Reyes supplies fuel for Mets club

Only last season Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was being mentioned as an elite major league player. Those thoughts seem like a distant memory as he ended the opening month batting .250, while posting a .307 OBP. More disturbingly he has been caught stealing in half his attempts. Reyes has six stolen bases on the year and has been caught three times. Chalk this up to bad luck, or facing good pitchers for a short time, but if his percentage doesn't improve significantly one of Reyes' best weapons will be compromised.

The lineup runs on the fuel Reyes supplies. When he is not getting on base, producing runs and energizing the club, the Mets are a quite different team. The trickle-down effect of his enthusiasm and run-scoring ability makes the lineup much longer and more formidable-easier for batters behind Reyes to get RBI chances and increases the offense ability across the board.

On the positive side he has nine walks, 14 runs scored, ten RBI's and nine walks in just over one hundred at bats.

In an even bigger funk is ancient-looking Carlos Delgado. He is still on the interstate-bating .198 after a month of the season. Not only can he not field any longer, looking stiff on double plays and ground balls to first, he can;t get around on any inside pitches, popping them up or grounding out weakly to the right side. In 96 at bats Delagdo only has three doubles, three home runs and 12 RBI's with 13 walks and 20 strikeouts. He is slugging paltry .323 and no longer has the power potential to scare pitchers-his OBP has dipped in the last two years-it's under .300 at this point. The team is already struggling to score runs with an older, ineffectual middle of the order. Hoping Moises Alou can inject some life into the middle of the order is an unrealistic expectation. fortunately though it will mean Delgado being dropped in the order to seventh, a less important RBI position.

Conversely, the Diamondback infused with confidence from last year's NLCS appearance are stacked with young talent and look to be a strong contender for the pennant. Center-fielder Chris Young, one the tams most exciting stars is off to a slow start in bating average-he is hitting .227 in 110 at bats-but has launched six homers and is slugging a respectable .455 batting in the leadoff spot