With Jeurys Familia having surgery that will potentially end his season, the Mets will have to reconfigure their bullpen. Likely, this will start with Addison Reed become the closer. This creates an opening for someone to pitch the eighth inning.
Originally, that was supposed to be Fernando Salas. However, with him struggling much of this year pitching to a 5.51 ERA, he’s probably not the answer now. That goes double when you consider Terry Collins no longer lets him face left-handed pitching.
As a result, the Mets need to look elsewhere for someone to pitch the eighth. The Mets do have some interesting choices:
Blevins has been even better than his career best year last year. Overall, he’s been the Mets best reliever. Still, there are some reasons why he shouldn’t be e trusted with the eighth.
First, he’s allowed right-handed batters to hit .273/.429/.364. Second, if you stick him with one inning, you lose the ability to deploy him against a team’s top left-handed batter in a huge spot. Last, Blevins has been overworked, and he may begin to regress as a result.
If Blevins has been the Mets best reliever, Robles is not far behind. Through his 18 appearances, he’s 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA, 1.053 WHIP, and a 9.5 K/9. He’s getting right-handed batters out, and he’s dominating left-handed batters. He’s all that you would want for the eighth inning.
Until he isn’t. To a man, everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop on Robles when he changes from a dominant reliever to a good one. Also, there’s tremendous value in his versatility. He can come in to get a big strikeout, or he can come in to pitch three innings. You never want to constrict someone like that to just one role.
Sewald has late inning experience with his being a minor league closer. Also, after a disastrous major league debut, Sewald has been good out of the Mets bullpen. In his last five appearances, he has pitched 8.1 innings allowing just seven hits, one earned, and two walks while striking out eight.
With all that said, it’s not really likely Collins gives this important job to a rookie. That has not been Terry Collins‘ modus operandi.
That probably also eliminates some interesting choices like Kevin McGowan who has been dominant in Las Vegas. With that being the case, it appears there is not one reliever Collins truly trusts over another to get those three big outs in the eighth. Ultimately, that may mean that until Sandy Alderson makes a move, we may see more of a focus on the hot hand or matchups late in the game.
Just like yesterday, Terry Collins asked too much from his starter, which is unfortunate because he’s really not asking that much right now. Yesterday, it was asking Matt Harvey to pitch six innings. Today, it was asking Robert Gsellman to pitch five innings.
Gsellman was struggling out there each and every inning. It all unraveled in the fifth. What was once a 4-2 lead became a 10-4 deficit. Gsellman got best around that inning allowing the first four Brewers to reach base. He’d depart the game not recording an out in the fifth, leaving the bases loaded, and the Mets still up 4-3.
That lasted a blink of an eye when Hansel Robles allowed a bases clearing double to the first batter he faced. With that, Gsellman’s final line in the loss was four innings, nine hits, six runs, five earned, three walks, and three strikeouts.
Robles also imploded. Despite his being double switched into the game, he only lasted one inning. That was because he allowed four runs on four hits and a walk. With that, his sparking 1.42 ERA is a pedestrian 3.15.
Robles blowing up was eerily reminiscent of the Mets bullpen getting beat up yesterday. In fact, the game was really a poor facsimile of yesterday’s loss.
This time it was Michael Conforto getting picked off second base instead of Jay Bruce. Neil Walker had another big game at the plate homering once again. Paul Sewald came on the eat some innings, and he allowed a run. Rafael Montero once again looked good out of the bullpen.
Then there were the things that were different. Jose Reyes played center field in the sixth inning before finishing the game at shortstop. T.J. Rivera played left field from the seventh inning on. Kevin Plawecki had a good day at the plate going 2-4 with a double and two RBI. There was some normalcy with Plawecki with the Brewers going two for three on stolen base attempts.
The main similarity to was the Mets losing. This game was by the score of 11-4. After a good stretch, the Mets have lost a game and a series. They’re now three games under .500, and they’re back at the drawing board.
Game Notes: Asdrubal Cabrera, who has struggled defensively, committed two errors on one play bringing his error total up to five on the season. He had just seven last year.
Because my son loves the movie Cars, we took my son to the Cars 3 Tour last weekend. Despite it initially being listed as being at Citi Field, the tour was moved to The Shops at Atlas Park. It was a good thing my wife decided to check the information the night before because we were all set to go to Citi Field. Part of the reason for that was the Mets ticket office confirmed for me that it was going to take place in the Citi Field parking lot despite the Mets being home. I digress.
