The Good

There isn’t much that I’d define as “good,” but how about we go with “encouraging” instead? Let’s apply that to the fact that General Manager Omar Minaya has decided to infuse a touch of youth onto the roster. I don’t know if there’s anybody who doesn’t like Alex Cora, but we all know he wasn’t going to start the amount of games necessary for his vesting option to kick in, and he wasn’t very effective anyway. Jesus Feliciano is a guy who I’ve never seen swing so hard to hit a ball 6 feet in front of him. The Mets welcomed Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez back to the Majors, and Luis Castillo has been delegated to a bench role. Is this the answer? No. But it is encouraging that some young guys are here to play.

The Bad

Can anybody answer what the hell’s going on with Mike Pelfrey? Anybody? Bueller? I remember how, after a month of a half into the season, Small Pelf was a part of early Cy Young and All-Star game discussions. Any discussion concerning Pelfrey now pretty much always starts with “I don’t know…” Why? He’s a guy with all the talent in the world, and clearly has the ability to be an extremely effective pitcher. His fall from grace this year has been nothing short of alarming, and if the Mets are going to at the very least make the last two months of the season remotely interesting, they need him to return to form.

Other problems with the team pretty much all concern the heart of the order. I’m talking about Carlos Beltran, David Wright, and Ike Davis. This trio are 11-62 over the last week, with Ike responsible for 6 of those hits. Together, they have 3 RBI. If you’re head didn’t just completely explode, and I hope it hasn’t, you’re probably thinking that that is completely unacceptable. Because it is.

The Ugly

Jose Reyes has been absolutely brutal with the glove - and more confusingly, his arm - last week. The only thing that’s worse than Reyes making an error is the fact that it seems as if it always leads to at least a run, and usually more.

Someone needs to teach Jerry Manuel how to use a bullpen. After walking Chipper Jones in the Mike Pelfrey game, why he was left in to pitch to Brian McCann, who already had 2 hits on the day, is beyond me. How about leaving him in long enough to hit a batter with the bases loaded to force in a run? The only thing I’ve been able to say whenever the manager makes a mistake like that is: “Oh, Jerry.”

Then, there’s this:

Jesus Feliciano will replace Bay on the roster.

The Good - Pitching

It’s pretty hard to argue with the fact that the Mets have appeared to have hit their stride. Are they as good as winning 8 in a row? Probably not. The real breakthrough this year seems to be that even when they take a punch to the jaw (read: on Saturday), they bounce back with a crisp, convincing win. They’re winning series, which is what you’re supposed to do, and refuse to let a loss turn into a skid. The main reason for this consistent success is the pitching. Yes, the offense has come around and does its best to come back, but the pitching is what’s been keeping the wins flowing in. The Mets threw 2 shutouts last week, for a total of 11, best in the majors, and guys like R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, and shockingly, Elmer Dessens have been pitching at an extremely high level. Dickey, whose career high in wins is 9, is on a pace to set a new personal mark this year. He’s got 6 wins already which yes, is 1 more than Johan Santana. Jon Niese, who I’ll give a pass for the “rain delay game,” threw 6 shutout innings against a tough Twins lineup yesterday. Elmer didn’t give up a run last week, and now has an ERA this year of .66. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t surrendered a run since his first appearance on May 21st. It’s hard to lose if you don’t let the other team score. Once Johan comes around (and I believe he will), and if Niese and Dickey can maintain even a semblance of this success, it’s hard to see the Mets fall victim to any sustained losing streaks.

The Bad - Is Angel OK?

Angel Pagan, hitting .302 on the year, has been a huge part of the Mets lineup this year, providing a clutch bat that fit extremely well in the #2 spot. He’s hitting .296 with 2 outs and runners in scoring position, and .429 in late and close games. The problem is that he’s been out of the lineup since the 23rd, and it seems like nobody’s sure when he’s coming back. Will he eventually be DLed, leaving Jesus Feliciano to play center field? It seems as if we’ve heard “tomorrow” 4 times already, and according to Metsblog.com, he won’t be playing tonight in Puerto Rico against the Marlins either. I feel like we’ve seen this movie a few times before the last couple of years, so hopefully this situation turns out to be different, and we won’t nickname Angel “Godot.”

The Ugly - Beltran’s Return is Making Everyone Delirious

So how about we trade Pagan now because Carlos Beltran played a little DH in Buffalo? How about we move him to 2nd base, because you can totally just do that? How about we just wait and see if Beltran is even remotely close to what he was before he was injured before we come up with one idea which I strongly disagree with, and one idea that I simply refuse to entertain because this isn’t video games? Let’s explore the other side of the spectrum now. Chemistry? Do you know what makes chemistry? Winning. And do you know who instantly makes the lineup better, deeper, and more powerful? Carlos Beltran. I can’t listen to the Joe Benignos of the world saying that they’d rather Beltran not come back and disrupt the team’s chemistry because, frankly, it’s asinine. I have no other words for it. Let’s all take a breath, and wait. He’s not here yet, and he won’t be here tomorrow, or the day after. Thank you.

Bonus: The Uglier

The Phillies were on the road this past weekend, and had to travel all the way to Philadelphia to play the Toronto Blue Jays, who had the luxury of rolling out of bed right onto a plane that flew them to the warm confines of not their park. Again, asinine.

The fact that it’s Memorial Day added to the fact that my Internet has been a total dog today will mean that I’m going to make this a quick one, so let’s get to it.

Jose Reyes is the spark plug. He’s the firecracker. He’s the fuel. He’s an unlimited amount of clichéd adjectives used to make a simple point: as Reyes goes, so do the Mets. The most important thing you need to know about him is that in the last week, Reyes is hitting an even .500, with a homer, 3 doubles, a triple, and 7 RBI. It’s clear that when he first came back, he didn’t have his legs under him right away. Now that he does, here’s hoping we don’t have to hear any more awful trade talk concerning him for awhile. Jose Reyes is my Man Crush of the Week.

The Mets have what I’m calling “dead roster spots.” 2 of them, to be exact. Oliver Perez is terrible, selfish, and flat-out stupid for thinking that he’s doing himself any good for sitting in the bullpen yawning away day after day, instead of getting himself right. I never, ever want to see him play for the Mets again, and I could only hope that brass realizes he’s a sunk cost already. Gary Matthews Jr. adds absolutely nothing to the team, and maybe the Mets should realize the Angels were so willing to depart with him for a reason. He’s hitting .179 on the year. .179! This must be some kind of joke, except it’s not. It’s a cruel, cruel punishment that we have to watch him strike out with the bases loaded and 2 outs. It’s a cruel punishment that we have to hear that Jesus Feliciano is tearing it up in AAA, yet is not with the big club because of some kind of ridiculous love affair with Matthews Jr. He and Oliver Perez need to go, so that those 2 spots can be filled with, you know. baseball players. Dead Roster Spots are my Dog House Resident of the Week.