SaberMets.com

Yes, unfortunately I am reminded of the schoolyard taunts of my youth...

Cocky Yankees fan: you know what METS stands for, don'tcha?
Long Suffering Me: yeh yeh yeh. My Entire Team Sucks. Why don't you go pick on a Tigers fan?

Whoops, can't do that this year!
Sigh.

They're pretty much where we expected them to be, no? I mean, most people were picking them 5th, and right now they're in 4th. I think they're playing right to their ability.

Come on, Paul. This isn't about their position in the standings, but rather their anemic offense and the utter unpalatability of their play. The Mets would be in last place if the Expos weren't playing so miserably. Despite injuries to Jose Reyes and Cliff Floyd, the Mets' depleted lineup could still reasonably be expected to hit better than .229/.308/.362. Their approach at the plate has been borderline criminal, and if it weren't for the fact that they've been pitching surprisingly well they'd be much worse off than they are.

I gotta hand it to you Eric, you never cease to amaze me.

You know, for all everyone's saying about the Mets' anemic offense, no one seems to point out that they're playing at Shea Stadium in April.

So far this year, the Mets have scored 3.2 R/G at home, 5th worst in the majors. Visitors to Shea have scored 3.6 R/G. Better than the meek Mets, but still bad enough for 4th worst in the game. Shea overall has seen 6.8 R/G, as few as Pro Player and more than only the big O in Montreal.

Last April, the Mets scored 95 runs in April, 4th worst, though they managed to allow 123 runs, right in the middle of the pack. In 2002, their April ERA was tops in the league, but their offense was 19th.

This happens every year, guys. Anyone who was at opening day saw Ty Wigginton hit a homer that the wind knocked down about 30 feet short of the wall. The bats will improve, the pitching will falter. Whether either one will end up being respectable, of course, is another story.

Keep hope alive for 2005!

your fellow fan of the Mets and the game,
Seth Samuels

Alright, Eric, let's break it down. Who's underperforming?

Piazza's OPS has declined each of the past four seasons and is continuing that trend, as one would expect. Matsui is getting on base and Spencer is hitting well. Cameron is right at his 3-year average. Garcia's doing ok and Zeile is better than expected. Floyd and Reyes are injured, which can hardly come as a surprise to anyone.

Who's that leave? Philips had a great year last year, but he was never projected as a great hitter and his struggles this year are no surprise. Wigginton, whose attitude I love, is just not a major league started. Never has been, never will be. I think we share the same opinion of Joe McEwing.

Who does that leave? Gutierrez is the only one who has been surprisingly bad so far, but if he turns it around I don't see him or the Mets setting the league on fire.

This is our offense. At least they're hitting better than the Yankees.

Certainly Piazza can be expected to slug better than .486. His lowest season total as a regular was .541.

Ty Wigginton is a marginal major leaguer to be sure, but even a marginal player should be able to exceed .188/.216/.333.

Was Jason Phillips playing over his head last year? Probably. Does that mean he's actually a .130 hitter with a .204 SLG? No, I'm pretty confident he should be producing double those numbers as a major leaguer.

Since April 14, Mike Cameron is 5/34 (.147) with 16 Ks.

Gutierrez has been a complete disaster offensively, McEwing is as advertised.

Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia have actually been pleasant surprises, playing as-well-if-not-better than expected, and Kaz Matsui is where we thought he'd be (plus a few more walks).

Every other hitter is underperforming and, in many cases, grossly so.

The Yankees are actually performing slightly better than the Mets, at .217/.324/.368 to .229/.308/.362. Of course, relative to expectations they are much, much worse.

"The Mets suck." Ha ha I always know where to come for my fix of "derisively-intellectual mets chatter." Nice!

In this case, I eschewed intelligence in an effort to achieve greater derisiveness.

"The Mets suck." Derisive? Yes. Intellectual? Not in the least. Accurate? Probably.

Patheticos. The Greek god of the Mets offense

UGH....
I FEEL LIKE I MIGHT HAVE AN ULCER...

take it the face!! yankee fans suck!!!
-whats 400 FEET and has 3 teeth?
-Yankee bleachers!

haha great joke bob..not
mets suck lets face it
the yankees AAA team could take the mets