10 Keys to the New York Mets Keeping Pace in the NL East in June

The New York Mets have started off the 2012 season in surprising fashion, compiling a 27-22 record through 49 games, in a season that they were supposed to fall to last in the National League is before April was out.

Fortunately for Mets' faithful, that has not been the case, and Terry Collins' boys are overachieving a little less than one-third of the way through the season.

The Mets are tied with the Miami Marlins for second in the division, and if they're going to keep pace in June, they'll have to do a bunch of things.

Here are 10 things that the team needs to do to keep pace.

Honorable Mention: Cut Manny Acosta

This one is a bit of a joke, but I really don't understand why this hasn't happened yet. Manny Acosta has an 11.86 ERA this season and yesterday afternoon's game should be the final straw.

This guy comes in a serves up meatball after meatball. He's the captain of the arson squad. When he comes in he just throws more gasoline onto the fire instead of putting it out.

He doesn't even look like he cares about what results he gets, he just takes the mound and throws some batting practice to the other team.

Terry Collins looked like he was at his wits end as he walked demonstratively to the mound to pull Acosta in the top of the ninth yesterday.

The good news is that it's happening.

Now onto the more important things the Mets must do.

Get Ruben Tejada Back

Reports are out that Ruben Tejada will be activated from the disabled list sometime this week against the St. Louis Cardinals. That's great news, as Tejada is a spark in the Mets' lineup, but I'd hate to see him activated too early, only to suffer a setback.

A setback would be even more of a problem now that Justin Turner has been placed on the disabled list after his nasty fall (or whatever you want to call that) while going to back first base in yesterday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Before the injury, Tejada had a .308 average and a .362 on-base percentage at the top of the order. He already socked 10 doubles in 27 games and it looked as though he turned the corner both offensively and defensively.

He was on pace for around 100 runs before he went down, and the Mets are going to need him to pick up right where he left off if they want to remain in the Wild Card conversation at the end of June.

Keep Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the Lineup

Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been a pleasant surprise for the Mets this season and has shown the ability to play all three positions in the outfield. He's extremely adept at tracking balls down in center field and looks graceful when he does it.

My only qualm is that he and Lucas Duda start communicating a bit more on balls hit to right center before we see a huge collision between two of the biggest guys on the team.

Captain Kirk's average has tailed off a bit since the middle of May, but he looks pretty comfortable at the plate and nobody realistically expected him to hit in the .320s anyway.

He's been playing more left field since Andres Torres came back, and I'd hate to see him lose playing time when (if) Jason Bay returns from his injury. I don't know what the plan is, as mum has been the word from Terry Collins regarding the situation, but I'm going to write a personal letter to Collins if he benches "The Flying Dutchman" for Bay (just kidding, but it's not such a bad idea).

Keep Giving Mike Baxter Playing Time

I guess it's better to have too many players to juggle around than too few. That's what's going on with the Mets right now, as Terry Collins finds himself with four players to play three position (five players once Jason Bay returns).

Lucas Duda's spot in right field is secure, but that's about all we know for sure. Andres Torres has quietly slipped below the Mendoza Line and is no hitting .197. Collins hasn't made a decision publicly about Nieuwenhuis' future in the outfield. TC basically has no choice but to play Bay given his massive contract (although I'd like to see him on the bench).

That leaves Mike Baxter, the 27-year-old outfielder who Gary Cohen affectionately calls "The Whitestone Kid." Gary, Keith and Ron love this guy. I love this guy. Most of you reading this probably do to.

There's no reason not to, as he's tearing the cover off the ball, posting a .345 average in 58 at-bats. Granted that's a small sample, but you have to like how he plays, going all out every time he steps on the field. He's also the best pinch-hitter in baseball right now.

Collins recently said that he wants to continue to give Baxter playing time. That's going to be hard to do with all of the options. If the Mets want to keep pace in June, they need to have a starting outfield of Baxter, Nieuwenhuis and Duda, from left to right field.

Get Chris Young Back

This may be out of the Mets' control, but if they want to keep winning, they need to get an MLB-caliber No. 5 starter back in the rotation.

Mike Pelfrey wasn't all that good for the most part, but he showed improvement at times this season, and he was certainly more effective than Chris Schwinden, Jeremy Hefner or Miguel Batista.

But there's something bright out on the horizon: Chris Young is making a start at Triple-A against Columbus today.

Young had a 1.88 ERA in four starts for the Mets last season before he needed surgery. Don't expect him to come back and do that, but he's definitely going to pitch better than the three aforementioned fill-ins.

This would basically be a mid-season acquisition for the Mets, as Young should still have the ability to get major league hitters out at a consistent clip. He has a 3.74 lifetime ERA, and if he could provide the Mets with some kind of semblance of that, they're going to keep contending.

More Consistency from Jon Niese

Jon Niese has been largely inconsistent so far this season. He's had games when he's shut down the Mets' opponents (no-hit bid in his first start, none earned in his second, one earned through 7.2 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates), but he's also had games when he looks like he's so uncomfortable on the mound (yesterday, eight earned against the Toronto Blue Jays).

He just got signed to a solid contract, and I don't believe this is a case of him resting on his laurels, but he needs to live up to that contract.

He's the No. 3 starter on this team, but he's shown flashes of near-No. 1 stuff, as well as long reliever talent.

He's only 25 years old, and has plenty of time to perfect his craft in the scope of his career, but if he doesn't straighten things out soon and figure out what the problem is on some days, we're going to be biting our nails every time he starts.

Niese is an enigma, and I'm sure it's more frustrating for him than it is for the fans, and I believe he's going to fix things up and give the Mets three quality starters at the top of the rotation.

Speaking of quality starters...

