It has been a tough two games in Colorado for the Mets and Mets fans alike. The Mets are now sitting in third place behind the Nationals and the Phillies in the blink of an eye. A few things have not gone right for the Mets to get us to this point. 

Friday night Matt Harvey returned to his middle inning struggles as in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, hitters were hitting almost anything he was throwing. Harvey ended up giving up five runs in 5.2 innings on Friday, despite his last start in San Diego which seemed rather promising. Harvey’s fastball in San Diego was averaging 96 mph and on Friday night his average fastball velocity was back down, this time to 93 mph which was a season low. It’s tough to put a finger on where else Harvey might be struggling besides his middle inning struggles which are insanely obvious at this point. Harvey has a 1.50 ERA between the first and third innings, and a 8.72 ERA between the fourth and sixth innings this season. Harvey also doesn’t seem to know what the issue is with himself, and when Terry Collins suggested that Dan Warthen would help him adjust his release point, Harvey quickly shot that notion down. You have to wonder if this is a more mental funk than physical funk that Harvey is in right now.”My body feels fine,” Harvey said when asked by reporters about his condition. “It’s just frustrating being out there right now.” It’s tough to watch Harvey struggle but he’s going to gut it out every single start until he gets himself right. He has no track record of the numbers he is producing this season, which could be the only encouraging sign to this point that he will return to the pitcher we are accustomed to.

The Mets lineup has also been a bit inconsistent over the past two games as well. It may not be a bad idea to shake things up for a few days and see what happens. I think Terry Collins should move Michael Conforto down in the lineup for a couple of games to see if he can get back on track. Over the last eleven games Conforto is hitting .167 and it seems opposing pitchers may have a read on him right now. Moving Conforto back down in the lineup may possibly take some pressure off the young player and help him make some adjustments. I also can’t believe how bad Curtis Granderson is slumping. Granderson has never been known as a high average guy, but his weapon has always been his ability to get on base. Over the last 11 games Granderson has an anemic .135 batting average with a .182 on base percentage. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to let Granderson sit for a couple of days and have Juan Lagares or Alejandro De Aza fill in. The Mets pride themselves on their outfield depth and it comes in handy in this kind of situation.

And yes I do believe that rookie Umpire Carlos Torres foul-tip call cost the Mets a chance at winning last night’s game. For Torres to make such a bold call he needs to be 100% positive that he heard the ball hit the bat, or he saw some sort of change of direction from the ball off the bat. It was painfully obvious that the ball did not touch the bat, and that call opened up the flood gates for the Rockies to score four runs that inning. Instead of the pitcher coming up with two outs and the bases loaded, Verrett had to throw another pitch to Tony Wolters and he ripped it for a double and began the rally. Many players were disgruntled with the call including manager Terry Collins.

“It’s unfair. There’s no reason for it,” Collins said after the game.” When you watch the hitter turn around and walk back to the dugout, you wouldn’t come out? Seriously, is there anybody in this room who wouldn’t come out?”

It was a tough break for the Mets, one they certainly didn’t need with the way things have gone over the past few days. Let’s hope the Mets can right the ship today, as an important May series looms next as the Nationals make their first trip to Citi Field Tuesday night. While the Mets aren’t playing their best baseball currently, we know how explosive this team can be when everything is clicking, and if everyone can get back on the same page offensively we are in for a three round heavyweight fight this week against the Nationals.