If you’re going to listen to one show all season, tonight’s show is the one to pick.  The Star Ledger’s Dan Graziano was nice enough to join us, and let’s just say he didn’t hold back.  I loved his take on the Mets this season because I completely agree with just about everything he said.  It’s reaffirming coming from him since he’s in the clubhouse and I’m on the couch watching.  Really interesting stuff.

As far as bold predictions go, Dan says Jose Reyes will get on nine times this weekend and Scott says Reyes will lead off every game by getting on base.

Standings:

Mike - 2

Scott - 1.5

Another strong outing by Pelfrey, he’s definitely showing upside….

Now where to begin on the offense.

Again the Mets made Bergmann look like a 20 game winner and a potential Cy Young Winner.

The Mets “HAVE” to beat teams like the Nats, if they cannot, they are not a “playoff” team.

You have to ask Graziano…..I know it’s early, but is this year’s Mets squad a playoff caliber team?

Honestly I don’t think so they have too many holes,

I need a break from these “losers to the Nats”

With apologies to last week’s loss in LA and the home opener, today’s loss was the worst of the season.  Mike Pelfrey throws an absolute gem and the lineup can’t do ___!!!  It’s Jason Bergmann…not Cy Young or Jake Peavy or even Tim Redding for God’s sake!  Where is this team’s sense of urgency!?!  Why is the offense more lifeless than Eliot Spitzer’s political career!?!

If Willie Randolph doesn’t throw a few chairs and go wild in the clubhouse, then he’s just not the right guy for this job.  What a better time to wake up and go nuts on your team than the day before throwing Johan Santana on the mound in Yankee Stadium.  Tomorrow night is going to be such a huge game…but I’m getting ahead myself.

Mike Pelfrey looked amazing today.  He took a no-no into the 7th and only gave up two hits before being taken out.  He just looked so comfortable on the mound, like the guy the Mets thought they’d be getting when they drafted him with the 9th pick a few years ago.  Even though the Mets lost, you have to feel really encouraged by what you got out of Vargas last night and Pelfrey today.

But back to the offense.  They couldn’t do anything today and then Reyes and Beltran made boneheaded plays at third base in the 8th and 9th innings.  If you want a clinic on how to lose a game, then watch the Mets today.  Willie Harris robbed Ryan Church of a game-tying double or triple in the 9th too.  Just such a heartbreaking loss…and the Mets have had way too many of those this season.

Walter, I’ll be waiting for your e-mail.  I’m going to post it on the site if you don’t put it in the comments section.  On another bright note, it really is the perfect time to have Dan Graziano on the show for tonight.  We’ll have a lot to ask him…and so far Walter is the only person to give me any questions for him.  Send them in while you can.  We’ll be recording the show around 7.

As Mike stated in his post about last nights game, I blasted Willie Randolph for using Aaron Heilman. I know that Aaron Heilman has looked decent in his last couple of appearances but here was another tight spot that Willie put him in and Aaron disappointed yet again.

Willie keeps giving him chances and Heilman keeps failing. When is Willie going to realize that enough is enough? When is the last straw? To me it is clear that Aaron Heilman should have a new role on this team. He is the innings eater, when a game gets away from either side and you don’t want to tax your bullpen.

Here are a few stats that I just threw together: This season, when the game is decided by 3 or less runs (either way), Heilman has pitched 13.2 innings and has given up 11 earned runs, thats an ERA of 7.24 in close games. This isn’t counting the grand slam that he gave up against the Cubs in that tight game because it ended up being a blow out and also all the runs were considered unearned. One the other hand, when the game is decided by 4 or more runs (either way), Heilman has pitched 8 innings and given up only 3 earned runs for an ERA of 3.38.

This proves to me that he cannot be trusted in a tight spot.  Willie needs to realize this and stop giving him these chances. Last night, Willie wanted to rest up some of the other relievers, only to end up using them anyway and giving up 3 runs in the process.

Baseball isn’t about helping a player find his confidence, it’s about winning games. If Heilman can’t cut it for this team then get rid of him and move on. I am sick of this “experiment,” having to baby Heilman along so he gains confidence. We all want a World Series this year for the Mets so if he isn’t going to help us win games then we don’t want him.

At least the Mets have been consistently inconsistent.  24 hours after picking up a very nice win, Aaron Heilman and the Mets lose a tough one on Wednesday.  It’s been the same storyline for the Mets in their losses: good outing from the starting pitcher, bullpen blows it and the lineup pulls a disappearing act.

Let’s get to Aaron Heilman first.  Scott was blasting Willie for even using Heilman in this spot, and I know Captain Randolph will take a lot of heat but I think wrongfully so.  He hasn’t used Heilman in a tight spot in a long, long time.  Aaron has looked a lot better lately, and frankly if the Mets are going to get where they want to go this season, they need Aaron Heilman to be successful.  When is there going to be a better time to bring him in and build his confidence than against the bottom of a last-place lineup in the 7th inning? 

I blame Heilman for not getting the job done.  He’s been absolutely terrible in tie games.  I mean even a bad pitcher should get out of it 60-70% of the time, but he’s at about 20-30% right now.  And it’s almost always with two outs.  He gave up four runs with two outs on Wednesday.  He can’t even stop the bleeding.  Ugh, what a mess!

On the bright side, how about Claudio Vargas.  Like I wrote last night, I was really excited to see what he’s got and he looks like he could be a very solid piece at the end of the rotation.  He throws in the low 90’s, decent offspeed stuff and is a big guy.  I was upset about the loss of Nelson Figueroa, but there’s no reason to believe Vargas is much of a dropoff.

Joe Smith also looked awesome in the 7th and 8th innings.  His stuff is looking better than it did at the beginning of last season.  Duaner Sanchez has been hot and cold…don’t be surprised if Smith becomes the 8th-inning guy in the near future. 

Now, the bad stuff again.  What is going on with this offense.  They’ve had some nice games since Moises Alou returned, but they’re still ridiculously inconsistent.  Once again, they made journeyman Tim Redding look like his former teammate Roy Oswalt.  They couldn’t do anything against Redding. 

It’s a shame they couldn’t take advantage of a four-game set against the Nats.  Now the best the Mets can hope for is a split and going 4-3 on this homestand.  That means a lot of pressure is on Mike Pelfrey to get the job done Thursday night.

I really don’t think Willie deserves as much blame as he’s getting, which means they shouldnt fire him.  But I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the Mets got rid of him if they don’t pick it up within the next two weeks…especially if they stink up the joint against the Yankees this weekend. 

Make sure to check out tomorrow night’s show with the Star Ledger’s Dan Graziano.  Nobody has even sent in a question yet…come on people!!  You’re as silent as the Mets bats were tonight.