Just some thoughts on the Mets starters, now that we've gone a whole month into the season.

As you know, coming into the season, the age of our first two starters was put to question.  Many in the media felt Glavine was close to done, past his prime. At his age he'd be good for five innings, then back to the clubhouse for Murder She Wrote and a tv dinner. He's now 3-1, but has a no decision that was a win blown by the bullpen. He's given up 11 earned runs, for a 2.80 ERA and has 18 strikeouts.   Glavine is some sense has been better on the road, where his ERA is lower at 1.93 (its 4.5 at Shea), though he's issued 10 of his 13 walks on the road, as well as hit 3 batter. Overall, Glavine's been solid. He's had a few shakey starts, but tends to correct himself as the game goes to recover. Just as important as all this, Glavine serves as the mentor for the young starters.  Someone such as Maine, Pelf, and Perez don't always know what needs to be done to improve, and Glavine is there to help them along.

John Maine: Well he's your NL Pitcher of the Month. He's 4-0, has a low ERA (1.35) and really doesn't give up runs.  If theres any cause for concern, its that he is is a pitcher for whom the ball is often in play. Maine has strived quite well with the Mets defense behind him, and could end up suffering if Gotay and Easley prove to be much less talented at second base than Stache.  I haven't seen much of Gotay, but Easley has not yet shown any Stache worthy performances.  He has so far had slightly more fly outs than ground outs (41 to 30), though hasn't given up the long ball that much so far. One could say he's a bit overdue to give one up in the winds over Shea.  He has yet to throw a wild pitch or hit a batter, and gave up just 18 hits. If he can keep his focus, he should be able to continue to perform well.

Remeber like, a minute ago when I made fun of everyone who said the Mets pitchers were old and would fall apart?  Well, El Duque is old and fell apart.  He will miss at least one more start, but its probably safer to assume that it will be awhile. At his age his healing time will probably take longer. So lets just assume he's out of the picture.

Oliver Perez, the Mets man of mystery. At 3-2 we've seen both Ollies.  We saw him go seven innings and give up 1 run on five hits.  And we've seen him go less than 3 innings, walking seven.  The good news is that the evil Perez is showing improvement.  Today was the first start in which he issued a walk since his meltdown on April 11th.  He has gotten his strikeouts up, and has proven the ability to go long, throwing 120 pitches in a loss in his start at RFK.  The improved Perez so far has been decent, but chances are inside still lurks the bad Perez.  I'd expcet to see more meltdowns, but for a number 4 pitcher there's no complaints.  If he can win more than he can lose, and keep the score to something in which our offense can reach, then thats about what we can ask for. We might want to be a bit concerned that chances are Ollie is now our #3 pitcher. But given last year that was Trax, is it that worrisome? Trax too would have his poor days where everyone in a jersey that didn't say Mets seemed to be able to get a hit or a run.  But he ate innings while doing so. Aside from his one horrendous start, Ollie seems able to do that. If he can go 7 innings in a loss and keep the score down enough where we have a fighting chance, then he's better than most of our other options.

Mike Pelfrey: Pelf brings to mind Monty Python.  After his first few starts, the fans had him slung over their back with Omar bringing his cart.  But yesterday he called out and let us know, he's not dead yet.  Lets not sugarcoat it: his first three starts were bad. 12 earned runs bad. Just six strikeouts bad. He didn't seem to have control. He was overthrowing. And in none of those first three did he make it to the end of the 6th, his shortest start lasting just 3 innings.  The good side, he seems to be improving.  He had a shaky 1st inning yesterday, but then figured things out and was fine and went 6 and third, his longest start for the Mets this year. His bad first inning killed him though, giving him another loss (he's 0-3 with one no decision).  But he passed the 100 pitch mark for the first time, and he's young. He seems to be slowly adjusting to the big leagues, but slowly adjusting is better than not adjusting at all (I'm looking at you Chan Ho park).  Due to the injury bug's visit to Shea, chances are Pelf will get more time. Even if Duque is back after the minimum time on DL, they'll keep Pelf around till they're sure he can pitch.  Hopefully he'll see his first Met win soon though. Just remember, he doesn't need to be Tom Seaver or Pedro, he needs to be a decent fifth starter.  His role is to be able to give us a chance when he pitchers, as opposed to the ace who should be guaranteeing it. Previous people in his spot have been Jose Lima, and Victor Zambrano.

Chan Ho Park. I am not writing about Chan Ho Park, because I don't forsee him being a Met come the teams trip to Arizona at weeks end. I would assume, like everyone else out there that Jorge Sosa will be the next one to get the call. I know I have preached patience for Pelf in the past, but I don't have the same faith in Chan Ho. He was weak in AAA. He was weak in spring training. He was bad Monday at Shea. So insert your own joke involving his last name and where his pitches are hit.