Why Isn't Signing Beltran An Option?

With the trade deadline two weeks away, trade rumors are swirling around the MLB and the Mets. The main discussion around the Mets is what will happen with Carlos Beltran. However, it seems a foregone conclusion that one way or another this will be Beltran's last season on the Mets. Either he will get traded or will walk in ...
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Mets Paradise Forum Recruiting Contest!

Check it out and spread the word! www.metsparadise.com/forums/showthread.php?2413-Recruiting-Contest-%28PRIZES!%29&p=21814#post21814   Thanks to ...
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Wilpons Really Need To Sell Off

Now I'm not going to sit here and say the Wilpons must sell off the team outright 100% immediately. Simply, these guys are loyal and they love this team. In a way I feel a little sympathy as they've worked hard to build up their network SNY, to construct...
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Email us your Questions!

Our Contact Us form is working again so were going to re-open our weekly questions segment. Each week one of us will answer 10 questions sent into us, by the readers. Questions will most likely always be answered on a Saturday so unless we can get 10 questions today, we will not start until next ...
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Emaus at 2nd, Harris & Beato Make Team

According to Jon Heyman of SI.com relief pitcher Pedro Beato has been informed he has made the team. Heyman also says that relievers Jason Isringhausen, Blaine Boyer & Manny Acosta are still competing for the final bullpen spot. ...
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With the All Star break upon us, the Mets sit 46-40, four games over .500. A team, that many predicted to finish well under .500, is right in the fight for a playoff spot. David Wright is having an MVP like season hitting .351/.441/.563 with 11 home runs and 59 RBIs. R. A. Dickey has been nothing short of spectacular with a 12-1 record and a 2.40 ERA, and 9.2 strikeouts per nine. Johan Santana, with the exception of a few bad starts has looked like the Santana of old, his 6-5 record due to a lack of run support. But while those three players shined during the first half, they didn't do it all. Baseball is a team sport and few good players doesn't lead to wins.

First and foremost, Ruben Tejada. In the offseason star shortstop Jose Reyes was a free agent and Mets fans were screaming at why no offer was made to Reyes. Well Mets fans have been delightfully surprised with Tejada. Tejada continues to shine in the field which Mets fans saw in the past, but Tejada has shown more to his game then just defense. Tejada’s patience at the plate has made manager Terry Collins upgrade Tejada, who started the season eighth in the lineup, is now leading off. Tejada is seeing approximately four pitches per plate appearance, allowing his teammates behind him in the lineup to gauge that day’s pitcher. Furthermore, Tejada’s swing has developed into a line drive swing. Tejada, who used to have trouble getting the ball out of the infield, has consistently been hitting line drives leading to his .325 average.

Secondly, Scott Hairston. Hairston has started mostly against lefties, and has eaten them apart. Against lefties, Hairston is batting .295 with 9 homeruns and 21 RBIs and is slugging .619. Hairston totals at a .249 average, .524 slugging percentage, with 12 homeruns, and 34 RBIs. With the injuries to Jason Bay, and Andres Torres, and their lack of performance, as well as Ike Davis’s long slump, Hairston has been huge for the Mets giving them that extra boost of offense.

Thirdly, Mike Baxter. Many fans nay have forgotten about Baxter because he’s been injured for over a month now. Baxter, obviously is most famous for that injury, which was brought on by his no hitter saving catch on June 1^st.  However, Baxter seemed to get clutch hit after clutch hit for the Mets, so much so that manager Terry Collins at a point was starting him every day in left field. On the season Baxter has played in 40 games, batting .323/.523/.915 with 10 RBIs, and 11 double.

Lastly, Tim Byrdak. For the most part the Mets bullpen has been terrible this season. The bullpen has an ERA over 5. However, there has been one bright spot, Tim Byrdak. Byrdak, who is primarily a LOOGY, has appeared in a league high 43 games, tallying up 22.2 innings, and has allowed only six out of 35 inherited runners to score. In a bullpen that has been full of black holes, Byrdak has been a bright spot.

