Phillies 10, Mets 3
Mets 3, Phillies 2

The impending returns of Kris Benson and Mike Cameron left the Mets with some decisions to make. Not only did they have to free up a couple of roster spots, but they specifically had to find a spot in the starting rotation for Benson. One would think that Aaron Heilman and Jae Seo would be the prime candidates to be demoted to make way for Benson given that neither is a highly paid "proven veteran". But you'd like to think that performance would at least factor into it somewhat.

Tom Glavine went out on Tuesday to try to turn his disappointing season around in no real danger of being the fall guy. Stink as he might, Tom Glavine is still Tom Glavine and he's about as likely to don a Norfolk Tides jersey as he is to win another Cy Young Award. With that job security in hand, he went out and produced his worst outing of the year, which is saying something given that he allowed seven runs in four and one-third innings in his previous start. This time he didn't even make it through the fourth inning and gave up a total of eight runs, though only seven of them were earned as Jose Reyes had a pretty awful defensive night. Glavine's estrangement from his old buddy the strike zone continued as he walked a ridiculous six batters in three and two-thirds innings while only striking out one. Even Victor Zambrano and Kazuhisa Ishii probably found that tough to watch. Glavine now has the worst strikeout to walk ratio on the team as he's struck out eighteen and walked twenty-two. Given those numbers, it should not surprise you to learn that Glavine's ERA is now a first-week-of-April-ugly 7.04. He's started six games and his ERA is above seven. If a control pitcher loses his control, what good is he?

The offense wasn't much prettier in that game, as they scored only three runs on seven hits and four walks. Jose Reyes did finally draw his first walk of the season with the bases loaded in the ninth to drive in a run. He also doubled. And Cliff Floyd continued his hot hitting going two for three with his seventh home run of the season.

So despite Glavine's continued ineffectiveness, Jae Seo took the mound on Wednesday with his spot in the rotation in serious jeopardy. And he pitched like he knew it. After a rough second start in which he allowed three home runs in five innings, Seo bounced back with an excellent outing. He lasted seven innings and shut the Phillies out on just one hit and two walks while striking out eight. He's now struck out fourteen while walking just three in eighteen innings and lowered his ERA to an even 2.00. That's better than any other Mets starter, with the others who are currently healthy sitting at 2.51, 4.65, 5.81 and the aforementioned 7.04.

And yet, Seo has been sent to the minors along with Royce Ring. I understand that Glavine can't be sent down and sort of understand wanting to see more of Aaron Heilman at the major league level, but in what way is Victor Zambrano more useful than Seo? Not only has Zambrano--possessor of the 5.81 ERA--been awful this year, but he's also never had a season as effective as Seo's 2003 as a major league starter. The only thing that says "proven veteran" about Zambrano is his paycheck and that perhaps Rick Peterson likes him more than Seo. I have a lot more confidence in a Mets win every time Seo takes the mound than I do Zambrano, who appears to be no better a pitcher than before Peterson's attempts to "fix" him. Choosing Zambrano over Seo looks in no way like a smart baseball decision and comes off like plain incompetence at best and favoritism at worst. Zambrano isn't even justifying his spot on the roster at this point, let alone the trade that brought him here, and choosing him over Seo seems quite likely to cost this team wins.

Meanwhile, the offense had another less than stellar night, rescued only by Seo's outing. They put another three on the board on five runs and four walks. Victor Diaz--or, The Useful Victor, as he might be called--smacked his fourth home run of the year and kept his spot on the major league roster while Cliff Floyd went deep again. This was his eighth home run of the year and he's now hitting an amazing .391/.443/.701. He also robbed Jason Michaels of a home run with a great jumping catch.

Floyd isn't only the best hitter on the team right now, he's one of the best in the league. It's hard to truly buy into, but maybe he really is as healthy as he said he was prior to the season. He hasn't played in as many as 146 games since 2002, so counting on him to be around all year is tough, but what he's doing right now is incredible to watch, so we might as well enjoy it while we can.

Also of note in this game was Jose Reyes' long-awaited second walk of the season, drawn in a pinch hitting role. His OBP is all the way up to .298, which is still terrible, but hey, at least it's moving in the right direction. Carlos Beltran hit his seventh double of the season, though he's yet to really break out offensively. He's hitting .297/.352/.468, which isn't so bad for a center fielder, but certainly less than he's capable of.

And Braden Looper's troubles continued as he allowed a pair of solo home runs in the ninth to tighten this game up, though he did finally close it out, striking out two in the process. This was his second two-home run inning of the season after allowing just five all of last year.

Tomorrow afternoon Benson (12-12, 4.31 in 2004) makes his first start of the season as he takes on Vicente Padilla (0-3, 11.45). Hopefully Benson fares better than the other starter the Mets acquired that dark day last July has thus far. Not that that would be too terribly difficult.  ¶ joe | 1:11 AM |