Fingers in the Dike

Finally, the break! Whew! A reprieve.

My favorite baseball team finished out the first half just about as well as they could have, which is saying a lot really. With stars such as Francoeur and Murphy, and some pretty good pitching, all things considered, the Orange and Blue took that last series against the Reds after losing two of three from the Dodgers. And, oh yeah, the Phils took out their brooms before that.

Some of you may be saying, “Yeah, but it’s just the Reds”. To you I say, “Yeah, but it was the friggin’ Phillies and Dodgers too and they ain’t chopped liver”.

If you’re a Mets fan, you have to try to be optimistic. These players are playing their hearts out. They may be losing to the best teams but they’re holding their own, so to speak, with the rest of the league. And the schedule gets easier after the break.

Since the hitting hasn’t really been there, you have to recognize the good pitching, starting with that monster of a closer, K-Rod. I’ve never seen a tougher closer, and that includes Billy Wagner. It includes Mariano Rivera too, by the way, but why pick on Mariano?

Second in line for kudos would have to be Johan Santana. Stopper, leader, smart, tough as nails, that’s Mr. Santana. And he hasn’t really had his best stuff lately.

While the rest of the team has been on a slow trip to hell, Francisco Rodriguez and Johan Santana have lived up to their reputations and have kept a bad team only mediocre. Over the course of a 162 games, that’s not as insignificant as it may sound. If the Mets can be thankful for anything, it’s for those two guys.

On the batting side of things, the heroes become a lot harder to identify. I have to say David Wright has been himself, which is to say, pretty damned good overall but not so hot in July. He has just eight hits this month and just two rbi’s. It’s tough when there’s nobody getting on base and nobody who scares the opposing pitcher hitting behind you. But he is batting .324 overall and he’s starting tomorrow in the All-Star Game. So…..

I think Sheffield deserves some kudos. He’s forty years old, playing for a few hundred thousand dollars only, and doing all the things he was brought on board to do. That’s way more than anybody expected. And he’s the only real power threat. Wright has just five dingers on the year.

Everybody else has to get better. Cora is steady in the infield but usually produces almost nothing at the plate. Much the same could be said for Castillo and Schneider. Pagan will be a little better but hasn’t yet performed up to expectations. At least, I hope that’s the case.

Ryan Church was just beginning to look a little better at the plate before the trade that sent him packing to Atlanta. But he can’t hit a breaking pitch. I think Francoeur has way more upside and obviously, so did GM Omar Minaya. He’s somebody to worry about whereas Church really never was.

The depth chart currently shows a pretty decent lineup. An outfield of Pagan, Francoeur and Sheffield is not one to sneeze at. The infield is still particularly weak with Castillo and Cora manning the inside spots but what might hurt even more is not having more power at the corners. Not only has Wright failed to hit the long ball. Daniel Murphy hasn’t done nearly enough to provide power at a power position, first base.

Even with Murphy’s failure to hit though, he can surprise you in the field as he did last game with a beautiful grab on a foul ball. But let’s be honest, a .314 on-base percentage just doesn’t cut the mustard, especially if batting second.

The last Mets lineup though, the one that scored nine runs against Cincinnati, actually resembled a major league lineup. It featured a speedy Pagan leading off and a number two hitter in Castillo who can actually get on base and move the runner over. Wright’s a legitimate 3 and Sheff a legit number 4. Francoeur at 5 seems a good fit and I think Murphy will feel more comfortable at 6. It’s only fitting of course that Schneider and Cora should bring up the rear, but, compared with other teams’ 7 and 8 hitters, they don’t really lose a lot. And Cora has some speed and savvy on the basepaths, thus not slowing down Pagan or Castillo at the top of the order.

The bench isn’t bad either with Tatis to spell Murphy at first and Argenis Reyes to spell Castillo at second. In the outfield, Jeremy Reed has done pretty well so far and will back up Pagan in centerfield.

The starting rotation now reads Santana, Pelfrey, Livan Hernandez, crazy Ollie Perez and Fernando Nieve. Every one of those hurlers should give them a chance to win, even if Livan will bore us to death and both Perez and Nieve may tire in the fifth inning. That’s what relievers are for, right?

And that could be the rub. In order to stay in the hunt, the relief corps has to produce more than they have thus far. Except for K-Rod, nobody has really dazzled, especially not Sean Green. He has to start earning his money. Parnell has to be more consistent. I’m hoping Redding, Dessens and Misch can perform better than a law firm their combined names suggest. They may be getting a lot of action, especially on every fourth and fifth day. And Feliciano has to keep getting outs from those lefties.

So life is not over for our locals. By splitting with LA and Cincinnati, they stayed in contention at the break. They’ll start the 2nd half in fourth place but still within striking distance of the Phils, only 6 ½ games ahead.

But I’m thinking wildcard. The Phils may be too much.