Friday, May 19, 2006By Mike Steffanos
The papers are full of subway series hype today, which doesn't hold very much interest for me. I know some really feed on this stuff, but I believe that it's run its course. My concerns are how well my team is playing and their chances to keep playing into October. As such, I hope they win these next 3 games, but I refuse to live and die with it.
I'm more concerned with the fact that I have to watch Jose Lima make more starts for this team, in fact that was going to be my topic for today. But the more that I think about it, Jose Lima really isn't the biggest problem that the Mets have right now. Don't get me wrong here -- I do not believe that Jose Lima has it left in him to be an effective major pitcher league pitcher any more. I just believe the Mets problems right now reflect more than undependable starting pitching.
The Mets started off the year playing sound, fundamental ball. Sure, they were beating up on some bad teams, but they were doing things right both at bat and in the field. They were getting some terrific pitching, but they were also hitting cutoff men, advancing baserunners, and not throwing away at bats. As they've begun to struggle, they've also stopped playing the game with quite the same crispness and competence. This has only served to magnify their faults and cost them some winnable games.
Eventually Jose Lima will be gone, but the simple truth is that it is extremely unlikely the Mets will have truly great starting pitching of the type that cancels out a team's faults. The 1986 Mets had that kind of pitching, which was why they were able to overcome what was a shocking lack of fundamentals for a 100+ win team. The 2006 Mets will never have that luxury. They have to play this game very well on a consistent basis to overcome their weaknesses.
So for those that still really get into these games, enjoy the subway series. As for me, I'm hoping to see a return of really solid baseball for the Flushing nine.
Surfing the Mets: Speaking of Lima
Adam Rubin compares Jose Lima and Kaz Ishii through their first 3 starts as a Met. Guess who was significantly better?
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