The Mets are In Last Place: Should we Worry?

With last night's loss to the Astros, the Mets are officially the worst team in the National League. The Mets fell to 5-12 for the season, and they have become an early punching bag for everybody from the Nationals to the Phillies.

So...should we be worried?

The optimistic Mets fan says no; it's only April, there's still 145 games left to play. The pessimistic Mets fan (and the Mets front office) says yes; it's a rebuilding year, lets look to 2012. The angry Mets fan says sell the team!!!

With the Mets still trying to figure out what happened between a promising spring and a less-than-promising regular season, with fans looking to point fingers at somebody, and with fans wishing they had more fingers with which to point with, I say it's not over yet.

Johan Santana continues to improve and you can follow his progress on Twitter. It's verified. I promise.

We're going to get Chris Young back eventually.

But I think we should call up Matt Harvey and get it over with.

Jason Bay is coming back on Thursday and he hit two home runs in a rehab game yesterday. Granted, it was the Ft. Myers Miracle, but Jason had been doing well in spring training before landing on the DL.

Now that we know Bobby Parnell's middle finger is hurting him, we can proper fix the problem.

Jose Reyes and Ike Davis are seeing the ball well in this young season.

David Wright has taken a more vocal leadership role within the clubhouse. We should just put a "C" on his jersey. Kthanxbye.

I still want to believe the Mets are going to turn things around. It's too early to give up on them even though I see why most fans have. We can only go up from here.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $2.00

Mets DFA Brad Emaus

The Brad Emaus experiment has ended.

Matthew Cerrone reports that the Mets designated Emaus for assignment, which means he must now be offered back to the Toronto Blue Jays for $25,000 because of his Rule 5 status.

Emaus has been struggling as of late, both at the plate and defensively. He's hit .162 with one RBI in 14 games. I really wish that given his Rule 5 status, they would have given Emaus more of a chance, maybe even trying a platoon of Emaus and Daniel Murphy.

To fill the void left by Emaus, the Mets have promoted everybody's favorite ginger, Justin Turner. Well, he's my favorite ginger anyway.

Turner started off 12-for-4o in ten games for the Buffalo Bisons and will be active for tonight's game against Houston.

I'm really happy that Justin got the chance; he was one of the nicest ballplayers at this past spring, making sure he signed for every single solitary person. You can follow him on Twitter here.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $1.90

I'm Almost on my Second David Dollar...Good or Bad?

David Wright struck out 19 times in 16 games. 19 times. In 16 games. This mark doesn't lead the league in strikeouts, but it's pretty darn close.

As much as I love David, and as much as I love the David Wright Strikeout Counter, the fact that he can't hit the ball when he's down in the count is worrisome.

For every year that David has been a Met, the number of times he struck out in the season has gone up. Last year, he whiffed in 27.4 percent of his at-bats. At one point last season, he was on pace for 225 strikeouts. This year, that number is still hovering around the 170 mark.

However, if whiffing at more pitches means that his production is also up, then so be it. I'd rather have David hit .275 and have 30 HR and 100 RBI than have him hit .308 with 10 HR. I'm not worried about his strikeouts lowering his batting average. Mainly because I enjoy counting them.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $1.90

Elite Company

The Mets are on a 7-game losing streak, lowering their record to the disgusting 4-11 mark that it is. However, in Terry Collins' mind, we are 13-2 bitchez!!! Holla!!!! First place is upon us!!!

Only two Mets teams started off with a worse mark than this 2011 team: the 1964 Mets, who in their first season at Shea Stadium went 53-109, only 40 games behind the World Series Champion Cardinals and the 1962 Mets, who went 40-120, only 60 and a half games behind the NL Champion San Fransisco Giants.

The Mets' 7-game losing streak is also the longest such streak since August and September 2004. The 2004 Mets went 71-91 and finished in 4th place in Art Howe's last season at the helm.

It is also the first time the Mets lost back-to-back doubleheaders since 1982. I wish I could say the 1982 Mets did better under George Bamberger, but they went 65-97 and finshed 6th in the NL East.

All week, I've been saying the Mets should win because, "They're due to win." That was my only reason. They're due to win. Being "due to win" just isn't enough anymore and I'm left wondering what happened to all that scrap and all that grit that this team showed in the spring.