Can these players continue to play a role in the second half? It may make or break the Mets season.

2006, David Wright, one of the best third basemen in the MLB, and one the best players in the MLB. 2007, more of the same. 2008, even more of the same. For those three years, Wright hit for a combined .312 average, 89 HRs, and 347 RBIs. Averaging it out, Wright played 158 games per season, .312 average, 30 home runs, and 116 RBIs. Came 2009 and with it Citi Field, and Wright's numbers dipped. 2009, 2010, 2011 were years to forget for Wright. Wright averaged 134 games played, with a .284 average, with 18 HRs and 79 RBIs per season. Wright was not just off at the plate, but also off in the field, his throws were off line, and he lost his cat like quickness that won him Gold Gloves in 2007 and 2008. Enter 2012, Wright has been nothing short of sensational both at bat and in the field.

38 games into the 2012 season and Wright's Mets are exceeding expectations with a 21-17, and it's mainly thanks to the unofficial captain, Wright. who has sat only three games all season due to a fractured pinky. After Thursday's 9-4 Mets win, Wright is now hitting .411/.513/.621 with four home runs and 22 RBIs.  Wright's .411 average, and .513 OBP lead the major leagues. So what's going (W)right this season for Wright?

First and foremost, strikeouts are down. The last three seasons Wright, averaged a strikeout once every 3.8 at bats, with a 2.04 strikeout to walk ratio. Going into Thursday, Wright has struckout once for every 5.8 at bats with a 0.88 strikeout to walk ratio. In 2006-2008, Wright averaged 5.8 at bats between strikeouts, with a 1.36 strikeout to walk ratio. Wright is seeing the ball better, and on target. The past few years Wright was late on fastballs and couldn't reach the fastballs on the outside corner. So far in 2012, as the numbers indicate Wright has been less prone to the strikeout, leading to more hits. The most telling number of such, Wright's balls in play percentage. From 2006-2008 Wright hit the ball in play 68% of the time, from 2009-2011, Wright hit the ball in play 62% of the time. This season? 67% of the time.

Secondly, how he's hitting the ball. When Wright's been hitting the ball, he's been hitting it well. So far in 2012, Wright has hit an Extra Base Hit 10.2% of the time, right around at his 2006-2008 average of 10.5% of the time. Wright has hit line drives for 25% of all balls put into play. That percentage tells us Wright has kept an even swing. In recent years, it had looked like Wright's swing had evolved into a little of an upper cut, especially since the creation of (the formerly cavernous) Citi Field. The fact that Wright has hit line drives for one quarter of all balls in play, tells us if Wright had more of an upper cut in his swing, he has since leveled it, and is no longer trying to hit 500 foot bombs, but rather just get good wood on the ball.

Last but not least, leadership. It won't show up in any boxscore, but ask any player on the Mets, any coach on the Mets, or any fan of the Mets, and they will tell you Wright is the leader of the Mets, their unofficial "captain". Monday night, following D.J. Carrassco's beaning of Ryan Braun, when the Mets came up to bat, Terry Collins quickly removed Wright from the lineup, not wanting his star player to get hurt. Wright was upset at his manager, being that he wanted to be the guy to take the hit for the team. This is finally Wright's team. Carlos Delgado gone. Carlos Beltran gone. Jose Reyes gone. Wright goes out on the field knowing that it's his team now, and he has to set an example for all the young players on the team. He goes out everyday and plays his heart out, even playing with a broken finger! In recent years there was worry that the burden of the Mets was getting to Wright, and that's why he was struggling. Wright has come out in 2012 and is trying to prove all his critics wrong, even team owner Fred Wilpon, who this week retracted from his statement last year, (calling Wright "not a superstar"),  and is ready to be the leader of the Mets in all aspects.

I think we are far enough in the season where it's no longer considered "small sample size". Watch out for David Wright.

