Silver Linings from New York Mets' Series Loss to the Phillies

Despite dropping two of three games to the rival Philadelphia Phillies, all hope is not lost for the New York Mets.*

*Contingent on already having hope

In the first two games, the Mets' bats came to play. They scored seven runs in each game, including at least a five run inning in each of them. While some would argue that the hitter-friendly Citizen’s Bank Park had an impact, the truth is that there was only one home run hit in the series by the Mets. Instead the runs were coming from timely hitting with runners in scoring position.

This is a good sign for the remainder of the season, since they still have 81 games to play at monstrous Citi Field. The large dimensions will force the team to string together multiple hits in a row in order to produce runs this year. After batting only .208 with two outs and runners in scoring position as a team last season, this type of scoring is a nice change of pace for the Mets.

Another important aspect to remember is that the Mets' first two series were on the road this year. While this is not news, fans still need to remember that the team was 32-49 away from home last year. Therefore finishing .500 on a road trip in which the team faced two of the best pitchers in the game (three if you include Cole Hamels) is nothing to be ashamed about.

This can also ease some tension about the pitching problems to start the year. So far Mike Pelfrey is pitching more like last year's July (10.02 ERA) than last year's April (0.69 ERA), but don’t forget how much better he pitched at home last year than on the road. Last season at Citi Field, he posted a 10-3 record with a 2.83 ERA, as opposed to being 5-6 with a 4.95 on the road.

If Pelfrey and the rest of the rotation can turn things around at home, it will greatly improve the bullpen as well. To this point the relief pitchers are already being overworked by pitching too many innings. This is not a good sign for six games into the year.

Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, it seems that the fight is back in the New York Mets. While Thursday’s game was pretty awful in every way, Wednesday’s loss was actually very encouraging. Down 7-0 in the third inning, the team came back with seven straight runs of their own to tie the game before eventually taking the loss.

While some might see this as a wasted effort, I see it as positive sign of things to come. Anyone who has watched the Mets over the past few seasons could see the negative body language when the team fell behind early. It seemed as few on the team believed a comeback was even possible after an early deficit.

Although a manager’s impact is difficult to quantify, Terry Collins seems to be changing the culture in the clubhouse. The young players and veterans are coming together with the spirit needed to win over a 162-game season.