That's not the situation....THIS is the Situation

And if we didn't have enough reasons already why the Mets were going to have a nice comeback this year...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W-nCmN_Ovk

More Than Just a Loss

Last night's game can be looked at in one of two ways. You can carry your sour feelings of last year's team and the end of season collapses of the previous two years and say to yourself, "Same old Mets." If you're going to do that though you came to the wrong place because this blog is going to pour you a tall glass of koolaid. Last night I watched a game that had a disappointing ending but a lot of positive to take away.

Remember last year when we'd have men on base and you'd get a sick feeling in your stomach because you had no confidence in our hitters to not ground into a double play or even get on base to keep the inning going? In a short sample size, the Mets are showing us that you can rely on almost anyone in the lineup to work the count and keep the inning going.

I was more than impressed with the amount of 3-2 counts we saw last night - many of which resulted in walks that kept the innings alive and brought power hitters up with men on base. All of this allowed the Mets to come back from a multi-run deficit and force extra innings.

Think of how valuable a player like Jeff Francoeur will be if adds on-base percentage to his repertoire. He's always been a dangerous hitter and excellent fielder and free swinging has been a weakness. Again, a small sample size but looks like a move in a positive direction.

How about guys like Gary Matthews Jr. and Mike Jacobs stepping up? They are helping now and could be used as great trading chips later in the season to get some pitching help once Reyes and Beltran come back. Or, maybe they will stick around and be really strong bench players for the Metropolitans.

That's another thing, just because Maine had a rough outing to start the year doesnt mean that guys like Pelfrey and Niese won't turn things around and be effective pitchers, they haven't even gotten a chance yet.

Stay positive Mets fans, keep drinking your Kool Aid, and remember, in a 162 game season there will be losses and while last night was one of them, it wasn't a bad one. Let's get pumped for Niese tonight and take this first series and Let's go Mets!

More Than Just a Win

For one team in Flushing, Opening Day was a showcase of sloppy defense, wild pitching, and an inability to score runs. It sounds like a typical day at Citi Field, but something made it vastly different from last season – this time it was the Mets’ opponent, and not the Mets themselves, that looked like a little league team.

The Mets, on the other hand, played nearly perfect baseball yesterday. They pitched well and made no costly errors. They flashed some power, picked up timely hits, and made productive outs. Most importantly, they won the game. Basically, the Mets did everything they failed to do for most of 2009.

It’s only a blip on the screen, but Game 1 was a great start to the 2010 season and a potential sign of things to come. David Wright is already one-tenth of the way to his 2009 home run total, and appears to have good protection in the lineup from newcomers Bay, Matthews Jr., and Barajas. Jeff Francouer demonstrated a new-found plate discipline by hitting a sacrifice fly and even drawing a walk. Once Reyes and Beltran return the offense (and defense) will be even better.

On the mound, Johan Santana confirmed he is fully recovered and K-Rod showed his dominance, with Fernando Nieve bridging the gap. If the Mets can get six solid innings from their starters and three from their relievers they will have a proven recipe for success.

So, with just one game in the books, the Mets have given their fans reason for hope. If the Mets can continuously repeat the sound, fundamental baseball they played on Opening Day, 2010 will be a very good year.

162-0?

Start drinking it Mets fans, there's enough kool-aid for everyone! That's right, as predicted on Mets Kool-Aid blog the Mets started their season in prime fashion today knocking off the Marlins 7-1.

A few things to take away from this game:

• Fernando Nieve pitched 2 scoreless innings.
• Each new Mets player in the lineup (Bay, Barajas, Matthews) all had at least 2 hits a piece.
• Luis Castillo stole a base today
• David Wright homered in his first at bat of the season (he also homered in the first game of the season in 2006)
• Johan Santana got run support - even insurance runs!
• The Mets are on 162-0 pace here.

That's right folks. There were a lot of things to be excited about in Flushing today. Let's take a page out of Derek Jeter's book and say we're going to take this one game at a time...even though we're going to win that next game too. LET'S GO METS!

It's Just Spring Training...the Real Season Starts Tomorrow!

So we promised a preview at every position by Opening Day and here we are on the eve of the Mets' opener and we've only gone through two positions. All I can say is, don't worry about our blog, this is just Spring Training! These posts don't even count yet!

