Alright, well I'm going to try to put up some opinion after every game as much as possible. Friday night and Saturday night games will not be happening, being that I'm an Orthodox Jew and cannot watch those games. High Points:

• Jon Niese-While Niese didn't pitch great, he had a quality start and gave the Mets a chance to win the game if they hit.                         I liked Niese's aggressiveness to challenge the Marlins hitters, throwing his fastball often.
• Ruben Tejada- Tejada didn't hit, but he did play great defensively, showing range, and good baseball instincts.
• Jeff Franceour- Frenchy made one bad play in the field, that didn't cost the Mets. But, in the batter's box Frenchy continued to show patience, and pitch recognition. He had a solid double to bring in a run.
• Rod Barajas- Barajas called another great game, and continued to show pop in his bat.
• Ryota Igarashi- Igarashi started off bad, but came back to get a double play and pitched well.
• Hisanori Takahashi- After a bad night by Takahashi last night in which he received the loss,  Takahasi had a nice bounce back appearance.
• Fernando Nieve- Although it was for only one batter once again Nieve continued to get people out.
• "Perpetual" Pedro Felicano- Pedro continued his greatness and got not only the left handed Coghlan but got out right handed hitters.

Low points:

• Luis Castillo-Castillo continues to not hit but did get one hit tonight. Castillo showed us again why he has no range in the field. Fortunately, Castillo calf is presenting him pain and he will not play tomorrow, Alex Cora taking his place while Ruben Tejada gets another start at Shortstop. However, Castillo showed nice judgement on a slow liner.
• David Wright- Wright at the plate looked like he did last year-dazed and confused. The Marlins had a lefty starting and we all know Wright kills lefties, and looked quite bad against him.  Wright also made three bad throws to first, two tailing down and one high. With all that said however, I am not worried about Wright by any means, I think, I know Wright will come back and find his stroke. The throwing is a bit of a concern but Wright has shown poor throws before, and it's stopped.
• Fernando Tatis- Besides his long drive in the 9th Tatis did not do anything productive at the plate. I'm not sure why he is on the team, and why he was re-signed.
• Untimely hitting- The Mets did have seven hits, but only one run. While seven hits is a good sign, the Mets need to get hits at the right time, and need to get people on base. The Mets only had four opportunities with runners in scoring position and went 0-4. The team however, did leave seven on base.

This was a tough loss, but it's only game three. There are more high points than low points, and as said I think Wright will turn around. However, with such a large question mark in the pitching staff, Wright and Bay must get on base and must get hits, and neither did tonight.  Also, Reyes is expected to come back on Saturday, and that should certainly jump start the offense, and the team as a whole.

Tonight we will all find out what this team really can do. Everyone knows Johan will be just fine, but one of the biggest questions coming into the season, was and still is how will Maine, Pelfrey, and Perez do. The question starts to get answered tonight with John Maine on the hill. Tonight, the question gets answered a little bit, for the Maine part. No matter what Maine does tonight, by no means answers his part of the question, but will give us some of an idea of what to expect, especially against a good offensive team in the Marlins. Everything worked on all cylinders opening day, and of course it's not going to be like that every game, and we will see if that continues tonight. Let's Go Mets!

With the start of the baseball season less than a week from now it’s time to talk about the season. Of course magazines, sports writers, newspapers are all putting out their predictions on how the season will turn out. ESPN magazine this week had a lengthy article on the Seattle Mariners in how there is reason to be glad being they have a great defense. They showed stats how in 2001 when they improved their defense they won 116 games, 2 years ago when the Tampa Bay Rays went all the way to the World Series they wentfrom worst to first in defense. One thing they neglected to mention was in 1999 when Sports Illustrated had an article had an issue featuring the Mets saying they may be the best infield ever, that year the Mets went on to fall one win short of the World Series, and one year after with basically the same infield for most of the season (until Rey Ordonez got injured) the Mets made it to the World Series.

