MLB

I was sitting on my couch on Tuesday night and turned on the Cincinnati Reds-Pittsburgh Pirates game, mainly to watch Mike Leake pitch. In the top of the eighth, Leake got into a little bit of trouble and Dusty Baker called on Arthur Rhodes to help bail out him out.

Here is the beautiful thing about writing: you start to watch a baseball game with a thought in mind about what or whom you are going to write and then something happens during the course of a game that completely changes your train of thought.

The New York Mets have long been without a presence of leadership and consistent confidence. You have to look back into Mets lore to find several players who exuded those attributes.

One of them is Edgardo Alfonzo. While with the Mets , he became a leader and an example. He was what is called "clutch."

After the Mets dominated the Phillies in the first two games of a three-game series, every team in the NL East is above .500, and separated by only three games. So, with the recent resurgence of New York, the silent emergence of the Nationals (sans Stephen Strasburg), and the struggling Phillies, the question is worth asking: Is the NL East that good, or that bad?

Let’s break it down.

The Good

Look at that. Sir Arthur Rhodes is either making the "V" sign (for "victory"), or trying to hump his back upward for the "W" (which would signify "win"). He is begging Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty for another arm to come out of the pen.

If the Cincinnati Reds plan a September run, they will need to trade for a relief pitcher.

Baseball is the chess of team sports.

There's a lot of sitting around and strategy abound. Managers make double switches to prevent pitchers from hitting in key situations. They pull pitchers for matchup purposes based on statistics.

Baseball's also a sport of failure.

A hitter with a .300 average gets commended for the job, despite getting out seven of 10 times.

Due to lackadaisical hitting, the St. