Catching Up with Mets

Sorry, I was busy moving back to New York these past few days (I just must be closer to the Mets!), so what did I miss?

Well, the Mets are on a bit of a roll, winning three out of their last four games. The last two were both 14 inning marathons in Philadelphia. Hopefully Sunday’s game will be a normal nine inning affair.

It was nice to see David Wright finally come up with a hit to win a game like he did on Saturday. Let’s hope he keeps doing that.

The biggest news was that Rafael Montero was sent down after a poor start in which he lasted just 3.2 innings Friday night. Overall he had four starts, two pretty good, two not very good at all, pitching to a 5.40 ERA. His biggest problem was walks — he issued 11 of them in 20 innings after showing much better control in the minors. This is something he will surely work on in Vegas.

On the other hand, Jacob deGrom is proving to be the real deal. He was cruising along Saturday night with 11 strikeouts when Ryan Howard reached him for a three-run home run in the seventh inning. He is still winless in his four starts, but his ERA is a sparkling 2.42, with 25 strikeouts in 26 innings. Opponents are hitting just .182 against him.

Elsewhere on the pitching front, Buddy Carlyle took Montero’s place on the roster and paid immediate dividends, throwing three scoreless innings and earning the win Saturday. However, Carlyle is likely to sent back down to make room for Dana Eveland on Sunday. After those two long games, the Mets need a fresh bullpen arm, so nothing personal against Carlyle.

Anyway, I’m back in the swing of things. Alert the media.