I think the main reason a lot of us are calling the Mets dead and a disaster at this early point in the season is we continue to see failure, and deep down inside we know what talent is on the field and expect them to lose. However I notice that we also, myself included, expect way too much out of some of these players heading into each season. And quite frankly, maybe it's time we lowered our expectations and accept them for who they might be — mediocre.
The one main aspect that intrigues me the most about this Mets team is their youth and the potential we have down in the minor leagues. Pitchers like Jenrry Mejia, Brad Holt, Jeurys Familia & Matt Harvey have great potential at being vital parts of our rotation down the line, and when you see young kids like Ike Davis, Lucas Duda & Josh Thole make their way into the big leagues with early success we just automatically assume they have not peaked. Unfortunately, some players perform outstandingly in AA & AAA and hit the big leagues at their peak. Unfortunately when it comes to players like Ike Davis, Jonathon Niese & Mike Pelfrey, I already fear that they have peaked and this is the highest they can perform. The only one I think still has a lot of room to improve is Ike Davis mostly due to his outstanding power and ability to drive the ball to the opposite field. Yet when we look at the rest of this team, for some reason we either:
A) Expect a lot out of each individual player, probably more than we should. We assume that pitchers who have had injury-riddled careers will provide stability in the back end of our rotation. We sign multiple players to our bullpen with very little money, and clearly other teams with more financial flexibility passed up on the arms of Taylor Buchholz & DJ Carrasco. A kid like Pedro Beato was added to the bullpen because he is a Rule V pick. He has great potential, but I don't think he's ready, and thus we kept him on the roster to avoid losing him outright. We gave a 2nd base starting gig to a second baseman who provides less offensive firepower (something we NEED) than Daniel Murphy because his defensive work is supposedly better and, of course once again, he is a Rule V draft pick. We expect a young catcher who basically hits for AVG and the occasional double to step up and be an offensive weapon, as well as bounce a kid like Lucas Duda from AAA to MLB to AAA to MLB whenever someone struggles or we suffer another injury. We expect two young pitchers, Mike Pelfrey & Jonathon Niese, to 1) be an Ace and 2) go from being the #4 pitcher to being the #2 pitcher, something that at a young age he is not ready to undertake. And lastly, we expect the nicest man in the clubhouse to be a leader and someone who will grab a player by the collar and yell in his face when he plays with a lack of motivation — David Wright.
Nothing against David, but he's just too nice. To be a leader you have to be good with the Media but a stern vocal asset in the clubhouse, something I just don't see in him.
B) We expect average ball from each individual player yet assume it will transpire into absolute success. We expect our top 3 power hitters to hit 28, 25, 22 Home Runs, and for our top base stealer to bat a .280 average and steal 40-50 bases. Unfortunately we expect these guys to come through with runners in scoring position — Newsflash, this is a very similar lineup to 2010 and that lineup rarely came through with men in scoring position.
What does this mean? We live on Fantasy Island. It's plain and simple. Our expectations are through the roof and quite ridiculous at times. We expected two young, unproven arms to lead our rotation, for an aging knuckleballer with 1 successful year to provide stability along with two pitchers bouncing back from major arm surgeries. Our $120M Ace can't stay healthy and may never again be what he once was, and when he is healthy and dominant our lineup and/or bullpen kicks him in the crotch.
Maybe this team will turn things around and with a 4 or 5 game winning streak make us realize that they're more motivated. Unfortunately sometimes it takes more than motivation.
P.S. — With every diving catch Daniel Murphy makes at second base Terry Collins dies a little bit inside.
