An Open Letter to New York Mets Starter Tim Redding

Dear Tim Redding,

Tonight, you will be thrown into the fire. You are coming off possibly your best start of the season when you held the Nationals at bay for six solid innings, but there are still many doubters in New York.

Apparently, one solid start against the Nationals is not enough to gain the trust of New Yorkers everywhere. And truthfully, I think that is completely justified.

A lot of people think the Mets made a mistake when they signed you. The barrage of fans who wanted to see a Pedro Martinez reunion in New York never really seemed to be on your side, and we all know you worked your backside off to get back on the mound and compete.

We have already seen one guy signed who couldn’t get the job done in Freddy Garcia. Are you going to be any different than him?

Frankly, I am not so sure.

Thus far, you have looked like you are part of the crap shoot of players who were thrown out there because of injury concerns over the past few seasons.

Guys like Jeremi Gonzalez, Jose Lima, Brandon Knight, and others come to mind when you pitch, and to be honest, I think you are better than all of them.

You won 10 games as a member of the Nationals. That is something to be commended.

But nobody in New York cares what you have done in the past. We like to go by a “What have you done for me lately?” philosophy.

Tonight, you are going to have your chance to truly be accepted by the New York faithful. You will go to battle with perhaps the toughest lineup in the National League in the Philadelphia Phillies.

Surprisingly to me, this is a team you have had success against. You are 5-3 with a 3.29 ERA in 11 starts and the Phillies are hitting just .215 against you.

It is time for you to get win No. 6, giving the Mets a feeling of momentum heading into their weekend series with the crosstown Yankees.

Do you have the guts? I am daring you right now to not let failure be an option.

The Mets’ bullpen was used heavily last night, so they could do with a quality start. We all know Pedro Feliciano will be in the game at some point, but Mets’ fans would love to see you put up zeroes as the batters take their swings against Jamie Moyer.

Time to step it up big, Tim, and maybe New York will finally accept you as one of its own.