Midweek Musings

A Telling Difference Between the Mets and Phils

"It's time to come out and say it.

Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, the heart of the Phillies' lineup, are as responsible for the team's wretched start as anyone else in pinstripes."

And with that, Philadelphia Inquirer scribe Phil Sheridan dropped the motherfucking bomb.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are off to slow starts, hitting .245 and .238, respectively. With one home run and only 3 doubles, it's the reigning MVP, Howard, whose off to the slower start.

Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the "Final Destination: Home Run Derby" Curse catching up to Howard, whatever it is, the two big bats in the Philly lineup are hitting like shit.

Remind you of anyone? Carlos Delgado and David Wright, spring to mind, though Wright, in fairness, still has a .319 average to his belt. Forget that though, guys like him and Delgado earn their bread with extra base hits and runs batted in -- so far, Delgado has 1 extra base hit and 7 RBIs, while Wright has 4 extra base hits and 3 RBIs.

In the meantime, life goes on for the two clubs, but one rides high while the other now owns the worst record in the National League. The Phils' two big bats have been shut down over the first 12 games over the year and the team has gone 3-9, whereas two of the Mets' big bats have been shut down over the first 12 games and our team has gone 8-4.

Both teams can expect to improve once their big boys heat up, but if Sheridan's right and blame needs to be applied to Howard and Utley, well, it's worth noting that there's been no blame to assign to Delgado and Wright.

Twenty-five Guys in Search of an Identity

There was a great piece by Ben Shpigel in Monday's New York Times about how "the Mets have been searching for an identity through the first 11 games."

As Shpigel points out, that this Mets team doesn't yet have an identity is hardly a problem, nor is it unique to them. All teams start the season looking to define who they are.

The thing about this Mets team is that it's comprised of so many members of the 2006 club, and for that reason it's difficult sometimes to realize the differences between the two teams.

What defined the 2006 Mets? Different people will tell you different things; for me, early on it was the last at-bat victories. Wasn't there some crazy statistic like we won the first game of our first 9 series at Shea in our last at-bat, or something along those lines? People called the 2006 club resilient, those early victories set the tone.

So far there's been no real tone set by the 2007 Mets. Part of that, I think, is because of the rain outs. MetsBlog pointed out the other day that with all the wash outs it's been difficult to get in any kind of rhythm, even for us as fans; I think there's some truth to that.

(That said, we've witnessed the primacy of Jose Reyes on the 2007 Mets in the first 12 games. It was fashionable to say that Reyes was the guy who made the Mets offense go; true as it was last year, it was the kind of point made only by those who could look past all the home runs from Beltran, Delgado and Wright. This year the point has been laid bare as Reyes' OBP sits at .431 and he looks, basically, like one of the best ballplayers anybody's ever seen.)

Most likely, all the team needs is time. As victories (hopefully) pile up and gut-check moments come and go, a tone will be set, an identity will come.

For now though I know what Shpigel was talking about. I'm still feeling this team out, still waiting for it to show me what it is.

- A.F.O.M.G.

(Images appear courtesy of jtaylor.mlblogs.com and thefeed.blogs.com)