The Good

Why is it that “The Good” is becoming harder and harder to write? Could it be because of the up and down nature of the team? Could it be because the valleys are much deeper than the peaks are tall? Whatever the case may be, there is at least a teaspoon of good in this cup of awful. Exhibit A: RA Dickey. Robert Allen started a game last week, and Robert Allen was once again, effective. 8.1 IP, only 4 hits, and 0 runs. When do we, as a collective fanbase, start expecting great outings of him every time out? I think I’m already there. Can you say “5th starter in 2011?” It might soon be time to ask that question.

When David Wright is hot, he is red hot. We’re looking at, in 22 plate appearances, 8 hits, a double, 2 homers, 9 RBI, and 4 walks. It’s a little tough to go too crazy when his defense, especially yesterday, continues to frustrate. Still, David has the ability to carry a team on his back when he gets on tears like this. It’s just unfortunate that, right now, it’s not translating to more wins.

The Bad

The Diamondbacks are awful. Aaron Heilman is their closer. Aaron. Heilman. They’re in last place in the National League West. And they own the Mets. The Mets continue to lose against the awful teams, which confuses me to no end. They play incredibly solid baseball against the St. Louis Cardinals, and could’ve swept them (more on that later), only to come out flat and with zero pride against the Diamondbacks. They exacted no revenge for the embarrassment that was the Mets’ trip over to Arizona by letting that terrible team come to Citi Field and do nothing but spank them all over the field. How the Mets eked out a win on Saturday night was, frankly, a surprise to me. Any goodwill they could’ve gained from the Cardinals series was destroyed and more over the weekend.

The Ugly

This is a pivotal week in the Mets’ season. With back to back series’ against the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies, this is when the Mets either put themselves back in the race, or get buried so deep in the standings that climbing back up will be very unlikely. Some might say that they have to win in spite of Jerry Manuel, who thought it was a good idea to leave Pedro Feliciano in as long as he did in Wednesday’s extra inning loss to the Cards. He also thought it was a good idea to let Pedro pitch to Albert Pujols. Nicely managed, skip.

Also, Oliver Perez is still on the team. I needn’t say anything else on the matter.