Like an Ike Davis home run, there's no doubt about it that this season has been full of ups and downs and turning points. The Mets got off to a horrible start as they opened with a 2-6 to 4-8 record. They then played a classic, 20 inning game where one of the heroes of the season, Mike Pelfrey, picked up a save to cap off a nearly 8 hour game that had nearly 700 pitches. The Mets would then call up rookie Ike Davis and go on a great run at home that took the team to first place. Then the Mets started on a terrible slide again featuring a low light of 4 game sweep at the hands of the Marlins on the road. At this point of the season the Mets were so good at home, but so bad on the road. It looked like Jerry and crew were gonners but the Mets then put up a 5-1 homestand against the Yankees and Phillies including three consecutive shutout wins against the team from Philly. After another bad road trip, the Mets went on to put together another strong homestand (5-1) followed by a 7-2 road trip where the Mets then helped put themselves in contention for the division. Why they stuttered as of late, they will enter the second half of the season 4 games out of first place and 1 game out of the Wild Card.
In the second half of the season, the Mets have two things to look forward to. The first is the return of Carlos Beltran, who when healthy, is one of the best players, albeit quiet, in baseball. The second thing to look foward to will be second half of the season Johan Santana, who has recently returned to his former self.
Top 3 Surprises:
2) Ike Davis. Davis is on track to have over 20 homers this year and as a rookie that's fantastic. He is a critical part of this lineup and the power of his bat is starting to fill in the gap that Delgado left (although he probably won't blast 35 this year like Carlos) He can only get better in the second half with Beltran returning to the lineup because he will start to see different pitches and he has shown this year that he can make the adjustments at the plate to stay above average out there. The other part of the game that has been a great surprise to Mets fans has been his glove, and his ability to make the over the railing catch look easy.
3) R.A. Dickey. The Mets needed a starter like crazy this first half and Dickey, basically out of no where, has become a consistent starter for the Mets that gives the rotation a dynamic that very few teams have, a knuckler. Adding to his legend is his above average speed fastball, which makes him just a very unique pitcher.
Honorable Mention: Mike Pelfrey.
Disapointments:
2) Maine. Will we ever seen the Maine that graced 2006 and 2007 again? I hope so, but sadly I'm starting to doubt it.
3) Mike Jacobs. A failed, stupid experiment.
Honorable Mention: GMJ