The Bullpen Has to Get Right

With the exception of Tim Byrdak and Bobby Parnell, the entire bullpen has been shaky so far.

Byrdak has had a good month of May, allowing one base runner in seven innings pitched, and he'll need to continue pitching that way, as a left-handed specialist can be crucial to victory on certain occasions.

Parnell had a rough go at it yesterday and took the loss when he served up a hanging curve ball to Ty Wigginton that was promptly ripped to center for a single. However, Parnell has posted a respectable 3.05 ERA this season, and after his dominant postseason, he seems like he's finally figured it out this season.

Sandy Alderson said he was a big fan of Ramon Ramirez when the team acquired him in the Angel Pagan-Andres Torres trade, and he hasn't been too bad this season. With the exception of a handful of outings, Ramirez has shown the ability to both work out of jams and start off innings. It would be nice if his 2.25 May ERA could carry over into June.

After not allowing a run through his first 10 innings, Jon Rauch has a whopping 6.48 ERA to go with is 0-3 record in May. If the Mets don't get the exact opposite of that, he won't be trusted when the game is on the line any longer.

Frank Francisco gives me a heart attack whenever he comes in to close the game. He's been more sure-handed lately, but hasn't exactly been circa 2002-2004 Eric Gagne out there. In his last five appearances, he's allowed four men to reach base, but has kept the opposing team off the board. I would expect that his leash has gotten a little bit longer after that debacle in Miami that saw him blow back-to-back saves, but not as long as he would like it to be.

Ike Davis Needs to Perform or Be Sent Down

Ike Davis has been the primary problem in the Mets' lineup this season. He should change his jersey number to 43 because all he does is ground out to second base. Well that's not all he does, he strikes out a fair amount too.

He's been dropped to seventh in the batting order thanks to his .168 average, and rightfully so. He can't even sniff the Mendoza Line yet. He looks completely lost at the dish, and can't hit a curve ball. A lot of guys have a problem with the curve ball, but Ike's problem is that he's not getting anything but curves.

This is almost impossible to believe, but he has one more "0-fer" (27) than he has hits (26). When I started counting the "O-fers", I didn't actually believe that I would get to 27, but I did, and I can't say I'm happy about it.

If he doesn't get himself right in the next week or so, he really needs to get sent down to the minors to get out of the spotlight for a little bit, stop worrying about getting his team wins and start worrying about fixing his swing.

I don't know if it's the Valley Fever that's giving him a problem or what, but there comes a time in some careers when a player needs to eat a piece of humble pie and realize what is in his best interest. Of course the decision isn't up to him, but a trip to Buffalo could do him a lot of good.

If the Mets don't start getting consistent production out of their first baseman, it's going to be a rough four months, during which we will see a significant drop off in overall team performance.

R.A. Dickey Has to Continue Dealing

Robert Allen Dickey is looking like an All-Star caliber pitcher 10 starts into the season, boasting a 3.06 ERA after his last superb start against the San Diego Padres.

This only comes as a surprise if you haven't seen Dickey over the last couple of seasons. When he gets the knuckleball going, there's no way to hit it.

He's had his knuckleball dancing like we've never seen it dance before over the course of his last two starts, striking out 21 batters and allowing just nine base runners and one run through 14.1 innings. He's second in the league in the majors and is making opposing hitters look clueless at the plate.

The Mets have won eight of the 10 games that Dickey has started and that's no accident. They have been doing a decent job of putting runs on the board in his starts, but even when they don't, he keeps them in a position to win.

His lone loss this season came against the Atlanta Braves in the rain when he couldn't get his knuckler right, but other than that, he's let up more than two earned runs just twice.

David Wright Needs to Keep Up His Torrid Start

David Wright leads the Mets in virtually every meaningful offensive category. If they want to stay in second place through June, they're going to need him to keep up the good work.

There's no way that he's going to hit .373 for the entire season, and he has tailed off a bit as of late (0-13 in his last four games), but if he can keep getting the big hit when they need him too, they'll be alright.

He looks a lot more like the Wright of old than he did last season (obviously because of injuries). He's inside-outing balls to right field when he gets jammed, he's protecting the plate with two strikes and he's got a much better feel for the strike zone.

His fielding hasn't been a problem either, as he has committed just three errors in 44 games. He's not dropping his arm slot anymore on the throws across the diamond and his play in the field has significantly improved because of that.

I loved his reaction a couple of weeks ago when Terry Collins pulled him out of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers after D.J. Carrasco hit Ryan Braun. That shows you how badly he wants to win and how much he cares about the success of this team.

I'd like to see him hit for a little more power, as he has just five home runs thus far, but that's just being greedy.

Johan Santana Must Stay Healthy and Continue to Pitch Well

At the beginning of the season, I wrote an article that made the case for the Mets to avoid trading Johan Santana if they are still relevant late in the season.

If the Mets are going to stay relevant late into the season, Santana is going to have to keep pitching the way he's been pitching (sans a couple of starts).

In his latest masterpiece, Santana notched a complete game shutout over the Pittsburgh Pirates that saw him need only 96 pitches to sit down 27 batters. He faced three batters over the minimum and looked utterly dominant in this performance that turned back the clock.

Overall, he's been doing a fantastic job of using a difference in speed between his fastball and his change up to keep hitters off balance. He looks like pre-injury Santana on the mound and is radiating confidence because of his success.

This is the most important of all the things that the Mets need to do to keep pace in June. If Santana keeps performing great, the rest of the staff is going to follow his lead. If the rest of the staff follows his lead, it will become infectious for the hitters in the lineup.

This is a relatively young team, and once they get some confidence (even more than they have now), they'll be able to get on a roll and stay on a roll.