The Return of Mets Monday!

Mets Monday is a thing I used to do on my old blog where I'd talk about the Mets... you guessed it... every Monday, and with baseball season well underway, I thought I'd pick up where I left off with it a few years ago.

After the first two weeks of the season, it felt like someone needed to etch Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here above the entrance to Citi Field. Things were going so bad for this team that they lost the first four series of the season, which had never happened before. Considering how many bad years the Mets have had in the past, that was quite the dubious distinction. However, since they came back to Citi last Monday, they've gone 6-1. So, what's changed?

It's not the starting pitching, which has actually been solid so far, with the exception of John Maine. Santana, Pelfrey, and Niese have all pitched well, especially Big Pelf, who, as of now, has the best ERA among National League starters and is tied for most wins with the likes of Halladay and Lincecum; Perez has had one really good game, and the rest of his starts, while shaky, haven't been nearly as bad as you can usually expect from Ollie. The bullpen, once again the hardest working pen in the majors, has been for the most part holding it down with a combined ERA of 2.81 in something like 67 innings. Both the rotation and the pen have been consistent.

So, what's changed?

I think Jerry finally realized what a lot of people had been saying since, well, before the season started: there were some downright useless people on the roster. Mike Jacobs? Sure, he's got some pop, except he can't make contact, and he can't field, so he wasn't worth the wait. Platooning him with Tatis? First base basically became useless right there; sure, Tatis can play first base on paper, but let's be realistic, Tatis is a fifth outfielder/pinch-hitter, at best. These two were such a bad first base team that Frank Catalanotto got a start at first, for Pete's sake! (Don't ask me why he also batted clean-up that game, I don't even want to try to see what made Jerry think that was a good idea.) Equally stupid was forcing Pagan to share centerfield duties with Gary Matthews Jr, who is so far beyond useless he enters the tits-on-a-nun category.

But things changed last Monday. The brought up Ike Davis to play first base, and I have to say, this kid can play. He's not tearing the world up with the bat yet, but you can tell he can hit, and he damn sure knows what he's doing on defense. He's made three or four plays already that wouldn't have been anywhere near possible for Jacobs or Tatis. I'm starting to wonder what's going to happen when David Murphy finally comes back from his injury, because it looks like Davis might be part of the infield for a long time to come.

Also on Monday, Jerry nixed the centerfielder platoon and gave the job to Pagan for good (for good being until Beltran comes back, if that ever even happens), and it's about time. Aside from being a fairly solid fielder, Pagan can hit, and he's a burner on the bases. Having him in the lineup made it possible for Jerry to finally get his way and bat Reyes third, and so far the new lineup has been working. Now, if Wright and Bay ever get hot, and you just know it's inevitable that they will, this team will be able to do some great things.

I guess time will tell. One things for certain, though: hope doesn't have to be abandoned just yet.