Three-Quarters of The Season Done- And Where Are We???
The spirit of 1986 hovers around us, especially with the official celebration festivities merely days away, and we've just lost 3 of 4 games to the hated-Phillies. With one-quarter of the season to go, we are at 72-48, 24 games over .500, 13 games up in the standings over those same Phils. At this point, the Phillies would have to go somewhere around 35-7 and we'd have to go 21-21 for them to catch us. Realistically, it's not going to happen. However, this doesn't mean that we aren't loaded with question marks, especially for a team that is leading the entire National League in wins ( a dubious distinction this year).
Some of these question marks include:
??Which Pedro Martinez will emerge from this stint on the DL- and how many tune-up games will he need before the post-season?
??When will David Wright's slump end? He is striking out WAY too many times for a hitter with his skills!
??Is Carlos Delgado (in spite of today's performance) actually hurt, as Paul Lo Duca intimated? If so, why is he still playing?
??Will the media furor surrounding PLD ever end?
??Will we wind up with either Shawn Green, Preston Wilson or Reggie Sanders? Why would we want Green when the Diamondbacks, merely 1 game out of wild card contention, would rather play a rookie in his stead? Did something happen with Wilson that we don't know about to cause his release? Has Sanders finally lost his post-season "hot-hand?"
??Is John Maine for real? He certainly seems so- and our new refrain seems to be "Maine & Four Days of Rain!"
??Who will replace Pedro for his next start? Oliver Perez? Most likely. Dave Williams? We hope not. Jose Lima? I will pitch the next game before we let him do it!
??Will Cliff Floyd play again this year, and recover to last year's standards? Probably not. If this is to be Cliffy's swansong with us, there would be no more fitting way then for him to win a world series with us. However, he might not even end up on the post-season roster, although he'd most assuredly get a ring, if we get that far.
Some of these question marks include:
??Which Pedro Martinez will emerge from this stint on the DL- and how many tune-up games will he need before the post-season?
??When will David Wright's slump end? He is striking out WAY too many times for a hitter with his skills!
??Is Carlos Delgado (in spite of today's performance) actually hurt, as Paul Lo Duca intimated? If so, why is he still playing?
??Will the media furor surrounding PLD ever end?
??Will we wind up with either Shawn Green, Preston Wilson or Reggie Sanders? Why would we want Green when the Diamondbacks, merely 1 game out of wild card contention, would rather play a rookie in his stead? Did something happen with Wilson that we don't know about to cause his release? Has Sanders finally lost his post-season "hot-hand?"??Is John Maine for real? He certainly seems so- and our new refrain seems to be "Maine & Four Days of Rain!"
??Who will replace Pedro for his next start? Oliver Perez? Most likely. Dave Williams? We hope not. Jose Lima? I will pitch the next game before we let him do it!
??Will Cliff Floyd play again this year, and recover to last year's standards? Probably not. If this is to be Cliffy's swansong with us, there would be no more fitting way then for him to win a world series with us. However, he might not even end up on the post-season roster, although he'd most assuredly get a ring, if we get that far.
??Did Omar make a good trade when he acquired Hernandez/Perez for Nady? Well, as much as we like Nady and the offensive balance he brought to the club, we are playing for the post-season, and Hernandez will be far more valuable to us at that time of year. If we don't lose Duaner Sanchez for the year, the deal isn't made, but we did, and the trade was made, and Rob-Hern is a Met again (and never should have been allowed to leave!)
??Who will be pitching for us next year? Yes, that's a long time away, but right now, the candidates are lengthy: Pedro, Glavine, Trachsel (if re-signed), Maine, O. Hernandez, D. Williams, O. Perez, Pelfrey, Humber, Bannister (remember him?) and Maclane. Not to mention the fact that one Barry Zito is a pending free agent, although Omar might not want to overpay for a non-power pitcher, and Dontrelle Willis, coming off a sub-par season, might be eminently more available at the end of the season then he was during it. There won't be a shortage of candidates for our rotation next year- we just have to hope that a few of our youngsters are impressive in spring training next year and future replacements for both Glavine and Martinez can come from this bunch.
~Tomorrow, we will present our third quarter Mets' report card, and there will be some surprises. Whether you agree or disagree with our rankings, please let us know what you think by using the "comments" section of this website!
??Who will be pitching for us next year? Yes, that's a long time away, but right now, the candidates are lengthy: Pedro, Glavine, Trachsel (if re-signed), Maine, O. Hernandez, D. Williams, O. Perez, Pelfrey, Humber, Bannister (remember him?) and Maclane. Not to mention the fact that one Barry Zito is a pending free agent, although Omar might not want to overpay for a non-power pitcher, and Dontrelle Willis, coming off a sub-par season, might be eminently more available at the end of the season then he was during it. There won't be a shortage of candidates for our rotation next year- we just have to hope that a few of our youngsters are impressive in spring training next year and future replacements for both Glavine and Martinez can come from this bunch.~Tomorrow, we will present our third quarter Mets' report card, and there will be some surprises. Whether you agree or disagree with our rankings, please let us know what you think by using the "comments" section of this website!
No comments:
Post a Comment