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After dropping the first game of the series in true #LOLMets fashion, the Mets look to even it up tonight as they send R.A. Dickey to the hill against the Pittsburgh Pirates. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game can be seen on SNY or heard, as always, on WFAN 660AM.  Join the conversation on Twitter by following @dailystache or yours truly, @DevOnSports.

Dickey will be opposed tonight by Pittsburgh’s James McDonald, who seems to have found himself this season and settled in as one of the better starters in the National League thus far. The Mets will be looking to bounce back from Monday’s loss that saw them carry a lead into the late innings only to once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

After sending out a Buffalo Bisons type lineup for Game 1, Terry Collins comes with a more traditional group for Game 2. Looking to ride the hot bat of Mike Baxter, Collins puts the Whitestone native in the leadoff spot. Daniel Murphy returns after getting Monday off. He’s batting fifth, though I’d still like to see him paired with Wright as the team’s most consistent producers should have the chance to help each other out. Ike Davis also returns to the lineup with another opportunity to right the ship against a righthander.

Mets Lineup:

Baxter - Nieuwenhuis - Wright - Duda - Murphy - Davis - Cedeno - Nickeas - Dickey

Stache Sample Size: Davis is 3-for-6 in his career off Pirates starter James McDonald. All three hits were doubles. Wright is 2-for-6 off McDonald with a homer and four RBI.

Pirates Lineup: 

Tabata - Harrison - McCutchen - Alvarez - Walker - Jones - Barajas - Barmes - McDonald

Stache Sample Size: Among Pittsburgh hitters, Garrett Jones is 4-for-10 lifetime off Dickey and Jose Tabata is 3-for-9, but Andrew McCutchen is just 2-for-9 with four strikeouts.

Pitching Matchup:

NYM: RA Dickey (5-1, 3.75 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 40 K) – It’s been an interesting season for the Mets’ resident knuckleballer. After a 2011 season that saw him on the losing end of many close games, fortunes have reversed for Dickey in 2012. He’s currently tied for second in the NL in wins despite getting off to perhaps his worst start as a Met.

After holding hitters to a sub-400 slugging percentage each of his first two seasons with New York, Dickey has been plagued by the extra base hit in 2012. So far he has allowed 11 doubles, a triple and eight home runs. Dickey’s other averages are stable and he’s striking out more batters this season (7.15 K/9) than he has since 2003, so perhaps the elevated slugging is just an early season aberration.

In his last start, Dickey went six innings against the Reds, allowing four runs — three earned — on five hits. He left the game on the wrong end of a 4-2 score, but a five-run Mets eighth and three scoreless innings from the Mets bullpen saved him. Dickey is 1-2 in four career starts against the Pirates, including two complete games. He’s held Pittsburgh hitters to a .202 batting average against and touts a 0.96 WHIP against them.

PIT: James McDonald (3-2, 2.68 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 50 K) – McDonald is off to an impressive start this season. Through eight starts, the Pittsburgh righthander has held batters to a .201 batting average against and his 1.01 WHIP is Top 10 in the NL. His walk rate is pretty normal, but McDonald has not surrendered many hits this year — just 35 in 50 innings this year — while BABIP against him stands at .268.

In his last start against the Nationals, McDonald took a no-hitter into the sixth before running into trouble. He surrendered three runs on four hits and didn’t make it out of the inning, however his bullpen bailed him out and the Pirates won. In addition to the three runs on four hits, McDonald struck out 11 and walked just one. McDonald has pitched in eight games, including four career starts against the Mets. Over that span he’s allowed 28 hits and walked 16 over 28 innings with 11 runs allowed and just 18 strikeouts.

Stache Keys to the Game:

1. No Bullpen – Dickey has crafted a complete game against the Pirates in each of his first two seasons as a Met and tonight would be an opportune time for No. 3. The Mets have yet to get a complete game out of their staff this season and starters collectively have averaged less than six innings per outing. No wonder the bullpen is getting beat up of late, they’re overworked!
2. Get It Wright – It’s pretty safe to say that David Wright is carrying the team offensively. The only other player in tonight’s Mets lineup hitting over .300, who has enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title, is Murphy (.317) and two of the other six players in the lineup are hitting under .200. Wright assuredly can’t keep this up forever, but the Mets need to be better at capitalizing with wins when he’s doing this much.
3. Do or Die for Ike – The whispers surrounding a possible demotion to AAA for Ike Davis are getting louder and the only way Ike can silence them is to produce. He faces a righthander tonight against whom he has a short, but very good history against. A good game would go a long way toward getting back on track, Isaac.

This Date in Mets History:
On this date in 1998, General Manager Steve Phillips pulled off perhaps the best trade in Mets history, sending Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz and Ed Yarnall to the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza.

Big Mike would spend the next seven seasons with the Mets, leading the team to its first playoff berth in 11 years during the ’99 season and the World Series in 2000. Piazza is perhaps best known for his monumental eighth inning home run on September 21, 2001 at Shea Stadium to give the Mets the lead in the first game after the attacks of September 11th.

My favorite Piazza moment also came in the eighth inning of a Friday night game against the Braves, back on June 30, 2000 when Piazza’s three-run jack off Terry Mulholland capped a 10-run Mets eighth as they came back from an 8-1 deficit to win 11-8.

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As the Mets try to recuperate from their second ninth inning meltdown in the last three days, Monday morning started out with a dose of good news — the Mets are preparing a formal offer to retain David Wright.

Whether you want to or not, it’s very easy to think about how the whole Jose Reyes situation panned out when thinking about Wright’s future in the orange and blue, but the truth is, the two situations couldn’t be much different. Wright, for example, has an option next year, which will automatically disappear if he is traded. Although it’s for a hefty $16 million, the Mets would undoubtedly exercise that option, seeing as he’s returned to the David Wright of old form.I’m fortunate enough to have been at David Wright’s first game at Shea Stadium. The hype was something to behold. He didn’t exactly get the treatment that Bryce Harper has, but he was a guy everyone thought would be a solid third basemen for many years to come. While he has had his struggles the past couple of seasons, you’re still hard pressed to find many other better third basemen in the game.

When Wright is on his game, as you see early on in 2012, there are few better hitters in the game. We saw early on in his career that he can drive the ball to right center field with authority. Let’s get this straight. While he certainly has the power to hit home runs, he is not a home run hitter. Wright’s best game plan is to work the gaps.

Now, the negotiating must begin. What would you offer to keep David Wright in Queens for the forseable future?

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Photo courtesy of Michael Baron, MetsBlog

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love this man.  I am a strong David Wright supporter, so if you’re a D-Dub hater, you should probably not read any further.  No, this is not going to turn into a gushing post about how awesome he is, but you cannot argue that he HAS been great so far this season.  However, after the dog-and-pony-show circus that was Jose Reyes last year, with his “will he or won’t he” remain a Met, one can’t help but be skeptical and more than a bit nervous that we could be in for Round 2 this year with Wright.  Also, one has to wonder if his performance is legit or is “contract year syndrome”?

Before you jump all over me, I believe David is truly talented, and has pretty much had to deal with every bit of bad luck under the sun since 2006.  He has a bit more protection in the lineup this year and admittedly he WAS playing with a broken back last season and got clocked in the head in seasons past, so it couldn’t really have gotten much worse.  The reason I bring up the contract year thing, is because of Jose.  I too loved Jose while he was here but I have to be honest and say I lost a bit of respect for him with the way he departed New York.  Yes, the Wilpons are just as much (if not more) to blame, but the whole bunt-to-protect-the-batting-title thing while people paid money to see him for the last time was a snub to the fans…at least in my opinion.  He topped it off by whining like a jilted girlfriend for weeks afterwards.

The other reason I am a little wary is the way Jose performed last season.  He was the NL batting champ and played as well as I’ve ever seen him play, which leads me to believe he was playing for a contract.  Again, I realize he was hurt in the past few years and he is an exciting player to watch, but it was too little too late for me.  He FINALLY shines again, and promptly walks out the door.

Now, David has said many times that he wants to remain in New York and finish his career with the Mets.  I really, really want to believe him, and I do think he is an honest and loyal person, but I also know he desperately wants to win.  Do I think he’d leave the Mets for a chance to win a World Series with another team?  I want to say that he wouldn’t leave New York, but who wouldn’t want a chance at a ring?

The Wilpons would be absolute fools (even more than they are now) to let David go.  The fact that they haven’t even started contract negotiations with him makes me a tad concerned but Sandy Alderson himself did say “I can’t imagine David playing anywhere else”, so that’s something to keep a little faith in.  If indeed that’s the case, it’s all up to David as to whether or not he really wants to stay in New York.  Let’s hope he says YES, and let’s hope that the Wilpons are listening.

