Mets Week Twelve: Playing out the schedule

Jose Reyes had 19 hits in 31 at bats this week, seven of them for extra bases, to earn his second consecutive National League Player of the Week award.

Moving on, the Mets won just four of seven games. The offense continued to roll, putting thirty-nine runs on the board, but the pitching was less dependable. Steve Trachsel and Orlando Hernandez each had one good start and one bad one, though Hernandez lost both of his while Trachsel won his two. Alay Soler, with little help from his defense, struggled. At least Pedro and Glavine got back to pitching well.

Billy Wagner also had a bit of a rough week. He only allowed runs in one of his four appearances, but he did blow his fourth save of the season on Wednesday. Overall, Wagner has been very good this year despite a handful of memorable failures. There's nothing wrong with his velocity and his strikeout rate of 11.29 per nine innings is his best since 2001. His control has been a problem, though, as he's already walked 17 batters. Last year he allowed just 20 free passes in more than twice as many innings. He's on pace to surpass his career high of 30 walks, which he allowed in both 1996 and 1997. Even with the control issues, he's an excellent closer. But if he can't locate the strike zone a bit more often, he's not going to be the elite reliever the Mets thought they were signing.

Speaking of guys who aren't as good as the Mets thought they were, Paul Lo Duca hurt himself this past weekend. It's nothing serious and he should return to the lineup soon, but there's no need for him to hurry back. Lo Duca, despite his reputation for clutchness, has a history of starting off strong and fizzling down the stretch. In the past three years, he's hit .302/.356/.426 before the All Star break and .249/.307/.345 after. This year he's hitting .280/.321/.394 in what's supposed to be the good half. Meanwhile, his backup, Ramon Castro, is hitting .256/.347/.427 and throwing out a greater percentage of potential base stealers. I don't expect Castro will ever supplant Lo Duca as the starter, and perhaps he couldn't hold up under the strain of playing every day, either. But letting him start more often than he is now could both help the Mets score runs and help Lo Duca stay fresh until October, when the team will need all the clubhouse presence he can muster.

Now that the Mets have taken two of three from the third-place Blue Jays, they move on up to take on the top two teams in the AL East. First they'll play three in Boston and then head to the Bronx for three against the Yankees, from whom they took two of three at Shea last month. Logically, some team is going to stop Jose Reyes eventually. But I don't think either these teams has the pitching staff to get it done.