Harbinger?

If we learned anything from last year, it's that you can't really take anything away from the first few games of the season.

But it's nice to see encouraging signs.

Wednesday morning, I got a call from my somewhat-legendary co-worker. I had thought he was calling regarding something work related. Instead, he was calling with a 10-minute diatribe on how Carlos Delgado is done, and we need to bring in someone immediately to replace him. His suggestions ranged from somewhat logical to completely ridiculous, and involved Shawn Green, Tony Clark and Doug Mientkiewicz.

I'm not at all convinced that Delgado will have a bounce back year this year, and I don't find the early results as encouraging as others might. But let's give it a month, perhaps, rather than two games before we throw him under the bus.

My co-worker basically said what I'd felt about Tuesday's game: It was like watching a Mets Classic of a 2007 game. I didn't like the results then and I don't like them now. After their comeback, the Mets went in the tank against a Marlins team that they went out and thoroughly pummeled last night.

Go figure.

Clearly, the Mets are going to play somewhere in between as well as they looked on Monday and Wednesday, and as bad as they looked on Tuesday. I can only hope, for sanity's sake, that they at least try to do so with some consistency. One of the more frustrating things that happened last season was a lack of consistency, be it good or bad. It prevented the glaring problems with the Mets (situational hitting, bullpen, Delgado) from being noticed or addressed because, hey, the Mets were still winning games, still in 1st place, until they weren't.

Point is, yes, I'll always take a 13-run output, 6 shutout innings from Ollie, a dominant Santana, etc, etc. But if you can do it, please do try to keep doing it over and over, rather than coming back and vomiting up a 6-walk outing, or a 3-2 loss.

Encouraging signs, yes, before we finish.

Brian Schneider seems to have been in complete control with this pitching staff so far. I love the way he's been calling games and every pitcher I've seen appears to be comfortable throwing to him. In particular, Perez last night really got into a good groove, spotting his pitches well and putting them where they needed to be. He's also been contributing at the plate, which is a nice bonus.

Ryan Church continues to hit well against the Marlins lefties. After coming up with a key assist in the 1st inning last night, Church followed with his, and the Mets 1st Home Run of the season, a laser beam into the RF corner. He did this on Monday and on Tuesday as well. Perhaps he is worthy of playing on an every day basis. So far, that's certainly been the case.

Angel Pagan - Who knew?!

Beltran and Wright are simply destroying the ball right now, straight out of the gate. Last season, it took Wright until May 1 before he hit his 1st HR, and he was struggling and even being booed at home. And he made a concerted effort to get himself in better shape and better playing condition so that it wouldn't happen again this year. Whatever he's done, it's worked, since he's bolted from the gate like a house afire, hitting what should have been his 1st HR off the top of the Teal Tower, and then two innings later dispelling the drama of what might have been by simply rocketing the ball over it for his elusive 1st HR at Dolphins Stadium and of 2008.

Friday, John Maine and a start that seems to be getting an awful lot of attention.