While the buzz around baseball this weekend will be who’s going where, where others have already gone, which teams helped themselves, and which teams are now in trouble, there will also be actual games played. The Mets will be playing three of them against the lowly Diamondbacks, although do I really have the right to call them “lowly” since they swept the Mets just last week?
On paper, this looks like a dull series. But for Mets fans, this series is HUGE. A sweep, or even taking two out of three, keeps the team in the race before they head out for a 6 game road trip against Atlanta and Philly. How that will end up is another story.
That being said, the Mets not only need to win this series, they should win it. The D-Backs sport a 13-36 record on the road. They’ve lost 7 in a row. They sport a run differential of -127. Oh, and their pitching has a Major League worst 5.30 ERA…and they just traded their two best pitchers in Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson. Their bullpen is horrendous. In fact, I’ll take it a step further than horrendous — they’re 2008 Mets-like! Coincidentally (or not?), Aaron Heilman is part of the Arizona bullpen. That is, unless he gets dealt (back to the Mets?? Oh boy…). There is absolutely no reason the Mets should not win this series. Then again, you could have said the same thing last week.
The series will start off tonight with a re-match of Mike Pelfrey vs. Ian Kennedy. Last week when this matchup occurred Pelfrey lasted just an inning and a third, giving up 6 runs on 7 hits en route to a 13-2 loss. Meanwhile, Kennedy went 5 innings allowing only 1 run on 4 hits.
Hisanori Takahashi, who we were told a month ago would return to the bullpen but for some reason is still starting, will take the hill Saturday to face off against the young Barry Enright. Jon Niese finishes things off on Sunday against Rodrgio Lopez.
And of course, while these games are going on we’ll all be wondering if any new players will be joining the Mets, or if some current players will be leaving. So far my sources tell me a deal or two might or might not be made. We just have to wait and see. What I do know, however, is that if a deal is made there will be a number of un-funny jokes stating “the Mets responded to the Phillies aquisition of Roy Oswalt by getting…”
Let’s go Mets!
