This Series Was Not Going To Be A Big Deal

That is, unless the Braves won. I really felt like I was taken back in a time warp to 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005. The Mets were banged up, but so where the Braves. It came down to whos benches were better and the Mets bench was exposed for what it is. A horrible collection of players. Last year's bench was light years better and with the exception of Chris Woodward, no on has looked good whatsoever. The Mets bench simply is a detriment to this team.

As much as I thought Victor Diaz should be starting in AAA rather than sit on the bench, he should be in the bigs. Valentin should not be here and Keppinger and his weak slugging percentage is better off in his place until Anderson Hernandez is ready to come back. Really, this last series highlight two huge holes for the Mets to me. The starting rotation quality and depth and the bench being sub par. That lineup for the Mets last night was tough to watch and Endy Chavez and Jose Valentin in the lineup at the same time is simply inexcusable.

The Mets can ill afford to be giving away games like this and while Floyd and Beltran were out, it was almost like they were. If Delgado, Wright, or Nady were not going to get it yesterday, it wasn't going to get done by anyone else. It felt like years past when the Mets only shot to plate a run with was a long ball from the usual suspects. The Braves were not in better shape either but managed to outplay the Mets two days in row while they struggled to eek out six hits and two runs. That my friends, was a hideous performance and really went a long way to exposing the weakness of this team. All the good will from their 10-4 start has all but evaporated. This team is still a very good team and in first place. It is hard to complain with the way things look on the surface, but there certainly are things that cannot be ignored.

* * *

Kaz is getting his last chance to prove his worth today. He is ready to come back and since Anderson Hernandez landed on the DL, he is going to get this shot. Luckily, Met fans are rabid from the last two losses and Victor Zambrano's uselessness that one strikeout could trigger and encore of boos of Cedeno-like proportions. He has this road trip to get back on track or else it could get ugly.

Lastings Milledge cracked the .400 barrier with two hits last night and walked three times. THREE TIMES! He walked 26 times in 342 at-bats in 2004 and 33 times in 425 at-bats in 2005. He now has nine walks in 47 at-bats in 2005 already. That is really hard to ignore and it is hard to ignore how good he looks at AAA.

As I was just thinking about Lastings Milledge's great start, I was thinking to myself he would certainly be sitting in a comfy spot if the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet was out. As I moseyed on over to BA's site, what do I find? Lastings nestled in the two spot.

Slow starter in the past (hit .216 last April), but not this year. After just 193 Double-A at-bats he is raking in Triple-A while showing the best plate discipline of his career. Hitting .386/.491/.636 with six walks and seven strikeouts.

Anyone that is still doubting his ability to be an impact player in the bigs from day one is simply nuts. This kid can play.

"I had a good jump," said Castro of taking off on Jose Reyes' shallow fly ball. "I would say it had to be an almost perfect throw."

It was. Can't argue with Castro here in his decision to run when the Mets collected only six hits in two days, but watching him run is painful.

"I think my defense is head and shoulders above last year," he said afterward. "I'm not gonna let one game get me down."

True dat. It was a bad game for Wright, but he has looked great this year with the leather.

Huh? Dayn Perry (seriously, who the fuck spells Dan like that anyway) thinks Brett Harper is the ninth best first base prospect?

Harper has good left-handed power and an ability to hit to all fields. He's a tad old for a prospect, and he's burdened with platoon issues. However, last season he tallied 36 homers across two levels. At first, Harper's defense is adequate at best, and even in the best of circumstances he'll need a platoon partner. Still, the sock from the left side will come in handy for some team (although it's hard to imagine his cracking the Mets' roster any time soon).

I like Harper, but c'mon. Is first base really that weak in the minors?

Justin Huber stops in at number three.