State Of The Union: The Week that Was for the New York Mets

If this team is truly going to be the great group they think they can be, they need to beat the teams they're supposed to beat.  They cannot play down to the level of their opponents.  This is a scary trend that needs to stop, or this team won't go anywhere.

Jorge Sosa says goodbye.

The Mets have lost a valuable long man out of the bullpen in Jorge Sosa, who was designated for assignment.  Or, at least, he used to be a valuable long man. 

Sosa has regressed significantly this season, and his last outing against the Nationals sealed his fate.  If he clears waivers, hopefully the Mets will send him down to Triple A and let him work out his problems. If he can get right, he could become a valuable part of the pen down the stretch. 

Baserunning blunders.

Thursday's game against Washington saw several boneheaded mistakes on the basepaths, all of which were inexcusable. 

Players not running out flyballs hard, not understanding the situation, and aggression on the basepaths to the point of stupidity—these types of things should not be tolerated from players of this caliber.

There's simply no excuse.  The easiest thing to do on a baseball field is run, and you should do it hard on every play.  A famous manager whose name escapes me is responsible for that quote, so I cannot take the credit, but it needs to be reiterated to this club.  Mistakes like that are a sign of complacency, and that is certainly not a good thing.

The Ugly

Aaron Heilman.

Good God.  It's just painful to watch this guy throw right now.  As a pitcher myself, I understand when you're struggling the best way to come out of it is to keep throwing, and know your manager has the confidence in you to keep going to you. 

Still, this man simply cannot be placed in a close game anymore.  He came in Wednesday night's game against the Nationals with the score tied, and surrendered four runs—three credited to him, one to Vargas—on three hits, in only a third of an inning.  Not exactly a lights-out setup man.

Heilman needs to get some work in in non-pressure situations so he can build up his confidence.  Willie should be placing him in situations where he can succeed, and starting him at the beginning of innings so he has a clean slate. 

Unless the entire pen has been used and is unavailable, he should not be the set-up man right now.  Joe Smith has been lights out, and right now he can be more than a situational righty.  Randolph's misuse of the bullpen, Heilman in particular, has been particularly bad recently.  Which brings me to...

Nationals 1, Mets 0.

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