I don't believe in God.....

....but I believe in David Wright.

Yesterday's game was probably played in some of the best weather that I've ever had while going to a game. Not too hot and enough clouds to not have the sun beat down on you. Two guys in Tom Glavine and Xavier Nady were pitching in to help my fantasy team. Life was great. Then the Mets fell behind. Even though they fell behind, I just felt there was no way they were going to lose. They kind of kicked the ball around and played some ugly ball at times, but it just too nice of a day. The weather was perfect and the D-Rays were fighting back against the Yankees, how could my team lose?

Of course, they didn't. David Wright put the Mets up for good with a three run homerun and it is so hard to keep in mind that he is just 23 years old. He is putting up a .316/.386/.575 line and is on pace for 109 runs scored, 40 doubles, 37 homers, 136 RBIs, 20 stolen bases, and 71 walks. Wright has gotten so good, so fast that it is just ridiculous in what we have come to expect out of him. David is hitting .340/.413 /.571 with runners on, .358/.436/.558 with runners in scoring position, and .296/.364/.570 in close and late situations.

I always thought Wright would hit with some pop, but more like 25-28 homers and touch 30 mostly because of where he played his home games. He has come out this year and shown that he has lot more power than a lot of people thought. He has more RBIs than any other Met in their relatively short history by the All-Star break. I truly think the Mets will lock him up long term after this season and that is the right thing to do. There is nothing this kid cannot do and every facet of his game is great. Obviously I don't need to tell anyone this because we all already know, but it's easy to forget sometimes how good he is at such a young age.

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Mike (me) likes Mike (Pelfrey). He is a guy who we were told that throws a certain speed and actually throws it. In the first inning he was tossing 96 and 97 (TV radar gun for what it's worth) and brings it. His slider was nice, but not great, and flashed an off speed pitch. He was a bit too wild, but you can certainly chalk it up to anxiousness. Is he quite ready now? Maybe not, but with the lead the Mets have, let him work on it up here. He might get jacked, but everyone does sometimes and Traschel has even gotten pretty much jacked in his six game win streak. He will have to work harder to succeed than just having to beat up on players he is more talented than on the farm and that is not necessarily a bad thing. While you cannot do this some people, Pelfrey's stuff certainly allows him to learn on the job. I think it really might benefit this team this year to try and bring him along fast.

As for Henry Owens, he looks like a keeper. How he'll fit in with this team in 2006 is the big question, but it doesn't look like he'll have a space when Heath Bell is factored in. As for 2007, he better help shift Heilman to the rotation though I’d like it to be tried in 2006 since the Mets do have plenty of wiggle room, but people seem to think it is a bad idea. Francisco Liriano had to work up to normal pitch counts and innings after relieving for a while and since Heilman started in Winter Ball, it would stand to reason he would have less of a problem getting up to speed as opposed to a guy who has been solely relieving over the past five years.

Phil Humber got roughed up a bit, but I'm too busy being happy about him just pitching to even think twice about it. He'll come around soon enough and it is a good sign that he went six innings in just his fourth start back. Ex-Met prospect Grant Psomas went deep in each game of the Jupiter Hammerheads sweep of the St. Lucie Mets.

Binghamton lost to the Trenton Thunder, but Ambiorix Concepcion went deep for his first homer in AA and Carlos Gomez continues his hot hitting with a 2 for 4 game as he raised his average to .249.

Adam Loewen beat the Tides as Lastings Milledge went 2 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs and Anderson Hernandez continues to struggle with an 0 for 4 night with three strikeouts as while his average dipped to .249.

The New York Mets are the only National League team to get an A at the mid-season point by Dayn Perry.

Despite upheaval and inadequacy at the back of the rotation, the Mets have all but locked up the NL East. They've already used 10 different starting pitchers this season, but when your offense is slugging .467 away from pitcher-friendly Shea Stadium, it makes up for many a sin on the mound. Getting Pedro Martinez healthy again will be critical, but the Mets' lead is insurmountable at this point.

Taking the division by the All-Star break? Not too shabby.

Not to be outdone by the Yankees signing Jesus Montero, the Mets inked Francisco Pena for $750,000.

"The kid is a good defensive catcher, but it is his bat what will take him far in baseball. We could say that he is a combination of Tony Pena's defense and Mike Piazza's bat," said Leo Mercedes, who runs the young player's career.

"I feel embarrassed to talk about my own son, but I think Francisco has a natural talent for batting, and as a catcher I can say that right now he has a better arm than I had when I was 16," said Tony Pena, now a Yankees coach who won four Gold Gloves and played in five All-Star games during his 18-year major-league career.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.....Those are some lofty expectations, but good to hear anyway and great to see Omar make it happen on the international front.

There was six....now there are three. Glavine has opted out of the All-Star game and with him throwing 100 pitches today, it was hard to see how he would make it.

There are only three starters who posted a 9.00 + K/9 in their sophomore season. Can anyone guess who is on track to be the fourth?

If you are not going to the Ask a Ninja website, you are missing out. You can find tons of his stuff on Youtube.com as well.

Good times...

Veterans usually could care less about the minor leagues. If they have not done it, they don't expect them to do it. Even when Bonds was asked about Pujols early in his career while Bonds was on top, he basically said we'll see. Until anyone proves themselves on the biggest stage, vets really don't care and would rather have a proven commodity and go for it now. They could care less about four years from now, but Omar should as that is his job. That being said, Willis for Milledge should be done, done, and done. The Mets did learn their less with Kazmir for Zambrano and while I don't think they will be gun shy, they will certainly be smarter.

Jim Callis lists out the top 15 high school prospects over the last twenty years. There are a few interesting names on the list, but Josh Hamilton's is probably the most interesting because he has started his comeback trail yet again. ESPN had written a great article on him a few years back and I stole it back in 2004 and posted it. Scroll down and check it out if you have some time.

Matt Lindstrom was impressive in the Future's Game.

Righthander Matt Lindstrom, 26, was the Mets' lone representative, but he did the organization proud as the oldest player on either club. The reliever picked up the save in the U.S. team's 8-5 win over the World team, retiring the side in order and showing a fastball that touched 100 mph on the radar gun.

"I've never thrown in front of that many people," Lindstrom said. A former starter, he never threw with such velocity before this season, he said, crediting the Mets for switching him into the bullpen and shutting him down (with a stress fracture in his pitching elbow) last October.

Just because you are twelve games up, that does not mean there are not problems. Anyone that pointed out problems early in the year was chastised by a lot of other fans telling us to be happy and stop complaining, but there were glaring problems. While this team is good, the problems are still there. No one doubts this team's ability to get to the playoffs. Their trip is just about guaranteed, but they are a four game sweep candidate in the World Series.

Here is a Mike Cameron fluff piece.