The Mets have been trudging through a swamp of mediocrity all season.  They needed something.  Something to blow up the status quo, and open the floodgates.  Fernando Tatis may have done it.

Tatis was a dangerous hitter with the late-nineties/early aughts Redbirds.  Since, he has battled injuries and minor league bus trips to get back to the majors.  After shredding AAA for the second straight year, the Mets, devastated by injuries, elected to call him up to the big show.  And he has responded in a big way.  His latest hit, a double that brought in the heart of the Mets order, David Wright and Carlos Beltran, may have been the biggest hit of the Mets season.

Willie Randolph has suddenly become adventurous.  Think that might have something to do with his meeting with the Wilpons?  Hmmm.  Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider have sat the last two games against left-handers.  That feels like a decision from the front office more than a managerial one.  Tatis, Ramon Castro, and Damion Easley contributed mightily to the series win against the first place Fish, and Binghamton alum Nick Evans had a huge game against the Rockies at Beer Field this past Saturday.  Endy Chavez hit a game-tying homer in the ninth, and also contributed a single tonight.  Carlos Delgado?  Walked in a pinch hit appearance.

Randolph has started pushing buttons, and, at least  for one series, it has paid off. 

A series win against the division leaders could ignite this team.  Great performances by the supporting cast could carry it even further.  If the Mets turn it around, tonight's 7-6, extra inning win, capped by Tatis, will be considered the turning point.

Here's a great article by ESPN's Tim Koewn about the length of baseball games:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keown/080528

It's nice to see Mr. Koewn has common sense.

The Mets are up to their batting gloves in mediocrity.  They're not bad.  They're not good.  They win one day.  They lose the next.  They score nine runs one day.  They score none the next.  The bullpen is lights out one day.  They get their lights punched out the next.  They're slightly under .500 since the end of last May.  Once the undisputed rulers of the National League, they are now just another National League team, drowning in a sea of parity.  They are on the cusp of becoming irrelevant.  Not bad, not good, not anything.

What's Good

• Ryan Church (.309, 32 RBI) has been the biggest surprise, and the team MVP.  The Mets have been struggling since he went down with a concussion.
• David Wright is on pace for another 30 homer, 100+ RBI season
• Jose Reyes may have figured something out.  After studying video clips, he realized his stride was too long.  Since then, he's hit in eleven straight, and has been driving the ball the way he used to.
• Billy Wagner reinvented himself and is having one of his best seasons to date.
• Johan Santana hasn't been dominant, but he leads the Mets in innings, wins, strikeouts, and ERA.  The starting rotation would be a mess without him.

What's Bad

• Carlos Delgado has been the key to the Mets' struggles at the plate.  The Mets acquired Delgado to be their cleanup hitter.  He was everything they wanted in 2006, hitting 38 homers, and backing up Carlos Beltran, leading the other Carlos to 41 dingers.  In the past two years, however, he has clearly declined, and is a solid six hitter at best.  He simply can't catch up to a major league fastball anymore.  The Mets lineup has suffered without the old Delgado's presence in the number four spot in the order.
• The bullpen has struggled to get the ball to Wagner.  They're still missing a solid eighth inning man.  Duaner Sanchez has been effective, save for one outing, but the team is reluctant to push him too hard following his injury.  And regular setup man Aaron Heilman has looked lost all year.  The bullpen's most reliable pitcher has been Scott Schoeneweis.  'Nuff said.
• The bench, a strength on paper, has been horrible, batting under the Mendoza line for the season.
• Injuries to Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez, Moises Alou, Angel Pagan, Ryan Church, and others have had an impact.

The Mediocre

• Carlos Beltran looks like Superman one day and Marty Feldman the next.  He's always been streaky, but his lack of power this year (4 homers) has been alarming.  Is he suffering from a lack of a fearsome number five hitter, or is he just tired of playing for Willie Randolph, as some have speculated?  Or is it just all mechanical?
• Willie Randolph hasn't been bad.  He hasn't been good either.  Fans are growing impatient with his upbeat, prepackaged postgame comments.  He comes across as disingenuous.  And he didn't help himself with his racially-motivated comments about how he has been treated by the media.  I guess Art Howe, Jeff Torborg, and Bud Harrelson got a free pass?  Randolph's job is legitimately in jeopardy.  If the Mets are still mediocre by at least the All-Star break, he may have to start reading the ol' classifieds.

The Mets are now in the middle of their first truly important series of the year versus the Marlins.  They can either make a statement by winning the last two games, or make an even bigger statement by losing one or both games. 

Mike Piazza announced his retirement today.  When I first heard the Mets had traded for Piazza back in 1998, I didn't think it was necessary.  After all, the Mets already had Todd Hundley.

