New York Mets: 20 Burning Questions Heading into Opening Day

Every team has questions that need answering just days before the 2012 regular season starts, but none more so than the New York Mets. If they are able to get the answers they want, this could be a team that contends for a playoff spot deep into the season.

The Mets have countless questions all throughout the organization, but here are the 20 most pressing uncertainties.

1. Can Johan Santana Stay Healthy?

After missing all of 2011 following shoulder surgery, Johan Santana will be looking to reestablish himself as one of the dominant pitchers in the league.

He's just been named the opening day starter by Terry Collins, who hopes his ace will get off on the right foot.

In 2010, prior to the injury, Santana had a stingy ERA of 2.98 in 200 innings.

He's had some encouraging outings this spring, and the team has been very careful not to rush him back, so he should be able to come back and stay healthy.

2. Will David Wright Get off to a Hot Start?

If there's one thing standing in the way of David Wright coming out of the gate hot, it's the rash of minor injuries he's suffered this spring.

His latest, a strained left abdominal muscle, doesn't seem to be bothering him too much, as he hit his first homer of the spring last Thursday.

The outfield fences have been drawn in, which can only help Wright be the player he was in 2010 (and from 2005 to 2008 as well). He's a career .300 hitter, but he needs to cut down on his strikeouts if he wants to improve his numbers.

3. Does Ike Davis Match His 2010 Output?

Ike Davis is the guy on the New York Mets that needs to produce this season if the team is to compete. If they can get 20 to 30 home runs and 90 to 100 RBI from him, they will exceed expectations for the 2012 season.

His recent valley fever diagnosis is worrisome, though, as the infection can cause chronic tiredness and flu-like symptoms. Davis, however, says he has no symptoms.

He's the key player to the Mets' 2012 campaign, and they'll be counting on him to stay healthy and rake for the entirety of the season.

4. Can Terry Collins Win with What He Has?

Terry Collins didn't get much help this season from the front office in terms of bringing in new talent, but he seems to be completely confident in what he has.

The Mets are in the process of playing "Moneyball," so Collins has been forced to make something of a roster filled with young, cheap players. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, as the team has a respectable young core capable of winning games in the future.

Collins is a great manager and backs his guys 100 percent. If he can get his guys to play at a competitive level into the dog days, he will be the talk of New York.

5. Will Lucas Duda Hit for More Power?

Lucas Duda hit just 10 home runs in 100 games last season—not exactly what you would expect of a guy who is 6'4" and 254 pounds. However, the right field fence was drawn in this offseason, which will help the big lefty increase his long ball total.

He hit .292 last season and only struck out 57 times, but expect his average to decrease while his power numbers rise. He'll most likely hit in the five-hole behind David Wright and Ike Davis, which will ensure there are guys on base in front of him to drive in.

6. Will the Starting Rotation Produce?

If you take a look at the list of the pitchers who will presumably make up the New York Mets' rotation, it's really not that frightening.

Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee all have the skills to be valuable assets to the team.

The rotation was less than mediocre in 2011, posting a 4.19 collective ERA, just 21st in the league. That was without Santana, though, as he won't do anything but decrease that number.

Consistency was prominent throughout the rotation, with Pelfrey, Gee and Dickey all staying healthy throughout the season.

If the Mets want to compete, they'll need their five starters to pitch better than their competition.

7. Can Mike Pelfrey Return to His Pre-All-Star 2010 Form?

Is there more of a head case in the entire New York Mets organization than Mike Pelfrey? 

Pelfrey pitched to the tune of a 4.74 ERA last season, 11th worst in the league for pitchers who qualified.

He thinks too much about what he is doing on the mound, then starts nipping at the corners or serving up a fat one.

He lost the ability to effectively throw his sinker in 2011, which proved extremely detrimental to his final results.

If he wants to be the pitcher he was in the first half of 2010, when it was argued that he should have been an All-Star, he'll need to get that sinker back.

8. Can Jon Niese Take a Step Forward?

Jon Niese showed signs of improvement last season but also had some disheartening outings—none more so than his final appearance on the season, in which he allowed eight runs in four innings to the Philadelphia Phillies.

