Be Thankful for the Small Victories

In a team with many major problems  from shortstop to closer, there are a number of small victories that have happened recently that deserve some recognition.

Jose Valverde, one of two forgotten men in the bullpen, came into Tuesday night’s game and promptly walked slugger Giancarlo Stanton, but instead of throwing gasoline on the fire as he’d done earlier in the year, he varied speeds, rotation and location to get three consecutive swinging strikeouts.  While the Mets didn’t win the game, it was good to see productive work from an unlikely place.  In his last three outings Valverde has pitched shutout innings.  Perhaps after a few more similar outings the manager will see fit to insert him into games more than once per week. 

The other forgotten man – Jeurys Familia – has strung together over 9 IP in which his ERA is below 3.00.  His K numbers and BB numbers are not where you’d like them to be, but it’s encouraging to see him keeping runs from scoring. 

Chris Young was something of a puzzling first signing by the Mets.  No one could dispute his raw athleticism, given his seasons of with as many as 32 HRs and 28 SBs.  However, he’d been on something of a downward trend the past  two seasons and moved from starter to role player for the Diamondbacks and A’s.  Here he got off to a late start due to injury and also had some time off with illness, but his first month-plus has steadily pushed him upward to a very respectable start.  If you extrapolated his numbers right now he’s on a pace for 20 HRs (a little low) but 90 RBIs, 30 SBs and an average in the upper .260s.  If those final numbers were offered to Mets fans when the season started they’d have been celebrating the bargain signing instead of questioning it.  He’s not a superstar but he’s been a pleasant surprise thus far.

When the season started most people felt that the failure to trade Ike Davis would result in his permanent assignment as the starting first baseman yet again.  However, word filtered down that Lucas Duda was the preferred choice and the manager actually started giving the big guy a chance as the primary first baseman.  While he hasn’t set the world afire, projecting his stats for the rest of the season would give him 24 HRs, 90 RBIs and a .261 batting average.  Those numbers are not All-Star caliber, but they’re certainly serviceable and more than what was expected when the season began.

Where would this team be without Juan Lagares?  After hitting in the .350 range this winter he’s picked up right where he left off and even the manager has been forced to acknowledge playing him is preferable to the .212 hitting Eric Young, Jr.  He’s playing his usual highlight reel defense and seems to be trying to add speed to his game but thus far it has resulted in getting caught twice with no success.   However, when you’re hitting .333 you’re allowed a few base path transgressions.

There are other highlights – Daniel Murphy, Dillon Gee, Carlos Torres and even a little of Daisuke Matsuzaka before his last game when the manager left him in when it was clear he didn’t have it.  David Wright and Curtis Granderson should produce as expected.   Even Travis d’Arnaud who may not be contributing as much as expected thus far with the bat has helped make the Mets the toughest team against which to steal bases in the league.   

Is the team headed in the right direction or are major changes needed to right the ship?