When things of this nature happen, the obvious question that arises was whether it was worth it or not. Based upon the fun my son, it was certainly worth it. What was great about it was the event was completely free. There were no hidden costs anywhere. When you get there, there are no fees for anything. Also, there was no merchandise for sale. Basically, you are able to get in and get out without paying for anything except parking. To that end, it is a cheap day out with your child. Those days are few and far between.
Now, the one thing it will cost you is time. There are lines everywhere. Some locations have fast passes for entry available (for free), but those are limited. By this point, they have been snatched up. Another consideration is they get you entry only. You have to wait in line for the various events they have inside. Keep in mind, those lines move quickly.
The first stop was Alamo where you got to do “Street Art.” Essentially, it is a large piece of paper where your child can use colored pencils and markers to color.
They change the sheets throughout the day so if your child is upset they didn’t get to color in Lightning McQueen or another part of the picture, you can always circle back. Once you are done, Alamo will give your child a pack of colored pencils.
After that, there is a section where they have the Cars toys and toy sets. Your child can launch the different cars, and they can watch as the different cars “race.”
From there, you begin getting into more sponsored tents with different activities. These other tents provide a game and a photo opportunity as an avenue to get your information. The first was Coppertone who had something set up where your child can actually change a tire:
At that stop, they give you Coppertone coupons, and they also allow you to take a family photo. Once you input your information, the items will be texted and/or emailed to you immediately.
The next stop is the Crest sponsored tent. There you can take a photo with a Cars background, and then your child gets to spin the wheel. The prizes there are toothpaste, a toothbrush, or Cars tattoos.
After that, you get to do the things you really came there to do. First is a stop where you can build your own Cars’ car. It is a piece of paper that you can cut out and fold into a car shape. Your character choices are Lightning McQueen, who your child knew already, Cruz Ramirez, or Jackson Storm. Trust me, your children will know and want Cruz before the day is over. If your child doesn’t want a character, you can opt for a blank color he can color himself. Considering it is an open air facility, you have the opportunity to go back multiple times and get them all. Either that, or you can ask nicely. The staff there was kind and courteous.
After building their own car, your child gets to watch a part of the movie. For those that visit these locations, they get to see a brief clip describing the making of the movie followed by a small clip of the movie. The long is long, but it is worth it. It is a 16 minute clip, and they get a good amount of people into the small theater. Typically, you are going to wait a half hour to an hour to watch it.
Finally, you get to see what you came there to see. They have Lightning McQueen, Cruz Ramirez, and Jackson Storm there for your children to see.
Note, it is to see only. You are not allowed to touch. They remind you of this constantly. While you cannot touch them, you are allowed to take a picture with each of the cars. They will only permit you to use one camera per group. Some of your photos may not come out as well as you would want because your child may be upset they cannot touch the cars. This is a good time to remind you that you can go through multiple times.
If you are lucky, the second time through your child will be in a better mood (if they were upset in the first place). Trust me, there were a lot of upset kids they could not touch the cars. Whether you go through once or twice, don’t worry, they take a lot of pictures with each car. If someone blinks, there will be another photo where they aren’t.
Overall, it took about an hour once your are inside, and it was a great day out with the family. It got my child excited to watch Cars 3. It also led to him asking for the new cars. Don’t worry, there is a massive display of all the Cars 3 merchandise at Toys R Us.
By the way, your kid will know what is available even without a trip to Toys R Us. On the way out, you receive a poster will all the cars available for sale. On the bright side, you also get a $5 coupon to see the movie at Regal Cinemas.
If you are interested and live in the tri-state area, this could be your last chance to see it. The Cars will be at the Cherry Hill Mall on Saturday, May 13th from 10 AM – 4 PM and Sunday, May 14th from 11 AM – 4 PM.
Was it too much rest? Was it Julian Edelman? Maybe it’s just that Matt Harvey still isn’t quite right. Whatever the case, this was another disappointing start for Harvey.
Through the first five innings, he was fighting it. He needed 97 pitches to get through those innings. His mechanics weren’t sharp. He was laboring. He was walking batters. He was getting hit hard. He didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning until the fifth.
In the second, he allowed a leadoff walk to Domingo Santana who then scored on a Jett Bandy double. On the play, Curtis Granderson had trouble both tracking it down and picking the ball up. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, but it was an ugly play.
Hernan Perez homered to start the third giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead. To be honest, the score probably should have been worse than that. They were really lucky to still be in the game.
