Necessity the Mother of Invention

I’m so glad I waited until after last night’s Atlanta game before making any idiotic commentary on the state of the Mets. I had been so disheartened after watching them lose four in a row. A wild pitch, a ridiculous Perez start, a Maine walking marathon, and then still another loss after a promising starter, Jonathon Niese, hurt himself. Things were looking decidedly down for our intrepid heroes.

But then there was Monday night, a new day and a new pitcher, one Mike Pelfrey, who couldn’t take his turn last time out for a shoulder twinge, or something equally ominous-sounding. But the big guy was back for last night’s game and the whole team played better. Especially nice was seeing some slick fielding to accompany some timely hitting by Barajas and some opportunistic base-running from Jose Reyes, once again a leadoff man.

The lineup issues may continue, it’s anybody’s guess, but this lineup had newbie Carter hitting in the cleanup spot and he was pretty damned impressive (1-2, run, rbi). Bay moved to the 3-hole and of course, the worst hitter in the free world, Gary Matthews, batted eighth after Barajas, who continued his torrid and timely hitting by driving in two with a hard double in the left center gap.

But the Mets finally finished on top, and Pelfrey was the biggest reason for it.

But the great game followed an organizational meeting attended by none other than owner Jeff Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya. So things were tense before the game and will probably continue that way for quite some time. It’s quite amusing to me that that brain-trust came up with a lineup that put a rookie in the cleanup spot and removed Angel Pagan from the lineup altogether.

But I love it. First they bring up Ike Davis, who outperformed Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis by a long shot. Now they strike gold again with Chris Carter, who supposedly can’t play right field but can hit that ball a good lick. So the brain-trust came up roses.

That a 35-year-old knuckleballer is going to start Wednesday is also pretty interesting. It says to me that they’re getting really imaginative, thinking out of the box, something this organization needs. The same old thinking, fielding an experienced lineup of journeymen retreads, clearly wasn’t working. The last of those might be Matthews, who must have something on somebody to stay on the roster at all.

It’s easy to have mixed feelings right now. You’re happy to not only beat Atlanta in the opener, but to do it the way they did, by playing good baseball all around. At the same time though, you worry about Wednesday and hope Santana can win later today.

You worry about Wednesday because it’ll still be one more starter coming up from the minors, and this time a really veteran knuckler. R.A. Dickey. And truthfully, you worry going forward to Thursday when John Maine takes the mound again after his 13 straight balls in his last putrid start fresh in your mind and nasal cavities.

Then it’ll be Hisanori Takahashi going on Friday against the Yankees. Holy cow! as Phil would have exclaimed. Takahashi replaces Ollie Perez in the rotation, of course, and Perez will take his place as a long reliever. You can’t say it’s not interesting.

And can they be shopping Pagan? Is that why he wasn’t in the lineup? Pagan is a very serviceable commodity in their outfield, and with Beltran coming back and Fernando Martinez still another significant minor league presence, it would make sense to trade for a pitcher, and I’m sure Pagan may even get one.

The Mets are certainly showing some resourcefulness lately. Plato wasn’t a Mets fan but he did call it when he talked about necessity being the mother of invention. The Mets have been really needy lately too.

Even the Yankees are showing some neediness lately though. They got a walkoff dinger from Marcus Thames last night off Boston’s Papelbon, and that came exactly one night after pulling Joba for loading the bases and inserting a none too healthy Mariano Rivera for a 5-out save, a move that really puzzled me at the time, another one of those inexplicable Girardi brain farts.

I’m just happy Girardi’s in the Bronx. The Mets have enough problems. But it’s hard for Girardi to fall on his butt what with Gardner spelling Granderson with flash and even power and a guy like Thames on the bench. We have Tatis and Matthews.

The Mets future depends a lot on whether Maine can show some toughness for once and come back strong in his next start, and, hopefully for a few starts after that. To have to drop one of your starters from the rotation (Perez) is bad enough; to have to drop two would be disastrous, especially if Niese’s hamstring injury, which appears relatively minor as this is written, winds up being serious.

If Maine should continue to falter, and if Niese can’t return, the Mets almost have to make a deal for a pitcher. I can imagine any number of inventive deals down the line, involving just about any serviceable, and thus trade-able, player, either Pagan or possibly even a Carlos Beltran, certainly a more than serviceable commodity, one who has been and probably will be, an enormous distraction.

If things get really crazy, and if the Mets can’t turn it around, I suppose there will be nothing sacrosanct about the manager’s position. I’ve always got a big kick out of Jerry Manuel, but I have to wonder whether some of the problems, especially the weak performances from Wright, Reyes and Bay, aren’t due, at least in part, to Manuel’s own inventiveness, some of which may not have been out of necessity.

