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

The Mets look listless heading into Arizona for the weekend. The best team in the National League to this point may put a hurt on the Mets in the three game series, and has a good chance of a sweep. The real problem with this club is the total lack of leadership from position players. Read the comments daily in game stories-who gets quoted? Billy Wagner and David Wright they are the only ones that face the media music day after day. Wright is too young to carry the offensive load alone and Wagner is not visible enough to be a huge leader-this team needs some passion and fire-and Jose Reyes to snap back into reality.

Mets fans that show their displeasure by booing their team need to chill out, stay in their seats and find a more positive way to show their frustration. Either that, or swallow it. Booing makes Mets fans look impatient and uninformed-like supporters of a team a short drive down I-95, or fans of a team that plays in the Bronx.
Aaron Heilman was disappointing in his 0.1 of an inning last night, and yes his ERA does stand at a whopping 6.28 neither of which are good enough, but booing him is counterproductive and unnecessary. The same can be said for fans treatment of Carlos Delgado. It's his right to not come out for a watered-down curtain call after merciless boo birds arrived at Shea this April. April, people, come on! He is a professional and trying his hardest. It just may be that he is older, can't throw any longer and has trouble getting around on an inside fastball, popping up instead of hitting mammoth shots to right field. Maybe the fans should boo the team ownership, or general manager for assembling an old, ineffectual lineup. Besides, the Mets nearly blew last night's game because of space cadet Jose Reyes' errant throw in the dirt in the ninth.
Mets fans need to take the long view and try and forget about last season's collapse-it's over, don't bring that bad attitude to the ballpark.

Well the Mets looked terrible at their final opening day at Shea. Yours truly attended as a member of the press and what an experience it was...more on that later, now for some baseball talk.
Jose Reyes and the bullpen looked just terrible. A 2-0 lead is never insurmountable, but the Phillies were basically handed the game by the Mets ineffective bullpen.
Reyes, off to a slow start went 1-5, and looked jumpy art the plate. It is still early, but the shortstop is batting only .231 on the year, continues to hit the ball in the air and is not taking enough pitches or drawing many walks.
As for the bullpen-they managed to surrender a two run lead without much of a fight. Scott Schoenweis was the losing pitcher on the day after he threw a third of an inning, giving up two hits and three runs, only one earned.
Shane Victorino looked great in center yesterday, catching up to several fly balls deep to right that stayed in the ballpark.

Madison Square Garden has announced a $500 million renovation job, but could do better renovating the basketball team playing on its hardwood. Yes, the Knicks have been a complete disaster this season, and save major changes will continue to depress New York basketball fans. To Start, new president Donnie Walsh needs to find this lost bunch of players a coach-Isiah Thomas needs to go. The most sensible move is to hire a proven NBA guy, Scott Skiles for example. Mark Jackson, while lacking actual on-court coaching experience could make a fine coach-he may inspire this group-and with his Queens roots will command respect.
Then there's a third option. Hire Larry Brown! This would rankle Garden Chairman James Dolan to no end. If his new hire went to an old friend to Walsh-foe to Dolan-the Garden might explode, and under better circumstances Brown could actually turn this team around-without the malcontent Stephon Marbury around.

News of Martinez being sidelined 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury is bad news for the 2008 Mets. After leaving his first start early, the most crucial pitcher in the Mets rotation will be on the shelf for over a month. In the early season it is important to get out of the box quickly and with Martinez sidelined getting an early lead in the division will prove more difficult. The recently oft-injured Pedro will have a huge effect on the Mets season this year. If he's good, the club could run away with the division-if he struggles or spends extended time on the disabled list, the Mets will probably be in a dog fight with the Phillies, and Braves all summer long.

The New York Giants head to Tampa this weekend for the playoffs. The Giants will leave Florida with a victory. The Buccaneers are overrated, Jeff Garcia is hurt and Tampa only is in the playoffs because they play in a weak division. Giants will win by at least ten.