Glaring Issues in Queens

Well it’s only been a week (six games to be exact) and a lot of Mets fans are ready to jump off a bridge. After a 2-4 start and two straight losses to the lowly Nationals it’s hard to blame them, but it HAS only been a week so the need to panic should not have set in yet.

That is not to say the Mets don’t have a few glaring issues however. Right now I would say their inability to hit with runners in scoring postion is the largest. It’s something that the Mets always seem to have a problem with, no matter who is on the team. It’s bizarre.

To me though, one of the largest problems is first base. While Jacobs did hit a home run yesterday (a towering shot in the 8th), he was 2 for 16 before that and has basically been unreliable at the plate. It’s exactly as I feared… he’s all power and no substance. He’ll hit you home runs (maybe even as much as 30 to 35 in a full season) however he’ll do nothing else. This is beyond frustrating when you see Chris Carter doing well at AAA Buffalo after having a great spring. It’s not even like Jacobs is so good with the glove that you’ll take the lousy batting average and non-contact at-bats. The entire thing makes no sense.

It doesn’t help that Gary Mathews, after a good opening day has been as “unclutch” as you can be. He’s been up at least six times with two out and runners in scoring postion (four times yesterday alone) and hasn’t gotten one hit.

Overall the Mets are 10 for 53 with runners in scoring position. That’s a .189 batting average. That is 2nd worst in the NL (behind only Houston). Seeing that Jacobs and Matthews have been hitting mostly in the 4th, 5th and 6th positions you can see where a lot of that lost production is coming from.

It’s only been six games. Jacobs himself has only started in four. However, it’s already getting to be time for the Mets to see what they have in front of them and act. Release Jacobs (or send him down… trust me… he’ll clear waivers), bring up Carter and start playing Pagan in Center at least four or five times a week until Beltran returns.

The starting pitching hasn’t been amazing, but it hasn’t been downright horrible either. Niese and Pelfry both had good starts while Maine and Perez’s starts were lackluster but not disasters. The bullpen has been outstanding so far. Reyes has looked a little sluggish since his return but I would expect that to improve quickly.