Roughly 20% of the 2014 season is gone already as the Mets start their first home stand in the month of May. April was a surprising success for the Mets at 15 wins and 11 losses [the Mets best record for wins in April is 16 in 2002 & 2006]. The Mets had the lead in 23 of their 26 games. They had nine come from behind wins during the first month of the season. The Mets offense was lacking to say the least, no one on the pitching staff even got a hit in April as any argument against the DH rule certainly had no merit. Curtis Granderson looked as if he had caught Ike Davis' valley fever [.136 avg, 1 HR, 7 RBI]. Daniel Murphy could not be thrown out stealing [6 this year and a streak of 28 ... now ended]. Met batters lead the league in walks. Mets starters went at least five innings in every April game. Outstanding pitching from Dillon Gee and Jonathan Niese led the way and Zack Wheeler and Jenrry Mejia also threw some quality starts.
However the month of May has not started kindly to the traveling Mets as they visited Colorado and Miami. The red Hot Rockies and Marlins left the Mets 1-6 to start the month, dropping the Mets below .500. Only the Phillies are below them in the NL East. The Subway Series against the NY Yankees comes up on May 12-15 with two games at Yankee Stadium and two at Citi Field. The Mets then host the Dodgers, Diamondbacks & Pirates during a nine game homestand.
End of Month Update
Thirty of 81 home games finished as the month of May departs. Some days have been hard to keep up, other days I wished I had had other plans other than watching Mets baseball. The Mets ended May just as they ended April - with a Philadelphia road trip. While April ended with a rainout, May ended with two consecutive 14 inning games, winning one and losing one. May did not go well for the Mets as they had a losing record of 11-18 for the month [27-29 overall]. At the end of May in 2013 the Mets were 22-30, nine games back in the division. I would say this is an improvement, the Mets are only a few pieces from being a legitimate contender. They are only 4 games behind the division leading Atlanta Braves as we head into June.
I got to see Las Vegas play in Fresno in May and will see the 51's in the end of June as they visit Sacramento. It was great to see prospect Noah Syndergaard up close. With so many call ups from Vegas heading to New York, I've gotten to see many Mets players before they actually make it to New York. [Harvey, d'Arnaud, Wheeler, Mejia, Lagares, Satin last year, Campbell, Flores, Familia, Matsuzaka, Black this year] Many Mets have risen up from AAA and impacted the parent club. The biggest asset has been the young pitching. Although the pathetic hitting got coach Dave Hudgens fired with a 30th [last] in the league slugging pct. and 27th in batting average, the overall pitching has been a huge plus. Mets starters are 3rd in the league in quality starts and 12th in earned run average. Bartolo Colon (4-5) continues his Jeckyl/Hyde appearances. Jonathan Neise (3-3) has had consistent starts after his injury scare to start the season. Zack Wheeler (2-5) has had bad luck in getting wins but has pitched very well, leading the staff in K's (62). Hopefully Dillon Gee's (3-1) injuries won't keep him out of the rotation for long. Rafael Montero (0-2) did not do enough in his four starts to stay in the rotation, where Jacob deGroom (0-2) was outstanding in his four starts but also did not get a win. Dice-K Matsuzaka (2-0) as proved valuable as a long relief man and a spot starter but the biggest surprise as June approaches is Jenrry Mejia's conversion from starter to closer. After going 3-0 but struggling in the rotation, Jenrry went to the bullpen and despite two tough losses, has 5 saves in May.
My biggest part of May was obtaining a new large screen smart TV with the MLB.tv app. After 15 years it is nice to embrace new technology in the living room. Now I can watch Mets baseball and not tie up my computer. The Mets never looked better than they do on the HDTV screen. And I get to play xbox on the new TV also! The warm summer weather is starting here in California and although I've learned to hate 90 plus degree heat, it is my last summer working at the power plant and I will soon be using KWH's [kilowatt hours] instead of making them.