They initially took advantage. Neil Walker brought the Mets within one with a fourth inning home run. The Mets then put together a two out rally in the sixth after Michael Conforto just missed hitting one out to deep center.
Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. Jay Bruce walked. Cabrera would score on an ensuing Walker RBI single. The rally ended when the Brewers put on a pickoff play, and Bandy caught Bruce sleeping. The play prevented the Mets from potentially taking the lead. They wouldn’t get close again.
Coming off a strong fifth, Terry Collins decided to stick with Harvey to start the sixth. What was a decent start Harvey could possibly build off of turned into a nightmare.
Eric Sogard and Orlando Arcia would hit back-to-back homers giving the Brewers a 5-2 lead. With that, a Harvey who was probably done after five innings was officially removed from the game.
It’s hard to tell why Harvey was still out there. It’s possible Collins thought Harvey found something and thought Harvey had another inning in him. Perhaps, he was trying to save his pen with Jeurys Familia going on the DL after his surgery today to repair the aneurysm in his throwing shoulder.
Whatever the case, Harvey struggled, and he got tagged with the loss. Brewers starter, Matt Garza, who was able to pitch the sixth, got the win.
The Mets bullpen behind Harvey would struggle. Josh Edgin allowed a double to Jonathan Villar. After a walk to Perez, there were runners at the corners with one out. Edgin would strike out Travis Shaw on a 3-2 pitch. Perez ran on the pitch, and he forced a run down allowing Villar to score.
Rafael Montero came on to pitch the seventh. While he looked pretty good, he still allowed a home run to Bandy to make it 7-2.
It wasn’t until Paul Sewald came on in the eighth that the Mets bullpen didn’t allow a run. The Mets could’ve used a little better effort from their bullpen as their offense came alive in the ninth.
Walker continued his terrific night leading off the ninth with a single. Overall, he was 3-3 with two runs, a walk, a homer, and two RBI. He’d move to third on a Granderson double, and he’d score on a T.J. Rivera RBI single. Granderson would score on a wild pitch to make it 7-4.
That would be the final score. You can’t win when the opposing team had as many home runs as you have runs scored. It was a night that had some promise, but it all fell apart in the bottom of the sixth.
Game Notes: Lucas Duda returned from the DL, and he was 1-4 with a double. With Duda being activated and Cabrera ready to play, Jose Reyes sat, and Rivera played. Rivera was 1-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Given all that has happened with Matt Harvey over the past few seasons, it is easy to attribute much more significance to Harvey’s start against the Brewers. That’s what happens when Harvey fails to show up for a game and with the team suspending him for three games.
Reportedly, Harvey apologized to his teammates, and by all accounts, they have accepted his apology. Harvey spoke with the media to offer his explanation. All that remains is for Harvey to truly address the fans. For fans, they don’t want words. They want Harvey to go out there and be the old Harvey. That starts with his start in Milwaukee. Anything less than pure dominance, and fans will have their avenue to criticize Harvey.
The Harvey fans expect is the one we expect was 22-13 with a 2.50 ERA, 0.976 WHIP, and a 9.3 K/9 between 2013 and 2015. He was the guy that had a great start in the NLCS and Game 5 of the World Series. The problem is that Harvey is not that pitcher. After his TOS surgery, he has yet to get back to being that pitcher. He’s been inconsistent with the velocity in his fastball as well as his pitch location. Teams have begun to really hit him this season with Harvey allowing at least one home run in five of his six starts this year.
Things have been worse lately. In his last two starts, he was shelled by the Braves. In each start, he allowed six earned runs walking three plus. He wasn’t fooling anyone either only racking up three strikeouts in 9.2 innings pitched and allowing a home run in each start.
Now, this could be the result of his personal issues that led to his suspension. It could be the Mets asking him to make two unexpected starts. One of those starts was against the Braves. Without a real roadmap for pitchers returning from TOS surgery, we are still unsure as to whether this is all part of the normal ebbs and flows for a pitcher. Possibly, Harvey will never regain his old form. At this point, we don’t know, and as a result, it’s unfair to ask him to be something he’s not. There should be no added significance to one start in Milwaukee just because he’s coming off a suspension.
At this point, all we should expect is Harvey to be better than he has been against the Braves. Like with any other pitcher, the expectation should be for Harvey to keep his team in the game. More than anything, Harvey just needs to show up. If he does that while pitching at least decently, that’s all we can ask at this point.