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Excitements abounds as the Mets take on the Nationals in the rubber game of a three game series today at 1:10 PM at Citi Field. Johan Santana returns to the mound after pitching five shutout innings in his first start of the seasons. Opposing him will be Nationals superstar-in-the making Stephen Strasburg, who, despite missing all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, is one of baseball’s most electrifying players.

Looming large for the Mets is the broken pinky finger suffered by David Wright on Monday. It’s unclear right now whether Wright will have to visit the disabled list, but he’ll at least miss today’s game and possibly more games after that. After a 4-0 start, the Mets offense appeared to hit a snag yesterday with Wright out of the lineup. Putting some runs on the board against a pitcher as skilled as Strasburg would be a great way to renew fan optimism.

Mets lineup
1. Ruben Tejada, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. Lucas Duda, RF
4. Ike Davis, 1B
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Josh Thole, C
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
8. Ronny Cedeno, 3B
9. Johan Santana, LHP

Washington Nationals (projected) lineup
1. Ian Desmond, SS
2. Danny Espinosa, 2B
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Jayson Werth, CF
5. Mark DeRosa, LF
6. Adam LaRoche, 1B
7. Xavier Nady, RF
8. Jesus Flores, C
9. Stephen Strasburg, RHP

Pitching Match-up
Mets: Johan Santana (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.80 WHIP)
The Mets lineup looks a lot less threatening than in did last Thursday now that Wright is out and Davis is still looking for his first hit. That means the Mets will need Ronny Cedeno to get three more hits or they’ll need Santana to have a good game in order to win today. Cedeno’s career on-base percentage is below .300, so I’m counting on Santana big time today. In his last start, the Mets ace only threw 84 pitches, but was that because the Mets are babying him after his surgery, or because he had just walked the opposing pitcher? It was probably a little of both, but either way, it would be great if Santana could go at least 6 innings deep this afternoon.

Nationals: Stephen Strasburg (0-0, 1.29 ERA, 0.86 WHIP)
Strasburg is an incredible talent with seemingly limitless potential, and he’s already started to realize some of it. In his first big league start, back in 2010, he had a mind-numbing 14 strikeouts. However, this being his first season since his 2011 Tommy John surgery, the Nationals are certain to limit his pitch counts in 2012. In Strasburg’s season debut last week, he struck out 5 Cubs in 7 innings, but left after just 82 pitches. Strasburg was lifted for a pinch-hitter while the Nats were facing a 1-0 deficit, so it’s unclear if manager Davey Johnson would have allowed him to go longer with a lead. Hopefully we won’t have to find out today.

Stache Keys to the Game

• With Strasburg on a limited pitch count, the Mets would do well to bear down and work the count to make him throw more pitches. They’ve been pretty good at this so far in the season. The more pitches Strasburg throws, the better
• In the opener, Strasburg threw a lot of fastballs early, so if the Mets decide to get aggressive, it should be before Strasburg gets comfortable with his nasty breaking ball.
• Last night, Terry Collins used only Bobby Parnell and Miguel Batista out of the bullpen. If this game turns into a battle of relief pitches, Collins should be able to outlast Johnson. That’s one more reason for the Mets to take as many pitches as they can today.

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Ike Davis was given the night off, David Wright was sidelined with a fractured pinky and the Mets were way overdue for their first loss of the season anyway, but none of that made tonight’s 6-2 loss to Washington any easier to swallow for fans of the Amazins.

Nationals starter Ross Detwiler pitched brilliantly after getting out of a first inning jam. The young lefty struck out 6 Mets while walking only one in 5 innings of work. It looked like Detwiler was on his way to pitching 7 or 8 innings, but Washington manager Davey Johnson pulled him after just 71 pitches because of conditioning concerns.

Detwiler’s early exit turned out to be a boon for the Mets, but the Nats were able to score enough runs off of Dillon Gee and company to give their pen some breathing room. Ian Desmond led off the game with a solo home run off of Gee, who would settle down over the next four innings. However, in the 6th, Ryan Zimmerman led off with a double and back-to-back singles from Jayson Werth and former Met Xavier Nady forced Terry Collins to take Gee out of the ballgame.

Bobby Parnell came on to face Roger Bernadina with runners on first and second with one out and Bernadina hit a hard grounder to second. It look for a split second like the Mets might get out of the inning with just a 2-0 deficit, but Daniel Murphy had the ball bounce off his glove. Instead of two more outs for New York, another run came home for Washington. Wilson Ramos followed with a double that eluded the glove of Lucas Duda to make the score 4-0.

