Still Hope for the Mets

It's been awhile since I've blogged about the Mets. Fear not, I haven't soured on them nor have I forgotten them. It's simply that there was not anything to write about. Once Carlos Beltran came back from the DL they became a boring, lifeless team. Suddenly the team that was grinding out wins with timely hitting and good base running was now swinging at everything and walking away with the bats in between their legs.

In the early part of the season, I cautioned Mets fans to be careful of setting expectations to high. After all, for every 10 game winning streak there was bound to be some tough times. It just happens that way. The only problem is that when it comes to the Mets, the hardest of times always seem to follow.

Right now my emotions change on a game to game basis. There is no such thing as blind hope. Win and it's sunshine and roses. Lose and its armagedden.

So with that in mind, a 3-1 win has got me thinking of what can still be. We are currently sitting at 59-59 with 44 games left. The next 12 come against Houston, Florida and Pittsburgh. I say we go 9-3 which would put us in a nice position for a late season run. And wouldn't you know it - we then have a three game series at Atlanta to really test us. If we can somehow get our bats going, watch out. Over the past 10 games,the Mets starters are 4-3 with a 1.43 ERA. 8 of those games counted as quality starts. Combine that with some hitting and we'll be dangerous. I know we sit 10 games out of first and 7.5 out of the Wild Card, but their are a lot of games left. We can still do this.

I'm all in again, that is until the lose again.

*******************

Can we talk about Jon Niese for a second? Dude is 7-5 with a 3.38 ERA. Over his past 10 starts, he has gone 7 innings in 6 of them. If you take away his dud on August 1 vs Arizona, his ERA in the past 10 is since the All-Star break is 1.81. Kid is dealing. Combined with Santana and Pelfrey the future is bright.

*******************

Rumor is that the Mets may try to void K-Rod's deal because he hurt himself in a non-baseball incident. Assault should not, in any way, be tolerated. But in a twisted way, maybe this will have a good ending for the team. We could definitely use that $12 million back. And hey, maybe it will even rally the team as they appear to be finally fed up with all the off-field distractions.