At the end of each month I’ll do an End Of The Month Review, also known as EOMR, of the team. I’ll take a look at some of the stats and standings and try to report on the overall status of the team going into the next month of games.

April, 2012: The Team

So how’s the team doing? Heading into May 1st, the New York Mets are in 3rd place in the NL East at 13-10 behind the 14-8 Nationals in 1st and the 14-9 2nd place Braves. Philadelphia, whom many were touting the kings of the NL East for another season are behind the Mets with an 11-12 record while the underachieving Marlins are surprisingly or not, in last place with an 8-14 record.

Of course, April standings mean squat – but if anyone told you the Mets would be 3 games over .500 and 1.5 games back from 1st place, I dont think you’d believe them; Unless you were an optimist like me.

Relevant stat from ESPN Stats & Info: Since 2001, only 29 of 66 (43.9%) of eventual division champs across MLB were in 1st place on May 1.

The Offense – NL Rankings

  • The Mets are 2nd in At-bats with 784 behind the Astros .
  • 2nd in Hits with 210, just 3 behind the Cardinals.
  • Tied for 7th with the Dodgers in Runs Scored with 91.
  • Tied for 5th in Doubles w/ Braves, Giants, Cardinals with 38; Tied for 13th with 2 Triples.
  • Tied with the Marlins at 9th in Homeruns with just 18. (The homeruns will come with Ike, Duda, and Hairston heating up)
  • 2nd in Walks with 85 behind the Padres and 1st in Strikeouts with 196.

The Mets offense has looked pretty good to start the season. They’re 2nd in team Avg. at .268 and 2nd in OBP at .341 only trailing the Cardinals in both categories.

Most importantly they’ve shown a nice patient and selective approach at the plate as indicated by the high average and high OBP aided as well by the tons of walks they’re taking. The one downside here is that they’re also striking out quite a bit, but as long as they’re getting on base and scoring runs when it counts, we can deal with the strikeouts.

This team has also shown quite resilience in games where they’re behind – it seems like whenever the opposition scores, they answer right back and they don’t lay down and die no matter how badly they’re getting outscored as we saw in the first game of the Rockies series in Colorado. They have fight in them and it’s awesome to watch.

Offensive stars of the month:

The Pitching 

The starting rotation has been solid. Aside from a couple of clunkers thrown by Santana, Dickey, Schwinden, and Batista – the starters have gone deep into their starts and pitched quality outings, keeping the team in the game almost every time.

  • Santana – 2.25 ERA in 24 IP with 29 K’s.
  • Dickey – 4.45 ERA in 30.1 IP with 28 K’s.
  • Niese – 2.82 ERA in 25.2 IP with 23 K’s.
  • Pelfrey (done with TJ Surgery) had a 2.25 ERA in 19.3 IP with 13 K’s.
  • Gee – 4.85 ERA in 26 IP with 23 K’s.

The front part of the bullpen has been solid for the team, Parnell has 15 K’s in 15.2 IP and Rauch and Byrdak have been lights out. However, Ramirez, whom also began the season solid, has been inconsistent as of late. Acosta, Batista and Francisco have been less than stellar.

It’s tough to expect anything consistent from an MLB bullpen nowadays. Guys have big years and then can follow it up with a disaster year or vice-versa. One month the bullpen can be lights out and the next they give up runs like there’s no tomorrow. All you can do is pray they get the job done and keep the team ahead if they come in a game with the lead, or close if they come in a game where they’re trailing.

Closing thoughts 

I think Terry Collins and the other coaches have done a tremendous job with this team in the forst month of the season. Terry keeps these guys on their toes and driven to prove their critics wrong, and so far that is exactly what they’ve done.

At times Terry has made some questionable bullpen and pinch-hitting calls such as keeping Acosta in for more than an inning or outting in Valdespin in last night’s game as the last batter of the game instead of the more experienced and clutch  Justin Turner. But he’s the manager and I trust that he had logical reasons for going with those guys so I won’t complain much about it.

All in all it’s been a great month of baseball and I’m loving every vibe that this team is giving off. They won’t back down and they’re playing solid baseball. Let’s hope they keep this going and…

Let’s Go Mets!

Susana’s April grade for the Mets: B-

Bullpen needs to keep the gate shut (not OO000OOPENNNN)