Gee finished with 6 strikeouts, one walk and one home run allowed in 5.1 innings pitched. He was able to get some whiffs with the change-up, which is a great sign, and the unfortunate error in the 6th inning let a couple of extra runs onto Gee’s register.

The Mets finally got on the board in the 7th after Werth made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the top half of the frame. Justin Turner, who was playing first base in Davis’ stead tonight, ripped an RBI single of his own to center field after Jason Bay kept the boo birds at bay (ugh) with a double.

In the 8th, the Mets would get another run as Ronny Cedeno (starting at third for Wright) doubled home Ruben Tejada, but any attempts to put up a crooked number were foiled. The 9th inning saw Brad Lidge finish off New York without much of a problem.

Turning Point: This game still looked very winnable until Murphy booted that potential double play ground ball in the 6th. Of course, some fans might have tuned out after the 1st inning, when the Mets got Tejada to third base with no outs but still failed to score.

Game Ball: Ronny Cedeno went 3 for 4 with an RBI double in his first Mets start. If Wright is to miss a lot more time with his fractured pinky finger, Collins might consider playing him at second and Murphy at third. Of course, it was as early as yesterday that Murphy looked fantastic at second base, so that might be an overreaction.

Next Game: Collins did well to only use Miguel Batista and Parnell out of the pen tonight, because Johan Santana is set to take the mound versus Steven Strasburg tomorrow, and both hurlers will likely be on pitch limits. The Mets have a slightly fresher pen going into the day game, but they’ll also be missing David Wright again.

Terry Collins said after the game that a hand specialist was going to take a look at Wright’s X-Rays on Wednesday. We’ll hopefully have more information when that happens.

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The Mets continue to add to their MLB-leading Opening Day record (now 33-18) with a 1-0 win today over the Atlanta Braves at a “new” CitiField.  After a mediocre spring, there were many questions surrounding this team, but let’s face it, when are there NOT?  Two BIG ones were answered today, those being the state of both ace Johan Santana and the Mets bullpen.

I realize it’s only one game and the Mets usually do well on Opening Day, but you have to be excited about the return of Johan, and even moreso about how well he did today.  Santana pitched 5 scoreless innings, and even after tiring a bit, losing a bit of control on his pitches AND getting himself out of a bases-loaded jam, he still managed to tell manager Terry Collins he wanted to go out for one more inning.  Terry came down on the side of caution though and told him he had done enough and had done well.

Many of us moaned and groaned when Sandy Alderson said he was focusing on rebuilding the bullpen, and also raised more than a few eyebrows on his additions.  Whatever trouble the pen had this spring seemed to vanish today as everyone came in and did their part beautifully.  Hats off in particular to lefty Tim Byrdak, who seems to have bounced back beautifully from knee surgery performed only weeks ago.  He came in today and fanned both Michael Bourn and Freddie Freeman to hold the Mets’ precious 1-0 lead.

Giving the Mets their only run today was none other than David Wright, who is also coming back from a troubled year he suffered with a stress fracture in his back, and add to that an abdominal muscle problem this spring.  Wright managed to not only give the Mets their only run and the win, but also drove in the first run (stateside, that is) of the 2012 MLB season.  Daniel Murphy and Josh Thole both contributed, going 2-4 and 2-3, respectively.

However, it wouldn’t be a Mets season without an early injury, right?  Leaving the game after re-re-re-injuring his calf muscle, Andres Torres is likely out for a couple of weeks at the very least.  Let’s all hope Torres makes it back sooner rather than later as he seems to be a promising baserunner, his being picked off at 1st today notwithstanding.

The tributes to “The Kid” Gary Carter today were touching and very well done.  I love the placing of his memorial patch on the outfield wall, right next to the Mets’ 50th Anniversary patch.  Very fitting indeed.

As I said, it’s only one game, but it’s hard not to be excited on Opening Day.  It’s a new year, and the Mets have a new look and seemingly new confidence.  Now if they can carry it 161 more games, we’ll be in business.

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Say what you want about the Mets, they know how to win on Opening Day. New York came into the day with a 32-18 record when playing its first game of the season. After Johan Santana and various bullpen pitchers shutout the Braves 1-0 this afternoon, the Mets can add one more win to that total, and more importantly, the season is off to a successful start.

The game got off to an emotional beginning, as the Mets honored the late Gary Carter and his family by unveiling a big “Kid 8″ plate-shaped logo on the outfield wall. Although the number eight is not technically retired, I’m sure the Mets will strongly discourage its use in the future. Members of the Carter family were called upon to throw out the ceremonial first pitches, and after that it was time to play ball.