I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong.

Thanks, Mike, for the big hits, the class, and all the memories.  See you in Cooperstown.

Ohm.  Ohm - say it with me - Ohm.  Ohm. 

The Mets had a rough week.  They lost three of four to the Washington Nationals.  Their closer called out their position players.  Mr. Met suffered a concussion.  Well, OK, I don't know about that last one, but when you have a head like that, any injury is a big injury.

But, this Saturday and Sunday, they swept the New York Yankees - THE NEW YORK YANKEES - in the Bronx in a rain-shortened two-game series. 

Johan Santana pitched 7 - 2/3 solid innings to pick up his fifth win of the season on Saturday.  And Billy Wagner came up with a huge four-out save to slam the door.  And a note to the poorly educated caller who called WFAN after the game on Saturday - Johan has pitched a "decent" game as a Met.  In fact all of his games have been "decent."  No, he hasn't been the "ace" every single night, but he has given them innings, strikeouts, and a chance to win every night.  Who can possibly question the impact Santana has had on this team?

Meanwhile, Oliver Perez turned in his best game of the season on Sunday, mixing his fastball and slider with masterful precision.  Why he was taken out with two outs and none on  in the eighth is beyond this blogger.  But that's Willie for you.  And why wasn't Willie thrown out instead of Jerry Manuel following the worst call of 2008 - no home run on Carlos Delgado's blast off the foul pole in left?  Willie was clearly jawing at Bob Davidson, Bob Davidson cleary told Willie to shut up.  Woudn't that get you fired up?  Instead, it was Manuel who lost it, barking lots of well-earned colorful adjectives at Davidson, resulting in his ejection.

And what was with Jon Miller saying the ball was foul, when it was clearly fair?  Miller tends to take the opposite position of his color man, Joe Morgan, whether he is right or not.  Fortunately, as the game went on, Miller saw the error of his ways.  Let's see, black paint missing on the foul pole, black paint on the ball?  Two plus two equals what, Jon?

In any event, the 2008 Mets looked like the 2006 Mets this weekend, pounding the Yankees in a convincing series sweep.  This is the kind of series that should propel the Mets forward into the next month and the rest of the season.

With the Mets a game over .500, and two back of the Florida Marlins in the loss column in the East, the Mets are clearly performing below expectations.  They just lost three of four from the Washington Nationals.  Digest that for a moment.  THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS.  And they found many ways to lose.  They failed to show up in game one.  Then, the bullpen wasted a fine outing from Claudio Vargas.  Finally, the lineup wasted a terrific start by Mike Pelfrey.  If it weren't for John Maine's outing, they would have been swept.

This is unacceptable.  If this continues, expect Willie Randolph to be gone by June. 

And since I seem to have the ear of Mets management (they took advice from my previous post, right?), hear me when I say Wally Backman is the man to manage this team.  Do something radical.  Hire someone who will kick butt.  Hire a member of the "Scum Bunch."  Let's get our uniforms dirty again, shall we? 

The Mets have a dilemma.  I mean besides Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, the inconsistent bullpen, and the hostile home crowd.  They need an emergency starter for Wednesday's game.  They also need to activate Matt Wise, who is sitting around like General Zod in the Phantom Zone waiting for someone to set him free. 

So, to make room, they have to send down a pitcher from their major league roster.  The choices are Joe Smith and Jorge Sosa.  Right now, all indicators are pointing to Smith being the odd man out, even though Smith's ERA is four points lower than Sosa's, and hasn't lobbed weak sliders over the heart of the plate with alarming consistency like Jorge.  The reasoning?  Smith still has options.  If the Mets were to designate Sosa for assignment, they would have to put him on waivers. 

Does anyone think that other teams are wringing their hands and salivating over the prospect of claiming Sosa off waivers?  He should fall through that process like the space shuttle on reentry. 

If anyone in the Mets front office is reading this, please, we IMPLORE you, drop Jorge Sosa to make room for your starter.  Taking a risk on a guy with a 7.06 ERA is not a risk at all.

So who did everybody pick to win the National League East this year?  The Mets?  The Phillies?  Don't forget about those Braves.  So, in mid-May which one of these teams has the early lead?  Try the Marlins.

Coming into 2008, the Marlins seemed to be made up of has-beens, never-weres, and never-will-bes.  It turns out, they're actually wiley veterans, late bloomers, and pleasant surprises.  The big question this early in the season is, of course, are they for real?

The starting rotation is led by Scott Olsen, who at 4-1 with a 2.22 ERA, is finally fulfilling his potential.  Mark Hendrickson, owner of a 4.93 career ERA, has been a fine number two, boasting a 5-1 record.  Andrew Miller, Ricky Nolasco, and Burke Badenhop (which is now the greatest name in baseball history - though it would be better if he were an infielder) have performed as expected - poorly.

