Opinion: Waiting on a Hot Streak
In the last 36 innings of baseball, spanning four days, I have seen the Mets look like a well-oiled machine, clicking on all cylinders, yet also look completely overmatched, dejected and lost at the plate – and therein lies the problem.
Somehow, I led myself to believe that the Mets were a far superior team to any one else in the National League – and that winning would come rather easily.
However, like most of Major League Baseball, they’re not. Instead, they’re a good team, comprised of quality, but inconsistent talent.
“It’s unacceptable to want to win a division and not be able to ride the momentum we had,” David Wright said after losing two games to the Braves yesterday.
“We’ve got too much talent to just keep being mediocre all the way through the season. I’m as guilty as the next guy. Just too many hot streaks and too many cold streaks.
The locker room has basically been making that exact same statement every other day since last June.
The team’s spark plug, Jose Reyes, has been lost at the plate for nearly a year. He gets hot, smiles, cools off and the sulks. His counter-part, Wright, will hit .600 in any 10-game span, then go hitless the following week. The middle of the batting order, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran, still have power, but when they do, it’s fleeting, assuming they’re healthy. The same can be said for Luis Castillo, but minus the power. Moises Alou is here, then he’s not, he’s here, then he’s not – same with their emotional leader, Pedro Martinez. What’s worse, the team’s best and most consistent hitter this season, Ryan Church, suffered a concussion last night and will likely be sidelined for the next 10 days. The starting pitching has been more or less strong, but the bullpen has been just as shaky and inconsistent as the offense has – again, much like most other teams around the league.
And so, again, like much of their competition, while the Mets can have very good talent on any given day, and make you and I temporarily regain confidence, in the end, we’re all just sitting still, looking on, players and fans together, hoping they stumble on the elusive hot streak that has been talked about over and over again since last summer.
This is not to say it will never come. In fact, I believe it will and I look forward to it. It’s just, until it does, I have accepted that the Mets will continue to feel like an old car with a shoddy clutch.
“I keep thinking we’re going to turn the corner,” Willie Randolph said last night, “but we definitely took a step back in Atlanta.”
I suppose Randolph could flip over his script. However, I think he truly believes in his players. Most people see this as a negative at this point. Frankly, I don’t think it matters either way – since the players know what’s up, as evident by Wright’s quote.
I believe Randolph may be a problem to some extent, but I do not understand how he or any other manager is going to make Delgado turn quicker on an inside fastball, or make Reyes keep his elbow in, or make Alou younger and healthier, or make Wright stop swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, or give Castillo new knees.
The main problem on this team, i.e., its inconsistency, is not Randolph’s fault. I will listen to the argument suggesting that a new manager will bring in a new mantra, or a breath of fresh air, or a new vibe, all of which could help to invigorate the team and help shift its mindset and attitude. I’ll buy that. I’m not sure such an impact is guarenteed to occur, but it could – and so I understand the debate.
However, as far as I am concerned, as long as this group of talent continues to take the field, regardless of who they call ‘Manager,’ this season will always hinge on a hot streak, which I will keep hoping for while doing my best to believe in, like the true, painfully addicted Mets fan that I am.