Perhaps the best part of the game for Mets fans was Johan Santana pitching like he did before he got hurt in 2010. Although his fastball only topped out in the high 80′s, Santana had great control over his change-up and slider, which allowed him shutdown Atlanta’s lineup.

Before he became a bit unraveled in the 5th, Santana was dominant for the first four innings with 4 Ks, no walks and just one hit allowed. The Mets ace opened the 5th with a strikeout of Freddie Freeman, but then his personal kryptonite Matt Diaz lashed a double to right-center field. Santana briefly recovered by getting Jason Heyward to fly out, but then in a bizarre sequence he walked both rookie shortstop Tyler Pastornicky and pitcher Tommy Hanson.

With the score still 0-0, Michael Bourn stepped up to the plate with a chance to blow the game open, but with the count full, Santana got the speedster to ground back to the mound. Mets fans took a deep breath, as a potentially disastrous inning passed by without a run scored.

Of course, the Mets were having their own issues scoring with the great Tommy Hanson on the mound. In the 1st, Daniel Murphy ripped a double to left, but was stranded at second base. New York would not threaten again until the 5th. With two on and two out, Mike Baxter pinch-hit for the now rattled Santana, but the native New Yorker was caught looking by Hanson.

Finally in the 6th, the Mets broke through. Andres Torres drew a lead-off walk and Murphy ripped a single to right to put runners on the corners. Wright followed with a single of his own to chase Hanson from the game and give New York a 1-0 lead. Although Kris Medlen would come out of the pen and keep the Mets from scoring any more runs, the Mets would be just fine with the one run.

Thanks to Baxter replacing Santana in the 5th, the New York bullpen had to go four innings today, and they pitched brilliantly. Ramon Ramirez got in trouble in the 7th when Pastronicky hit a one-out triple, but Tim Byrdak came in and struck out both Jose Constanza and Michael Bourn to bail him out.

The real damage done by the triple was that Andres Torres strained his left calf on the play and is now headed to the DL. Early speculation is that either Vinny Rottino or Kirk Nieuwenhuis will be called up to replace him, with Ruben Tejada moving up to the lead-off spot in the batting order. Scott Hairston played the rest of today’s game in center field and hit a single in his only at-bat.

After Byrdak escaped the 7th, Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco each pitched a perfect frame to finish the game.

Wow, what a thrilling win on Opening Day. Losing Torres this early hurts, but there was never a guarantee that he would regain his excellent 2010 form. The Mets are lucky to have a guy like Hairston who can play all the outfield positions and provide a little pop as well. Murphy, Wright and Josh Thole each had two hits for the Mets, with Murphy hitting the only extra-base knock.

The Metsies return to action on Saturday afternoon at 1:10 PM versus these same Braves. R.A. Dickey and Jair Jurrjens are your probably starters.

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Collins gets angry

Before the Mets took on the Cardinals yesterday afternoon, Terry Collins spoke to reporters about the recent string of Mets injuries. It’s not news that Collins was unhappy about his guys getting hurt, but it was surprising to hear just how frustrated and even angry he was when asked about Ruben Tejada’s groin strain.

According to Newsday:

“This spring so far, we’ve been unable to put the team on the field. We eventually have to do that,” Collins said. “When I talk about patience, right now, I’m out of it.”

Before the game, Collins, referring to Tejada’s condition, said, “It’s not serious. It doesn’t have to be here. You need an aspirin, you’re off for a day.”

While it can’t be a good sign that Collins is already bent out of shape before a potentially disappointing season actually starts, I like that the fans are not the only ones upset that the Mets cannot stay on the field. To compete this season, the Mets are going to need to take advantage of every little edge they can gain (and probably get lucky as well). How are they supposed to do that when they don’t have the desire to be on the field everyday?

Maybe Tejada is more seriously hurt than Collins lets on and maybe he isn’t. Either way, its a bit disappointing to see Tejada seemingly take his opportunity to start at shortstop for granted. Hopefully minor injuries won’t keep him from playing in any regular season games.

Pelfrey hurls a clunker

In the Mets 7-1 loss to St. Louis at Digital Domain Park yesterday, Mike Pelfrey pitched 4.1 innings while allowing 6 hits and 4 runs. He recorded no walks, but no strikeouts either. In Matt Cerrone’s account of Pelfrey’s start, he seems unsure of exactly what the big guy was trying to do on the mound.

Pelfrey’s sinker looks flat today. The thing is, that would be OK from time to time, if he changed speeds more and used more breaking pitches. However, he isn’t doing that any more. And so, I just can’t figure out his strategy.

The non-sinking sinker allowed the Cardinals to hit a pair of home runs against Pelfrey. Always the optimist, Cerrone does offer that Pelf was terrible in March 2010 before starting the regular season 10-2 with a 2.71 ERA.

On offense in that game, the Mets obviously did not have much going on. Daniel Murphy was 2 for 4 with a pair of singles, Jason Bay went 1 for 3 with a double and Lucas Duda was 0 for 1 with a sac fly to plate the only Mets run.

More injury updates

• Pedro Beato, who has been out for more than a week with right rotator cuff inflammation, will begin throwing tomorrow.
• Ruben Tejada will take groundballs today.
• David Wright’s injury is a tear in his six pack, probably because he worked out too hard with The Situation last spring. He says he should be all set for Opening Day. Please let that be the case.

Mets vs. Tigers today at 1:05 PM on ESPN

Dillon Gee will start for the Mets. Max Scherzer takes the hill for Detroit. The Mets are starting mostly reserves and minor leaguers with the possible exception of Daniel Murphy, while Detroit’s lineup is loaded with regulars, so the Mets will probably lose today. But that’s why they play the games.

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While looking at the Mets’ moves this off-season, it’s hard to get really amped up about any of them. Here’s a round-up of what we’ve seen thus far.

Nov. 17, 2011 — Mets re-sign Valentino Pascucci and sign Vinny Rottino
Dec. 7, 2011 — Mets trade Angel Pagan to San Francisco for Ramon Ramirez and Andres Torres
Dec. 12, 2011 — Mets claim Jeremy Heffner off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates
Dec. 13, 2011 — Mets sign free agents Lucas May and Garret Olsen
Dec. 14, 2011 — Mets sign free agent Jon Rauch
Dec. 15, 2011 — Mets sign free agent Chuck James
Dec. 16, 2011 — Mets re-sign Mike Baxter and sign Jeff Stevens
Dec. 19, 2011 — Mets sign Frank Francisco
Dec. 22, 2011 — Mets sign Rob Johnson
Dec. 30, 2011 — Mets sign Corey Wimberly
Jan. 3, 2012 — Mets sign Omar Quintanilla
Jan 10, 2012 — Mets re-sign Miguel Batista and sign Sean Kazmar and Fernando Cabrera
Jan. 11, 2012 — Mets re-sign Scott Hairston, outright Daniel Herrera to Buffalo, Fernando Martinez claimed off waivers by Houston
Jan. 13, 2012 — Mets sign Ronny Cedeno

Now what does this all mean? In my estimation, the Mets made three substantial moves (as far as substantial moves by the Mets are concerned). Bringing in Rauch and Francisco was the right move, but it could prove to be risky. Francisco has been given the ball in the ninth inning before, and he has tendencies to melt down. Do we possibly have another Armando Benitez in the making? Remember, Armando had some good times before he eventually fell apart.

Cue Jon Rauch. The guy is as big as a giant, but he throws a lot softer than one would think. With a fastball that occasionally strikes 90, this guy is not going to blow people away, but he’s proven in the past that he is capable of being a solid set-up guy, which is something the Mets have been trying to find for several years.

One more underrated addition to the bullpen was Ramon Ramirez. This is a guy who could strike some people out. He was solid in San Francisco, and he will likely fill the seventh inning role, but he could be called upon if Rauch and Francisco struggle.

The addition of Andres Torres? I am not thrilled about it, but I don’t hate it either. He is an above average defender with good leadership abilities. A couple of years ago, he showed some pop, and he seems excited to prove he still has something in the tank. My money is on him starting the year as the Mets’ lead-off hitter as well.

What Needs to Go Right — The Mets need several things to fall into place to be contenders, especially with the Marlins adding Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes and Carlos Zambrano. I have listed them below.

1. Daniel Murphy stays healthy for a full season.
2. Johan Santana contributes with at least 10 wins.
3. Mike Pelfrey settles in as a No. 4 or No. 5 pitcher.
4. Ike Davis proves healthy and pelts 30 homers in the adjusted Citifield.
5. David Wright gets his game back, and pelts 30 homers in a contract year.
6. Lucas Duda keeps improving, provides some pop from the No. 5 or 6 spot in the lineup
7. Jason Bay returns to his old form.

What do you think?