Game #58 (31-27) - Home is Where the Winning Is

Another game at Citi Field, another win for Jerry and Co.  That's 23-9 on the year now and the Mets keep pace with the Phillies in pursuit of the Braves.  I really don't understand this team - at home, they're the best team in baseball; on the road, they've been the 1962 Mets.  What can I say though, when they're at home, it's hard to find a lot to complain about.  As always, here's some thoughts on tonight's game - and I wasn't able to find too much to complain about.

• The evolution of Mike Pelfrey seems to be the real deal.  Big Pelf has now given up 2 ER or less in 8 of 12 starts this year, and has given the Mets at least 7 innings in 7 of the 12.  His ERA for the year now stands at 2.23, and his WHIP at 1.17.  Most importantly he has a 58/28 K/BB rate, compared to the 107/66 he posted last year.   It would seem that the addition of the split-finger has really pushed Pelf over the top, and he's been one of the NL's best pitchers this year.  He's throwing the splitter around 18 percent of the time, and as a result, his reliance on the fastball has dramatically decreased. In 2008, Pelf threw fastballs a whopping 81.2% of the time; after tonight, that number hovers right around 65%.  Pelfrey has definitely been the beneficiary of some good luck, as evidenced by his 83% strand rate and a BABIP that is around 30 points off from his career average.  Still, his FIP is at 3.28, which, while a large deviation from his realized ERA, suggests that even the bumps in the road will keep him performing like the solid #2 that the Mets need him to be.
• Ike Davis' walk off had to be a 450 foot bomb, and good for Ike.  He continues to show flashes of brilliance mixed in with some terrible at-bats, but the future looks bright for him.  I still don't think he should be hitting in the cleanup spot - I understand what Manuel is trying to do, but I would really rather see Bay or Wright in that slot.  Speaking of....
• Terrible game for Jason Bay.  0 for 5 with 3 K's, and he rushed into a weak ground out with Pagan on 3rd in the bottom of the 10th.  He definitely appears to be pressing at times, which is to be expected with his lack of power, as I discussed last week.   He doesn't seem to have a consistent approach from game to game.  One day he'll look like he's got it all figured out and go 3-4, and then he'll have a game like tonight where he looks like a slumping rookie.  I can't say I expected Bay to live up to his terrible contract, but I'm hoping for a little bit more than this.  His lack of power continues to be extremely frustrating.
• It would be hypocritical of me to not point out how good K-Rod looked tonight.  He looked like the K-Rod of old, and was dominant in his inning of work.
• On the same token, nice to see Reyes with a homer - what wasn't nice was watching him stare the ball down the whole way.  You're not Manny Ramirez, Jose.  You don't hit the ball far enough to assume a HR.  Unacceptable.

Around baseball, all I can say about Stephen Strasburg is wow.  He truly looked incredible tonight, and it's going to be fun to watch him.  He has incredible command of 4 pitches, and can throw any of them in any count; as he matures as a pitcher, he has the potential to develop into 1997-2002 Pedro.  His raw stuff is THAT good.  On the offensive side,  Mike Stanton went 3-5 in his debut, including 2 infield hits.  He's HUGE for 20 years old, and if he can limit the strikeouts he could be a force to be reckoned with in the NL East for as long as the Marlins can keep him from being bought by the Yankees.  Between him, Jason Heyward, and Strasburg, they are sure to provide many reasons in the coming years for why being a met fan sucks.