April Showers Bring...More Showers

If April were a movie, right now we'd be at the MPAA logo in the credits. One month of 2011 New York Mets baseball is in the books. Let's take a look at the Bad and the Good from April (and yes, there is some Good).

The Bad Stuff:

• With today's loss, the Mets end the first month of the year on a three-game losing streak. Their record stands at 11-16, good for last in the NL East, a game and a half behind Atlanta.
• Supposed star David Wright is struggling at the plate, sitting on a .240 batting average and has more strikeouts (31) than he does hits (25).
• Last year's team batting leader, Angel Pagan, is doing hitting even worse than Wright (.159) and is still on the DL.
• Mike Pelfrey, who was supposed to be our ace in Johan Santana's absence, is 1-3 with an ERA over 7 and is averaging just 4 2/3 an outing. No one else has consistantly stepped up in his place.

The Good Stuff:

• Considering the team was 5-13 with the worst record in all of baseball a week and a half ago, 11-16 looks pretty good.
• Ike Davis, or "The Franchise" as one ESPN commentator once called him, has been phenominal at the start of his second season: .337, 5 HRs, and a team-leading 20 RBIs. Before today, he had been on a 11-game hitting streak.
• Carlos Beltran started off slow, but seems to have found his groove, batting .281 with 3 HRs and 11 RBIs. Most significant is that he started every game the last half of April in right field, not needing a day off to rest his legs.
• Jason Bay's return prompted NY to win 6 straight, and his presense at #5 in the batting order gives the Mets a still-formidable middle four of Wright-Beltran-Bay-Davis.
• The bullpen has settled down after an inconsistant "Hot Potato" start. Standing out are Pedro Beato, who hasn't allowed an earned run in 14 innings of work, Taylor Buchholz, whose ERA sits at 1.32 in 13 2/3 innings, and Francisco Rodriguez, who's converted 6 of 7 save opportunities (never mind each time is a roller coaster ride) with a 1.82 ERA.

Final Analysis:
A horrible start was followed by a hot streak and then another slump. That's probably going to be the Met way in 2011.

The schedule doesn't get any easier the first week of May: the defending champion San Fransisco Giants come to town on Tuesday, followed by the Dodgers. A chance to recapture the magic of last week comes the 13th through 19th with a trip to Houston followed by a 4-game homestand against the Marlins and Nationals. But the dates that really stick out are the weekends of the 20th and 27th. For the former, the Mets go uptown to the Bronx to face the hated New York Yankees (despite how I feel about Interleague play, that will still be fun). For the latter, another rematch with the archrival Philadelphia Phillies, this time at Citi Field.

April may be over, but the season's just begun, my friends. Buckle up for the ride.

MM