So far this season, Terry Collins is using his bullpen heavily. Part of this is his starters do not go as deep into games as they once did. Another factor is Collins is over-managing at times to the point where he is doing matchups when the Mets have large leads late in games. As a result, four of the bullpen arms are on pace for more than 70 appearances in a season with two others not being far behind.
This would not be the first time Collins had a reliever make 70 appearances in a season. In fact, it won’t be the first time he has had multiple relievers make 70 appearances in the season. Can you name all the relievers who have made over 70 appearances in a season? Good luck!
Addison Reed Jeurys Familia Jerry Blevins Carlos Torres Scott Rice LaTroy Hawkins Bobby Parnell Jon Rauch Tim Byrdak
At this point, it’s almost become rote. The Mets have a lead late in the game, and Terry Collins inserts Juan Lagares into the game as a defensive replacement.
The move makes a lot of sense. Not only is Lagares a Gold Glover in centerfield, but the Mets also lack another true defensive center fielder. Another thing the Mets lack is a true defensive third baseman.
With David Wright‘s injury problems, the Mets have been forced to play players out of position. The results have been poor. The Mets collection of third baseman have a -1 DRS and -2.7 UZR which rank 20th and 27th in the majors respectively.
The main culprits there are Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores. Reyes has a career -8 DRS and -4.5 UZR at third base. Flores has a career -10 DRS and -1.9 UZR at third. Simply put, neither player is a third baseman.
We all saw that on yesterday’s game. Flores doesn’t have good range at third, and he’s iffy with his throws. In the sixth, he spiked a throw to home plate when he had Christian Arroyo dead to rights. It took a good play by Kevin Plawecki to save him from the error and to record the out.
There was no one to bail Flores out in the ninth. In what could’ve been a game ending double play, Flores threw the ball offline. A Neil Walker stretch prevented the ball from going into right field, big it couldn’t get the force out at second. As we know, this came back to haunt the Mets in a 6-5 loss.
The obvious question that arises is why was Flores still on the field. The Mets had a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning. Their closer, Jeurys Familia, is a sinker ball pitcher who generates a number of ground outs. With that being the case, isn’t it incumbent on Collins to put his best defensive infield out there?
Matt Reynolds, who is generally regarded as a good defensive infielder, was available on the bench. Certainly, he’s a better defender than Flores at third. Much better actually. Why wasn’t he in the game?
Keep in mind, this was another game Collins over-managed. He used four relievers to pitch two innings. He went to the extreme on the matchups to the point where he removed his eighth inning reliever, Addison Reed, because a left-handed batter was coming to the plate. He did that despite Reed pitching extremely well against left-handed batters during his time with the Mets.
If Collins is willing to empty his pen, why not his bench? What’s the justifiable reason for keeping the better infielder on the bench with a sinker ball pitcher on the mound? There is no good reason.
Look, we can all agree that it’s the players in the field who win or lose games. Certainly, Flores helped lost this game with his error. Familia was the one who gave up the subsequent hits. However, ask yourself whether Collins put his team in the best position to succeed in the ninth inning.
The answer to that needs to be a clear and unequivocal, “No.”
Imagine believing you need to use multiple relievers every inning. Imagine using the same relievers. relievers day after day after day. Sooner or later it catches up to you. That moment was today for the Mets.
It spoiled what was a good day for Tommy Milone. Despite being released by the Brewers and his not having started a game since April 25th, he pitched well.
Milone pitched five innings allowing six hits, two runs, two earned, and two walks with five strikeouts. He exited the game in the sixth after allowing back-to-back singles to Buster Posey and Christian Arroyo.
Fernando Salas came on for Milone and allowed one of the inherited runners to score. That run scored when Justin Ruggiano followed a Nick Hundley single with a deep sacrifice fly. From there Salas slammed the door shut.
Gorkys Hernandez grounded to the third baseman Wilmer Flores. Instead of trying for the around the horn double play, Flores went home. Kevin Plawecki made a terrific play picking up Flores’ short-hopped throw to tag out Arroyo, who just stopped running on the play. Salas followed this out by striking out Mike Morse to end the rally.
With Salas ending the rally, Milone was in position to earn his first win in a Mets uniform – a win he didn’t get. Milone was in that position because he helped his own cause. In the fourth, Milone hit an RBI single off Matt Cain to expand the Mets lead to 3-1. The single scored Curtis Granderson, who had a pretty good game himself.
It started with an opposite field double in the first inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. He also reached on a Buster Posey error to get the aforementioned rally started.
