Worries here

[Vic Sage]

I'm worried enough that we're throwing a LHed pitcher, who hasn't been too great lately, in Fenway against a Red(hot) Sox lineup that I decided to bench Glavine on one of my fantasy teams.

I'm thinking "sweep".

And I'm still thinking what i thought before the season started... If Trachsel is your #3, you need an upgrade in your rotation. There was no way Glavine (or Pedro, for that matter) were going to continue pitching as well as they did in the first 1/3 of the season. They've both come back to earth, and the situation remains... we need another top-level SPer to be serious contenders this season.

[nymr83]

We're already "serious contenders."
We might need another starter to get deep into the playoffs though.
I still like Soler even after the poor outing tuesday and would start him in game 3 of any playoff series right now.... so yeah we probably want some help.

[Gwreck]

Nymr83 wrote: I still like Soler even after the poor outing tuesday and would start him in game 3 of any playoff series right now.... so yeah we probably want some help.

Soler over El Duque in a playoff series game 3? Strange.

I do have playoff worries, but right now I'm more worried that we're going to go into a tailspin, get swept, and get embarassed against the Yankees. It'd take a long time to erase that if it should happen.

This series is suggesting to me that the Mets are not quite as good as I'd though (ie. maybe the 2nd best team in baseball). Right now they are looking like a solid 4th -- behind Detroit, Boston, and Chicago.

[The Big O]

MFS62 wrote: My current concern is that the team still seems reliant on the home run to score. I don't see good situational hitting skills throughout the lineup, or the ability to "build runs". In absence of the long ball, it seems like most of the big scoring innings have been the result of walks and errors rather than stringing together a series of hits. Just my impression, though.

I really thought a good portion of our offense in Streak Part Deux was fraught with errors (and walks) by the opposing team that led directly to runs. Maybe I should try to back that up, but it was my impression as well.

Edgefest wrote: Don't think I didn't also notice your controversial usage of an in "an historic."

RBIs.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Nymr83 wrote: We're already "serious contenders." We might need another starter to get deep into the playoffs though. I still like Soler even after the poor outing tuesday and would start him in game 3 of any playoff series right now.... so yeah we probably want some help.

Playoffs?!?

[HahnSolo]

Worries? Yes. Milledge, El Duque, what's up with Lo Duca.

Worried? Not really.

Losing streaks and slumps happen. The Tigers recently lost five of seven to the Sox and Yanks. They're looking pretty good right now. The Cardinals just lost eight in a row, and they'll still win their division in a walk.

The Mets will be fine. Omar will make some adjustments here and there, but overall I still think they're the best team in the NL.

[dgwphotography]

This is the same as the Mets getting swept in Houston in 1986...

[Willets Point]

This is only first 3-game losing streak of the season. I worry that it will get longer, but feel confident it won't get too bad.

[Theoldmole]

[soupcan]

Also got swept in Philly in '86.

[Willets Point]

Red Sox fans are boasting about the inferiority of the National League, but I recall they clobbered the Marlins in 2003 and Florida went on to win the World Series and Red Sox didn't even make it. My point of course is that in-season matchups aren't very predictive of what would happen in a post-season matchup. At least on a small scale.

[soupcan]

They have the right to brag, what are they - 15-1 against the NL this year?

[Elster88]

Willets Point wrote: Red Sox fans are boasting about the inferiority of the National League, but I recall they clobbered the Marlins in 2003 and Florida went on to win the World Series and Red Sox didn't even make it. My point of course is that in-season matchups aren't very predictive of what would happen in a post-season matchup. At least on a small scale.

Eh, let them talk trash (for now). They've earned it.

And it's hard to argue with the Interleague record this year.

[HahnSolo]

This is the same as the Mets getting swept in Houston in 1986...

I thought they lost 3 out of 4 that series. Didn't the Reds sweep the Mets at Shea that year?

On edit: yes, on July 17-20, the Mets beat Houston in game one of a four game set, then lost the next three. Earlier in July, the Reds took a three game set at Shea. The Mets also lost four in a row at Shea to the Cardinals, but it was the middle four games of a rain-out produced six game series.

[Guest Mr. Zero]

My feeling is that National teams are at a huge disadvantage when playing in AL parks since they do not have a gargantuan DHs on their rosters and basically have to improvise with pinch hitters and regulars who are now forced to adapt to the DH lifestyle. It's unfair I tell ya! Though I do not have any statistics to back up this theory and it doesn't explain the total dominance by the AL this year.

I'm also more than a little scared about tonight.

[MFS62]

Mr. Zero wrote: My feeling is that National teams are at a huge disadvantage when playing in AL parks since they do not have a gargantuan DHs on their rosters and basically have to improvise with pinch hitters and regulars who are now forced to adapt to the DH lifestyle. It's unfair I tell ya! Though I do not have any statistics to back up this theory and it doesn't explain the total dominance by the AL this year.

Good oint. Does anyone have any numbers that break down the IL records by AL and NL home ballparks?

Later

[Guest ABG]

Iubitul wrote: This is the same as the Mets getting swept in Houston in 1986...

No it isn't. The Red Sox are measurably (by record) and immeasurably (by what we saw on the field) better than the Mets. The Astros were neither.

[Frayed Knot]

The NL came into this year with an overall edge since interleague began.
The AL caught up a bit last year which, when added to the huge edge they're headed for this year, might be enough to wipe out the lead the senior circuit built up since 1997.

What I don't have is the exact "score" (it's pretty close) or the home/road breakdown - but when the AL comes out on the short end, as they have for I believe 6 of the 9 years, they always make a point of claiming it's a bigger disadvantage for them in NL parks then the other way around since, by losing the DH, they're out a guy who's a regular part of their lineup.

