Swellicousness to the Nth Degree

Yesterday's game pretty much encapsulates the 2007 New York Mets. They look like they are having fun, they are resilient, they care, they are electric and dynamic, and they are good. Really fucking good. You can tell they are having fun because they are always smiling and interacting with each other. When something good happens, they show that unbridled excitement. They are always resilient. Down 2-0 before they even get up, they strike back quickly against one of the best pitchers in the league. Also, just when you think it is going to be a blow out with The Duque looking horrible in the first, he recovered, like Glavine did the day before, to give the Mets yet another quality start.

We know they care. Up 4-2 in the 7th inning after having just a spectacular game, Reyes struck out and was visibly mad. He wasn't mad at the ump either. He went down swinging and he was pissed because he chased such a bad pitch. It is still a learning experience for him and hopefully he stores that in his memory banks or writes it down like Delgado does. This team is electric. Perhaps no team can light it up like the Mets with Reyes leading the charge. He lead off the game with a walk and a steal and scored the Mets first run. He finished with a 2 for 3 line with a run scored, a steal, a walk, and played sparkling in the field.

Then you have Chavez stepping in with another great bunt base hit to drive in a run, Wright's resurgence and ability to pick off bases, and you see just about everyone on this team is multi-dimensional. Not everyone, but just about everyone. This team has so many weapons and just does so many things well. They are missing a few big components to this team and now Beltran might miss a few days. Will that stop them? Probably not. The Mets can start printing their playoff tickets today.



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Bobby K. is drinking the Oliver Perez Kool Aid.

Maybe it was the way Oliver Perez shut out the Braves for seven innings last week, raising his 2007 record against them to 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA. Maybe it was outpitching Andy Pettitte in the Subway Series, helping the Mets take two of three from the crashing Yankees and claim Big Apple bragging rights. Or maybe all you needed to know about Perez was that he dominated David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez in a spring training game -- striking out both Red Sox sluggers twice.

Let's not get too excited about spring training, but the other stuff is true. All three wins the Mets had against the Braves this year belong to Oliver Perez.

More classics from Joe Morgan:

Jason (West Orange): Do you see anything wrong with Bobby Abreu?

SportsNation Joe Morgan: I don't see him enough to make that evaluation, but Joe Torre said that he's not as aggressive as he normally is. A lot of guys get off to slow starts. He's a proven hitter so you'd expect him to pick it up before the season is over.

Wait. You only do one game a week and your job is commentate on baseball. Shouldn't you be catching a few Yankee games? In fact, didn't the Yankees just play the Red Sox? That seems like a series that would be on your radar.

Brian (Chattanooga): What do you think the Royals should do with rookie Alex Gordon. They keep on throwing him in there and he just is not ready yet. Do you think the Royals will send him down to triple-A or just keep him there, because they have no hope anyway.

SportsNation Joe Morgan: What you have to do is decide whether he's making improvements or being frustrated. the one thing you don't want to do is shatter his confidence, but if you can see the improvement with him, you should let him stay. The real key is not to kill his confidence as a hitter.

The question was what do you think they should do. Not what two obvious scenarios you can pointlessly lay out.

Leave it to Neyer...

SportsNation Rob Neyer: (12:01 PM ET ) Rise and shine, campers! It's sunny in Sunnyvale, clear in Clearwater, and always philly in Philadelphia. Sure, the Yankees stink, but that's just something we'll have to live with as best we can. Questions?

Be strong people. Be strong.

What?

Then last month in Statesboro, Ga., police say 21-year-old William Benjamin Smith broke into his neighbors' home and threatened to kill them while yelling, "Barry Bonds doesn't deserve to be the home run king."

Weird.

Los goes down with a bruised knee. It didn't look bad, but maybe he was missing a TV show that he forgot to DVR.

Mota is back and though there was some hub bub about Barry and Mota both making their first appearance at Shea. Apparently there was some wind about how Met fans should not being hypocritical by booing one and cheering the other, but if I have to explain the difference between the two players then you probably need some professional help. Barry was getting booed loooooong before steroids.

That being said, it is good to have him back bringing another dependable arm to the bullpen.

Reyes wants to steal home and he should try it when the opposing team has Delgado in the shift one day.

