As July turns to August the Mets find themselves in a similar position...on the outside looking in. A dismal 2-9 road trip has left the Mets at a crossroads that will determine if Citi Field is a house of hopes come September or a lackluster graveyard.
As things presently sit, the Mets are 7.5 games behind the division leading Braves and 6 games behind the Wild Card leading San Francisco Giants. As the team looks up at the Braves and Phillies they would be wise to realize the fast charging Florida Marlins in their rear view mirror. For a team that was once alone atop the NL East, things have fallen off the cliff these last few weeks.
Mike Pelfrey has suddenly turned from a potential All Star to a guy who can not get out of the 5th inning. Rod Barajas has cooled off from his hot start. Francisco Rodriguez seems to give Mets fans a heart attack every time he takes the mound. Things are not as bright and rosy as they once looked. Every night it seems to be a different thing that goes wrong for this team. When the offense produces, the pitching gets shelled. When the starter throws a gem, the team cannot hit. It has been a burden for the Mets to put it all together.
While guys like Johan Santana, R.A Dickey, Ike Davis, David Wright, Angel Pagan, and Jon Niese deserve credit for great seasons, the rest of the team has ultimately come up short. The Mets have too much talent to be in their current predicament. More players will need to elevate themselves for this team to be in the race come September.
If the division race is not daunting enough, the Wild Card will certainly be tough to reach. The Mets are looking up at the Rockies, Phillies, Dodgers, Reds, and Giants and all those teams are currently playing better baseball and appear to be on the up rise.
If this team does not turn it around then there will be drastic changes made. The Wilpons have poured too much money into underachievers like Jason Bay and K-Rod to see this team not contend for the playoffs. Jerry would be out and "The Core" could potentially be blown up in an attempt to change the fortunes of the team.
In the meantime, all is not lost Mets fans. There is still plenty of baseball to be played and with a hot streak in August the team could leapfrog to the top. With series against Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Colorado in the coming weeks, the team could help themselves in both the division and wild card race.
For now, hold on Mets fans. However this season turns out it cannot be as painful as 2007, 2008, or 2009....can it?
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