New York Mets 2012

[Oliver]

Good news to start Opening Day for Mets fans.  We're not in last place!!  Thanks to the Cardinals shutting down the new and improved Miami Marlins last night, the Mets do not find themselves at the bottom of the NL East. 

Better crack open your beers in celebration now before it's too late later this afternoon. 

I'm going to set the over/under for wins this year at 72. 

I'm going to go with under.  Thoughts?

[ErieHog]

Not a fan, but I'd definitely bet the under, unless Johan is healthy all year.

[Oliver]

Not a fan, but I'd definitely bet the under, unless Johan is healthy all year.

We could win more than 72 games.  It's highly unlikely.  But yeah if Johan is healthy all year, Jason Bay doesn't completely suck, the bullpen magically gets better, and every starting pitcher not named Johan is somewhat useful...we could be a 75 to 80 win team.  The chances of this happening are probably about 1 to 2 percent. 

65 to 70 wins is going to be our win total this year.  There isn't much for Mets fans to really have interest in this year but here are a few:

1.  Will the Wilpons pony up the money to keep David Wright?
2.  Will the new dimensions at Citi Field positively effect anything for the Mets?
3.  Watching the development of young players like Ike Davis, Jon Niese, and Lucas Duda. 

That's about it.

[UhOhioHog]

I admire your dedication. Oliver and Stonguard are true fans. Good luck this season.

[bsking]

The biggest problem the Mets have is their division.

[pigture perfect]

I agree with king. It' just going to be tough with Philly and Hotlanta in the same division. If the Mets were in the Central, I could see them ahead of Houston, Pittsburg and probably Chicago by years end. Keep your head up Ollie

[ErieHog]

Look at the bright side;  Houston isn't in the American League yet, so there's probably a seasonal series split you can win.

[Oliver]

The biggest problem the Mets have is their division ownership.

Though I certainly get your point.

[Oliver]

Look at the bright side;  Houston isn't in the American League yet, so there's probably a seasonal series split you can win.

[Oliver]

Jason Bay and Mike Pelfrey were booed on Opening Day.  Can't say I blame the fans and it's sure to be the highlight of the day.

[Hawg Balling]

http://deadspin.com/5899387/mets-fans-should-be-proud-of-not-selling-out-opening-day

Pretty interesting read

[Oliver]

http://deadspin.com/5899387/mets-fans-should-be-proud-of-not-selling-out-opening-day

Pretty interesting read

Dead on

[Oliver]

YAWN.  No I didn't fall asleep during that game because I'm at work but just looking at the box score is making me sleepy. 

1.  The Mets won 1-0.  I'm going to treasure every win.  No matter the score or the opponent.
2.  Kudos to Mets pitching.  Johan going 5 strong.  Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch putting their putrid spring trainings behind them along with Byrdak and Ramirez to shutout the Braves.
3.  David Wright hit an RBI single to score the only run of the game.
4.  Ike Davis, Jason Bay, and Lucas Duda went a combined 0-6 with RISP.  This can't continue or there will be a gigantic black hole behind David Wright in the lineup. 

[bsking]

Johan looked great.  Awesome arm action, as you'd expect, on that change up.

[pigture perfect]

Johan is a Stud. I'd like to see him in Cardinal Red by end of season.

[Oliver]

Johan is a Stud. I'd like to see him in Cardinal Red by end of season.

Me too.  I want him to succeed on a good team.  He doesn't deserve to be on the Mets.  But with his injuries, I doubt you guys touch his contract

[pigture perfect]

Celebrate again Ollie, 2-0 so far. Tied for the best record in baseball. More importantly beating a division foe.

[Oliver]

Celebrate again Ollie, 2-0 so far. Tied for the best record in baseball. More importantly beating a division foe.

No joke.  2 wins.  I figured it would take two weeks worth of games to get 2 wins.  Lucas Duda had a big game with 2 HR's.   RA Dickey pitched a good 6 innings and the bullpen locked it down again.  Regardless of what happens tomorrow, we 'be got a series win against the Braves to start the year.

[Oliver]

Sweep of the Braves to start the year.  Hard to think of a better opening weekend scenario than that. 

Missed most of the game today.  Saw Jon Niese had a no-hitter going through 6 innings.  Of course soon after I saw that the Braves got their first hit and then managed to put 4 runs up.  Luckily the Mets held on as their bats had a great day. 

Savor this.  Probably won't have too many if any more sweeps the rest of the season.

[pigture perfect]

Unbelievable. Tied for the best record in baseball. What a year for sports in the Big Apple, ehh?

[Hawg Balling]

Celebrate again Ollie, 2-0 so far. Tied for the best record in baseball. More importantly beating a division foe.