I think that if that fly ball David Wright hit against the Rockies had gone about five feet higher and farther, I don't think we'd be in this perdicament. Mainly because we'd have won at least one more game.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $1.60

Game Recap: The Young and the Restless

Chris Young pretty much led the Mets (3-1) to a 7-1 victory over the Phillies (3-1), pitching 5.1 innings of 1-run ball, while striking out seven Phillies batters.

Young even contributed at the plate, hitting three singles, including two in the six run total domination of the Phillies. According to the team's Twitter page, Young became the first Mets pitcher to have two hits in the same inning in franchise history.

David Wright had a strong night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with 2 RBI. This raises his young season average to .412. Where are all the David Wright haters? Hmmmm....I don't know, could they have been silenced by his awesomeness?

But the night really belonged to Chris Young, who I hope Terry Collins seriously considers as a pinch-hitter, much like in the olden days of when Dontrelle Willis would pinch hit. Whatever happened to Dontrelle Willis anyway?

Tomorrow, the Mets take on the Phillies again with Mike Pelfrey going up against Joe Blanton. Game time is at 7:05 PM.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.40

A Quick Comment on the Game Going On

While it's still early and the Phillies can still score some runs and all that jazz, all the David Wright haters can STFU. Kthanxbye.

(And Cole Hamels's numbers against us just got a whole lot worse.)

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.40

Game Preview: Mets @ Phillies

The Mets (2-1) get their first real test of the season when they play the Phillies (3-0) at Citizens Bank Park.

Chris Young gets the ball tonight for the Mets, while Cole Hamels gets the ball for the Phillies. In 13 career starts against the Mets, Hamels has gone 2-8 with a 3.83 ERA. Hamels also struggles in April, with 7-8 career record and 4.11 ERA.

The Mets gave Willie Harris the night off. Bummer...I was looking forward to seeing him make sweet catches in left field to end the game. Oh well, the Mets lineup is as follows:

1. Jose Reyes- SS

2. Angel Pagan- CF

3. David Wright- 3B

4. Carlos Beltran- RF

5. Scott Hairston- LF

6. Ike Davis- 1B

7. Brad Emaus- 2B

8. Mike Nickeas- C

9. Chris Young- RHP

Game time is 7:05 PM.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.30

Series Preview: Mets @ Phillies

The Mets travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies in a 3-game set that may be the Mets' biggest test in their young season.

The Mets (2-1) are coming off a road win against the Marlins while the Phillies (3-0) just swept the Astros.

I really hate that the games in April are primarily against division rivals. I have issues right now with whoever schedules these baseball games because I always hate playing the Phillies right off the bat.

However, the good news is that the Mets will face the back end of the Phillies' rotation, so no Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt for us. We do face Roy Halladay...I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that the guy messes up somewhere.

The Mets will be sending out Chris Young, Mike Pelfrey, and Jonathan Niese. Young will be making his first start of the season. Pelfrey is looking to redeem himself after Opening Day (although really....I gotta thank the guy....we won our last 5 Opening Days and look where that got us). Niese is coming off a strong start against Florida.

Young is looking to solidify his spot in the rotation after having a strong spring, and he has his challenge in a team that Terry Collins likened to the Yankees. But to quote Chris Rock, "Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Steve Jobs to hit the lotto."

I feel the same way about the Phillies. But I like the Mets' chances in this series. They're not the team that just lies down and plays dead anymore. They put up a fight. And there's not gonna be a better fight this season than with our divisional rivals.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.30 (this leads the team by the way)

Game Recap: Everything is R.A.D.

The Mets crushed the Marlins 9-2 earlier this afternoon. This year is already different because it didn't take the Mets until June to win a series on the road.

R.A. Dickey was awesome, allowing one run over six innings, while striking out seven.

Willie Harris and Ike Davis homered while Daniel Murphy doubled. We can also thank the Marlins' defense (or lack thereof) for attributing to today's victory.

I don't know about anybody else, but the look on David Wright's face when he realized he was being intentionally walked by Randy Choate was just about the most adorable thing ever. He was all like, "I'm gonna hit it to the opposite field" and then Willie stole second and ruined David of that moment. Oh well, we still got the run.

Now the Mets have to go to Philadelphia, play the stupid Phillies, and get booed mercilessly by their stupid fans, even if the Phillies win. On the bright side, we don't have to face Roy Halladay until the last game of the series.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.30

Game Preview: Mets @ Marlins

The Mets (1-1) and the Marlins (1-1) finish up a three game set in Miami today.

