The Most Important Thing From... Mets v. Reds, May 4th

These Mets don't quit.

We first mentioned this back in April when the Mets battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game against the Rockies. They ultimately went on to lose, but they stayed in that game and battled. Just a few days later, they battled the Cardinals for 20 innings. They've already played four extra-inning games - and although they've lost three of them, they have shown serious stick-to-it-iveness.

Last night, the Mets scratched and clawed their way to victory when other teams might have folded. After two deflating losses fo Philadelpha, and a loss in the series opener, the Mets werer staring down the barrel at their fourth consecutive loss.

They had just wasted a great start by Oliver Perez the previous night, and had coughed up the lead in this game in relatively painful fashion. After John Maine gave the Mets six good innings, and Jenrry Mejia shut down the Reds for another, Fernando "Nightly" Nieve gave up back-to-back home runs to Joey Votto and Scott Rolen to tie the game.

A lesser team, on the road, might had given up. I feel like there were dozens of games last season where my Mets did just that -- not for any massive flaw in character, but simply because they were not good enough to be put in a position where they had to steal back a game under difficult circumstances. This team, however, fought back.

It may be that if not for one swing by Rod Barajas, my tone is completely different today. But what took place last night fits in the overall narrative I have seen so far this season, and with what I think I see displayed on the faces of our Mets on a nightly basis.

None of this is to say that the Mets are back (though they could be) or that they are going to the playoffs (though they could be). They clearly have some growing to do against the Philadelphia's of the world. But taking 2-of-3 from the Reds and sweeping the Dodgers when they are reeling are the kinds of things you have to do if you want to have a legitimate chance to go anywhere over the course of a long season.

The Mets might not stack up with the Phillies right now, but not a lot of teams in the National League are distinguishing themselves right now. If the Mets can take 2-of-3 from the Cubs, and from the Nationals, or split a four-game set with the Cardinals, we will go a long way.

I hate to point to any specific series as definitive, but I think this weekend series against the San Francisco Giants is going to be very important. Coming home from the road trip, we are going to be facing some very good pitching over the weekend. We are also going to have the opportunity to build on our momentum from the last homestand and aer being given the opportunity to prove that it wasn't a fluke. The Giants are a decent team and it'll be huge for us to get a couple wins here over the weekend.

The Most Important Thing From... Mets v. Phillies, May 2nd

The Mets failed again to win the rubber game of a series.

Each of the previous three times the Mets went into a series finale with a 1-1 split, they have lost the final game[1]. I'm not sure whether you can read into this fact as anything other than statistical noise, but I find it disheartening.

One of the very few things that I took away as a positive from Willie Randolph's time with the Mets was the way that he broke down the season into small chunks. Even though he was not a very good manager (and maybe one of the worst) he always appeared to take the view that the "season" should not be viewed holistically.

No matter your place in the standings, if you were to view the season one series at a time, anything is manageable. It might be impossible to plan to go 40-15 in the second half of a season like the Bobby Valentine Mets did, but if you were to win 2 out of 3 in every series, and run into a little luck, you could do it.

As of right now, the Mets have dropped all of those games. That needs to change if we want to get anywhere this year.



---------------
[1] April 8th vs. Florida, April 11th vs. Washington, April 18th vs. St. Louis

The Most Important Thing From... Mets v. Dodgers, April 27th

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct the other way." --Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Ike Davis is here, but David Wright has forgotten how to hit.

Mike Pelfrey has turned the corner, but John Maine might be finished.

Fernando Martinez is almost here, but Carlos Beltran is ready to leave.

The Mets won on Opening Day, then proceeded to lost 8 of their next 11. If that weren't confusing enough, they've now won 8 of their last 9.

The Mets finished one game short of the playoffs in 2008, then tanked in 2009. They started this season by plummeting to last place in the National League East...

... but tomorrow morning, if the Phillies lose to the Giants (they are currently losing) the Mets will wake up in first place.

When you watch baseball long enough, you come realize how little you really know. It is truly an amazing and bewildering sport -- and no team is more amazin' and absolutely confounding than our New York Mets.

The pitching has been phenomenal for the last few weeks, so we keep winning games. As many others have pointed out, the stretch that the starting pitching has been on has been legendary. The bullpen churns out scoreless innings night after night. If you can pitch, you'll be competitive in a lot of games.

The Mets never let you forget who they are watching -- how one team can be so many things at one time is truly incredible. Depending on the week, day, or hour that you stop to look, it is truly the best of times and the worst of times for this team. So we keep watching.

The Most Important Thing From... Game 13, Mets v. Cubs, April 19th

In March, the New York Times ran a great piece on the Mets farm system entitled "The Mets Future Suddenly Feels Far From Barren." In it, there were a couple of great quotes, and a couple of great player profiles. Nothing, however, stood out to me more than a single line delivered by Jerry Manuel:

“The talent is on the doorstep,” Manuel said. “It’s not in the living room, but it’s right there waiting.”

Well. It is here. The talent isn't on the doorstep any more - it has beaten the door off its hinges and it's making it's way to Flushing. You can say what you will about the Mets chances this year, but tonight, the Mets youth put on an absolute display.

The Most Important Thing From... Game 12, Mets v. Cardinals, April 18th

Sometimes the Most Important Thing (MIT) is a good thing. Sometimes it is not. Tonight, it is not.

Over their last 29 innings of baseball, the Mets have managed only 13 hits. If you take away the hits collected against position players, they have only 10 hits in their last 27 innings. Truly awful.

The Most Important Thing From... Game 8, Mets v. Rockies, April 14th

It's after midnight here on the East Coast, so this is going to have to be a premature "Most Important Thing" tonight. There are, undoubtedly, a number of things vying for my attention tonight. Francoeur continues to hit the ball well. Jacobs put one off the wall with a broken bat. David Wright jumped all over a ball for his third home run of the young season.

The Most Important Thing From... Game 6, Mets v. Nationals, April 11, 2010

The Mets' bullpen continued its stellar performance, allowing only two hits and two walks over four innings while striking out three. So far in the young season, the group has been excellent.

Today's performance has come on the heels of several other impressive group outings:

April 10th: 3.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB
April 9th: 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB
April 8th: 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB
April 7th: 5 IP, 3 R, 9 H, 2 BB, Loss
April 5th: 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB

The Most Important Thing From... Game 3, Mets v. Marlins, April 8th

The most important thing was...

That Jon Niese was great tonight. Reading the box score in the morning newspaper tomorrow will not give a fair indication of how good the kid was tonight.