Phillies Phoes of the Week Part II: The NY Mets Are My Favorite Squadron

New York Mets

It seemed like it would never happen, but the Phillies are finally ahead of the Mets in the NL East. Yes, the Phils have played better of late, but the credit has to go to the Mets untimely demise. There are a multitude of reasons why the Mets early success has been derailed. Johan Santana’s injury has to be towards the top of the list, but at the end of the day this is a team with too many holes.

Was it realistic for David Wright to hit .400 the whole year? No.

Is Jason Bay a reliable everyday player? No.

I could rattle on with a list of players who were relied upon to do too much, but i think you get the idea. Baseball is a funny game that lends itself to numerous improbabilities, but like gravity what goes up must come down. And with a 13-29 record since the All-Star break they have fallen right off the cliff. Terry Collins squad gave it a heroic effort, and were even a nice story for much of the first half, but the Mets are now back where they belong: fighting it out with the Marlins for last place.

When We Last Met: It’s been a while since the Phillies have seen the Mets. Los Mets took 2 out of 3 from the Phillies in Queens just before the break. The finale was particularly painful as the Mets rallied against Papelbon in the 9th, turning series win into yet another missed opportunity.

Series Predictions: 1) Dominic Brown picks up where he left off after his brief one game hiatus, even displaying some the power potential we have all been waiting for.

2) Polanco is caught snoozing on the bench as Kevin Frandsen continues to dazzle at the hot corner.

3) Phillipe Aumont tosses a few more scoreless innings begging the question “where has this guy been all year?”

Fansided Perspective: Rising Apple editor Matt Musico dishes on all the latest in the Big Apple.

1) The Mets first half success seems like a million years ago. What’s been the biggest difference for the Mets in the 2nd half?

It certainly does feel like a million years ago, I forgot what a competitive team looks like with those uniforms on. They’ve still been one of the league leaders in scoring two-out runs, but night after night, they have stranded plenty of runners on base, as they can’t get the big hit in a key situation, whereas in the first half, they had a knack for it. Plus, David Wright isn’t hitting .350 in the second half, and he was a huge reason for their first half success. However, we can’t expect him to do that all the time, yet it seems like his teammates wish he did right about now.

2) When will the Zach Wheeler era begin in New York?

I think it will get started sometime around the second half of 2013. It probably will mirror how things panned out for Matt Harvey this season. All signs point to him being ready, but there is no room in the rotation for him at the moment, so once a need for him arises, he will be the one to get the call. From what the front office has been saying, 2014 is “the year” that they’re building towards. So, we’ll see if they can actually make some progress in 2013 first.

3) Will the Mets finally have some dough to spend this off-season, or will David Wright be stuck carrying the load all by his lonesome again?

I thought they would be able to; when they were in the wild card hunt in the beginning of July, Alderson made it seem as though he would be getting help for the Mets, and he wouldn’t be afraid to spend a little money, which was music to everyone’s ears. Once they fell off the face of the earth, he not only retracted his statement that he would get help for the bullpen, but we’re now hearing that he may only have about $10-15 million to spend this off-season, with another possible reduction in payroll in sight. So, it looks like Wright will once again be having to put the team on his back. Hopefully, the front office can convince him to sign an extension. Even if they don’t make any other major moves, that would be considered a win in my book.