Home teams in MLB usually win about 55% of the time and I'd be surprised if the IL games vary a whole lot from that despite the forced lineup alterations.

These things tend to be cyclical and I don't think there's any other reason for it but that - but I think the AL's just been better for the last two seasons and this year in particular shows a bigger margin than I can remember between the two leagues.

[Elster88]

Either way, get rid of the DH.

[Willets Point]

Are we still worried?

[Edgy MD]

As noted in another thread, I worry that David Wright can't be all that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

And a bag of chips!

[MFS62]

Scoring myself on my originalresponse to this thread (pade 1), ot looks like we didn't have to worry about Diaz in right, Jose's hamstrings and Anderson Hernandez' bat. And it isn't Pedro's arm, its his hip.

Anyone else want to score their predictions?

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Beltran is one of my bigger worries. If his 2006 isn't better than his 2005, we'll be looking at another five years of a vastly overpaid mediocre player.

No problem here!

I also worry that we may get fewer than 60 combined starts from Pedro and Glavine; the closer we get to 70 from them the better.

This one's still looking iffy.

If Nady doesn't have that breakout season we're hoping for, and Floyd reverts to 2004, and Beltran continues 2005, the outfield's not all that potent.

Nady's been pretty good. Floyd's been bad, but Beltran's been fantastic. The outfield could be stronger, but it hasn't been the weak spot that I feared.

I still sense Julio being a disaster. Hopefully, if he is, the Mets will stop using him, rather than keep running him out there in the hope that he'll eventually justify dealing Anna.

Julio's gone; he won't hurt us any more.

Trachsel's a minor concern. I think he'll get it together, but if he doesn't Heilman is in the wings. (Assuming, of course, that Heilman doesn't have to step in for any of the other four starters.)

Trachsel's been better than Heilman. He's the guy I should have been worrying about.

I fear the July 31 deadline. I'll be quite relieved if Lastings Milledge is still Mets property on August 1. If the Mets are even within ten games of a playoff berth, Omar may start mortgaging the future.

The Mets are in far better shape than I could have imagined. They're not going to make a desperate deal to get themselves back into the pennant race; they're solidly in. They may make a deal to help them get deeper into the playoffs, but that's a different kettle of fish. At this point, I think I'd be okay with a Milledge for Dontrelle deal, if such a thing were possible.

[Willets Point]

My only early season worry was that April was a fluke but June was even better than April and the other months haven't been too shabby so that worry has been discounted.

More recent worries that with Glavine pitching the third game of the Red Sox series the Mets faced their first sweep of the season (that was correct although if Glavine got some run support it may have ended differently).

[Vic Sage]

my original list of worries:

a pitching rotation on the precipice of disaster;

While Glavine pitched better than i expected, he's come back to Earth. Pedro started strong, too, but injuries have slowed him, as expected. I am entirely unhappy about a 3-4-5 of Trax, El Duque and a rookie to be named later (Bannister, Maine,Soler and Pelfrey, so far). So the rotation remains my biggest worry.

an offense with holes at 2b and RF, health questions at 1b and LF, and a mystery man in cf;

After Hernandez and Matsui bombed, Valentin has unexpectedly filled the the hole at 2b (for now). Nady has done pretty well, and Chavez has filled in nicely. The mystery man in CF has returned to form. The health question in LF turned out to be an appropriate concern, and, while Delgado has stayed relatively healthy, his slump has been a long one.

a bullpen with an aging, big $ closer with a sore finger, and a setup guy who was a failed closer from Baltimore, who'll get way too many chances to blow way too many games;

Wagner has NOT been lights out, but certainly better than we had, and it turns out it was Sanchez, not Julio given the setup job, and he's excelled. Julio was subsequently turned into El Duque, and has taken over as the closer for AZ.

a small ball manager with no balls at all;

despite his canonization, i'm still not a WWSB fan.

a gm with an itchy trigger finger who hasn't demonstrated any particular ability to assess young talent, and

I'll reserve judgement till i see what he does at the deadline to fix the rotation.

a rich owner in the biggest media market in the world who requires strict adherence to a budget (eg, see Cameron and Benson trades), thus hamstringing efforts to fix the team in midstream.

ditto.

[Edgy MD]

Hi, I'm Carlos Delgado and I'm 34. I worry that the TV station will be filled with dumb stuff, and the substance of Mets brand will degrade as much off the field as it has degraded on. New stadium (probably corporately named), new batting helmets --- lots of potential for dumbness. And well, yeah, it sounds like I want to live in my conservative littel bubble, but I fear much conservative dumb corporate structuring: "We're rich, we can afford to make decisions based on proven models.""

Carlos was looking 24 for the first two months and he's looking 44 for the last one. That's up in the air but he seems likely to remain a solid asset through this year at least.

TV station filled with dumb stuff: check. But less consequetial as the team has been solid programming. Plus they put G-FaFiF on. Bonus

New stadium plans have been introduced. Most objecitions are minor, but lack of a signature idea outside of the Ebbets fa�ade is disappointing.

I was right about the helmets carrying over into the season.

Conservative and progressive corporate marketing dumbness has downgraded the brand --- the helmets, the (ugh!) theme song, "Professor Reyes" on the Diamondvision, contiuming to play the same songs at Shea that they play everywhere else --- but not nearly as much as the on-field play has upgraded it.

[Willets Point]

Ev'ry-bo-dy clap you hands!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Great! Thanks a lot!

Now I can't stop clapping my hands. (I had to type this with my nose and my feet.)

[seawolf17]

Having both of you as Doc Gooden made it look like you were answering yourself, which freaked me out.