Perhaps it’s not a hangover from 2007 but it is the same symptoms that caused the collapse. Maybe the collapse was not a product of trying to hard or choking under pressure. Maybe the collapse occurred from less than stellar talent. Yes it’s early but the last two games against the Brewers have exposed the flaws of this Mets team.
Flaw number one: The starting pitching. The main problem is the number of innings. No pitcher except for Santana has been able to go into the 7th inning. Nelson Figueroa who pitched great on Friday night gave a solid six innings but again, that’s still 3 innings the bullpen has to cover.
Flaw number two: The bullpen. The bullpen collectively has demonstrated that they cannot hold a lead or keep the game close. After Perez imploded again yesterday, Sosa came in and promptly gave up the lead.
Flaw number three: The offense. You can’t expect to win when your clean up hitter has 3 RBI after 11 games. David Wright has finally started to hit homeruns but he left 5 runners on base yesterday. The Mets batters hit into 5 double plays. One of them was of the tough luck variety when Carlos Beltran smoked a ball into Prince Fielder’s glove for the unassisted double play.
What’s going right? The lower part of the order is producing. What a shame. Had the big hitters been doing what they are paid to do, we likely would be singing a different tune today. The other good news is that the Mets are not the only team struggling.
Willie Randolph is finally showing his frustration. Some of his quotes after yesterday’s game show an angered manager. He said things like “Too many opportunities wasted…What did we hit into 5 double plays…This is a whole give away game and we’ve got to do better than that”. Obviously he is upset about his team’s play. And so are the fans.
Something happened to the killer instinct this team had in 2006. The Mets today are not really that much different than the team that won the Eastern Division title that season and came within a game of the World Series. We saw signs of that killer instinct last season but it began to dwindle. This year, so far, it flat out is not present. And even the acquisition of Johan Santana hasn’t helped. If anything, Santana has been simply mortal in his three starts.
It’s still early and the Mets are right in the pack. Hopefully soon, they can get on track and start to do what their talent is capable of. Until then, they will hear the groans from the stands. The Mets are off today. Each one of them should spend a little while looking into the mirror.
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