NL East

If chicks did the long ball, there's not going to be a whole lot of love if your team is squaring off against the Mets.

For all of the questions about Jerry Manuel's rotation coming into the season, it has been an unlikely group of pitchers who have helped New York remain in contention in a highly competitive NL East.

Every team has their faults in the division, and with no one team running away with things one-third of the way through the year, it is as wide open as it has ever been.

Fernando Nieve is starting against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight and because he hasn’t started since last July and has primarily been a reliever throughout his career I thought now would be a good time to go over his numbers as a starter.

Here are Nieve’s numbers against the Brewers:

4 G, 2 GS, 1-1 record, 5.11 ERA, 12.1 IP, 19 H, 7 ER, 4 HR, 3 BB, 10 K, 1.78 WHIP.

Here are his numbers as a starter:

Johan Santana and the Mets got in a pitcher’s duel agianst the Brewers yesterday, but lost 2-0 as Yovani Gallardo went the distance.

Here are some notes:

As the month of May is drawing to a close, it’s hard to believe that coming into this month the Braves were in last place and just a game removed from a nine-game skid.

It almost feels like we are in a different season.

After a decent start to the month, the Braves caught fire—and have won five out of their last six series (the other series was a 1-1 split between the Braves and Mets).

The NL East is easily the most competitive division this season, and can either be the most dominant or most overrated depending on your take (I believe the former). With every team right now playing .500 baseball or better, it is easily anybody's division to take.

Yet, in spite of this, there are teams that, on the inside, need help quickly if they're going to stay competitive. Likewise, there are others that are going to be fine.

It's almost Memorial Day, and a lot of Mets fans are getting really excited about the potential chance at a playoff run.

There is reason for that excitement as the Mets have put together a good home stand and have shut the Phillies out two straight games.

At the same time, there are a lot of things that the Mets will have to do well from now through the Trading Deadline to stay in the race.

The Mets have some starting pitching concerns and may have some issues in their lineup, concerning the oufield.

Here’s a short list of the minor league super-prospects that have been on my radar (and a lot of other people’s) in a big way.

Buster Posey, C Giants.  After 45 AAA games, Buster is hitting .343 with a .973 OPS.  My feeling is that he needs another fifteen games at AAA, at which point, if he’s still has an OPS of at least .950, it’s time to call him up. 

The Mets have shutout the Phillies in back-to-back games this week thanks to unexpected, but amazing performances by R.A. Dickey, and Hisanori Takahashi.

Takahashi

Takahshi has been especially impressive since joining the Mets rotation. In two starts against the Yankees and Phillies, he has pitched 12 shutout innings, struck out 11, and walked just one.

Opponents have a .540 OPS against him.

I think his rotation spot is safe for the time being.

Jose Reyes

The last time Edgardo Alfonzo was with the Mets organization was in 2006. That year he struggled in the minor leagues.

When it was clear he wasn’t going to have a chance to make it to Flushing, he departed for a brief stint with the Angels and then with the Blue Jays.

He lasted no more than 18 games with either team, and his combined OPS+ was minus-seven.