Great Success!

The Mets opened powerfully and convincingly today, pushing aside the Marlins 7-2 on one of those days when everything seemed to follow the proper script. I didn't see the game, but in reading the recap and looking at the box score, it seemed that the Mets opened playing in a way that will carry them a long way this season if they can internalize what they did today and make it something of a routine.

The picture you've been waiting for...and this one wasn't even photoshopped

Some positive and particularly illustrative highlights, I think:

• Johan Santana gave up two runs on just three hits and one walk in seven innings. He struck out eight. That's just a downright good game, and starts like this on a regular basis by are what makes a pitcher like Santana the ace of a staff. You could never really count on Tom Glavine to deliver anything like that when he took the mound.
• Jose Reyes went 2-4. Luis Castillo went 1-3 with two walks and stole a base - that's all the more impressive considering the fact that both David Wright and Jose Reyes got caught stealing today. I'm looking forward to watching a healthy Castillo do his thing. A lot of people wanted the Mets to bring in a power hitting second baseman and/or no. 2 hitter this offseason, but Castillo is the type of classic, prototypical 2 guy who can really help energize a lineup. If his knees hold up, him and Reyes could produce a double leadoff combo that will really wear down opponents.
• David Wright went 2-4 with 2 doubles, and was a major player in the Mets first big rally, a six-run sixth where Wright drove in three with the first of those two hits. That's the type of game that makes Wright look more and more like the emerging on-field leader that he started to be towards the end of last season.
• Carlos Delgado had no hits. Big surprise! I'm going to be hard on him this year.
• Although Matt Wise gave up two hits, Scott Schoenweis and Jorge Sosa bailed him out and Aaron Heilman pitched a hitless ninth while recording two strikeouts as the bullpen backed up Santana's solid start and looked good.
• The Mets committed no errors.

I'll probably stop talking about last year eventually, and it really hasn't left any lasting scars or anything. I was thinking today about how it was a totally embarrassing way to end the season, but it didn't really hurt the same way as watching your star center fielder look at strike three to end the NLCS. Besides, it wasn't meant to be in 2007. Think the Mets would have beaten the fired up Rockies in the Division Series? I rest my case.

Anyway, where I'm going with this is that the Mets played the type of game that they never really got used to playing last year. In a season of maddening inconsistency, they often won in spite of themselves but rarely just played well. Today was a downright good game, and made me even more excited for the season ahead.

Plus the Phillies lost (at home) after Jimmy Rollins hit a game-tying home run in the seventh, only to watch Tom Gordon give up six runs to blow it in the ninth. Haha. Ha. Ahahahahahahaha. I hope the Braves aren't good this year.

And I'm out.

(Photo courtesy mets.com)

OPENING DAY?!

Warning Track Power is currently in New Orleans building houses; I've been down here for about a week and I'll be here for another two. I've been somewhat out of the loop and it's easy to lose track of time down here.

Three days passed without me checking realclearpolitics.com for the latest on the Obama/Hillary slugfest.

Until about 10 minutes ago I hadn't been on metsblog since last Tuesday.

Spring Training is long, too, though it doesn't feel quite as long as NFL training camp. Much like the hot stove season, you get sick of hearing the same things over and over again. It must get hard after a while to be a beat writer during Spring Training. If you're Marty Noble, by the end of March you're probably up late at night making tally marks on your arm to count down the days until Opening Day, all while being forced to write something along the lines of:

Carlos Beltran walked all the way around the Mets spring training complex today, shmoozing with some of the Mets minor league coaches, who apparently were happy to see the star center fielder.

Or,

John Maine said he's sick of Port St. Lucie today. Somebody help me.

Or,

David Wright ate ribs for dinner tonight.

There's been some news to keep up on, mostly perennial spring training stuff. Roster this, roster that...there's a competition for the fifth starter's spot every year it seems. We had a bunch of injuries, but it looks like we're going north sans only Orlando Hernandez, Ramon Castro, and Duaner Sanchez, who all have relatively minor injuries, or are almost fully recovered from a freak taxi cab accident, and should be in New York fairly soon.

