Mish Mash

I've got a new column up at Flushing University here

Another contributor talks about Herr Midol, Aaron Heilman, here

I highly recommend checking out F.U., not just because I contribute, but because there are a lot of good articles there. Myself, Coop, Metstradamus, and others all bring their thoughts to the site, from a different tilt than you will see on our regular blogs.

Well, it seems, if the last two days are any indication, that young David Wright has finally snapped out of it. This is good, for a number of reasons. Of course, the pain of seeing him struggle is one, as is the fact that he was starting to hear some boos (tell me again, why is it that we get on Yankee fans for booing A-Rod, but we do the same damn thing?). But the main reason is that Delgado is still slumping, and Alou has struggled a bit the last few days. They say his shoulder is fine, but he also got an MRI on his knee. I don't know about you, but I did a little double take when I read that. It appears that MRI was clean as well, but you have to be a little concerned. Beyond that, the worry is that Beltran and Green are not going to be able to maintain their torrid start, and now that 'Stache is out, the lineup is shorter. So Young David is heating up at just the right time.

Arizona tonight, for the opener of a four game stretch. As always, check our Alex Nelson's Pitching Preview over at Metsgeek. Very informative feature over there. Know thy enemy.

I have to admit to being a little worried about Aaron. I'm not sure if it is a matter of his elbow hurting, his desire to be a starter bothering him, his poor parking spot location, or just that he has lost something. Willie said yesterday with Mike and the Mad Dog that Aaron is being beat when he gets the ball up in the zone. He was pleased that in the second inning of work Tuesday he got the ball down, and had some success. Now, obviously, we can't have Aaron give up runs his first inning out every time, but, it is usually the case that guys who keep the ball low need to be a little tired to do so. Maybe he needs more work, perhaps on the side? Or maybe he needs to throw a longer warm up session? I don't know. I hope that now that O Pea seems to be OK, and Pelfrey may have turned a corner (it is early to say for sure, lets give him a couple of more starts), that The Jacket can spend some time tinkering with Aaron. Look, he has not done great thus far in a few appearances now. He has had a couple of good spots, but his bad ones have cost two games against the Braves. Of course, his mistakes are compounded because he comes into high pressure situations (much like a closer). That being said, we need the Aaron from the second half last year. Not the Aaron of the first half. And we need him soon. There are no guarantees that Mota is going to come back and be effective. We need another bridge to Billy.

Let's face facts here guys and gals, Chan Ho Park is probably going to get one more start. He is already here. He did get a little hosed by a couple of bad plays. Willie may not like him much (that seems to be apparent based on his comments about not being sure if he will go), but Omar is going to have some say in this. I would not be surprised if Omar wants to showcase him. The other options are Jorge Sosa and Jason Vargas. Phil Humber is not coming up at this point (sorry Mike). First, he has had a couple of bad outings in a row. Plus, at this point, they are probably keeping him on a strict pitch count. With the rotation the way it is now, the Mets cannot afford to tax their bullpen by bringing up a guy on a pitch count. Now, in a couple of months, things may change. I understand he had good number early on, and there are some scouts who rate him higher than Pelfrey, but I'm gonna have to trust Omar and his guys here on this one.

So, 7 games in 7 days starts tonight. All on the West Coast, which means a lot of bleary eyes among the faithful, and early morning blog posts here. I'll do the best I can for my 5 or so readers to give you my perspective.