We are just shy of the midway point of the 2009 MLB schedule and the Mets are right where they want to be at 37-34.  The Mets trail the Phillies by just 1/2 game in the NL East race.  Given the injury issues, you can’t really complain too much about their position in the standings.  Currently, the Mets have 7 players on the disabled list who would be playing a vital role in the Mets everyday attack.  Outfielders Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan; Shortstop Jose Reyes; 1st Baseman Carlos Delgado; Starting Pitchers John Maines and Oliver Perez; and Relief Pitcher J.J. Putz.  At some point during the next few months, the Mets expect to have all of those players back and ready for MLB action.  If the Mets can weather the storm during the month of July and stay towards the top of the NL East, they should have a good chance to dethrone the Phillies from a 3rd straight NL East crown. David Wright has shouldered the load for much of the season with a .356 batting average; 39 RBI’s, 47 runs and a whopping 19 stolen bases.  Johan Santana (9-5; 3.08 ERA; 1.20 WHIP; 100 K’s; 30 BB’s) and Frankie Rodriguez (20 saves; 1.01 ERA; 1.07 WHIP; 38 K’s; 19 BB’s) have shouldered the pitching loads.  When everybody is back and healthy in Queens, the Mets should be one of the best teams in the NL.

I am optimistic that this will be the case – losing such quality hitters like Beltran, Reyes and Delgado for such an extended period is just too hard for a team to overcome everyday during the long MLB season.  Not having 40% of your starting rotation is also hard to overcome for most MLB teams.  Fortunately for the Mets, the Phillies have struggled at home to the tune of an atrocious 13-22 record.  That being said, however, the Phillies 24-11 road record is by far the best road record of any team in the major leagues and the Phillies will not be able to keep that pace up over the long season.  10 of their 37 wins have come against the worst team in baseball – the Washington Nationals – and their weaknesses were exposed when they played the AL East in interleague play – losing 10 games to the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles andRays.

The NL East race should be a fun one to watch over the next 3 months.  The past 2 seasons, the Mets have choked away big leads to the Phillies down the stretch.  It will be interesting to see if the Mets can make a move from behind and overtake the Phillies in 2009.  The fun will begin this weekend as the Mets battle the Yankees at CITI for the final 3 games of the 2009 interleague Subway Series.

It did not look good.  The Mets trailed the Giants and reigning Cy Young Award-winner 5-1 heading into the 6th inning.

The Mets have won 8 of their last 10 games and have opened up a 2-game lead over the Phillies and Braves in the NL East race.  Lets Go Mets!!!

The New York Mets defeated the Phillies 7-4 on Friday night in Philadelphia.  If ever there was a big win on the 1st of May, this was it.

The Mets have been struggling of late, sitting at 9-12 and 4.5 games behind the 1st place Florida Marlins.  The Phillies have been the Mets’ nemesis the last 2 years, and the last thing the Mets needed was a sweep in Philly over the weekend.

The bullpen creation of J.J. Putz / Francisco Rodriguez hasn’t always worked this year for GM OMar Minaya, but everything was set up perfectly for Minaya and the dynamic duo on Friday night in Philly. 3-run lead at 7-4, bottom of the 8th inning, Putz getting ready to take the bump – would it work?

Fortunately it did for Minaya and the Mets.  Putz had a 1-2-3 uneventful inning in the 8th and K-Rod took care of the rest by mowing down the heart of the order for the Phillies.  Although he did issue a 2-out walk to Chase Utley, he ended the game with a strikeout of slugger Ryan Howard.

Look out for Mike Pelfrey as well.  Although his numbers aren’t great – 6.00 ERA and 1.86 WHIP – Pelfrey is now 3-0 on the season and he even had a single and 2 RBI’s in the Friday night win.

Dan Murphy got the Mets off to a good start with a 2-run homer in the 1st inning.  Fernando Tatis and David Wright each had 2 hits for the Mets in the win.

Oliver Perez will face off against Jamie Moyer in Saturday afternoon’s FOX Game of the Week, while John Maine and Joe Blanton will battle on Sunday afternoon.

So much has been said about the New York Mets’ collapses in September in each of the last 2 seasons.  With a bullpen that just blew way too many saves too be reliable each of the last 2 seasons, Mets GM Omar Minaya made it his off-season mission to make sure that did not happen during the 2009 MLB schedule.

How did the moves pay-off in the Mets opening day game against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday?  It was a one word answer:  perfectly.

Johan Santana – the Mets ace acquired in free agency a little over a year ago – pitched well enough to give the Mets a 2-1 lead into the 6th inning.  Newly acquired Sean Green came into the game with 2-men on and 2 out and his job was to preserve the Mets 1-run lead.  He did just that – getting out of the jam with a soft line drive to left field and then retiring the Reds 1-2-3 in the 7th inning.  Next up – - newly acquired J.J. Putz.  1 walk and 1 strikeout later, the Mets still had the 2-1 lead heading into the 9th inning.  Next up – - Francisco Rodriguez – or K-Rod as he is affectionately known throughout all of baseball.  10 pitches later – 8 of which were strikes – K-Rod had his 1st save as a Met and the Mets were 1-0.

Now I know it is just 1 game, but this is exactly why Minaya signed K-Rod to a 3-year deal and exactly why he traded for Putz and Green.  If today’s game is any indication – 3 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 2 K’s – these guys can pitch.  And as long as they stay healthy, you won’t see these guys collapsing late in the season.  Will it be enough for the Mets to overtake the defending World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies to win the NL East Division Crown?  I guess we won’t officially know that answer until October, but I like my odds with the bullpen Minaya has put together.