The other run was courtesy of Jay Bruce:
Cain threw Bruce a middle-middle changeup and Bruce took it for a ride. It landed deep in the bullpen. pic.twitter.com/5TYgdVGfyr
— CitiFieldHR (@CitiFieldHR) May 10, 2017
After losing one to the rainout, Bruce finally got his 10th home run back. The third inning homer also snapped a 1-1 tie. The game was tied because Posey hit yet another homer off the Mets.
The Mets had a chance to put the game away in the sixth. With a perfect Juan Lagares bunt down the third base line, the bases were loaded against Giants reliever George Kontos with one out. Kontos then recorded back-to-back strikeouts of Asdrubal Cabrera (pinch hitting for Salas) and Jose Reyes to keep it at 3-2.
The Mets similarly fizzled in the seventh. Bruce and Neil Walker hit back-to-back one out singles. Granderson popped up, and Flores lined out to kill that rally.
The Mets bullpen tried to keep it at 3-2. Josh Edgin (one batter) and Hansel Robles combined to pitch a scoreless seventh. This continues Robles’ 14 inning scoreless streak.
Addison Reed and Jerry Blevins pitched a scoreless eighth. Blevins came on with two outs in the eighth because Brandon Belt was announced as a pinch hitter. Blevins probably came on because Terry Collins was probably having a panic attack thinking about the possibility Blevins may not pitch in a game. He also completely disregarded Reed’s numbers against left-handed batters.
Reed career .236/.296/.353 off LHB. In 2016, LHB hit .210/.264/.269. Good thing Terry got him out of there.
— Mets Daddy (@MetsDaddy2013) May 10, 2017
The Mets would rue the town blown opportunities to tack on runs as Jeurys Familia blew his first save of the season.
Ironically, it wasn’t Conor Gillaspie who got to him. In fact, Familia dispatched with him easily. In fact, it was Flores who got to Familia. After Joe Panik walked, Flores threw off line to second. Instead of an inning ending double play, there were runners on first and second. Hunter Pence singled past a diving Flores to tie the game at 3-3. Posey then walked, and Arroyo hit a bases clearing double to make it 6-3.
At that point, Rafael Montero came into the game. Note, he didn’t make his way into a 6-1 game, but today, he relieved Familia. Because he has a sick sense of humor, Montero recorded two quick outs to get out of the inning.
Flores redeemed himself a bit in the ninth. After the Mets put two on with two outs in the ninth, he came up. Flores hit one that deflected just off Ruggiano’s glove and the top of the wall. It made it 6-5, but it was too little too late. Kevin Plawecki grounded out to the catcher ending the game.
The winning streak is over, and the Mets fell to a game under .500.
Game Notes: Michael Conforto sat with a hamstring issue. With Bruce in right and Juan Lagares in center, Granderson played left. With Conforto sitting, Reyes returned to the lead-off spot.
The Mets were up 6-1 in the eighth inning against a San Francisco Giants offense that showed no life all game long. This could be a function of the fact the Giants have scored the fewest amount of runs in the National League. In essence, with the Mets up by five runs, the game was over.
Not according to Terry Collins. He managed the game like it was a one run game in the seventh game of the World Series.
Hansel Robles pitched a scoreless seventh lowering his ERA to 1.47. With his being a reliever accustomed to pitching multiple innings, it was justifiable to send him out there to pitch the eighth. He opened the inning by hitting Justin Ruggiano.
This led to Collins lifting him for Jerry Blevins. Even with the left-handed Joe Panik and Brandon Belt coming up, this was completely unnecessary. The Mets were up five runs. You don’t need to start playing matchups late in the game. This was a chance to rest Blevins who is on pace for 96 appearance. Furthermore, left-handed batters are 1-19 against Robles this year.
This isn’t a one year fluke with Robles either. In his career, Robles has limited left-handed batters to a .164/.255/.304 batting line. That’s better than the .210/.262/.314 Blevins has allowed in his career. There’s no need to go to a lefty in that spot.
Once Blevins came in and did his job, there was no need to take him out. He needed just six pitches to get Panik and Belt out. He’s been much better against right-handed batters since joining the Mets. He very well could have pitched to Hunter Pence. Instead Collins went to Addison Reed.
With Reed coming into the game, he’s now on pace to make 81 appearances. That would top his career high in appearances which he set last year. As if using Robles, Blevins, and Reed wasn’t enough, Jeurys Familia came in to close the ninth.
Collins did that despite Blevins, Reed, and Familia having pitched on Monday. He did this despite knowing Tommy Milone was starting tomorrow.