But the bullpen has made up for any shortcomings in the rotation.  Four relievers have ERAs under 3.00, including Renyel Pinto, who sports a squeaky-clean 0.73 mark.

At the plate, this team has exhibited power and speed.  Hanley Ramirez leads the way.  He's the kind of player Jose Reyes should be right now.  Although, maybe now that he's signed a huge contract, Hanley will become a lazy popup machine like Reyes.  Ramirez has thirteen steals and eight home runs.  However, he is second on the club in home runs to Mike Jacobs and Dan Uggla.  Wait, Mike Jacobs and Dan Uggla?  Mets fans know that Jacobs is capable of hitting the ball out of the park, as long as he lays of the high fastballs.  And yes, Uggla has talent, but he's on pace for 41 homers.  Really?  And Jeremy Hermida is finally becoming the player the Marlins thought he would be from the beginning.

So, back to the original question.  Are they for real?  Previous track records indicate that Hendrickson, Jacobs, and Uggla can't keep it up all year, and Kevin Gregg still has to prove that he can be a major league closer two years in a row (anyone remember Mel Rojas?  I didn't think so). 

It's a nice start, and they'll probably finish third or fourth at worst, but the Marlins don't have enough depth in their starting rotation or their lineup to stay in first all year.  The Mets, Phils, and Braves better hope so.

Well, the Mets took another series from the Arizona Diamondbacks on the D-Backs' home turf.  That makes them 15-2 in their last 17 games at Chase Field.

Which begs the question: Is it too late to change the design of Citi Field to look more like Chase?

Either that, or maybe the Mets should move to Phoenix.

The Mets finished April with a 14-12 record, and currently lie one half game behind the Florida Marlins for first place in the NL East.  So, what's the theme for April?  It could have been worse.

Fortunately for the Mets, every other team in the NL East has been inconsistent and/or mediocre.  Even though they looked like the worst team in the history of baseball against the Pirates to close out the month, they are still in it.  But they are going to have to get better if they want to be serious contenders.  Even if they make the playoffs, it's doubtful they could go very far playing the way they are now.

With that said, here are the Heroes and Goats of the month of April:

Goats

Carlos Delgado - Generally speaking, it's too early to give up on a player after one month of the season.  But in light of his performance last year, and his continued decline, it's finally time to declare Delgado's career a wrap.  He can't hit any pitch faster than 85 MPH anymore (his two home runs the other day came off a change and a hanging curve), he can't field his position, and he simply doesn't seem to care anymore.  His performance is draining the Mets and their fans of any positive energy they might have taken into this season.  If he proves me wrong, terrific.  But I don't see how that can happen.

Aaron Heilman - He's shown signs of improvement after a dreadful start.  He still has great stuff, and lots of past success, so he'll probably be fine.  But that 5.51 ERA and 4 home runs allowed sure look ugly.

Jorge Sosa - He's done everything the Mets have asked of him without complaint, but he's getting lit up like San Diego County.  ERA: 7.02.  Somehow he's managed to win three games

Carlos Beltran - After a hot start, he's only hitting .211 with 13 RBI.  It's possible he still hasn't built up enough strength in his legs following knee surgery.

Oliver Perez - The Mets needed him badly in the wake of Pedro Martinez's injury.  But he's been his usual flaky self.  Even in his best games this month, he has not been able to get out of the sixth inning.

Heroes

Billy Wagner - Not only has he saved six games while allowing no earned runs on three hits, but he has been the lone voice of reason in the clubhouse.  He called out his teammates after they sleepwalked through a 13-1 defeat on 4/30.  He specifically criticized Oliver Perez for apparently leaving his brain in the dugout before he went to the mound.  It's time to remove the kid gloves.  Somebody has to light a fire under these Alfred E. Newman Mets.

Ryan Church - The only other guy who shows up every day.  He's batting .319 with 19 RBI.  He plays the game the right way, and that is refreshing in this day and age, especially in Queens.

David Wright - He finished the month on a down note, but centerpiece of the franchise provided more good moments than bad for the Mets in April.

Duaner Sanchez - Kudos to Duaner for coming back after missing a year and a half of baseball and pitching beyond expectation.  He and his 1.17 ERA have gone a long way toward stablilizing the Mets bullpen.

Johan Santana - Despite the annoying habit of giving up one or two solo home runs per game, he has been the rock-like, innings eating ace the Mets expected him to be.  And he's also been one of the Mets most reliable bats, which pretty much sums up the month of April.