New York Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey threw 7 innings of shutout baseball thursday afternoon and low-and-behold the team beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0 to salvage the finale of a 3-game set. While perhaps depleted in regards to past season the Mets' offense has shown a degree of power and fight that was missing during the entirety of last year's disappointing season. However, despite being more aggressive at the plate the team has gotten off to a slow, 3 and 6 start thanks to a lack of production from the starting rotation. Thursday saw the first game in which a Mets pitcher lasted into the 7th inning this years after they had been one of only two team not to accomplish that feat in the first two weeks of the year. I'm glad the team was able to get a much needed win before they head into a tough weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals but it is evident that for the Mets to be successful in 2010 they need more efforts like Pelfrey's (whose allowed only 2 runs in 13 innings of work while striking out 10) from the starting 5. Even stalwart ace Johan Santana has struggled out of the gate and the team has not been able to overcome the lack of pitching depth.
The silver lining to the team's slow start has been the stellar work of the bullpen which had helped expedite the Mets' late season collapses in recent years. General Manager Omar Minaya came to the conclusion during the offseason that the starting pitchers he had on his roster were better than the ones available in free agency and now that decision is being put to the test. Pelfrey is the only Mets starter to be on track in the early-goings and there is still plenty of time for Minaya to be proved correct. I can only hope that the team's season isn't jeopardized in the process (it's still early enough to be optimistic, even if you root for the Metropolitans).
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