The End of an Error: Mets Win 3-0

Miguel Batista pitched a 2-hit complete game shut out to lead the Mets to victory in their final game of the 2011 campaign.

But people won't remember that: this was potentially Jose Reyes's last game as a Met...and he hit a leadoff bunt single and then came out of the game. As of right now, he leads the National League with a .337 batting average.

Milwaukee's Ryan Braun would have to go 3-3 or 3-4 to snatch the title from Reyes. If Braun fails, Reyes will be the first batting champion in franchise history.

Hello, offseason. Please be over soon.

Final David Wright Strikeout Counter: $9.70 <---bummer

How Hard is it to Stay Above .500?

That's the question I keep asking myself this morning after the Mets lost another heartbreaker to the Marlins.

Note to Terry Collins: You don't put the guy the blew the game the night before into the next game. But then again, maybe our bullpen is just that bad where we need to put Jason Isringhausen into every game.

Note to Mets offense: When your starting pitcher only allows two solo home runs to Omar Infante over six innings, you have to back him up. Pitching alone isn't going to win it every time. Unless you're the Phillies.

Another Note to Terry Collins: You don't put Jon Niese in as the pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth with nobody out unless you're positive Daniel Murphy is going to hit a home run.

That's all I'm really going to say about last night's game. I'm predicting a loss tonight because once the Mets get three or four games above .500, they tend to lose the next four or five games to fall back under .500.

Maybe I'm more aggravated because I have to listen to the Marlins feed. Go figure.

David Wright Striekout Counter: $4.90

Why Johan Santana Should be Sidelined

It's August 2, and the news all over the Twitterverse was that Johan Santana has suffered a setback and will be visiting the doctor this Thursday to see if he would be able to pitch at all this year.

He shouldn't. It's moot.

The Mets are still (!!!) in the Wild Card chase, being one game over .500, so you would think that a pitcher like Santana would help the Mets come September. After all, Santana is statistically a second half pitcher.

But Santana should be sidelined for the year. Why?

By the time Santana rehabs and is ready to help the Mets, it remains unknown where the Mets will be in the hunt. For all we know, the Mets could lose the next 15 games, thus eliminating themselves. If we're mathematically out, then there is really no need for a pitcher of Santana's caliber. The Mets were also flirting with a six man rotation should Santana return. Sure, a longer time between starts could help some of the younger pitchers and certainly Santana, but what about Cappy and RAH Dickey? Do they suffer because of the longer time between starts?

Plus there's the giant elephant in the room. The Mets don't score runs for Santana. No really. I think their average runs per start is like 1.7 or something ridiculously low like that. If Santana lets off two runs, he loses...almost everytime.

For as many reasons there is to bring Johan back, there's just as many reasons to sideline him. I would aim for 2012 for the Johan Santana comeback.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $4.80

I'm Just So Happy He's Back!!!

Sure, the Mets lost two out of three to the Marlins. Sure, I had to endure the Marlins telecast and not Gary, Keith and Ron (I do have to give the Marlins announcers credit where it was due: they did name David Wright the player of the game on Friday). But David Wright is back.

And he's seeing the ball well. He was 6 for 14 this weekend against the Marlins with 1 HR and 6 RBI (he also added to my David Wright Strikeout Counter, the value of which will be added at the end of this post).

Hopefully, he lets the good times roll in Cincy and the pitching actually backs up the adequate offense it has been receiving.

Getting Wright back at this point in the season is an acquistion in itself; the offense was stagnating and Wright provided a spark at exactly the right time. He also started a new thing...either a spotlight or an air high five...I don't know exactly.

David and Jose are also back together and my left side of the infield is finally back to normal. I love watching the way David and Jose feed off each other and help each other become better baseball players.

If there was one thing I could ask David though, I would ask him what he did to Ike Davis's foot!

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $4.60

I Fear For the New Mets Closer

With the trade of Fransisco Rodriguez to the Brewers, the Mets have created a hole in their bullpen. We also saved $17.5 million. And we have some monies.

People are reacting one way or the other about the Frankie Rodriguez trade. I've heard people say that the Mets just forfeited. I've also heard people say that we can get Reyes now with the money we saved on K-Rod.

I really don't care.

