Does Warmer Weather Help? 

        In April the Mets had lots of games with less then perfect conditions to play baseball.  For May the weather was better for the fans in Glen Allen, but the team had mixed results.  In April the team batting average at home was .235, which improved to .275 in May, but the team ERA went from 3.63 to 4.98.  The most consistent hitters for the year are Bautista, Segui and Pujols, while the pitchers include Venafro, Trachsel and Zito.

          Let’s look at who has been hot!  At the end of April, neither catcher, Fordyce or Molina, was even hitting his weight, but each hit .353 at the Yard and combined for 10 RBI.  Mike Lansing batted .143 at home in April and .289 with 4 homeruns and 11 RBI in May.  Kerry Robinson was brought up from the minors to provide a spark as the lead off batter and his results did not disappoint the fans or management.  First base coach Mookie Wilson was visited quite frequently and smiled when asked about the rookie, “Kerry was 12/14 in stolen bases and batted .287 with 27 hits including 4 doubles a triple and 2 homeruns.  It would be wonderful if he could keep that up for the whole season, but he’ll give it a try again in June.”  The ex-centerfielder continued to smile when talking about the current one, “Melvin batted .222 in April and .294 in May at home to raise his average to .275 with 13 doubles second on the club to Albert (Pujols). And only one error in the outfield!”

          Bench coach Mike Stanley shouted, “ Who raised his average almost .100 and .200 at home?”  With a sly grin Randy Velarde answered, “ I know I hit .076 in April and .276 in May at home and almost doubled my average up to .209.  I like the warmer weather so I hope to continue to improve.”

          Pitching coach Jimmy Key was kind of disappointed with the results in May.  “Our team ERA at home was almost 5 which caused our overall to go over 4 earned runs a game.  Wickman alone was 13.5 and McElroy almost 8, while Botallico, Ritchie, Milton also struggled.  Zito and Rekar each gave up 4 homeruns at home in four games but had 23 strikeouts and ERA below 4.25 to keep us in the games.  Chuck (McElroy) came up with a sore shoulder so he will rest in June, but Mike Magnante will be back.  Mike Timlin improved in May and stepped into the #1 right-handed set up ahead of Ricky (Botallico).”

          So what is a manager to do?  Hope that the pitching of April will combine with the hitting of May to get same better results in June.