Half Full or Half Empty?

As the Mets reached the statistical halfway point yesterday, the monkeys were curious about some of the players first and second half splits over the years. Are they better earlier in the season or is the best yet to come. Here's what we found:

Carlos Delgado
2007: .242 - .285
Career: .269 - .291

What we have seen recently may not be a complete mirage. Delgado traditionally has been a better second half hitter. As we mentioned in yesterday's post, if he could finish 26, 90 .250, most fans would happily take that.

Luis Castillo
2007: .305 - .296
Career: .299 -.285

Castillo usually has a mild falloff in the 2nd half, but given his size, that is to be expected. Perhaps with more rest, he'll hold up a little better. Needless to say though, Castillo could break down at any time.

Jose Reyes
2007: .307-.251
Career: .284-.287

Last year's dramatic second half slump had the monkeys expecting poor second half numbers throughout his career, but the numbers indicate last year might have been an aberration. Reyes needs to be given more rest than last season during the hotter months, but it is reasonable to expect him to maintain his current production.

David Wright

2007: .292-.364
Career: .294-.324

Wright made an MVP run last year in the second half and if not for the Mets collapse, he would have battled Matt Holiday for the award. Wright has been a second half player throughout his young career.

Carlos Beltran

2007: .264-.293
Career: .272- .291

Beltran has also been a better second half player and he has improved as is legs have healed so no reason to expect things to change this year.

Ryan Church

2007: .259- .293
Career: .282 - .267

Church got better in the second half last year, but that was contrary to his career numbers. As he recovers from his concussions, the Mets are just hoping for maintenence.

Brian Schneider

2007: .235 - .236
Career: .248 - .260

Nothing very telling in these numbers. Expect Schneider to hit between .250-.260 in the second half.

Many of these numbers are encouraging particularly for the guys in the middle of the lineup. We'll believe it when we see it (and the Mets have already pushed back his return), but Eight Belles may soon return as well. So there is some hope for optimistic fans about the offense.