Yup. I really don't care. Why? Rumor has it that Bobby Parnell or Jason Isringhausen could step up and become the next closer. In my honest, humble, Post Traumatic Mets Disorder-influenced opinion, the ninth inning will always be an interesting affair. Sure, Frankie would get the job done...after runners are on first and third for the opposing team there's a full count on the batter. You could put whoever you want in the closer's role, we still wouldn't have a reliable closer. I'd say that the most reliable guy in the last decade or so has been Billy Wagner, but even he had his epic hiccups.

Put Parnell and his 100 mph fastball in. Put Isringhausen in with all his experience. Put Ryota Igarashi, who's on his way to New York, in the game. The Mets can't close the door easily. The bullpen has always been a crutch for the Mets, but I feel that Parnell and Pedro Beato can be groomed into a decent 8th-9th inning platoon.

I don't care who pitches in the ninth inning...whoever it is will have me biting my nails till the end.

The Mid-Season Metsy Awards

Well, the All Star break is finally upon us, and while most Met players have a 4 day vacation, most Met fans are figuring out what to do about four days without baseball. Sure, there's the All Star Game, but that forces me to root for players I hate simply because they play for the National League. So with that in mind, I present the first ever IAMTM Mid-Season Metsy awards! Hooray!

Mid-Season MVP: No questions here, Jose Reyes is our mid-season MVP. At the time he went on the disabled list, he was putting up Ty Cobb numbers with a .354 batting average, 65 runs scored, 124 hits, and 30 stolen bases. Then he tweaked his hamstring and lucky for us, he'll be back within the next three weeks, maybe even in time for the Phillies Series of Death.

Mid-Season Cy Young:While all of the Mets pitchers have had their moments, as well as their struggles, I pick DillonGee as our mid-season Cy Young. No rookie pitcher as gone 7-0 since Jon Matlack did it in 1972. Currently, Gee is 8-3 with a 3.76 ERA, even though I'm willing to argue that two of those three losses are unfair.

Most Improved: The most-improved player of the mid-season, for me, is Carlos Beltran. Beltran went from a player who is only 80-85% to a guy that plays every day and gives it his all every time. I even demoted him as my team sad sack. Now that's scary.

WTF Moment of the Mid-Season: Barring any other bizarre moments, this may be my WTF Moment of the entire season. The Ike Davis and David Wright collision that landed both players on the disabled list, although only Davis's injury is directly rel

ated to the collision. First of all, they're on opposite sides of the field. Second of all, doesn't one player call the other one off? I'm still trying to figure out how this happened. The good news is that Terry Collins hopes both players can return to the team in the next three weeks.

Most Pleasant Surprise: The most pleasant surprise for me this season has been Justin Turner. He lost out to Brad Emaus for the 2nd base job in the last weeks of spring training, got called up near the end of April, and began the season on a tear. He's also the only Mets player to interact with his fans on Twitter. You can follow him (@redturn2), but you probably already do.

Sad Fact of the Season: Even though they have been on the disabled list for two months, both Ike Davis and David Wright remain among the team leaders in home runs. I'm serious. Go check it out.

Most Anticipated Return: I think most Mets fans have been looking forward to the return of Johan Santana for a year now, mainly because of the questions it represents. The main question on my mind: who gets cut from the rotation if/when Santana comes back? Maybe there will be 40-man rosters by then because I've become attached to everybody.

Player I Miss the Most: Yes, I made up a Metsy so I could give David Wright an award. Do you hold it against me?

Injuries, Injuries, Wait....Someone's Coming Back????

Mets GM Sandy Alderson was a guest on WFAN this morning and provided updates on some injured superstars.

There will be more clarity as to when David Wright and Ike Davis will be returning next week when they both get re-evaluated. Alderson feels Wright will return before Davis and is "hopeful" that Wright gets the "green light" next week.

Alderson also feels that there will be an emotional lift when Wright returns (and one very happy Strikeout Counter) and that Wright, Davis, and Johan Santana coming back will provide a similar boost to acquiring players at the trade deadline.

According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Santana has dealt with soreness in his surgically repaired left shoulder for the last week and a half and now might not return until August.

The Mets have done a good job gaining in the standings since Wright and Davis have been on the DL. Now, they just need a little push to get over .500 and contend in the NL East. I still think they can contend; winning is a different story. They're playing scrappy and they employ arguably the best player in the National League. When Wright, Davis, and Santana come back, things can only get better.

David Wright Strikeout Counter (just for old time's sake): $4.30