I said on Friday I would have been happy with one win this weekend. I’m ecstatic that the Mets actually won the series. Considering the way the Diamondbacks have dominated play so far in this young season, I really did not feel too confident going in. The Mets certainly played with some bounce in their step. Perhaps the shellacking they took from the Pirates helped wake up some of these players. Maybe it was Billy Wagner’s open criticism of Oliver Perez that did it. Who knows but I hope they continue to play in LA the way they did in the desert.

Will the real Oliver Perez please stand up. Okay, suppose it was Wagner’s rant on Perez that fired up the team. Will Perez pitch the way he is capable of tonight or will he be up to 74 pitches by the third inning? The one thing I have noticed in regards to all Mets pitching this season is that batters are waiting. They are not going after pitches out of the strike zone. In other words, the opposition has adjusted. Mets pitchers need to now react to that adjustment by adjusting themselves. This is particularly noticeable with John Maine and Perez who tend to throw outside the strike zone a lot. In the past players were fooled and swung at pitches that would have been called balls. This year, the hitters are not doing that.

Why are Mets pitchers not changing their approach quicker? Isn’t Rick Peterson on top of this? Perhaps this is why there are rumblings that Peterson could go if the pitching doesn’t shape up. Baseball players, including pitchers, do what they do very well. Not many are Rhodes scholars, they don’t need to be. Peterson on the other hand describes pitching in a similar way NASA scientists explain the trajectory required to land an unmanned craft on Mars. That’s literally rocket science, pitching isn’t. With Rick’s high brow techno speak, can he communicate effectively with his pitchers?

This is not to say that Rick is not a valuable member or the Mets organization, he is. But one gets the feeling the Mets are looking for a scapegoat and if pitching is the problem, they’re not going to fire Howard Johnson.  Peterson has had success with Oakland and with the Mets too. He helped Tom Glavine redevelop himself. He’s also helped Billy Wagner and Mike Pelfrey. But at what point do the Mets break down pitching wise because no starter can get into the 7th inning? This is what killed the Mets last season and frankly is a chronic problem in baseball. The game has now become one in which many decisions are determined by the bullpen. Folks, it shouldn’t be this way. Of course the bullpen is important but resting the bullpen is even more important. The Mets will not win the division if they are using 4 or 5 pitchers every evening.

Even with this weekend series with Arizona where the Mets won 2 of 3, they used 4.67 pitchers per game. That cannot keep up all season. At one point a starter needs to get to the eighth inning. How about a complete game once in a while? Even Johan Santana has caught the bug. He has not gotten out of the sixth innings in two starts now. Hopefully I am ranting for nothing but one of these days a starter on the Mets staff is going to step up and pitch into the eighth or ninth inning. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if it was Perez who goes tonight against the Dodgers in LA? Stay focused Ollie, stay focused.