New York Mets Head To Chicago, Trying To Turn Road Their Trip Around

CHICAGO-- For the New York Mets, the rest of the 2010 season will be about looking at the kids they've got. The playoffs is no longer a possibility, as they sit 10 games behind with 28 games to play.

For whatever reason other than because they're the Mets, their offense was non-existent after the All-Star break. The final nail in the coffin was losing the first three games to the Braves in Atlanta before salvaging last night's finale.

Looking forward to 2011, the Mets have brought up a bunch of kids to take a look at. They called up Jenrry Mejia, who will start tomorrow's game. They brought up Lucas Duda, who has not gotten a hit in his first two big league games. They made the trade for infielder Joaquin Arias, sending Jeff Francoeur to Texas.

It's a youth movement in Flushing, as the Mets want to either get younger or showcase young talent for possible offseason trades. But, they still have to play out the final month of the season, as it ends 30 days from today.

One thing that shouldn't get lost in the Mets disappointing season is the performance of R.A. Dickey. With another solid outing on Sunday, Dickey lowered his ERA to 2.57 in 2010.

After today's start, he will re-qualify for the ERA leaderboard, assuming he completes an inning. Right now, he ranks seventh in the NL in ERA, and who would've envisioned that? Dickey was the first player cut from camp at the end of spring training.

Although the Mets season is all but over, Dickey still has something to pitch for, and that's to solidify a spot in the Mets 2011 rotation. Right now, he's a good number five starter, and he hopes that will be a given come season's end.

He will be facing the Chicago Cubs, as the Mets open up a Labor Day weekend series in the Windy City. The Cubs this year are one of baseball's biggest disappointments, and really for a second straight season.

The Cubs enter today 20 games under .500 at 57-77, fifth in the Central and only better than the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. They've been so terrible that their manager Lou Piniella stepped down mid-season. He also had to take care of his ailing mother, but there were rumblings he would step down at season's end anyway.

The Cubs have been trading some veterans away, as they've dealt Ted Lilly and Derrek Lee just recently.

Pitching for the Cubs today will be second-year starter Randy Wells. The hefty right-hander had a good rookie season last year at the age of 26. In 27 starts, he won 12 games while posting a 3.05 ERA. He finished sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting.

This year hasn't been that great, as it's perhaps a "sophomore jinx" as they call it. Wells has made 27 starts like last season, but his wins total has decreased 50 percent as he only has six.

He's 6-12 with a 4.50 ERA, and he's allowed 15 more hits than innings pitched. Perhaps there was a reason it took him until 26 years of age to make the big leagues, and he's having a bad second year. He was drafted by the Cubs in 2002 in the 38th round, so last year may have been a fluke.

He did pitch a pretty good game though in his last start. It was a quality start againt the powerful Cincinnati Reds, as he allowed two runs in six innings, earning him his sixth win.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, who has been battling an oblique injury and hasn't played since August 26, could be back pretty soon. He took batting practice once again before last night's game and is feeling much better.

Angel Pagan entered last night's game as a defensive replacement and should return to the starting lineup today according to manager Jerry Manuel.

The Mets are 1-3 on the current 10-game road trip, and will try to turn things around starting today. They face two bad teams in the Cubs and Nationals over the next week.

R.A. Dickey this season (20 starts)
9-5, 2.57 ERA, 133.1 IP, 123 hits, 33 BB, 87 SO

Randy Wells vs. New York (April 19)
ND, 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, 2 BB, 5 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Chicago)
April 19: New York 6, Chicago 1
April 20: New York 4, Chicago 0
April 21: Chicago 9, New York 3
April 22: New York 5, Chicago 2
Mets lead series 3-1