Lots to catch up on over the past week.

It’s the top of the eighth inning and it looks like the Mets are about to drop their second straight to the Braves. The offense has wasted two very strong outings from Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey. Losing the first two games of a series to a division rival is always disappointing, but I would rather focus on the seven game winning streak that the Mets were on until last night’s loss. The offense may have disappeared over the last two nights, but the Mets looked like their good-’ole selves last week. David Wright seems to be breaking out of his slump. He’s still striking out more than most Mets fans would like but he is hitting over .300 with runners in scoring position, which is HUGE.

I would like to focus on Wright’s strikeouts for a little bit. As I am watching tonight’s game with my dad, he kept commenting about how large Citi Field is (the actual field, not the stadium). Chipper Jones hit a 400 foot bomb to right center and it didn’t even make the warning track, and Wright hit a ball well out to right field that would have been out of any other Major League ballpark but ended up bouncing off the wall for a triple. The dimensions of the field will be a double-edged sword all season long. I think Mets pitchers will see their ERA’s drop this year, while the lineup’s power numbers will be down as well.

This brings me back to Wright’s early struggles with striking out. There’s two problems: first, I think he’s trying too hard to hit home runs. Citi Field is not a park where many players should be trying to hit homers. The Mets will win this season when they are smacking extra base hits to the gaps; and that’s what Wright should try to do more of, at least during home games. Wright’s second problem at the plate is he has been falling into too many 0-2 counts. I’m not sure whether he needs to be more aggressive in swinging at the first pitch or more judicious. In either case, this is a problem I think David will solve as he continues to get into the rhythm of the season.

One more thing I need to address now – only because Jose Reyes may have just killed the Mets comeback tonight with another bone-head play; Reyes needs to play smarter. Last night he let a slow ground ball skip right between his legs, he has failed to lay down sacrifice bunts several times this season, and he just made an atrocious baserunning error that may cost the Mets another game. The thing about these mistakes is that they are simple, fundamental errors but they are having a major effect on the outcome of games. His error last night extended the inning, loaded the bases, and allowed the Braves to tack on four runs in the seventh. His failed sac bunts have prevented the Mets from advancing runners into scoring position. And his baserunning snafu tonight has Gary Sheffield coming up with a man on first and 2 outs instead of having runners on first and second with one out. I like Jose, but his propensity to make stupid plays could potentially be a big, long-term problem with him. Hopefully the coaching staff and his teammates can get Jose’s head back in the game.

There’s one final thing that needs to be talked about – or should I say, pointed and laughed at. On Saturday, the Mets hosted an Autism Awareness day at Citi Field. Howard Stern producer Gary Dell’abate (aka Baba Booey), who is a spokesman for an autism awareness organization, threw out the first pitch. Unfortunately, YouTube has taken the televised video off the Internet but I found some decent footage.

Again this video doesn’t do the atrociousness of this pitch justice. From the center field camera view, you can clearly see how the ball immediately veers wide right as soon as Baba Booey releases it. The only thing I can compare that epicly failed excuse for a toss to is a three year old trying to throw. You ever see when a toddler picks up a ball and winds up so big that the ball is cocked behind his head, and then tries to throw it. And, since the ball winds up behind his head, it skims the kid’s dome as he brings his arm forward and the ball ends up going straight up and slightly the side. That is how retarded Baba Booey looked when he attempted this “throw.” I don’t know what was more embarrassing the actual pitch or the fact that it made every autistic child in the stadium cry through the first three innings… (Also, shout out to Brian for reminding me to post about this. It was such a horrifying event that my subconscious must have blocked it from my memory.)

Quick update to wrap up the post: Beltran just walked to bring home the winning run in the bottom of the tenth. It wasn’t a pretty win, but a I’ll take it. The Mets have won nine out of eleven to start May, they’ve moved up to first place in the NL East, the starting pitching is clicking, the lineup looks like it’s going to break out soon, and Citi Field just witnessed it’s first streaker tonight; soak it up Mets nation, it’s shaping up to be an exciting season.