until the All-Star Break.
Then, the Mets can add some help-a starter, maybe a late reliever-to assure continued success. When Carlos Beltran comes back, they will have a good problem on their hands.
On that problem, I’m really starting to think that the Mets should, instead of benching one guy, go to a four-man rotation in the outfield. The reason is this: Jason Bay is easily the Mets’ most disappointing starter, and probably their worst all-around outfielder. I know he can get on one of those tears he has gone on so many times in his career. But while he is playing better than your average left fielder, he’s not good enough.
Since I know the Mets won’t take away all his playing time due to the possibility of a hot streak and due to the sum of money he’s being paid, I believe that as they ease Beltran in, they should take away some time from each guy. You can’t bench Pagan, he’s proved that over the past season-plus. Francoeur has gotten back to his general norm, and is great in the outfield. So in this sort of bind, this solution is the best “compromise.” If Beltran becomes his normal self and can play every day, then you cross that bridge when you come to it.
Finally, I want to address the format of this blog. It’s become a little journalistic, which is something I have moved towards, but I’m going to try to gear it back towards our “fan perspective” that we try for.
Let’s go Mets!