And my Yanks are 0-3.  Odd start to this baseball season for New York teams.

[Oliver]

And my Yanks are 0-3.  Odd start to this baseball season for New York teams.

Believe me, it's going to turn around quickly

[pigture perfect]

Philly's lost again. That's always good isn't it.

[bsking]

Philly's lost again. That's always good isn't it.

Yes.

[Oliver]

And Mike Pelfrey happened tonight and will continue to until Mets management figures out he's useless.  1st loss of many tonight.

Okay, still don't like Pelfrey but he somehow managed to keep it together enough for a win.  Nieuwenhuis with a big 2 run shot.  And the bullpen kept rolling and Dan Murphy kept hitting. Might have to rethink Ike Davis in cleanup spot if his massive slump continues

[Oliver]

Oh.  Almost forgot about the Mets, it's easy to do. 

Lost the series to the Nats.  The real Mets offense finally showed up.  Couldn't hit the whole series.  David Wright broke his pinkie so there went the only offense we really had to begin with. 

Let's play guess the player.

1.  This player is hitting .158 on the season with a .261 OBP and has 8 SO in 19 plate appearances.  Last year he hit .245 with an OBP of .329 with 109 SO's in 444 AB's.  He's batting 5th for us. 

Yeah it's Jason Bay.   My only question is...why hasn't this SOB been cut yet?

2.  This player is hitting .050 with an OBP of .136.  He's hitting cleanup for us. 

It's Ike Davis.  I have no problem with Ike but we can't be batting him cleanup with these numbers.  He's a rally killer.

And these are the two primary reasons we've lost our last two games.  Let's see if Terry Collins can realize a problem and fix it before it gets too major.

[Oliver]

FINALLY.  The real Mets show up.

Starting pitching can't give good quality innings.  Relievers give up about a run per inning.  Batters leave 11 men on base.  Errors in the field. 

Now we're ready for the real season.

[pigture perfect]

How 'bout those Mets. Still over.500 and ahead of the fish and the Phils. I would call this a great season for them considering their projected status.

[Oliver]

How 'bout those Mets. Still over.500 and ahead of the fish and the Phils. I would call this a great season for them considering their projected status.

I hesitate to show any amount of optimism when it comes to the Mets.  So I have no problem with you doing it for me.

[Oliver]

Okay.  All superstitions aside...

WE JUST SWEPT THE PHILS IN PHILADELPHIA!!

That's always worth celebrating. 

Now we'll probably lose the next 10 games as a result of me celebrating it.

[pigture perfect]

Wow, I have the Phils winning it all this year. Not that that makes me happy, but they are just too good to not get on a hot streak. Congrats on the sweep though.

[Oliver]

Here's Terry Collins first big decision.  Whether to remove Frank Francisco from the closer role.  It needs to be done.

[Oliver]

I felt something last night.  It was the feeling of reality.  Heading into June with a one game deficit away from first place.  That wasn't reality. 

Cue our extremely difficult 9 game road trip with Washington, the Yankees, and Tampa Bay. 

Our contention in the NL East will become a bigger pipe dream once it's over.  We've already started off the road trip with 2 losses to the Gnats.  In classic Mets form, we're booting and kicking balls all across the infield.  Our bullpen is a disaster and that's being nice.  And our lack of hitting that has been a season long problem can't make up for those kinds of errors. 

This is still a team I love rooting for, however.  Effort is always given it's just that there is too much inexperience overall. 

Ike Davis concerns me.  He's been pretty terrible this year and I'm not sure if he'll ever develop into the power hitting 1st basemen many thought he would last year. 

[pigture perfect]

Nearing all-star break and the Mets are still in contention. That's a far cry from your early season predictions. It doesn't hurt however that the Braves and Phillies are not as good as advertised.

[bsking]

It doesn't hurt however that the Braves and Phillies are not as good as advertised.

I guess the Braves should just play in Busch all year then eh? 

[Oliver]

R.A. Dickey picked up his 9th win today.  He currently has a 2.44 ERA which includes one start in which he was shelled. 

Been the biggest pleasant surprise of the Mets season so far.  The Mets may have more than one All-Star after all.

[pigture perfect]

I'm only over here because the Cards are sucking right now BS. We sure helped the braves get over their losing steel didn't we? Lol

[Oliver]

I'm only over here because the Cards are sucking right now BS. We sure helped the braves get over their losing steel didn't we? Lol

It's a Mets thread and you have just as much right to comment here as Braves fans do. 

[Oliver]

Oh getting swept by the Yankees always sucks.  And the way it was done was just as brutal.   One blowout and two games that we choked away. 

