I know I typically post my own brand of childish humor on my blog, but there is something going on these days that's making it hard for me to smile, much less laugh. I am of course referring to the painfully uninspired play of my beloved New York Mets. So for today, I'm removing my "toilet humorist" hat in favor of my sports journalist hat. Here goes...
When the season began, Met fans knew our team was far from perfect. Inexperience in left field. Reclamation projects in the starting rotation. Questionable production in right field and at second base. But all those things aside, we liked out chances. Every team in the division had flaws, and ours was a team that only missed the playoffs last year by one game. Most fans thought our new bullpen alone would result in 5 or 10 more wins - more if you look at the twenty-some odd games the pen cost us last year - and, just like that, we're in position to win the East.
Yet here we are, 21 games into the season, and these Mets look suspiciously like the team that imploded down the stretch the last two seasons. Citi Field has been open for business less than a month, yet it seems to have inherited two years worth of ghosts. The home team is 9-12, and hasn't been more than a game over .500 since they won on Opening Day. Some of the question marks have been answered with emphatic exclamation points, like Luis Castillo running well and batting .370. Or Ryan Church hitting .313 and showing no aftereffects from two scary concussions suffered in '08. Yet even with two holes seemingly filled, others appear to take their place.
David Wright has been so woefully inept at the plate this year that the unthinkable has happened - the boo birds have come calling for him. The kid who every fan loved; every dad wished their son would emulate; every mom wished their daughter would bring home to meet the folks. And now he's the scourge of the media, being called out on the back page for, well, being called out looking on the diamond. The painful truth may be that Wright has always been something of a stat compiler. He's had his clutch hits, but there have also been far too many instances, particularly in the last few weeks, where he has come up small. His numbers will be there when the season ends. His baseball card will be filled with triple digit numbers and all sorts of pretty stats, but unless he starts getting the kinds of hits that change games - and in turn, the fortunes of his team - his teflon coating will continue to peel off.
As for the pitching, the new bullpen has been as advertised, at least given the low number of late game leads they've been asked to protect so far. There have been some hiccups from the likes of Sean Green and J.J. Putz, but they aren't going to be perfect every day. And the way this team is supposed to work, they shouldn't need to be. In the rotation, Johan Santana has been All-World, proving to be every bit the player the Mets surrendered multiple players and millions of dollar to acquire. Just imagine where they'd be without him. It's the rest of the rotation that is a mess. All the excuses are there: injury; coming back from injury; the WBC messing with spring training. Whatever the case, the bottom line is that as of this moment, this rotation is not very good. It's possible - even likely - that the best is still to come. That a little rest has done Mike Pelfrey some good. That John Maine is just now feeling like the 15 game winner he was in 2007. That Oliver Perez will even out the "Good Ollie/Bad Ollie" ratio as he rounds into shape. But this is New York, with it's impatient fans and dogged media who expect more from a team with a huge payroll and a brand new multi-million dollar stadium. The bottom line is, it's not too early to worry, and there's is much to worry about.
All of this begs the question, "What now?" Any armchair GM can sit there and point out what isn't working. I actually have some suggestions for the folks at Citi Field that I hope will turn their dugout dances from Heimlichs to high-fives.
The first order of business is the manager. My suggested course of action here is no action at all. Jerry Manuel hasn't been the reason the team is underperforming, and I think his demeanor and accessibility does wonders for keeping the press off the players' backs. Jerry is always good for a quote or a one-liner ("I'm a Gangsta"), and I think guys like Wright or Daniel "is it a ball or a hand grenade" Murphy would be getting tougher treatment if Jerry wasn't shielding them. Plus, it's obvious that guys like Delgado, Beltran, Reyes and Castillo seem more comfortable and capable on the field under Manuel than they ever did under Willie Randolph.
Unfortunately, the move I'd most like to see the Mets make would require a time machine. I said this in November and December and January and I'll say it now. No player made more sense for this team than Manny Ramirez. There's no question he comes with baggage and is something of a complete nut bar (think the illegitimate love child of an Almond Joy and a Snickers). But this is a team desperately in need of a straw to stir the drink. They are listless and flat at times. Even their spark plug Jose Reyes can occasionally lose his fire surrounded by a lineup of luke warm personalities. There are too many Roger Dorns and not enough Jake Taylors and Ricky Vaughns on this team. Manny would have solved that, and brought his .320, 35, 120 line along for the ride.
The first real move I'd consider is not just shortening the leash on Oliver Perez, but eliminating his margin for error completely. If both of his next two starts aren't above average, Perez has to be pulled from the rotation and sent to either the DL, the minors, or extended spring training. If Chien-Ming Wang can stomach it despite being a two-time 19-game winner, the lesser-accomplished Ollie better follow suit. His problems are apparent, as are their cause. No player is more in need of regimen and precise form than Perez. If they had to do it over again, the Mets surely would have prohibited him from participating in the World Baseball Classic, where short outings and sporadic use threw his entire spring preparation into a funk. When he's not "just right," Ollie can be oh so wrong, and these days, that's the pitcher the Mets are getting for their 30+ million. In short: memo to Mr. Perez...shape up or ship out.
Another move I'd like to see given a chance is moving Wright up to the second spot in the order. Much like the Perez move, I'd hope and expect that it would not a permanent switch, but rather a temporary jump start. Wright's swing has gotten long and he's starting to get into his own head at the plate. By batting second, Wright would be forced to think less and just play. Move a runner over, see pitches, get a quality at bat even if you don't hit it 450 feet. Plus, he'd certainly see more fastballs with Jose Reyes on base than he ever will with Carlos Delgado crazy glued to the bag. In turn, you can experiment with Daniel Murphy batting third. Right now, he doesn't have the pop for such a run-producing spot, but perhaps being slotted between two of the teams best sluggers will allow him to approach his at-bats differently and learn how to drive the ball more. Again, not something I'd suggest for the whole summer, but more of a way to shake two hitters up a bit with one move.
Lastly, I'd do something, anything, just to shake the team out of it's doldrums. Have a singing contest on a team flight. Have everyone show up for early BP and surprise them by starting a giant water balloon fight. Hire a pre-game stripper (what's Anna Benson up to these days, anyway?). Just find some way to remind these guys that they are playing a game and that most of them are really quite good at it.
Do I honestly think any of these things will happen? I don't know. The Wright thing seems far-fetched, even though I love the idea of it. Odds are he's more likely to wake up one day in the next week or so and go 3-for-4 with a homer and suddenly everyone will think he's cured. Hopefully, he will be. The Perez thing is a more realistic option. Stories are already coming out that Jerry has issued Ollie something of an ultimatum. As for the "have more fun" edict, it seems odd that I even have to tell millionaires who play ball for a living to loosen up.
Whatever the case, the next few weeks will go a long way towards determining what kind of season these Mets have. They play ten of their next thirteen games against the Braves and Phils before flying cross country to face the Giants and the first place, Manny-fied Dodgers. It may be too early to say it's getting late, but it's also way too late to say it's still early. So if this team wants to deliver on the promise we all saw in our February dreams, the time is now.
9 months ago