Coming into the season, the Mets starting rotation was of question. One of the big questions, was Mike Pelfrey, who was pitching well, before going down to injury. Ever since then the Mets have been struggling to fill that fifth spot of the rotation. They tried Chris Schwinden for two starts, who pitched a total of eight innings going 0-1 with an 11.25 ERA. Since then the Mets used  40 year old Miguel Batista on Tuesday, who pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs in a Mets win. Mets manager Terry Collins has said that Batista will get at least one more start. With Chris Young at least a couple of weeks away before returning from injury, who is the pitcher to fill the fifth spot?

Meet Jeremy Hefner. Hefner was called for one game in late April, and pitched three innings in that game, pitching three innings, giving up three hits and a walk.  Hefner, who is currently at AAA Buffalo, has started six games and is 3-1 with a 1.77 ERA.  Hefner, 26, has pitched a total of 40 2/3 innings in those six starts, averaging about 6 2/3 innings per start. Furthermore, Hefner, has pitched a 0.910 WHIP, with 1.3 BB/9. While Hefner only has 5.1 K/9, Hefner throws strikes, doesn't walk people, and keeps the ball on the ground with a 39.5 GB% as well as a 3.00 GB/FB ratio.

So with Miguel Batista pitching mediocre, and Chris Young at least a couple of weeks away, why not give Jeremy Hefner a look?

So it's ten games into the season, and the Mets are 7-3, 0.5 games out of the division lead. Not many people, if any would have predicted this. The Mets have won every first game of the series so far. So, what are the Mets doing right to be successful? What can we expect to see for the rest of the 152 games of the season? As to a baseball game, there are two main keys, the pitching, and the offense.

Firstly, pitching well. Overall, the pitching staff, has pitched to a 2.43 ERA, second in the NL. Johan Santana has been great, while getting virtually no run support, R.A. Dickey has continued his success, Jon Niese has been nothing short of remarkable, Mike Pelfrey has shown signs of returning to his 2010 form, and Dillon Gee, pitched a gem last night in Atlanta. They have given up approximately 8.3 hits per nine innings, or, less than a hit per inning, while sustaining only 3.6 walks per nine innings, leading to a 1.32 WHIP. Of those 8.3 hits per nine innings mentioned above, only 0.4 of those are home runs.  Furthermore, the pitching staff has thrown strikes 62% of the time, hardly below the league average at 63%. The looking strike percentage is 29%, just above the league average of 28%. The swinging strike percentage is 29%, also just above the league average at 28%.  Those stats tell us what is necessary for pitchers to be successful. Not give up many hits, keep the ball in the ballpark, and keep runners off the bases, all the while getting only 3.8 runs of run support per game. If the pitching staff can sustain these numbers, the Mets should be successful.

Secondly, productive hitting. Starting at the top of the lineup, Ruben Tejada, has a league leading six doubles so far. In the ten games so far, Tejada, who took over as the leadoff hitter the second game of the season, has seen about 4.76 pitches per at bat, allowing the hitters behind him to analyze the pitcher. David Wright, is hitting a blistering .542. Josh Thole is hitting .375. The Mets as a team have a batting average of only .248(seventh in the league), but have .327 OBP (fifth in the league), a .404 slugging percentage (also fifth in the league), leading to a .731 OPS (obviously fifth in the league). So while the Mets aren't hitting all that often, when there not hitting, there getting on base by some other form, and when they are hitting they are tting extra base hits. Let me explain further, the Mets home run percentage, is 3%, 0.8% better than the league average at 2.2%. Their walk percentage is 10.4%, nearly two percentage points better than the league average at 8.6%. Their extra base hit percentage is 7.6% percent, a half point better than the league average at 7.1%. This is all the while Jason Bay, Lucas Duda, and Ike Davis are hitting a combined 18-104, or a combined .173. Josh Thole won't hit .375 for the season, and David Wright won't hit anything close to .542. But they should both hit over .300, and Duda, Davis, and Bay, will hit better than they have so far. So while some of this isn't sustainable, overall it could be, as long as the Mets continue working counts, and hitting the ball well.

(All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs)