I realize it can’t get any earlier in the season than we are right now; but what a great opening game to the Mets’ year. Their lineup did not tear it up – in fact, they had a very poor game. They left 12 runners on base, seven of which were stranded in scoring position (although 2 of those were left on base when Johan Santana flew out to end the 4th). But, I’m not worried about the Mets ability to score. I’m worried about that revamped bullpen.

That bullpen was tested today and came through with flying colors of gray, orange, and blue. I thought it was a questionable decision when Jerry Manuel removed Santana with two outs in the sixth. He brought in Sean Green with a runner on second and the newly acquired middle reliever got Edwin Encarnacion to fly out to left. Green pitched another perfect inning before yielding to JJ Putz in the 8th and K-Rod closed it out in the ninth. All in all, the three new bullpen acquisitions pitched 3.1 innings and only allowed one walk. That’s the kind of stat line I could easily get used to seeing.

Team/Player Photos: Atlanta Braves v New York Mets on Jul 11, 2010

Now, I realize it’s only one game but after that epic meltdown last season, I’m not going to take any successful holds/saves for granted in 2009-10. I, along with every other Mets fan, can only hope that these three can remain consistent.

Side-note: I’m not a big fan of “bro-mances” but I have to say that I am reluctanty developing a man-crush on Daniel Murphy. And those two RBI today isn’t making it any easier not to fall completely head-over-heels for the second-year outfielder. I only hope that he won’t have to sacrifice too much playing time once Gary Sheffield joins the club. (On that topic, there was talk during the off-season that the Mets were thinking about moving Murphy to second base, which is his natual position. I wonder if he will make that switch mid-season if he, Sheffield, and Ryan Church are all having good years.)