Anyway, I've actually been on the road for the entirety of Spring Training this year. I'm doing some traveling and Spring Training is kind of an interesting gauge, I guess, for how long I've been away from home. I've covered the whole thing pretty loosely, and fairly or unfairly haven't made much time for the more frequent posts I try to write during the season. That's how I've covered most of the offseason; with so much of the same stuff over and over again, I've tried to give my perspective on the big events and write something random yet hopefully poignant every once in a while. January was a good chance for me to write about the incredible road to a Super Bowl championship traversed by my other favorite New York sports team, those football Giants.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Opening Day has NEVER snuck up on me like this before. As excited as I am about this season, I honestly thought we had another week. But this is soooo much better. The Mets are already in Miami, and will take on the Marlins tomorrow at 4 before having one of those bizarre Tuesday off-days we get every beginning of the season and then really getting into the swing. I won't be able to live blog the game, but I'll see if I can get up with a fresh post either tomorrow night or Tuesday.

With the season starting, I'll be trying to get back to the 3 to 4 posts a week I wrote last summer, transitioning like every one else from offseason life to the rhythm of another baseball season. As Mets fans, we've got to be excited right now. One thing I did write about a couple times this spring was the confidence level in Spring camp, I get the sense that the Mets really want to do something special to usher out Shea and atone for the giant heap of (unprintable) dumped on the fan base at the end of 2007. I'm withholding judgment, trying to eliminate all expectations, and after last year's let down just generally looking to take it one day at a time. But I still feel good. I think that one way or another, this is going to be a fun season. It's amazing how the acquisition of one star pitcher can really lift everyone's spirits.

Look for Jose to bounce back this year from the roughest of ends to 2007. We hope.

So here we go. Isn't baseball season great? It's one way to tell that spring is here, even if the April weather in Flushing doesn't always cooperate. Baseball season also signals the coming of my birthday (April 13 in case ya'll are interested); this year I'll be 20. Isn't that cool?

Before I check out, here's the lineup for tomorrow:

Leading off and playing shortstop: Jose Reyes

Second, at second: Luis Castillo

Hitting third, playing third base: David Wright

Cleaning up, in centerfield: Carlos Beltran

At first, batting fifth: Carlos Delgado

In left field, hitting sixth: Angel "my name is contradictory" Pagan

Followed by, in right: Ryan "L Millz" Church

And batting eighth, behind the dish: Brian Schneider

Starting on the mound for the Mets is the man of the hour, Johan Santana.

Keep it real, stay fresh, and here's to the 2008 Mets. Happy New Year everyone!

(Photos courtesy about.com, lovefilm.com, cnn.net)

Unease About Delgado

Since returning to action this spring from a lingering hip injury, Carlos Delgado is 0-9, with five strikeouts.  

Everyone is certainly aware of Delgado's struggles last year, to the tune of home run and RBI totals 14 and 33 below his career average, respectively.  

Delgado didn't just drop off randomly; he was hurt.  He denied it, and such speculation was generally dismissed by many people in the Mets organization, but his ongoing recovery from off-season hand surgery clearly hampered him, particularly when he tried to get around on high, inside fastballs.  This was a visible problem all year.  Delgado came through with a big hit now and then, and his numbers were fairly respectable for a Major League first baseman, but league average was a steep drop for Delgado from the dominant force he was at times in 2006, and he basically became a mistake hitter.  I'm not sure I remember Delgado hitting any "pitcher's pitches" last year, and any smart reliever in the late innings knew that all he had to do was throw Delgado a belt-high fastball on the inside corner and Carlos was sure to choke.  In short, even while finishing the year with 20 plus home runs and nearly 100 RBI, Delgado felt like a liability because he consistently failed to come through in the clutch and he was a shadow of his former self.  

