N.Y. Mets ~ Starters in the Mist

From the desk of:   HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS:  Lack of Hitting and Poor Defense is Obscuring Some Good Starting Pitching.


I'm sure David Wright's pinkie hurts.  But it's going to kill the line-up if his little appendage takes an unforeseen twist and he misses any substantial time; whatever length of time a pinkie necessitates that is.  And with our doctors, you never know.


But even before David Wright popped his pinkie,  my idea for the line-up was this:

1) - Tejada
2) - Thole
3) - Murphy
4) - Davis
5) - WRIGHT
6) - Duda
7) - Bay
8) - Torres* DL


Now I know David Wright was on fire.  So you can pick my line-up apart all you like.  But I mention it to bring up one point that I've been tossing around since Opening Day.  I wouldn't mind seeing Daniel Murphy hitting third.  And now that Wright is out, I want to see him dropped down into the third slot even more.  Of course, all experiments are on hold for now.  We have to work in David Wright's replacement at third base.  But if I were Coach Collins, I'd be considering it.


Whatever it takes to jump-start this line-up needs to be happen quickly.  And in some cases, it's not what needs to be done.  It's more of a case of who needs to wake up.  Because what I really want to do is give the starting pitching a pat on the back.  But a lack of hitting has now obscured and distorted the reality of a second straight good start, and taints an effective first time around for the rotation.


As far as I'm concerned, Dillon Gee only spotted the Nats with one, then two runs over the first five innings, while the Mets' Offense credited his ledger with zero runs before the bottom fell out.  And likewise with Johan Santana's second start.  The Mets didn't even score in Wednesday's game.


So, circling back to Johan means the rotation had made it once around.  And in all six starts to the begin the season, each and every pitcher has offered up a representative start; which shouldn't be confused with a quality start.


We didn't necessarily foresee these types of hitting woes.  We knew the defense was going to be a problem.  And, the Bullpen is imploding again.  But the starting rotation?  That's something we fretted about all Winter.  There are now the team's strength.  But it's getting lost on the lack of hitting and some really poor defense lately.





Mike.BTB