1-5 on the 9 game road trip so far.  Gotta take at least 2 games in Tampa for this to not be a complete failure.

[Oliver]

R.A. Dickey throws another gem of a game tonight. 

Complete game, 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 12 K's. 

He is now 10-1 with a 2.20 ERA for the season. 

Mets go for a much needed sweep of the Rays today with Johan Santana on the mound looking to bounce back from a bad start in his last game.

[bsking]

Mets are appealing the ruling of the hit trying to get Dickey a no-no.  Kind of ridiculous considering David Wright was forced to bare hand the ball.

[Oliver]

Mets are appealing the ruling of the hit trying to get Dickey a no-no.  Kind of ridiculous considering David Wright was forced to bare hand the ball.

They won't win it and they shouldn't.  But the fact of the matter is that David Wright COULD have thrown out the runner had he made the play. Because of that, this is a move by the Mets to show that they have their players back.  Nothing more.  Nobody in that dugout believes they are going to win this appeal.

[bsking]

They won't win it and they shouldn't.  But the fact of the matter is that David Wright COULD have thrown out the runner had he made the play. Because of that, this is a move by the Mets to show that they have their players back.  Nothing more.  Nobody in that dugout believes they are going to win this appeal.

I think they should let a one hitter be a one hitter.  Grasping at straws like that says to RA, well you almost did well, let us try to fix what you screwed up.  It's a one hitter and an incredible performance, let it be.

[Oliver]

I think they should let a one hitter be a one hitter.  Grasping at straws like that says to RA, well you almost did well, let us try to fix what you screwed up.  It's a one hitter and an incredible performance, let it be.

I don't think the Mets' request to have this review is their way of saying, "Well RA, we're going to try and make this performance a non-failure by getting you a no-hitter." 

I think it's their way of saying, "RA, David Wright could have made that play.  It would have been difficult but it was possible.  Let's see if MLB agrees with the Rays scorer."  I wouldn't want to play for a manager that would do anything less for me. 

I think the Mets and everyone across the country agrees that it was a fantastic start regardless.  All of the US thought it was a better start than Johan's "no-hitter." 

[gutshot]

I think it's their way of saying, "RA, David Wright could have made that play.  It would have been difficult but it was possible.  Let's see if MLB agrees with the Rays scorer."  I wouldn't want to play for a manager that would do anything less for me. 

This same conversation came up on another site and a Mets fan said pretty much the same thing you did.  I can certainly respect that, and wouldn't argue with you one bit.  My only thought is, he better be careful what he wishes for...the chalk dust still hasn't settled from Beltran's foul ball yet. 

That was a no-hitter and this was a one-hitter and one hell of a performance.   Best just leave it at that.

[Oliver]

This same conversation came up on another site and a Mets fan said pretty much the same thing you did.  I can certainly respect that, and wouldn't argue with you one bit.  My only thought is, he better be careful what he wishes for...the chalk dust still hasn't settled from Beltran's foul ball yet. 

That was a no-hitter and this was a one-hitter and one hell of a performance.   Best just leave it at that.

If somebody wanted to contest Beltran's "no-hitter", I would have no problem with it.  I certainly know it wasn't a no-hitter.  But I expect it would get the same response that contesting David Wright's potential error will get. 

[bsking]

If I was RA, I'd be embarrassed that my organization did that.

It's the same thing as a little league team coming in second and a parent filing a protest because the game starter at 6:37 instead of 6:30 and his kid pitches better earlier in the day.

It was an outstanding performance, stop trying to grasp at straws to make it what it obviously wasn't.

[bsking]

And honestly, imagine if they overturned that call today.  What would RA say?  I can promise you he wouldn't be smiling.  You don't want a no hitter given to you on some bogus overturning of an obvious hit.  I think it's a horrible PR move by the Mets.

[Oliver]

If I was RA, I'd be embarrassed that my organization did that.

It's the same thing as a little league team coming in second and a parent filing a protest because the game starter at 6:37 instead of 6:30 and his kid pitches better earlier in the day.

It was an outstanding performance, stop trying to grasp at straws to make it what it obviously wasn't.

Well RA obviously doesn't have a problem with it or he probably would have told the Mets to not do so.  So go have a beef with him about it. 

[Oliver]

And honestly, imagine if they overturned that call today.  What would RA say?  I can promise you he wouldn't be smiling.  You don't want a no hitter given to you on some bogus overturning of an obvious hit.  I think it's a horrible PR move by the Mets.

A.  It wasn't an obvious hit.
B.  Once again, if RA had no interest in this being done, he would have told the Mets to not bother filing a protest about it.