He has that great curve ball as well as a slightly above-average fastball, and if he is able to stay healthy in 2012, he should take a quantum leap.

He increased his ground ball rate last season, and has spent the spring working on his change up. Adding that third pitch could be the X-factor for Niese in his third full season.

9. Will Daniel Murphy Finish in the Top 10 in Batting Average?

Before his 2011 season was cut short due to a knee injury, Daniel Murphy was hitting .320. If he got fewer than 100 more plate appearances, he would have finished fourth in the National League, behind Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp.

Of course, a lot can change over the course of 100 plate appearances, but Murphy was really hitting his stride prior to being sidelined.

He had the same OPS as Brandon Phillips, posting an .820 mark. If Murphy can be a player like Phillips, look out for him in the two-hole.

10. Will Jason Bay Ever Produce?

How terrible has it been to watch Jason Bay look like a bumbling fool at the plate for the last two seasons?

Bay, who reached the 20-home run mark in every season before coming to New York, has hit just 18 long balls in the last two seasons combined. His average sunk down to .245 in 2011, the lowest of his career.

However, the good news is that there's nowhere to go but up.

Seriously, is 15 home runs and 70 RBI too much to ask for a guy who is set to make $16 million this coming season? It's already obvious he'll never be what he was in Pittsburgh and Boston, but any inkling of an impressive performance would be enough.

This has really gotten out of hand, as well as indescribably frustrating.

11. Will the Bullpen Be Effective?

One of the few moves GM Sandy Alderson made this season was an attempt to bolster the bullpen. Alderson brought in Frank Francisco as well as Jon Rauch to help the Mets keep a lead down the stretch of games.

Francisco (who was scheduled to have an MRI on his left knee yesterday) was decent for the Toronto Blue Jays last season, converting 17 of 21 save opportunities. Rauch, also with Toronto last year, was not so good, as he saved just 11-of-16. In 2010, however, Rauch saved 21 games in Minnesota.

Tim Byrdak hopes to be ready to pitch by opening day after surgery to repair a torn meniscus, which is spectacular news for the team.

You'll also see a lot of Bobby Parnell, who tore it up down in Florida this spring, pitching 12.1 scoreless innings while only allowing five hits.

12. Can Ruben Tejada Make Us Forget About Jose Reyes?

Odds are that the answer to this question is no, as the sting of Jose Reyes bolting for Miami is still fresh in the minds of Mets fans.

You know what you're going to get out of Ruben Tejada, a vacuum at shortstop and a slap hitter at the plate.

He had a .360 OBP last season in 96 games, which would be much more valuable to the team if he could start stealing some bases. He swiped just five bags in 2011.

Andres Torres might be headed to the disabled list thanks to a strained calf, meaning Tejada could be bumped up to the leadoff spot. If that happens, it could be a make-or-break situation for Tejada, as he could either mash and take off or flop and fade into obscurity.

13. Will R.A. Dickey Match His 2011 ERA of 3.28?

R.A. Dickey did a bunch of things this offseason, such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and writing a book.

He pitched to great results last season, throwing 208 innings and posting a 3.28 ERA. Dickey also had to deal with a lingering foot injury, making his final stat line even more remarkable.

Despite the injury, Dickey threw 100-plus pitches 19 times.

When his knuckleball is on, he gets hitters to flail at pitches all over the strike zone. Just ask the NL East: Dickey didn't allow a run to the Miami Marlins in three starts, had a 2.60 ERA against the Atlanta Braves, a 3.21 mark against the Philadelphia Phillies and a 3.82 ERA against the Washington Nationals.

If Dickey can achieve the same results against the other teams in the division, he should deliver with some great outings in big games.

14. Can Dillon Gee Impress in the First Half Again?

Check out that beard. Dillon Gee added to his goatee substantially from the 2011 season.

That doesn't matter, though. The question is whether Gee will be able to start off the 2012 season the same way he did 2011.

Gee was the talk of Flushing at the beginning of last season, as he won his first seven decisions and provided Mets fans with a glimmer of hope.

