Mets: A Team of Platoons

Besides David Wright and Carlos Beltran, I think every other position for the New York Mets has a platoon going on. Jose Reyes would ordinarily not be platooning, but his injury has added him into the mix.

Even though beating the Washington Nationals is not a big deal, the Mets are playing impressive baseball with the MASH unit they have going on.

We have a guy who has never played first base before playing first, a guy with one leg playing second, a nobody playing shortstop, two guys who did not play practically the entire season last year playing right, a 40-year-old who was dropped by his former employer earlier this season, and two career backup catchers running the battery.

And I haven't even mentioned Jeremy Reed or Fernando Tatis yet.

But this is your 2009 Mets starting lineup at the end of May. How is this team still competing?

Simply put, the bullpen is better. J.J. Putz can be a putz out there, but for the most part, the Mets have gotten what they needed out of their bullpen. Sunday's loss to the Red Sox was an abomination, but those things happen from time to time. But this year it's not happening every time like it did last season.

The Mets have also gotten solid outings from their starters, including Tim Redding, John Maine, Livan Hernandez and, as always, Johan Santana.

So what does this show you? It shows me the Mets don't need to go out and trade the farm for a mediocre bat. If you want to make a trade for a Jason Bay or an Adrian Gonzalez, I will back you up 100 percent. But if you are trying to get Mark DeRosa or Nick Johnson, you are stupid.

Pitching is the key for this team. With Beltran, Wright, and hopefully Reyes staying healthy, this team will find ways to score runs with the knuckleheads they have out there.

Pitching, pitching, pitching—you can't ever have enough.