I wanted the Mets to go 5-1 on this homestand to claw their way back to respectability. If they lose the first one, the third one, or the 6th one, the resulting record is the same. I’m sure the Mets understand this, but I’m going to head out to Flushing tomorrow to make sure they start winning again. (Follow me for in-game thoughts and pictures from around Citi Field)
While it’s still April and very early, the longer the Mets play losing baseball the better they’ll have to play, for longer, to make up for it. While I still believe the Mets are a good team, and certainly better than this, there does come a point where they’re going to have to show it. They don’t have to come out blazing to a 10-1 stretch and just destroy everyone, but they do have to play consistent baseball and win more games than they lose.
They just need to win, and it doesn’t need to be pretty. It could be a 9-walk complete game shutout. A 4-error game where the opposition fails to capitalize. Jose Reyes could power the offense with three home runs in a 9-8 slugfest. At this point they just need to start putting up Ws. It starts with not giving free bases, not giving up outs, and not making too many dangerous mistakes in the field. But it also starts with picking up your teammates when they do make a mistake, such as Wright did diving to get Lee at third base after Turner’s error. Pitchers need to start striking out a batter after an error and not getting rattled by it and the fielders need to stop thinking they need to get two outs at once and stop panicking in the field.
Divisions are not won in April. In fact, three of last years playoff teams were at or below .500 on May first. There is still time for the Mets to settle down and start playing better. There’s plenty of time for Collins to stop playing guys that tend to suck, and for Alderson to wish those that suck away into the cornfield for players from the minors or other clubs that suck less.
