METS MAY WRAP-UP

The month of May was not kind to the New York Mets. Coming off a 14-9 April in which the Mets got off to a good start against a tough schedule, they did a complete 180 and reverted back to disappointment with some smaller glimmers of hope, going 12-17 for the month. The Mets have morphed into a team that is nearly unbeatable at Citi Field, but completely hapless while on the road, taking their "We Believe in Home Field Advantage" slogan to heart.

After beating the Phillies to end April, Mets aces Pelfrey and Santana turned in their worst performances of the season, resulting in two brutal losses to the division rivals. They followed up by losing 2 out of 3 to the Reds, both on walk-offs, and returned home to split 6 games vs. the Giants and Nationals. The troubles came to a head when the Mets got swept away in South Florida against the scrappy Marlins before splitting 4 against the Braves and Nationals, ending a very disappointing 2-6 road trip.

The high point of the month came against two bitter rivals, the Yankees and Phillies, at Citi Field. The Yankees won game one of the Citi Field Subway Series behind the unlikely heroics of Kevin Russo, but the Mets responded by winning the next two games, 5-3 and 6-4. The Mets then turned around and swept away the Phillies, shutting them out all 3 games. This was only the second time the Mets swept a team and shut them out in all 3 (The Mets swept the Phillies in 3 in similar fashion in 1969). The shutout streak ended in the 9th inning of the next game when reliver Ryota Igarashi, who had limited work since returning from the DL, served up a walk-off HR to Corey Hart (The third walk-off Home Run the Mets allowed in May). The Mets ended May with road losses to the Brewers and Padres. They are 19-9 at home and 7-17 on the road.

The biggest issue of the month was starting pitching, specifically the injury to Jonathan Niese and the struggles of John Maine and, most notably, Oliver Perez. The Perez saga has become suitable for a television drama, as his refusal to accept a minor league assignment has led many Met fans who were already fed up with his pitching to want him off the team. It seems at this point that the bridge has been burned far too badly to be repaired. Ollie has been asked a second time and still refuses to go down and work on his pitching, while he just sits and plays mop-up man for the Mets bullpen.

At this point, the Mets have to seriously consider cutting all ties with Perez if they deem his a lost cause. He is doing no good in the Mets bullpen, to himself or the team. While he is owed nearly $20 million over the next two years, the Tigers recently cut ties with Dontrelle, who is owed $9 million, and the Angels payed $21.5 million over a two year span for the Mets to take Gary Matthews Jr. The Mets have to think about what's best for the team and if reports that Met players are fed up with Ollie are true, it's only a matter of time before he becomes an even bigger distraction in the clubhouse.

Another lingering problem is the inconsistency of the offense. Bay has heated up at times, but the power still hasn't been there for him, and Francoeur completely cooled off after his hot start. The Mets have to find a way to establish a consistent offense which at this point sits near the bottom of the National League. This includes David Wright, who has still not found a consistent stroke and has an uncharacteristically low batting average. The catching position has been a nice surprise as Blanco and Barajas had a good month, both offensively and defensively (Blanco has thrown out 7 of 8 batters). Scoring always comes down to Jose Reyes for the Mets, as when he scores, the Mets win. His batting average, which is hovering around .260, will not suffice for the Mets, and neither will his low OBP. He must find a way to be Jose, getting on base, stealing bases, and irritating the opposing pitcher, if the Mets want to shake off the .500 record and improve.

As the season wears on, the Mets have to figure out how to win on the road. It has become frustrating that they can't keep any hot streak going because as soon as they pull off a nice home streak, they head out and lose on the road. It cements them as a .500 team and a bigger problem is that at this rate, every time it looks like Jerry is on thin ice the team comes home, wins, and buys him extra time, while no real progress is made. The road losses are getting worse in nature, too, inclunding this loss in San Diego. Sadly, there is no clear cut remedy for curing road woes, and at the very least it's nice to see the Mets developing a home field advantage which makes trips to Citi Field more enjoyable.

Onto June for the Metsies, which includes part two of the Subway Series, trips to Baltimore and Cleveland and visits from Minnesota and Detroit for interleague play.