1. At this time last year, the Mets were just two games worse in the standings (33-30) than they are now (35-28). Those Mets also were in second place, just three games out of first. But Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes were already on the DL, and Carlos Beltran was going to follow soon. The 2009 Mets were losing players and confidence rapidly.
The 2010 Mets are currently in a different position. They got Jonathon Niese back recently and he is elevating the rotation. As my pal Mike Vaccaro reported in this column Sunday, Beltran is feeling better and believes he will soon be a helpful Met.
And, right now, the Mets are building that “why not us?” belief. Obviously, that is fueled in part by the sustained, poor play of the Phillies. If the expected NL East kingpins are going to struggle then it is going to open up hope all over the divisional landscape – even to a Nationals team now strutting with Stephen Strasburg.
But the Mets’ confidence is not merely fueled by what the Phillies aren’t doing, but what they are doing. They are playing with zeal and without the cascade of on-field indifference and mistakes that marked the 2009 club as much as the injuries.
That is just one of the reason that the Subway Series over the weekend will be fascinating, to see how the Mets’ rising confidence withstands a trip to the Bronx.
2. The Yankees, meanwhile, have climbed into a first-place tie at a moment when their health is deteriorating.
Jorge Posada caught for the first time since coming off the DL, but admitted his foot still hurts. Brett Gardner’s finger is still bothering him. Marcus Thames had to go to the DL to join Nick Johnson. And Alex Rodriguez did not start all weekend, with the Yanks hoping he could get back on the field for tomorrow night against the Phillies.
The stuff with Posada, Gardner and A-Rod seems to fall into the chronic area, so the Yanks are going to have to be edgy about three key components of the everyday lineup all year. In a division as closely contested at the top as the AL East – with the Yanks, Rays and Red Sox all pointing toward 90-plus wins – the Yanks’ ability (or inability) to stay healthy is going to be vital to making the playoffs. The Red Sox, for example, are in third place now, and have had to deal with more physical issues than the other AL East super powers.
3. On Sunday, I wrote this Hardball column trying to come to grips with why pitching numbers are better this year. I heard a lot about diminishing steroid use, improvements in developing young pitchers and the advancement of the cutter.
For space reasons, I could not cover some other items that came up more than once. For example, the success of the Rays in recent years, in particular, convinced teams to become better in the field. The sentiment was summed up by an AL scout who told me: “Teams are playing defensive players more than the past. It isn’t about having the highest OPS at each position anymore. “
To further drive home the point of better development of young arms, an NL personnel man said: “I think that teams’ increased emphasis on signing more high school pitchers some years back has begun to take root. Plus more care is taken in the development of such young arms and that has many prepped for the big leagues at an earlier age.”
And a veteran pitching coach said this to me: “The Moneyball philosophy took over and that has meant many more hitters taking pitches. Now we see scouting reports and we will see two or three hitters per lineup where it says something like ‘has only swung at three of last 50 first pitches.’ So more than ever, we are telling our pitchers: ‘take your fastball and throw strike one.’ I think you are seeing more pitchers working ahead than in recent years.”