It's impossible to predict who will be on the board when the Mets pick, but with Andrew Brackman's stock dropping fast, would the Mets be able to stomach using a precious pick on him?

There hasn't been a player to suffer a greater fall than Brackman, who didn't pitch in the ACC tournament and has made only one appearance, totaling four innings, during the entire month. The team has said his arm is simply tired, but if Brackman doesn't pitch again before the draft, he could slide out of the first round altogether.

His athleticism helps him repeat his delivery, but he struggles with his balance and release point, leading to erratic command, especially of his secondary stuff. He touched 99 mph in the Cape Cod League in 2006 and again during an early-season outing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and he pitches at 94 with exceptional plane. His mid-80s spike-curveball is filthy. Brackman's changeup was the pitch that had improved the most this spring, and grades as a third potential plus offering. He's still unrefined, but even without the polish, Brackman shouldn't slide out of the top 10 picks.

The Mets do not pick until the 42nd pick in the draft and then have the 47th pick. With only two picks in the top fifty, could they afford to take a risk on someone that might be injured? They won't pick again until the 78th pick. Personally, I say yes. Even if he has to sit a year out and get Tommy John, the Mets are not in dire straits here when it comes to young pitching and position players. They could afford to take a chance a long term investment and although it is unlikely he falls, the Mets almost could not pass him up should he not return to the mound and continue to drop down the draft boards.

At the end of the game yesterday, SNY went back to a clip of Willie animatedly talking Peterson after a great game that was tightly played. It came off a bit wierd and of course we have no idea what they were talking about, but it brought up the question in my head. If Willie and Rick have a falling out, who goes? For me it is an easy one. One is replaceable and one is not.

Breathing Room

Boston is now a whopping 13.5 games in front of the Yankees. After all that elation that Damon was back and healthy to drive the offense getting the Yankees back on track, the harsh reality has to be setting in right now for Yankee fans. The are in last place and frankly not very good. We are going to be entering June and they are double digits out of first place sitting all the way down in last place with the Devil Rays. Their run differential is still good, but it is ever shrinking.

Has a team ever leapfrogged four reams and closed a double digit lead this late in the season? If anyone has, the list would have to be extremely short. Once Clemens comes back and Hughes gets healthy, the rotation will be better and stable. Will they be much better? Probably not as I don't entirely think Clemens is going to light the world on fire and Hughes is a rookie. However, they don't need to be with that offense which is probably not as good as everyone thought, but is definitely better than they have played lately.

In the end, their bullpen is going to be the reason they cannot significantly close the gap. Humberto Sanchez going down was a huge blow to the Yankees because he could have been a huge pitcher for them out of the bullpen. This aging team seems to be on life support on this point and I for one do not see how they can turn things around at this point. Seven teams are in front of them for the Wild Card and they are 7.5 games out of that. While they may have a run in them which might see them close the gap, it's over.

On the other side of town, the Mets have created some breathing room and are now four games in from of the Braves and 2.5 games behind the Red Sox for the best record in the bigs. They have surrendered the 2nd least runs in the majors and are one of only five teams remaining that have not given up 200 or more runs. They have the best road record with a .720 win% out of every team with Boston right behind them with a .692% on the road. There just isn't much to complain about and if they can figure out the Braves, it is going to be a breeze for the Mets.

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I really enjoyed this Marty Noble quote:

The Mets' rotation hardly is the best I've seen. But no team has five starters capable of pitching seven scoreless innings and not surprising anyone in the process. However, the Mets do.

Spot on.

Is the D-Train really a commodity the Marlins could get anything significant for? I wouldn't give up much for him as he just isn't a front end starter and has not been since 2005. The league seemingly has figured him out and if the Marlins get any decent offer, they should jump all over it.

Mr. Billy Wagner is good.

I am going to happily watch this game. Perez vs. Lincecum might be the most intriguing game we have seen all year in regards to starting pitching. Two players who have shut down stuff and it should be a blast.

Mike Pelfrey got a bit roughed up in New Orleans' loss to Omaha. Pelfrey went 3.2 innings and gave up seven hits, five runs, four earned runs, and two walks and has a 3.52 ERA.

In the same game, Mota threw a shut-out inning and struck out two.