The 'Ropolitans

What to say about Pedro Martinez? His last four or five starts have been good to great. He may be giving up hits, but he's limiting the numbers of runs allowed, and that's all that matters.

Still, the home runs, especially of the Solo variety, seem to be a big issue lately. I haven't seen anything different going on with Pedro that would make him more prone to home runs or anything like that, but by my unofficial tally in my head, I think he's allowed 6 or 7 over his last 5 starts.

Pedro pitched well, and the Mets went into the bottom of the ninth with a six run lead. This was the perfect oppourtunity to work "the closer of the future," Eddie Kunz into the mix. Well three runs and a hit batsmen later, Kunz had to be removed in favor of Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano before the game got entirely out of hand.

Kunz is in a tough spot, as he hasn't pitched in days and is never sure if, or when, he'll get a shot. When he's finally called upon, he's most likely rusty and unprepared, not the best situation for a young pitcher.

Give Kunz a steady job in. A year or two, and I think he'll be a huge asset to the Mets bullpen, but he just doesn't seem ready yet and the Mets are unwilling to hand him the keys to the bullpen car...yet.