Time to Pay Credit to 20-25

So what the fuck?

Who is this team?

This can't be the Mets. They just keep on winning. And winning. And winning.

Throughout the season the regulars have gotten their praise. Y2K readers know how much we all jock D-Wright, Uncle and Mr. Glass. Pedro and Glavine have received plenty of adulation.

I haven't shut up about how much I love our big three in the Pen, the key to this team, this season, and shot at a succesful October.

Beltran, Delgado, Lo Duca; we've jocked them too.

And then of late, we have dick ate Lastings and our 4-5 guys El Duque and Soler.

We have jocked these guys. All of a sudden they are the cover story on Wednesday night's SportsCenter.

41-23 and the best winning percentage in baseball.

Today, we are going to forget about all that.

Thursday we are going to praise the rest. This isn't your typical rest.

The rest of the Mets team -- the back of our pen and our bench -- has been unbelievable all season.

Between Worndownboyboy and Kenny from Camp praising Endy and Chad Bradford, respectively, a column was deserved.

First, there is the bench.

Cliff Floyd, Beltran, Nady and then-starter Kaz (5-0 since he was traded) Matsui have all missed significant time this season. That's our entire opening day outfield missing at least 10 games.

Bring in Endy Chavez.


When we brought this guy into the fold over the offseason I wasn't exactly sold. This guy has spent more time sucking in the NL East (stints in Philly and Washington) than Kaz Matsui. In the first month of the season he was horrible, and then something happened.

This guy became, well, a New Met.

After hitting .255 in April he has since hit .321 and played outstanding defense in all three outfield positions. He is everything that you can ask for in a 4th outfielder. Defense, speed and what looks like a very capable bat.

The rest of the bench has also been outstanding.

Ramon Castro has a .351 OBP and has been outstanding behind the plate.

Chris Woodward is hitting .295 and continues to play multiple positions.

Julio Franco has come in and done exactly what we would have hoped (.333 BA, .378 OBP).


Then there is Jose Valentin who has emerged as a starter despite slumping for pretty much all of April (.136 BA). He has hit .309 with 21 RBI since May 1, and after being named a starter a few weeks back, the Mets look like an absolutely dominant team.

Then there are the guys at the back of the pen.

Thru much of the first 6 weeks of the season it looked like the bullpen was 3 deep (Heilman, Sanchez, Wagner).

No more.

Darren Oliver is a lefty reincarnation of 2000 Pat Mahomes. Could you ask for a better long man in the pen? He is now 3-0, 2.86 ERA and most important, he has been consistent. There have been no blowups out of this guy. He hasn't given up more that 2 runs in any game this season.

Then there is Chad Bradford and Pedro Feliciano, our righty and lefty specialists.

These guys have been great. Fact is, we are spoiled. In a regular pen these guys could be the regular guys called on to pitch the 7th and 8th innings.

In 27 games, Bradford has gone 21.2 innings and posted a 3.32 ERA. While these numbers are great, they don't begin to give this guy enough credit. How huge was the 5th inning of Glavine's start on Tuesday? Bradford came in with 2 men on and 1 out and he got out of it. He kept the Mets in the game that turned into a momentum building night for us. The guy has been huge.


Then there is Feliciano. This guy has quietly posted a team leading 1.50 era in 24 innings. While he is by no means imposing, he has been getting it done. Is he a premier lefty setup man? Probably not. But as Happy Will points out, middle relievers are year-in, year-out performers, and maybe 2006 is the year for Feliciano to be dominant.

You can see Willie getting more confident with these two guys. All of a sudden a win doesn't need to include Heilman-Sanchez and Wagner.

If we can save our two big middle guys by using Bradford and Feliciano for a late inning that could pay huge dividends in September and October. Keep these guys fresh and this team could dominate when it counts.

So far dominate is all they have done.

Our stars have played like stars and gotten plenty of credit for it.

But it has been the rest of the boys, the bench and the back of the pen (love for Heath Bell too, he is friends with my cousin) that have really maintained this well-oiled machine.

1-25 this team is pretty damn solid. The lineup is dominating. The rotation looks great and our big guys in the pen have been special.

But it is the guys in the back that have gone somewhat unnoticed and deserve a little something more.

New lineup. New bench. New Mets.

VCD,

SM