The inventiveness could even extend all the way to Omar Minaya, who has to take the hit for Ollie Perez, his most conspicuous error but certainly not the only one.

Last place tends to accentuate all the necessities.

Mets Are Fun at the Very Least

You have to admit the Mets are fun to watch. (I can be as positive as the next guy). Jose smacks the double and you cheer, then about 30 seconds later he tries to take third on a ball right there in front of him. After the game, he says he’s sorry, that there’s no excuse for it.

Yeah, I suppose it was that Bernadina guy who really won the game for the Nats. His beautiful catch of Francoeur’s liner late in the game saved three runs right there. Add the two homers and well, he was making sure it was over.

If you listed a “Top Ten” of reasons the Mets lost yesterday though, the first would surely be Bernadina but the second would be Reyes. If I knew beforehand that he’d hit a double and then get thrown out, I’d surely have eschewed the double. Keep it, Jose.

But they are fun when they’re hitting, and even when they’re not, you get the feeling that they will very soon. When Wright isn’t striking out and Bay decides to swing at good pitches, when Davis and Barajas join the fun, things get crazy.

The whole lineup is interesting now. The sure outs just aren’t there anymore, except when mad Manuel decides Gary Matthews .325 average of friggin’ yesteryear is just around the corner, so he inserts him into the game and he strikes out. And of course you know he’s going to strike out. It’s kind of interesting to ask yourself just how he’s going to do it this time. Will he swing at the impossibly outside pitch or the one in the dirt? Or will the pitcher be silly enough to throw him a fastball, something that he can maybe just strike out on the foul tip?

Yes, I know, he actually got a hit the other day. WooHoo!!

But, besides Matthews, there’s really nobody you give up on totally, if you don’t count Bay on one of his clueless days. There’s Pagan, who does a little of everything. Then Castillo will do something smart, and then there’s Reyes, who can drive the ball a bit, maybe get one of those great triples. There’s Bay who can hit the heck out of the ball when he connects and Wright, who is totally unpredictable.

Remember when Wright was the best two-strike hitter in the game? Um, not anymore. But when he’s not striking out, he usually does something spectacular. Then Ike Davis gets up there and he’s a tough out. Never mind that he can hit the friggin’ bridge to Shea. Then Francoeur is always good for a drive somewhere in the park. And Barajas, you can’t say enough about Barajas.

I had been a Barajas detractor when they got him, wishing they would have given Omir Santos more of a shot. The Mets also got Blanco to back him up, which put Santos further down the ladder. But I was wrong. Not only does the man represent a real threat at the plate but he apparently does wonders for these Mets pitchers, unless you think it’s just an accident that the pitching has been so good. Oh, and both these catchers can throw out runners.

So, all in all, the lineup is interesting. When they try to take pitches, they stink. When they just let it go and play, they can be overpowering. Of course, Manuel doesn’t always see that because that’s right in front of his face. Jerry only sees things far off, very deep things no one else can really fathom.

So the manager is kind of interesting too. And GM Omar Minaya, I mean, what can you say? I think of him as a snake oil salesman with education. Except for the time he accused that Daily News reporter of trying to take one of his boys’ jobs, he keeps things light and fun. And he has a good sense of humor, which you need when Jose Reyes is on the bases.

They’ve been a good home team too, which worries me a little bit as they take off for a long road trip, to some mostly unfriendly divisional places like Florida, Atlanta and Washington. Then they return home to face the Yankees, so this could be a long, depressing ride for the rest of May, especially if they get a bad start.

But, if the pitching holds up, they can survive just about anything. Santana starts it off tonight against Florida ace Josh Johnson, then it’ll be Maine, Pelfrey, Perez and Niese again, which, compared to what I thought they’d get, especially from Maine and Perez, hasn’t been too shabby at all.

I keep expecting the relievers to blow up, given the innings they’ve had to work, what with the starters’ relatively short appearances. That doesn’t figure to get much better either. Maine and Perez especially just work too hard early to last a very long time in the game.

But the relievers have been terrific so far. The Mets are in every game. There’s nobody in that pen you just give up on. They’re all tough, led by Takahashi, who’s been unbelievable. But Igarashi was great before he got hurt (and will soon return), and the list of good performers goes on with Nieve, Feliciano, and even the new kid Mejia. Even Vargas hasn’t stunk it up (but I keep thinking he’s Bizarro Jerry).

But things could have been a lot worse. Nobody except me expected the relief performance the Mets have gotten, and it’s not so lucky or accidental that the Mets find themselves 18-16 and just 2 ½ games back of the Phillies. They let the Nats sneak in there for 2nd place but well, talk to Bernardina and Reyes about that one.

All these upcoming teams are beatable too, division rivals all, and the Mets performance over this road trip should tell us a lot about how the rest of the season will play out.

