OK Guys, Time to Put up or Shut Up

We've heard a lot this year from various players about how they need to play consistently good baseball. We haven't had that "we're gonna win" feeling here since early last year. Well, now is the time to do it. Put up or shut up time is here. Let's take a look at the schedule shall we?:

Friday - Sunday - Yanks (4)

Mon 6/30 - Thursday 7/3 - @ Cardinals (4)

Friday 7/4 - Monday 7/7 - @ Philth (4)

Tuesday 7/8 - Thursday 7/10 - Giants (3)

Friday 7/11 - Sunday 7/13 - Rockies (3)

The Yanks are hot right now. The Cardinals are in first. The Philth, well, they are the "Team to Beat". Then dregs in the form of Giants and Rockies.

20 games. This is the time to make a damn statement. The time for this team to say, "enough with the suck, it's time to kick some ass". The time to get uniforms dirty (I'm looking at you DornDelgado. I want someone to go Jake Taylor on his ass and say "I don't know what happened to you. But if you ever, ever tank another play like you did today, I'm gonna cut your nuts off and stuff em down your fucking throat! ") Beltran, forget the steals %, run. Castillo, wake the fuck up in the field. If you can't play, tell Jerry. You ain't helping if you can't move. Time for DW to be the DW of late last year and start hitting consistently and with power.

Jose has been pulling his weight, and then some over the past 2 months or so. Beltran has his moments, as does DW. But they need to be more frequent. Beltran spoke about being the team to beat. Well, so far, he hasn't held up his end of the bargain. he's got all the talent in the world. I'll give him a little bit of a pass, considering he had knee surgery, but the time to put up has come.

Considering the bottom of the lineup is a black hole of suck, the top of the order needs to do their damn job. Wright and Beltran need to drive in runs. Delgado needs to as well. Hopefully Church can come back and pick up where he left off. They need to compensate for the likes of Endy, Schneider and whoever else needs to play left any given day with Alou out.

From the pitching side, Santana has been good, and I expect him to improve as we hit the second half. Yeah, giving up a grand slam to the opposing pitcher sucks, but the numbers are still there. With some offense, he would have a couple of more wins and less losses. The ERA is good, the peripherals are good. Maine pitched well last night for the most part. He needs to continue. Pelfrey has seemingly turned a corner. Pedro should improve as he regains his control (remember, this is almost like ST for him). Ollie on the other hand needs to get fixed. Boras better call him up and remind him he is "pissing away a fortune" as was said during his start the other night. He faces the Yanks Sunday, a team he usually does well against. He needs to do it then, and for the rest of the year.

The pen is improving as of late. Scho has been good as a LOOGY. Wagner has gotten past his bad week. Heilman has had a very good June (though he needs to do it against the likes of the Yanks or Philth to regain the trust of many). Dirty was dialing it up a bit last night, so maybe he is getting past whatever fears he had about his shoulder (or maybe his arm strength is back). Pedro Dos needs to stop walking guys. And Joe Smith has done well as a ROOGY. Carlos Muniz is here for the weekend, but will probably be sent back to NOLA as the Mets need a starter July 1 (probably Tony Armas Jr., who has done quite well in NOLA so far). Keep up the good guys.

20 games. Under .500 is not an option. 10-10 is not an option. Something like 14-6 will go a long way towards starting to build their confidence, rebuild that of the fans, and put a scare into the opposition.

They should be embarrassed with how they have played to date. Forget the injury excuses. It is time to put up or shut up.

Just.Win.Series. (though a few sweeps would be nice)

LGM