Hey, if it's good for the Mets, it's good for us, and yes, maybe the Mets didn't have the greatest spring statistically, but don't overlook the fact that everything that's happened so far this year means nothing yet. The Mets haven't even played a game in Citi Field now that it's been re-Metsified!

The Mets finished the spring with a .271 batting average good for 20th overall in the majors. Sure, 20th may sound bad, but guess who ranks at 21 and 22?-our hated rivals the Yankees and Phillies, that's who.

Pitching-wise, the Mets also ranked 20th in the majors in ERA with a 5.19 team ERA this Spring. Look below the Mets on the list and you'll see the Yankees with their perennially excellent pitching staff that includes CC Sabathia, Mariano Rivera, and newcomer Javier Vazquez. Keep going and you'll find the young, hip, pick of the Mariners with King Felix, Cliff Lee, and Erik Bedard.

Do we think the Yankees are going to finish in the bottom 10 of the majors this year? No! Why? Spring stats mean nothing! The Mets are ready to start the season against the Marlins tomorrow and this is a new beginning. Losing on the last day of the season is in the past as is the injury-plagued 2009.

The Mets have added weapons like Jason Bay, Mike Jacobs, and Rod Barajas to their starting lineup which will give a lot of the powerful pop that the team lacked last year. The Mets pitching is ready for a bounce-back year top to bottom. KRod is coming off an off year and is ready to get back to the same form he had just 2 short years ago when he set the record for saves in a season. Johan should be his usual self after off-season surgery that should put him back into those discussions of being the best pitcher in the game. Jeff Francoeur and David Wright are young players with unlimited potential and now playing together in a lineup with more protection, there is no doubt they can be superstars again. Pelfrey, Ollie, and Maine have all shown flashes of greatness in the past and there is real potential there. These guys will determine how this season goes, and are poised for huge comeback seasons. Finally, while the injury bug is not totally gone, we are definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with Jose Reyes expected back to the team within a couple weeks and Beltran still on track to come back by the end of April.

Sure, you can look at the Spring Training stats of 2010 and not be excited for the season to start, but just wait until the first week in May when the Mets are a few games over .500 and ready to explode with a lineup and rotation that's the same or better than the one that was picked by many to win it all last year in the preseason. Regardless of the missteps of the Spring or the broken promises of our blog, there's one thing that will always be true - there will be plenty of Mets KoolAid to sip starting tomorrow - so get a glass and get pumped for baseball in 2010!!!

Season Preview: First Base

Omar Minaya's plan to build depth at the first base position should pay dividends for the Mets in 2010. Several players - young and old - have a golden opportunity to fill the shoes of Carlos Delgado.

Daniel Murhpy will be the starter as soon as he returns from injury. Despite struggling most of last year, Murhpy, led the team in home runs and made several dazzling plays in the field. Expect him to rebound to his 2008 rookie form, when he hit .313 and looked like a future batting champ.

Mike Jacobs, the front runner to start in Murhpy's absence, adds a menacing power bat to the lineup. People seem to forget that Jacobs is just 29 years old and has hit at least 17 homers in each full season, including 32 in 2008. The cavernous Citi Field will be no match for his towering blasts.

Jack-of-all-trades Fernando Tatis is another option to man first base. Tatis' biggest value may be his veteran leadership, but don't ignore his 34 homers and 107 RBI in 1999.

If these options fail, the Mets can inject youth into the position with any of three hot prospects. Chris Carter, obtained for Billy Wagner, hit .393 with 4 homers this spring. Nick Evans, once a highly touted prospect, should not be forgotten. And then there is Ike Davis, who appears to be a star in the making.

Other teams would love to have this kind of depth at any position. Lucky for us, the Mets are stacked at first base.

April Fool

Omar Minaya is expected to hold a press conference later today to say "April Fools!" to all Mets fans. He will explain that it was just a joke to go into the season with Pelfrey, Maine, and Perez as the 2-4 starters, and that the REAL Mets rotation will include John Lackey, Bronson Arroyo, and John Garland.

Minaya will likely also end the long running "injury" prank that he told players to follow. He will announce that Reyes, Beltran, and Murphy were just playing along and are penciled into the Opening Day starting lineup.

Finally, Minaya will apologize to Mets fans for tricking them for so long. I for one will accept his apology, put this long running joke in the past, and look forward to a great Mets season.