As I was reading this article I thought how it could relate to this years Mets. I began to think, and I realized the Mets are up there as well. Once Jose Reyes comes back and plays at 100 percent the Mets may have one of the best left field sides on the infield, honestly I don’t see how much would get past that side of the infield, especially if it’s hit on the ground. Okay, the right side of the infield you definitely can’t stay the same. However, with that in mind I do think the fact the Luis Castillo has “no range” is a little over exaggerated. Daniel Murphy obviously is no John Olerud, however we’ve seen signs of him being a great fielder, and working with one of the best ever in Keith Hernandez this spring definitely had to help him at least a little bit. To the outfield, I’ll start in left field with Jason Bay. Bay is not a great fielder and not a flashy fielder either, but once again I think he is a bit underrated in his defense, keep in mind he did play center field in a spacious PNC Park for the Pirates. Center field, no matter who will be patrolling it whether it be Angel Pagan, Gary Matthews Jr., or Carlos Beltran, there is always a great defender there. Right Field the great Jeff Francoeur. We all know of the “Jeff Francoeur effect” where opposing players are afraid to take an extra base because of Franceour’s cannon for an arm. Not only does he have a great arm he also plays a great right field. Catching, both catchers Barajas and Blanco are good defending catchers, Blanco the better one. Then there’s Johan Santana who every time on time he is on the field he is the best athlete. He fields his position great, reading the ball off the bat like I’ve never seen before, knowing when to charge, when to not to, what base to throw to, etc.

Keeping all this in mind I think there is a reason to look forward to the season. While all the reporters, magazines, newspapers are saying the Mets are going to have yet another disappointing season, I don’t just beg to differ, I differ. After all, defense wins championships.

To start the season we all know Carlos Beltran will be on the shelf. Throughout spring training there has been a battle for the center field position until Beltran returns. It’s basically been a battle between Gary Matthews Jr. and Angel Pagan. Although Fernando Martinez has looked fantastic this spring the Mets are skeptical to have him play in the big leagues again just yet. A couple of question come up in this discussion: A. Angel Pagan has had a slight lead and seems to have the advantage is he the right choice? and B. Why are the Mets so skeptical of F-Mart, he’s playing well in spring training, he deserves a spot on the big league roster, give him at least a chance to win the center field spot?

Firstly, I believe Pagan is the right choice to start the season in center. Pagan is clearly the better fielding outfielder. In a spaciouscenter fielder in Citi Field, and a mediocre fielding left fielder in Jason Bay it is imperative to have a good defensive center fielder. In fact Keith Hernandez said the other day on the broadcast the Pagan is the best laterally moving outfielder in the league moving right to left, even better than Beltran. Furthermore, not knowing if Jose Reyes will be starting opening day or not, I think it is necessary to have some speed at the top of the lineup. Although Matthews does have speed, Pagan has more, and is more of a leadoff hitter, and can be a catalyst like Reyes.

Second, it seems the Mets are not ready to have F-Mart play in the big leagues again quite yet. Mets beat reporters are saying the Mets want Martinez to prove he can have a healthy season before promoting him. In addition, in Martinez’s short stint with the club last season Martinez his a woeful .176. Although Martinez has been hitting so far in the spring, it was mostly earlier in the spring when either a. pitchers have not yet reached their top velocity, or b. later in games against minor league pitchers. Also, I think the Mets would like F-Mart to improve on his fielding a bit as well, considering the spacious outfield in Citi Field. With all that said, the question begs to be asked, Martinez is on the 40 man roster so the Mets won’t have to put anyone through waivers to have him on the big club, why not have him play with the Mets, and if things don’t work out send him down?

Lately there has been a lot of talk where Jenrry Mejia belongs, the Minors or the big stage. I believe the Mets should start him in the Majors in the bullpen. coming off an agonizing 2009 season, us fans want to see some excitement on the field. Furthermore, many fans (not including myself) have a very pessimistic outlook coming into this season, and will not show up to games in Citi Field. By putting in Mejia to start the season the Mets do exactly these things-put some excitement on the field, and puts fans in the stands. In addition, if there’s something that’s the lacking on the Mets it’s a deep bullpen. With Sean Green and Bobby Parnell not looking so well so far in Spring Training, it is an absolute must to get the best bodies in the bullpen. With lots of question marks in the starting rotation are Johan Santana, it is a must to have a solid bullpen. For this reason also, I was very upset the Mets didn’t purse Joe Beimel more. If Mejia doesn’t work out in the first month, they can always send him back down. If Mejia started the season in the bullpen would it give you more of an incentive to either watch the Mets or go to a Mets game? Do you think Mejia should start the season in the bullpen? Please comment with your thoughts.