Mets leave Bats... Well, they never had any
April 11, 2003
The Mets offense has looked putrid. Plain putrid. They have not been hitting with runners in scoring position, and besides for a Cliff Floyd homer last night, the 3-4-5 hitters have been anemic.
Mike Piazza is looking like a shell of his former self, and Mo Vaughn is back to chasing curves in the dirt. If not for Ty Wigginton, who is looking like the real deal (albeit with a small sample), the Mets may have two or three less wins than they do now (4). When pitchers stop throwing Wigginton so many fastballs, he may cool down also.
The one bright spot has been the starting pitching. Tom Glavine has thrown 11 shut out innings in a row, and Al Leiter has been spectacular. On Wednesday night, Steve Trachsel rebounded with a nice start. David Cone was great in his start last Friday, and starts tonight. However, they have not been logging enough innings, as Art Howe seems keen on bringing in Dave Weathers and Mike Stanton in the 7th inning to set up Armando Benitez in the ninth. Unfortunetly, that plan has failed, as Benitez has looked terrible in blowing and then losing three of their last four games.
The good news is that the Mets are in San Juan, Puerto Rico playing the Expos in one of 22 Expo "home" games in Puerto Rico. The park there is incredibly small, just 319 and 313 down the lines, and 359 to the deepest part of the park. It should "spark" the Mets offense, at least for the next four games. Keep an eye on that
Add: Ty Wigginton, Mike Piazza, Mo Vaughn (Piazza and Vaughn for the next four games)
Hold: Tom Glavine
Drop: Roger Cedeno (shouldnt be long until he loses his CF job. He's looked terrible in the field)
Wait and See: If David Cone can have one or two more quality starts, pick him up. He could be very effective for the Mets this year.
