New York Mets: First Week In Review

The opening week of the season for the Mets has been a mixed bag, and it shows in their 3-3 record. Their pitching was sometimes good, sometimes bad. Their hitting was sometimes good, sometimes bad. Their fielding was sometimes good, sometimes bad.

The Met's starting rotation is about what you’d expect. Johan Santana has only given up one earned run in his two starts.

Mike Pelfrey got rocked in his first inning of work, but then threw well enough for the team to win.

Oliver Perez was an absolute disaster, which only means he’ll probably toss a shutout in his second start.

John Maine was looking for all the world like his start would also be a disaster (especially after Gary Cohen jinxed him by raving about how good he looked after the first two batters he faced only to see a home run soar out of the park before the announcer could finish his sentence), but he settled in and only let up two runs.

And Livan Hernandez was surprisingly great. He may end up being the team’s second best starter.

The bullpen has been decent. Frankie Rodriguez is two for two in saves, and had to enter the game in a non-save situation on Saturday to help secure the win. It’s good to know he doesn’t suffer from Billy Wagner Disease—coming in when it’s not a save situation and being unprepared, which is followed by a meltdown and an excuse about not having enough adrenaline.

Everybody else has been doing their job, though Pedro Feliciano is sporting an 11.57 ERA.

The offense is just as likely to pound out runs as it is to leave a small village out on the bases. Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran are off to great starts, and Ryan Church is doing his best to keep Gary Sheffield on the bench (where he belongs).

When Brian Schneider and Luis Castillo conribute, it really stretches out the lineup, but if they go on to have poor seasons, that bottom third of the order may be a killer.

The team defense has been mediocre so far. They’ve committed six errors in six games. And Daniel Murphy’s dropped ball yesterday cost them the game. Errors happen, but they shouldn’t on a routine can of corn.

The Mets lost one game due to bad starting pitching, one game because they left too many men on base, and one game due to shoddy fielding. I hope this doesn’t become a trend, where they’re finding ways to lose instead of overcoming a game’s deficiency and pulling out a win.

Week one is over, and they’re a .500 team. Hopefully the opening of Citi Field will inspire them to tighten up their game and start winning consistently.