New York Mets Quarter Mark Report Card

With the Mets losing to the Braves on Tuesday night, they played their 40th game of the season, meaning they've played a quarter of their schedule. The Omar Minaya—led Mets have had as many ups and downs as possible.

They started the season 2-6 and it looked as if they were en route to a 100 loss season. Their pitching was terrible and both John Maine and Oliver Perez were really struggling. Then they caught fire in mid—April to go 9-1 on a home stand, tied for their best mark ever for a home stand. They won eight in a row, improved to 14-9, and for five days in late April took over first place.

Since their hot run, they have gone 5-12 and are in dead last in the NL East. Their lineup has struggled mightily all season and after they got great pitching during their hot streak, it's kind of fallen apart.

Oliver Perez was demoted to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness and Jon Niese is out with another hamstring injury. The Mets are 19-21 and are on pace to go 77-85.

So after the summary of the first 40 games, it's time to hand out grades to each and every Mets player. This is your New York Mets quarter way point report card.

Ike Davis- First Base

After being called up on April 19 to take over at first base for the ineffective Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis, Ike Davis has filled in nicely for a rookie. He's batting just around .270 and has shown some flashes of brilliance at first base. None more than his three rail—flipping catches at Citi Field. He's still having problems catching up to the low breaking stuff but he's done just fine for what the Mets have wanted. Grade: B+

Luis Castillo- Second Base

Luis Castillo has been below average this season at the plate. After hitting .302 last season, he's down to .257 this season and his balky knees are preventing him from making plays to his right and playing day games after night games. His strikeouts are down which is typical Castillo but he could be hitting better out of the two spot in the lineup. Grade: C

David Wright- Third Base

What in the world has happened to David Wright? Is he half the guy he was from 2005-2008? Although his power is back (on the road), his strikeouts are astronomically high. With three more on Tuesday, Wright is now up to 55, a pace to tie Mark Reynolds' all—time most 223 in a season. He even lost the game for the Mets on Tuesday with a game—ending error. Wright is all screwed up right now, and it's hard to believe how bad he's playing. Grade: C+

Jose Reyes- Shortstop

It's been a whirlwind of a season for Jose Reyes. He missed the first four games recovering from a spring training thyroid condition and he hasn't ever gotten into a groove yet. On April 23, he was moved down to third in the batting order and wasn't comfortable, so then he was moved back to lead off last weekend. He's hitting way too many balls in the air and he's only batting .221 on the season with no home runs. Grade: D

Jason Bay- Left Field

If you look up the word "bust" in the dictionary, you just may see a picture of Jason Bay beside it. Guess how many home runs he has a quarter of the way through this season. If you guessed one, then you won the jackpot. How can Jason Bay have one home run through 40 games? He's on pace for four home runs all season. He also only has 16 RBI which is a pace for 65. He's off to one of the worst starts I've ever seen for a player of his caliber. Grade: F

Angel Pagan- Center Field

Angel Pagan has always been a reliable bat in his short time with the Mets. It's two things that always concern you. Health and focus. So far, he's driving in clutch runs, he's stayed healthy and he hasn't had to many lapses in the field or on the base paths. By the way, he's filling in for Carlos Beltran and batting all over the place in the batting order. Not too shabby. Grade: B

Jeff Francoeur- Right Field

After getting off to a sizzling start this season, Jeff Francoeur has been downright awful. He did have a home run on Tuesday night, after not starting two consecutive games, and maybe that'll get him going, but Francoeur has swung—and—miss at too many pitches and has a very long swing. He's a big part of the Mets' clubhouse, but it's what you do at the plate that counts. Grade: D+

Catcher- Rod Barajas

Where would the Mets be without Rod Barajas? He has been the team's offensive MVP thus far, as he leads the club in home runs with nine and has driven in 22 runs from the eighth spot in the lineup. He's had a number of clutch hits including a walk—off home run and has been a great pickup for Omar Minaya. Grade: A-

Johan Santana- Starting Pitcher

Johan Santana has either been great or below average in games he's started this season. In five starts, he's allowed one earned run or less and he's allowed a ton of runs in his others, including nine in one game against the Phillies. Santana's gotten the job done for the most part and is the least of the Mets' rotation problems. Grade: B-

Mike Pelfrey- Starting Pitcher

Pelfrey got off to one of the greatest starts in Mets history. He tied Nolan Ryan for the lowest April ERA at 0.69, won four games and even saved a game in the 20th inning in April. He got off to a rocky start in May, starting in a game against Roy Halladay and the Phillies. He rebounded on Monday to pitch a great game when the Mets needed him most. Pelfrey has matured and looks primed for a big season as he's 5-1. Grade: B

John Maine- Starting Pitcher

After an awful beginning to his season, where he gave up eight runs in a game in Colorado in April, Maine found himself just when the Mets were about to pull the plug. He had a string of solid starts starting in late April and although his last one wasn't so great, he's at least put himself in position to succeed unlike Oliver Perez. Grade: C-

Jon Niese- Starting Pitcher

Niese entered the season as the number three starter believe it or not. For the most part, he's been pretty consistent although his hits—to—innings pitched ratio is extremely high. He showed that he can be dominant in a game in Philadelphia against a tough lineup in a bandbox, but also has had some rougher outings. Niese has also given up his share of home runs. Then on Sunday, he re—aggravated his right hamstring, and there's no timetable for his return. Grade: C

Oliver Perez- Starting Pitcher

Oliver Perez may go down as the biggest bust in Mets history. There are a lot of candidates but how worse can you be? After signing a 3-year, $36 million deal two off—seasons ago, Perez has done nothing but "get hurt" and pitch poorly. Nothing has changed this season. He's already been pulled from the rotation and refuses to work out his problems in the Minors, as he's taking up a valuable roster spot. Oliver Perez is the definition of a clown. Grade: F

Bullpen

The Mets bullpen was one of the most dominant in all of Major League Baseball in April. As time went along, Jerry Manuel started overusing his relievers. Now, it's starting to bite him. Closer Francisco Rodriguez has not been dominant, and both Fernando Nieve and Pedro Feliciano are starting to falter. Due to Oliver Perez's clown act, the most valuable reliever in their bullpen, Hisanori Takahashi, has been moved into the starting rotation. The bullpen can still be relied upon, but it's getting a little shaky. Grade: B

Bench

The Mets' bench has been absolutely atrocious. They already designated their prime left—handed pinch—hitter Frank Catalanotto for assignment and Gary Matthews Jr. hasn't gotten a big hit all season. Fernando Tatis is hardly ever used anymore and the recently called—up Chris Carter is actually starting games instead. The bench is a huge weakness for this team right now. Grade: F

Jerry Manuel- Manager

Jerry Manuel has not been given a whole lot of pitching. His hitting has been flat all season long. What he hasn't managed well is the bullpen and his batting order. He's already seemingly burned out his two setup relievers and over the last week has made very curious decisions with his lineup, fooling around with the middle of the order. It's hard to judge Manuel based on what he's been given, but he could be doing better. Grade: C

Omar Minaya- General Manager

The in—season job of a general manager is to make the right roster moves. So far, Minaya has done an average job of that. He called up Jenrry Mejia when he should be starting games at Double-A Binghamton. He cut Frank Catalanotto way too soon and he's kept Gary Matthews Jr. around way too long. He's very much on the hot seat and may not be around for the half way mark report card. Grade: C