And every time he got into any sort of groove, it seemed like he got hurt again.  Last September, he was heating up when the same hip injury that kept him out for the beginning of the spring sidelined him just as the Mets were beginning their tailspin into oblivion.  

Delgado is well on his way to losing it as a hitter, primarily because his body is breaking down. He's always been streaky; he slumped miserably through parts of 2006 even as he hit 38 home runs and drove in 114.  But right now it honestly feels like he's reached the point of no return. 

Throughout the past few months Delgado and Willie Randolph continued to insist that last year was a total aberration for Carlos and had nothing to do with him being hurt.  In one interview, Willie waxed poetic about how the majority of his struggles had to do with a lack of an ability to take control in the batter's box.  Delgado was playing the pitcher's game, not his - always dangerous for any major league hitter.  And Delgado, without addressing Willie's opinion, talked about how hard he's been working this off-season to come back strong in '08.  

But a good deal of Delgado's inability to "take control in the batter's box" would seem to come back to his inability to get around on a high inside fastball.  If a pitcher knows exactly what pitch is sure to get a given hitter out in absolutely every situation, that hitter is going to have a hard time "taking control in the batter's box" from at-bat to at-bat, game to game, series to series.  

Delgado didn't finish an at-bat this spring without striking out until his four hitless at-bats today.  By many accounts, Delgado '08 looked a lot like Delgado '07 through those first five at-bats, struggling with - you said it - the high, inside fastball.  

The league is on notice.  He's going to get even more of these pitches this year than he did last year.  And whether he's hurt, or just old, or whatever, Carlos Delgado will continue to deteriorate as long as he keeps getting the high inside fastball and can't hit it.  By all indications, it's going to be another long, frustrating year for Carlos, and for Mets fans watching him - especially if he continues to be hurt while maintaining that he's fully healthy.  

Delgado looks to be in a state of irrevocable decline.  The Mets would be wise to trade him if they could, but they're not going to find a taker, and they probably won't try to find one either. What might be more realistic, and would thus be especially prudent under the circumstances, would be for the Mets to find a credible reinforcement at first.  Marlon Anderson and Damion Easley are nice utility players, but they probably won't be able to pick up the slack.  Neither will Jose Valentin, if he makes the team.  Omar Minaya's been good the past few years at finding the type of guy the Mets now need to back up first base; perhaps he'll be able to pull something off now.  

2008 looks promising, but the Mets are in sort of a first base quandary.  Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section for what you think Omar and Willie should do to manage a situation that looks like it might end up being a chronic problem.  

(Picture courtesy nycsportsnews.com) 

Johan

Watching SportsCenter the other night, I happened to catch some highlights from the Mets 3-2 victory over the Dodgers in St. Lucie. Johan Santana pitched three innings and struck out four, while yielding one run on two hits.

Nice suit

It's only the spring, but there was something special about that highlight. SportsCenter incorporated all four strikeouts into the highlight, three of which Santana registered with a downright filthy circle change.

We've had Pedro for a few years, but you have to go back slightly beyond my lifetime as a Mets fan to recall a time when the Mets had a dominant pitcher in his prime. I never really got to see Doc Gooden pitch; I was born in '88 and didn't start watching the Mets until '92 or '93.

I've known this, of course, ever since the trade for Santana and subsequent signing went through, and I've been excited to have a chance to watch a bona fide ace who works as hard as anyone do his thing. But something about actually seeing Santana pitch for the first time, even in spring, just made me feel good. I'm so pumped for this season - now if Carlos Beltran, Duaner Sanchez, Ryan Church, Marlon Anderson, Moises Alou, El Duque, Carlos Delgado, Endy Chavez, Jose Valentin, Ruben Gotay, Michel Abreu, and Brian Schneider can all only get nice and healthy for Opening Day, we'll be in business. Who's our trainer?

(Photo courtesy brucekphoto.com)