On a night at Citi Field where the optimism I have been preaching might have started to show, there still were glaring reasons to worry and wonder who cursed the Mets.

On the positive note Mike Pelfrey was dominant again, Jose Reyes made his return, unofficially, but the real Reyes showed up for the first time since early 2009, and Ike Davis is finally in the house. Even Fernando Nieve got a huge out in the bottom of the eighth. The 4-0 win couldn’t be the only story because in the world of the New York Mets a peripheral story is always around the corner.

First, the injury bug continues to hit the team as Ryota Igarashi will undoubtedly miss time with a hamstring injury. Igarashi isn’t irreplaceable, but the bullpen was starting to take form and roles were emerging. If there is one position the Mets could afford some injuries it’s the bullpen as they have Bobby Parnell, Kiko Calero, and Manny Acosta down in Buffalo. Expect one of the three to find their way to Citi Field tonight. I think any of the three can fill in admirable.

The more concerning injury is the rehab of Carlos Beltran. To this day I have no idea why this surgery wasn’t performed last summer. Knowing the Mets and the private Beltran we will never get a straight answer. You could take Beltran not being cleared for baseball activity two ways: 1) his full 12 weeks has not yet been hit and they are taking the cautious route or 2) the injury isn’t healing the way everyone expected. Pessimistic Mets fans will say the latter, especially because Beltran admitted in spring training that he still has the bone bruise above the knee. Common sense says he will eventually need micro fracture surgery at some point in his life. Can the Mets survive till June 1st, or later, without Beltran? If Angel Pagan continues to hit I think they can. This is predicated on Jeff Francoeur playing at the level he did the second half of last season. He’s regressed the last 3-4 games to his free swinging ways. If Francoeur becomes the below league average version of Atlanta than the Mets offense could be in some trouble.

Finally there is Jason Bay and David Wright who look terrible at the plate. Bay is doing his best impression of Pedro Cerrano and Wright seems to be completely screwed up at the plate. Our buddy Matt Pignataro at Seven Train to Shea, who plays college ball himself, wrote that he believes Wright’s problem is “he chases pitches low/away and low in the zone. He cannot lay off the slider away.” If the kid sees that than we know other teams in the league are as well. Think about it, the Cubs have pitched him exactly that way in big spots this series. Wright has shown patience at the plate, but not with runners on base. Out of the other concerns, however, Wright and Bay are two that you have to believe will come around.

This is something that you have to get use to in the world of the New York Mets. Maybe it’s why they are a better story, right now, than their cross town counterparts. Perhaps in order to exorcise any demon that seems to still be floating in the clubhouse they have to show they can overcome adversity, not melt before it. Whatever it is Mets fans should expect that nothing will come easy or follow the traditional route for the foreseeable future. That’s the only thing I know for sure going forward.



Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Angel Pagan, Bobby Parnell, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Jason Bay, Jeff Francoeur, Jose Reyes, Kiko Calero, Manny Acosta, Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets, Ryota Igarashi