Before the All-Star break, Gee won eight games and only surrendered a .222 opponent batting average. After the break, things weren't so good, though, as he had a 5.25 ERA and allowed twice as many home runs.

He will most likely be the No. 5 starter for the Mets unless Chris Young returns to take his job, so he needs to start off hot before Young is healthy enough to return.

15. Does Sandy Alderson Make Any Trades Before the Trade Deadline?

According to the New York Daily News, New York Mets' GM Sandy Alderson recently said this:

"

Ultimately, the best solution for the Mets is to build a strong core of young players who are coming through the system and can be continuously coming through the system. I think if you look at what we have now, we've got the potential for that kind of core. But it's the next generation together with some of the players that have been here longer.

"

That statement should get Mets' fans thinking about the situation. 

If David Wright starts off hot and rakes all the way up until the trade deadline, is Alderson going to ship him elsewhere for some high-quality prospects?

It's been sad to see Wright's production tail off in recent years, as he is basically the only player remaining from the 2006 team that came one hit away from reaching the World Series. He could reinvent his game in another city and the Mets could get some of that young talent that Alderson is talking about.

The same goes for Johan Santana. Will he be traded if he impresses in the first half of the season?

These are things that only time will tell.

16. Will the Citi Field Adjustments Make a Difference?

There's been plenty of chatter in New York these last few months about the changes made to the outfield walls at Citi Field.

The left field wall has been cut in half, brought down from 16 feet to eight. The Mo's Zone is gone, as the decision was made to get rid of the nook in right field.

The walls have be pulled in pretty much all over the field, which will have as much of a psychological impact on the team as it will a physical impact.

The Mets finished last in the league in home runs in 2011, hitting just 95 of them.

Will Mets hitters be able to get the team out of the doldrums when it comes to power numbers, or are these adjustments a futile effort?

17. Does Matt Harvey Get a Call-Up in the Second Half?

One of the top pitching prospects in the New York Mets farm system is Matt Harvey, the team's 2012 first-round pick.

He posted a 3.32 ERA to go with a 13-5 record in St. Lucie and Binghamton and has impressed in spring training thus far.

There could be an answer to this question, though. According to ESPN, Mets' brass insist they won't be averted to promoting Harvey to the bigs if he is the best starter in Triple-A when Terry Collins needs someone to make a few starts.

Harvey is part of a very promising young corps of pitchers, as well as the next guy on this list.

18. Are We Going to See Jeurys Familia?

The next guy on this list, Jeurys Familia, appears to be almost as ready to join the major league squad as Matt Harvey is.

He posted a 2.90 ERA last season in St. Lucie and Binghamton while striking out 132 batters. He possesses a blazing fastball and has been making an effort to integrate a curveball and a change up into his arsenal. 

His two breaking pitches aren't especially effective, though, and he will need to polish them before he can be seen as a guy who could dominate as a starter in the MLB.

Still, a 95 to 97 mph fastball is nothing to turn your nose up at.

19. Will Kirk Nieuwenhuis Eventually Get Some Starts at Center?

A lot of people in the New York Mets world are high on Kirk Nieuwenhuis and believe he will eventually steal the starting job away from Andres Torres.

The 25-year-old center fielder had an unproductive, injury-hampered spring in which he saw just 10 at-bats. He strained his oblique early on in camp and only returned to action on Thursday.

He's very injury prone and has missed time in each of the last three seasons. None of the injuries are more frightening than his July 11 surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.

In all likelihood, Nieuwenhuis won't be getting a call-up unless Andres Torres or Scott Hairston suffer injuries (but that's a huge possibility.)

20. Will the Team Compete?

Will we see another celebration like this anytime soon? 

That's the burning question in the minds of all New York Mets faithful: When will we see another division title celebration?

It probably won't be this year because the division is too stacked, but will this team keep us entertained into August? July? Will the Mets even be relevant in June?

Terry Collins is going to have these guys fighting to the bitter end. He's known for getting the best out of his players.

Signs point to the Mets not being as bad as most expect them to be, but you never know with this franchise.

We'll just have to sit tight and wait to see what happens.