The Mets try to make a winning record happen, with R.A. Dickey on the mound.

Both Carlos Beltran and Brad Emaus have the day off today. Daniel Murphy will be making his first career start at second base.

Today's lineup is as follows:

1. Jose Reyes- SS

2. Willie Harris- LF

3. David Wright- 3B

4. Ike Davis- 1B

5. Angel Pagan- CF

6. Lucas Duda- RF

7. Daniel Murphy- 2B

8. Josh Thole- C

9. R.A. Dickey- RHP

Game time is scheduled for 1:10. Hopefully we don't need K-Rod today.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.20

Game Recap: Mets 6, Marlins 4

The Mets defeated the Marlins by a score of 6-4 to earn their first win of the season. This also marks the first time since September 27, 2009 that the Mets have won a game in Miami.

The Marlins had an early 2-0 lead, but thanks to a David Wright home run and an Ike Davis RBI double (and some sweet baserunning by Carlos Beltran and his crappy left knee), the Mets had tied the game.

Josh Thole put the Mets ahead in the ninth with an RBI single.

The ninth inning has always been a problem for the Mets, this time with Francisco Rodriguez blowing the 3-2 lead the Mets had just gotten in the top half the inning. It seems like to me that no matter who the closer is, we can't seem to get out of the ninth inning.

With the score tied, we all got some free baseball. The Mets regained the lead in the top half of the tenth thanks to an RBI single by Wright. Willie Harris hit a 2-run double that solidified the game.

Blaine Boyer pitched the bottom of the tenth and got the first save of this young Mets season. Frankie got the win, even though we wouldn't have had to play extra baseball if he had done his job in the first place.

Jonathan Niese only needed 87 pitches to pitch 7 innings of baseball. After a rocky first inning, Niese retired the next 11 Marlins batters. He struck out three, walked one, and only allowed two runs in the first inning.

Tomorrow in the series finale, R.A. Dickey gets the ball against Javier Vazquez. Game time is at 1:10 PM.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.20

Game Preview: Mets @ Marlins

The Mets (0-1) will try to get their first win of the season against the Florida Marlins (1-0) tonight at 7:10.

Jonathan Niese takes the mound against Ricky Nolasco. Niese has had his struggles this spring, but he is still a strikeout pitcher and I feel he might adapt to the #2 role better than Mike Pelfrey adapted to the #1 role. Plus, I've always liked Jonathan Niese...so there's a little bit of bias.

According to the team's Twitter account, the Mets are 10-7 all-time following an Opening Day loss. The Mets also haven't won a game in Miami since September 27, 2009.

The Mets lineup is as follows:

1. Jose Reyes- SS

2. Angel Pagan- CF

3. David Wright- 3B

4. Carlos Beltran- RF

5. Ike Davis- 1B

6. Lucas Duda- LF

7. Brad Emaus- 2B

8. Josh Thole- C

9. Jonathan Niese- LHP

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.20

Opening Day: Marlins 6, Mets 2

Well, that was fun.

Once Mike Pelfrey gave up the grand slam to John Buck and the Mets didn't get a hit until the 7th inning, the game was over.

Willie Harris went 2 for 3 tonight in his Mets debut while Carlos Beltran showed he can still hit the ball and had the RBI double that broke Josh Johnson's shutout.

Mike Pelfrey couldn't make it through 5 innings after allowing the grand slam to John Buck. However, Pedro Beato contributed 2 innings of scoreless relief in his Mets debut. Gotta love a kid from Queens.

Tomorrow, Jon Niese takes the mound against Ricky Nolasco.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $0.20

Happy Opening Day!

Tonight, the New York Mets take on the Florida Marlins in their first game of the regular season. Mike Pelfrey gets the ball for our Mets. I, for one, am optimistic about the Mets this year. They played scrappy all spring, which is what I like to see. Gone are the Mets of yesteryear, of when you could call a game in the third inning. Our dead weight is gone, and is has absolutely had a positive affect on the team.

Even though Sports Illustrated and ESPN have picked us to finish dead last, I feel like the Mets could be contenders in the main scheme of this. I don't have high expectations of them, but at the same time, I don't count them out either. Who knows, maybe they could surprise everybody.

David Wright Final (Spring) Strikeout Counter: $1.10