No Time to Panic

Okay, the Mets are stinkin’ out the joint but at least there’s Phil Mickelson. And that pilot who landed in the Hudson River with all passengers totally fine. There are lots of contemporary heroes. But don’t look for any at Citi Field.

Oh sure, things looked great after that first game. Johan pitched a gem. I haven’t forgotten that. But then there was Maine. Maine did the same thing he always does, disappoint. But what the hell, I expected that. And the Mets came back in that one, to tie it at 6, but the scoring was illusory as they did it with walks, and some truly horrible Marlins relief pitching.

Then Niese went out and pitched great but the Mets bats weren’t really there. Pagan and Francoeur got a couple of hits each but the rest of the lineup got just four more. Still, to that time, the Mets were just 1-2, and maybe it was just good pitching from the Marlins that got them.

But then Pelfrey looked better than expected, and showed a nice new pitch in his repertoire. So things are looking up, I think, when Pelfrey starts in the future. The Mets bats were back too, with new catcher Rod Barajas banging two homers and Jeff Francoeur continuing his hot hitting with two homers of his own. Now the Mets were even again, with a 2 and 2 record after four.

Crazy Ollie was up next though, another John Maine, only crazier. Perez had a typical Perez performance but he did go 5 2/3 giving up just 4 runs. And Igarashi, Perpetual Pedro and new guy Jennry Mejia gave up just 1 hit over the last 3 innings. Mets bats weren’t there again, however, except for Francoeur . Even with that though, they could have won and lost only because they got robbed by a great fielding play. So they could have been 3 and 2. Only bad fortune made them 2 and 3. And Santana would be going the next day.

But Johan threw some bad pitches and gave up a big homer to Willingham. The Mets bats produced just two runs. They got those two runs from a most unlikely source too, from Mike Jacobs, who will hit a homer once in a while, but more often will pop up or fan completely. Francoeur once again had a multi-hit game but with less actual effect, as things turned out.

So the Mets are 2 and 4. Manager Jerry Manuel assumed responsibility later on, needlessly I thought, but what the hell, what difference does it make when you’ve got guys like Mike Jacobs hitting behind Jason Bay, or Gary Matthews? Come on, would you pitch to Bay? If you would, what kind of pitch would you be throwing?

Let’s recap though. The Mets lost two games by one run and one game by two runs. The pitching really hasn’t been too bad. But Matthews and Mike Jacobs aren’t the answers. Angel Pagan should play center, not Matthews. And Tatis could play first, if you really want a lineup. Here we go…Reyes, Castillo (or Cora, they both have similar games), Wright, Bay, Francoeur, Barajas, then Tatis (playing first) and Pagan batting eighth, just to get some speed at the back of the order.

The Mets are currently 18th in batting average among the 30 MLB teams, about the same in runs scored, but significantly better in on base average. They’re pretty bad in slugging pct and home runs as you’d expect. What this all indicates to me is that they need some power (they need Beltran back pretty badly) obviously but they could improve things a lot with a better lineup. And that lineup doesn’t include Matthews or Jacobs.

I don’t understand their thinking. Didn’t any fantasy player know that Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews were real reaches? Did they really think Gary Matthews was a significant improvement over Angel Pagan? Did they think Mike Jacobs was going to be more consistent? And how long are they going to stay with these guys? Sure, Jacobs hit one out yesterday, but with him, it’s a roll of the dice, loaded dice against the roller.

The Mets have been unlucky too, I might add. Yeah, they lost three games of four by tight margins, but they’ve also been victimized by nice plays and they haven’t had much luck at third base defensively, with Wright unable to come up with hard ground shots to the third base side twice that I can remember. Tatis can’t really play a nice third base either. So put him at first.

But there’s no reason to panic. For Manuel to say they weren’t ready isn’t really accurate to my mind. They were ready. They just aren’t good enough hitters as a group to hit Livan Hernandez, who pitched a beauty of a game. He apparently was “up” for the game, facing his former teammates, for most of whom he’s pretty familiar.

Francesa is saying this afternoon that Manuel is feeling the heat, that he needs a good start, and that after six games, pressing the panic button indicates your job is in jeopardy. And maybe that’s true. Jerry says a lot of stuff, including yesterday something about revelation that was particularly pithy, I thought.

Rather than feeling for his job though, I think Manuel was just trying to take the heat away from the players, some of whom have really been pitiful and most of whom have been average. Maybe he’s taking responsibility for that stupid lineup he’s been putting on the field. Maybe he’s protecting Minaya, who, if there is a culprit in these proceedings, should really be at fault.

The roster is unbalanced really, with too many outfielders and not enough corner infielders. With this team, to have either Pagan or Matthews on the bench while guys like Jacobs and Tatis are in the lineup, is not really sensible.

And yes, I know Daniel Murphy’s coming back to play first.