Milone was picked up off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers. Milone was available because he had a 6.43 ERA in six games this season. In his three starts, he’s averaging under five innings per start. Chances are the Mets are going to need to heavily rely on their bullpen in a day game after a night game.
Certainly, it’s too soon to pitch Paul Sewald after 3.1 innings on Sunday. To that end, he shouldn’t be available tomorrow. Fernando Salas needed a day off after pitching in seven of the last nine days.
This is all the more reason you let Robles finish that eighth inning. Then with a five run lead the Mets can pitch Rafael Montero in the ninth inning now that he’s once again out of the rotation.
Doing this keeps the key bullpen arms fresh for when the team really needs them. Instead, Collins burned the arms with a five run lead against the worst offensive team in the National League. This is how bullpens get burned out. This is why key bullpen arms aren’t as effective later in the season when they’re needed the most.
It started early for the Mets. Steven Matz was injured before Opening Day, and the Mets again wondering what is really wrong with him. Seth Lugo pitched in the World Baseball Classic, partially tore his UCL, and he is going to try to rehab it rather than having Tommy John surgery. Indirectly, this led to Rafael Montero pitching like, well, Montero. It also led to a less than inspiring performance by Adam Wilk.
Noah Syndergaard is gone for an extended period of time with a torn lat. Matt Harvey has been suspended three games for failing to show up at the ballpark. Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda have not played in a few weeks, and there are just rumors that they are soon to return. Travis d’Arnaud is yet again on the disabled list himself, and as usual we are unaware when he can return. Once again, Asdrubal Cabrera has been hobbled in the early part of the season leading everyone to wonder when the Mets finally put him on the disabled list.
Jeurys Familia was suspended for the first few weeks of the season, and he was not sharp immediately upon his return. Addison Reed struggled in his adaption to closer and again in his transition to the eighth inning reliever. Fernando Salas just struggled, and Josh Smoker has probably struggled more than Reed and Salas combined.
Jose Reyes was hitting .095 midway through April. Curtis Granderson entered the month hitting just .128. Neil Walker is under the Mendoza Line against right-handed pitching, and he entered the month of May hitting just .195. Wilmer Flores cannot his right-handed pitching. Juan Lagares can’t hit any pitching.
The end result was the Mets losing six in a row and 10 of 11. Already, people were starting to wonder if this team was similar to the 1992 or the 2009 Mets teams. Despite all of this, the Mets are back at .500 and second place in the National League East. How did it happen?
Well, for starters young and under utilized players have stepped up. Michael Conforto went from the bench to one of the best hitters in baseball. For the second straight season, T.J. Rivera has taken complete advantage of an unexpected opportunity being given to him. Josh Edgin has become a dominant LOOGY in the bullpen. We have even seen Paul Sewald step up pitching terrifically after some initial hiccups.
Then there are the veterans who have had career best seasons so far. Jay Bruce is on base to put up career best numbers in every offensive category. Jerry Blevins has been used almost every game, and he is putting up better numbers than he did last year’s career best season for him. Rene Rivera is hitting over .300. Hansel Robles is 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 16 appearances.
More than there, the Mets have exhibited some professional pride. Reyes is hitting .282/.341/.564 with three doubles, a triple, two homers, nine RBI and a stolen base over his last 10 games. Granderson has hit .250/.368/.625 with three doubles, a homer, and four RBI over his last five games. Walker has hit .276/.364/.414 with four doubles and four RBI in the month of May.
In addition, the bullpen has been much better of late. Familia has had five straight scoreless outings. Reed has allowed just two hits with no runs in the month of May. Terry Collins has been more judicious in his use of Salas, and Salas has not allowed any runs in his last five appearances. With Blevins, Edgin, and Robles continuing their outstanding seasons, this has become the dominant bullpen everyone envisioned it would be to start the year.
With the combination of the resurgent veterans and the outstanding young player, the Mets are winning again. In the month of May, the Mets lead the majors in runs scored. They are fifth in the National League in homers. However, unlike last year, the Mets do not need homers to score runs. The Mets .320 team batting average and .517 slugging with runners in scoring position is second best in the majors, and its .419 OBP with runners in scoring position is the best in baseball.
Despite all the noise around the Mets, this team is playing its best baseball of the season. Once their pitching gets relatively healthy, and their current pitchers pitch close to their true talent levels, this team will once again be one of the best teams in all of baseball. Until then, this current group of Mets will make sure the Washington Nationals will be within shouting distance allowing the Mets to compete for the division.