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It has finally happened the way the game plan was designed. After a sub-par beginning the New York Mets have finally begun to resemble the team expected to win the National League and World Series. Securing the services of two-time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana and adding him to an already strong rotation allowed the Mets to become early favorites for the Warren Giles Trophy.

But, what a team looks like on paper and how it performs on the field are two entirely different matters. 

Before their recent two game skid, the Mets were hitting (and pitching) on all cylinders, winning five game in a row despite manager Willie Randolph's best efforts to cost his team wins.

The Mets were finally getting good starting pitching. During the five game win streak the starters averaged 6 2/3 innings (33.3 innings), allowing only 21 hits, 7 earned runs while striking out 32. Santana out dueled fellow lefty ace Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night striking out a season high 10 batters. Nelson Figueroa, who is filling in for the injured Pedro Martinez and who has not pitched in the major leagues since 2004, has dominated his two starts and is currently 2-0. Although he was knocked around a little Sunday night, former first round pick Mike Pelfrey has pitched well, sporting a 2-0 record. And both 15 game winners from last season, Oliver Perez and John Maine, have begun to give the Mets good starts, although Perez has his usual bouts of wildness.

Even the bullpen is relatively secure. Closer Billy Wagner has only allowed 1 base runner (a Chase Utley walk) in his 7 innings of work, saving 4 games and primary set up men Aaron Heilmann, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano have performed well enough. The recent arrival of Duaner Sanchez, out with shoulder injuries since 2006, can only help.

The offense started to percolate when Randolph inserted Ryan Church into the #2 spot in the batting order behind leadoff man Jose Reyes and just ahead of MVP candidate David Wright. It is no coincidence that when Church was moved the Mets began their winning streak. During those five games the trio of Reyes/Church/Wright combined for a .438 average (28 for 64) with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 4 HR's. That's just those three guys! In only five games!

Then why did Randolph switch Church back to the 6^th spot in the order and move Luis Castillo back into the 2 spot? Since that switch was made the Mets lost the last tow. A telling moment came in Sunday night 9^th inning with the Mets losing 5-4 in the top of the 9^th inning. The Phillies closer Brad Lidge had runners on first and second, and no outs when the #2 spot in the order came up. Castillo could not get a sacrifice bunt down to move the runners over and eventually struck out. Would Ryan Church in that position have made a difference? Probably. He is a more powerful hitter than Castillo and had flourished in that spot in the order.

But, while the pitching is becoming sounder and the hitting has improved, there remain some concerns, namely the on field managerial competence of Willie Randolph and some concerns about a few veterans.

Randolph's complete inability to handle his pitching staff is a major concern. When one of his starting pitchers allows a base runner or two anytime after the 5^th inning, Willie gets guys up in the bullpen. This is way too early! Randolph is burning out his pen in the month of April. Heilmann has appeared in 12 of the Mets' 18 games and Jorge Sosa and Joe Smith have been in 10 games each.  That is too many games this early. Heilmann is on pace to pitch in 107 games!

Playing in an era where starting pitchers consistently went at least 7 innings, you would think Randolph would allow his starters some leash. The starters need to learn how to clean up their own mess and Willie needs to save the bullpen. Oliver Perez was pulled in the 6^th off of two starts this season when he hadn't yet given up a run! Come September when all the arms in the bullpen are hanging and sore, we will look back at the overuse of the bullpen this early in the season.

The trio of Reyes/Church/Wright needs to be resurrected for the entire season.

That productive top three also had taken pressure off of two veteran Mets who have not been productive - Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado. Both Carlos' recently have been fighting to see which one can hit the Mendoza line of a .200 batting average first. (Delgado won) While Met fans should be OK with Beltran's slow start because he has been productive in recent years, there should be some concern with Delgado, who has yet to show he can handle a good fastball. The return of Moises Alou, who is out with a hernia injury, should help the Mets and deepen their lineup. He is already hitting well during his minor league rehab starts.

The Mets have unbelievable talent both on the mound and in the lineup and this talent has been able to overcome Randolph's lack of managerial talent. These are my suggestions for the Mets, specifically Willie Randolph:

  1)    Put Ryan Church back in the #2 spot in the order -

The Mets team is just better with Castillo out of the #2 spot. With Church in the #2 spot, the Mets are 5-0 and when Castillo is #2 the Mets are 2-8. All the Mets losses so far this season have come with Castillo in the #2 spot!

•2)    Allow your starters to go deeper into games -

Especially Johan Santana, Oliver Perez and John Maine. Those three guys are durable enough (and Santana is paid enough) to go longer. The Mets need to save their bullpen for the entire season, not to blow it out in April.

•3)    Give the struggling Carlos Delgado until the All-Star break to get his act together

If Delgado still struggles a that point (he is not playing good defense either), the Mets should look to Mike Carp, a 2004 9^th round draft pick who is currently tearing up the AA Eastern League with a .449 average, 5 HR's and 17 RBI's. Carp is similar to Mike Jacobs, the Marlins first baseman who the Mets traded before the 2006 season for Delgado. It doesn't matter where you are playing, if you are hitting .449 this deep into the season - you are a good hitter.

•4)    If the bullpen gets worn down bring up RHP Eddie Kunz

Kunz was the closer at two-time defending NCAA champion Oregon State and is doing very well at AA Binghamton and he is used to pressure situations. It worked last season for the Yankees with Joba Chamberlain and it would good to see the Mets get younger.