Ya Gotta Believe

Don't pour that blue and orange kool-aid down the drain just yet, Mets fans. The first week of the season did not go well, but there are plenty of reasons why you should still believe in the 2010 New York Mets. Here are the top 5:

They are inches away from a good start. The Mets are 2-4, but they could just as easily be 4-2. If Matthews Jr.'s throw home or Barajas's line drive were just six inches to the left they probably would have won those games against the Marlins and Nationals, respectively. You have to think the Mets will soon get karma on their side and finally catch some of those breaks.

There is relief. Anyone who was watching in 2008 knows just how important a good bullpen is. Well, so far this Mets bullpen has been lights out. Nieve, Igarashia, K-Rod, Feliciano and Valdes are all sporting ERAs of 0.00, while Mejia and Takahashi have both bounced back nicely from early struggles. Now that Sean Green is gone, there is nothing to worry about on this front.

Frenchy. Jeff Frencoeur has been playing like an MVP candidate. He is batting .481 with 2 homers, 6 RBI, and, amazingly, 4 walks. If Francoeur can continue to produce the Mets lineup will be unstoppable, especially when Beltran returns.

Help is on the way. Everyone seems to forget that the Mets are without their best all-around player in Carlos Beltran. Another of their best players, Jose Reyes, just returned after missing 11 months. Once Reyes returns to form and Beltran gets back on the field, the Mets will be a much improved team on both offense and defense. Keep in mind that the last time the Mets were at full capacity, on May 10, 2009, they were 17-13.

They were panicking in '69 and '86. In each of Mets' championship seasons, the team got off to a slow start. The 1969 team started 3-7. The 1986 team was 2-3. Call me crazy, but I sense a trend developing here.