The New York Mets dropped their third straight game to the Atlanta Braves losing 11-4; their record now is now at .500 for the first time since April. The Mets have been unable to score any runs against the Braves; in the past three games they have been outscored 23-8. The offense is abysmal, and it apparently doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone much, especially considering that Jose Reyes was all smiles and kidding around on the field last night when his team was getting trounced by the Braves.
Mike Pelfrey was terrible, however one can only imagine if things might have been different if Luis Castillo actually hustles and makes the play on the ground ball by Mark Teixeira; making that play would have ended the third inning with out any further damage. But instead, Luis didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry, even though Teixeira was busting it out of the box. Pelfrey who could be seen pumping his fist because he thought he’d gotten the third out, now had to face three more batters before recording the last out of the inning. But, the damage was done, the Mets would be down 3-1 and wouldn’t recover.
It wasn’t just Pelfrey who struggled on the mound, the Met’s relief pitchers had trouble also. Pedro Feliciano pitched two innings and gave up two runs, Joe Smith pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up two runs, Scott Schoeneweis pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up a run. Clearly, no one is able to do to anything right. When there is good pitching, there is no hitting. If the Mets score some runs the pitching lets them down, or as was the case last night, they got terrible pitching and no offense. Nothing is clicking on all cylinders, and I think the Mets lack of offensive production has lead to a lot of pressure on the pitching staff. Also, when you aren’t winning, there can’t be too much happiness in the clubhouse. However, that is one of those things that is a catch 22, you wonder if they aren’t winning because of a lack of chemistry, but team chemistry is what you need to start winning.
On a day when manager Willie Randolph made a public apology to his team, the Mets fans, SNY, and Mets ownership, you would think that his guys would want to come out and show him that they got his back, apparently not. However, that has pretty much been the story, no? Remember when Billy Wagner came out and made comments about Oliver Perez after his horrible start against the Pirates? Well, Randolph said, I’ve talked to Billy and he understands that I am not happy about this and that we should keep things in house. Well, obviously Billy doesn’t really care much about what Willie thinks because just right before the Yankee series he again didn’t keep things in house and made comments that could really only be directed at the Carloses. Clearly things within the club house are fractured. And, in many respects, I think that someone had to say something. I am not necessarily saying that I thought Billy Wagner is wrong, I’m just saying he didn’t actually do what his manager asked of him either.
Who knows what the problem is? Baseball people all the time say things like this team lacks leadership. Is that the case with the Mets? After the last three losses David Wright who is considered the face of the franchise has finally had some harsh remarks that sounded like he is at least frustrated by the way the Mets have played. Is this considered leadership? Can he lead when he is a youngster on the team? However, if the egos of these guys are as fragile as they seem, can comments from your leaders cause a bigger divide?
Where do the fans fit in to all of this? There is still so much discussion about the fans booing, about the fans not giving these guys a shot. They are a .500 team and have been for a whole year now. Sorry to keep hammering that point home, but it should be noted that the team in the National League with the highest payroll is underachieving, and yes being at .500 is beyond underachieving. The fans don’t take this lightly, especially because we share this town with Yankee fans, and there is this need to be better than the Yankees. In fact, I can’t even enjoy the awful season the Yankees are having right now, because the Mets are playing terrible too. These problems with the fans and this team aren’t just about this season, this dates back to the heartbreak of last year’s collapse. The Mets as a team might have moved on from that, although the way they are playing now might suggest otherwise, but certainly the fans have not. If you are going to be the highest paid team in the National League, you are also supposed to be the winningest team in the National League.
The Mets wrap up the series tonight in Atlanta before heading to Denver to face the Rockies for three games. Johan Santana will start for the Mets and the Braves will counter with Tim Hudson. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
