The Jerry Manuel era begins as inauspiciously as we could have imagined, with Jose Reyes departing with nondescript leg injury and the Mets managing practically nothing against John Lackey. Johan Santana did Manuel no favors by turning in a rare stinker, allowing five runs in six innings of work. Though, he's been terrible in Anaheim over the course of his career, sporting an ERA over five in four career starts there.
I really can't get over how bad this offense is. Even before Reyes left the game the Mets had Endy Chavez, Marlon Anderson, Luis Castillo, Fernando Tatis, Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider in the same lineup. Sans Reyes, you can add Damion Easley to that list. Bleah. That lineup won't win too many Triple-A games let along Major League ones. No one should be surprised at this point when the Mets struggle to score runs or maintain any type of offensive consistency. I must sound like a broken Allan Sherman record here, but without Ryan Church and Moises Alou -- or any reasonable facsimile thereof -- the Mets are going to have problems scoring runs all season. Much like last night's midnight massacre, Omar Minaya comes out smelling like crap.
Rick Peterson is gone and Omar Minaya continues to run this team into the ground. That there was no reasonable contingency for injuries to the corner outfielders is inexcusable and alone could be grounds for dismissal. If the Mets don't manage to generate any runs by the time the five-spot rolls around in the order then you can probably go fix a snack or take the dog for a walk because you be damned sure the Mets won't do anything for a couple of innings.
Big winners: Aaron Heilman, +0.7% WPA, Endy Chavez, +4.4% WPA
Big losers: Johan Santana, -23.9% WPA, Brian Schneider, -8.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Castillo single in 1st, +8.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Torii Hunter two-run double, -17.1% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -23.8%
Total batter WPA: -26.2%