A Real Eye-Roller

It's incredibly easy for everyone to get all in a panic about the Mets getting off to a 2-3 start, and even easier to panic because Matt Harvey is 0-2 and Curtis Granderson is off to a 1-for-19 start at the plate. I guess as Mets fans, panicking is kind of bred into everyone so acting this way is basically some weird learned behavior.

But can you logically be that panicked? I mean, sure. The Mets once again lost to a really bad Phillies team, but barely a week ago I said there was something about this Phillies team that bothered me, and it's their starting pitching, more than anything else. They got to Eickhoff on Friday but for a few innings he was locking it down. Saturday, they did nothing against Velasquez and on Sunday, their de facto ace, Jeremy Hellickson, stopped them cold once again. At least until Yoenis Cespedes reached him for a 2-run Home Run in the 6th inning, but outside of Cespedes and David Wright, nobody I believe got a hit against Hellickson, or Hector Neris, or James Russell or Jeanmar Gomez, so while it's partially some good pitching, the offense is just in no rhythm whatsoever.

The flipside of all this is of course that Matt Harvey is 0-2 and everyone's wondering "What's Up with Harvey?" and I'm not sure anything really is up with Harvey. This has basically been the story of Harvey's career--a general lack of run support at some inopportune times, and so when he's not perfect it gets magnified because the Mets can't make up the 3 runs he allows. I can't say Harvey pitched poorly in either start; all he's done is go 6 innings and allow 3 runs, and against the Royals it looks bad because the Royals make everyone look bad, and against the Phillies it looks bad because you figure he'd eat the Phillies for lunch. But if he gave up 3 runs in 6 innings to the Phillies and the Mets blasted Hellickson out of the building and won, say, 8-3, nobody would have much to say. Again, perception based on outcome.

So, what can you do right now other than roll your eyes at it all? Granderson isn't going to go 1-for the season, Cespedes will get hot, Duda will get hot, they'll all get hot and everything will be OK eventually. 2-3 isn't the end of the world. They were 2-3 last year too. They were 2-3 in 1986 and 1988 and probably a whole bunch of other seasons I can't remember that turned out OK in the end. I know it stinks losing 2 of 3 to the awful Phillies but sometimes things like this happen.