It seems as if Jason Bay got off to a snail’s start, with only 1 home run for the first 44 games. But did you know that for the last week, he’s hitting .500? He’s got 11 hits in 22 official at-bats, with 3 walks, 2 doubles, and of course, 2 home runs, both coming off a certain Mr. CC Sabathia, making it all the better. Even before he begun to catch fire, you saw a guy that was constantly hustling and more or less played like he had ice water in his veins. He knew he wasn’t being Jason Bay, but he also knew that eventually he would. His most impressive night for the Mets, by far, came last night at Citi Field when he hit those two homers, the second of which went the other way into the bullpen. If I understand this correctly, that bullpen’s roughly 4 miles away. I pass that bullpen on my way to my train station in Brooklyn. That bullpen’s so far away that I like to heckle the opposing team’s pitchers from my bedroom window. You get the idea.

Jason Bay, the guy who wasn’t a new starting pitcher, and the guy who wasn’t Matt Holliday (though to be fair I preferred him to Holliday), had a week that was basically his Met awakening. They say that Jason Bay’s a streaky hitter, so I guess this would qualify as one of those streaks. Keep it up, Jason, because you’re my Man-Crush of the Week, and I’d rather not feel like your my latest curse victim.

It’s basically a tale of two pitchers. Originally a couple of “throw-ins,” one looks like he’s on his way back to relative normalcy, the other continuing to do nothing but struggle.

John Maine, a guy who is by no means a world beater, is also a guy that the Mets needed to stabilize himself after missing so much time to injury. He posted an 8.64 ERA after his first four starts, with 16 runs and 10 walks in 16.2 IP. He had lost the life and velocity on his fastball and everybody was starting to think that he was on his way to being finished. Then, his last two starts happened. Were they dominant? Not at all. Were they a bit gutsy and a lot hope-inspiring? Yes. His last two starts saw him giving up 3 earned runs in 12 innings pitched, with 15 strikeouts and 5 walks. He’s not exactly Cy Young out there, but those last two starts make you hope that he’s on his way back.

Listen, he’ll never be an innings eater - he went 6 innings both of those starts - but as long as he gives the team a chance to win, I can live with what Maine gives the team. Ideally, I still believe he’s a bullpen guy, but the team clearly isn’t inundated with quality starting pitching, so to keep him in his role is to keep hoping he can give you what he has the last couple of starts. For that improvement, he’s my Man-Crush of the Week.

Honorable Man-Crush mentions: Rod Barajas continues to be clutch, Mike Pelfrey bounces back nicely, and Henry Blanco hits the Mets second walkoff homer in as many nights.

Speaking of garbage starting pitching (oh, did I not actually mention garbage?), Oliver Perez. I - and many other Mets fans - have been calling for Perez’s contract to be eaten since last year, and he’s still here, doing nothing but—

Oh, what’s that? He walked someone else just now?

For anybody who took their mom out to Citi Field to watch the game for Mother’s Day, good for you! Also, you better make up for that with a nice dinner or something, because she hated watching this guy watch 7 batters in 3.1 innings, and let’s be honest - so did you. That the Mets even had a chance to win the game at the end was an utter miracle after that disaster. Watching Oliver pitch is like watching a car wreck in slow motion. The Giants could’ve just left their bats in the dugout, because all they had to do was stand there while Ollie struggled against the wind, and against his own footing, as he wasn’t anywhere close to the zone.

Ollie’s previous start was one that gave me zero hope, even if it was a “quality start.” That game, he went 6 innings and gave up only 2 runs and 4 walks, which for him is excellent. It gave me zero hope because from game to game, and inning to inning, Perez has shown anything but consistency. Can management just get over the fact that Perez simply isn’t a good pitcher, and that he will never, ever, ever… match that great 200+ K season he had with the Pirates. Ever. Forget Resident. He’s the damn Dog House Landlord.

Other people belong in the House with him, including David “Strikeout” Wright, Jason Bay, who’s allergic to RBI, Bengie Molina, who needs a Wahmbulance, and Jerry Manuel, who’s bullpen will have to throw with their opposite arm when their throwing arms fall off by Independence Day.

4 years. $66 million. And last week, all we got were all these stupid strikeouts. 11 of them, actually. We all know how good Jason Bay really is. We’ve watched him rot in Pittsburgh, and own the spotlight in Boston, and well, somewhat celebrated when the Mets signed him (he was no John Lackey). All he’s done in New York, though, is struggle mightily. So what other numbers did he put up last week besides those strikeouts? Let’s take a looksie:

In 26 plate appearances, Bay’s got 2 walks, 4 hits (none of which were for extra bases), those 11 strikeouts, and a .174 average. But hey, he’s got a stolen base!

I decided to take a look at his April numbers last year, thinking that perhaps he’s a slow starter. However, in April of 2009, in Boston, Bay hit .324, with 5 doubles, a triple, and 5 home runs. Know how many homers he’s got this year? Here’s a hint: take 5 off his April total last year.

And yet, there’s something that annoys me about him than all of the above. Take a look at what Dave Lennon from Newsday quoted Bay as saying on his Twitter account:

I struck out 162 times last year, so yeah, I strike out. That’s just part of my game.

Thanks for the candor, Jason. Also, welcome to the Dog House.

Submitted by Dave Rosado

Very simply, the following is the internal argument that I, and I’m sure many other Mets fans, have been engaged in during last night’s heartbreaking-in-August-but-not-so-bad-in-April loss to the Marlins:

• How about those Mets answering a first inning run with one of their own? That’s the kind of fight we haven’t seen in a long while.
• How about John Maine and his complete inability to finish an inning in under 30 pitches?
• Maine fought hard not to let it get out of hand. His fastball was up, in and out of the zone, but his offspeed stuff was pretty good.
• Great, because #2 pitchers should be responsible for one thing: not letting it get out of hand. Bravo. Looked more like a #5 to me.
  
• Jason Bay hits another double. He looks solid already and seems to know how to hit in Citi Field.
• So can someone, anyone, explain to me why he’s not hitting fourth and Mike Jacobs is? The guy looks awful at the plate.
• Hey, he shouldn’t be hitting 4th, but he’s right on the ball. It’s a matter of him catching up to the pitches.
• The Mets got back into the game without hitting the ball! All they need is to face pitchers who can’t find the plate at all and they’ll be in every game!
• They may not have gotten the big hits last night, but they did it in game 1, and during both games they worked the count and were patient. And that’s what keeps rallies going.
• Until Fernando “Why’s He a Defensive Replacement?” Tatis runs home on a wild pitch when there’s zero space between home plate and the backstop. It cost the Mets the damn game!
• Yeah but… actually, I have no answer to that.

Such is being a Mets fan. Optimism prevails until a rally is killed in new, clever ways.

 Submitted by Dave Rosado

Ben Nicholson-Smith over at MLBTradeRumors.com relays a few quotes from Omar Minaya, concerning the Mets preferring to sign a power bat in Jason Bay instead of going after John Lackey, who as we all know was signed to a 5-year,  $82.5 million deal by the Red Sox. I mean, it’s not as if the rotation needed improving before the line-up anyway. Of course not.

Also, it’s clear that the team’s preference to sign a power bat had nothing to do with the roughly $18 million savings. Nope.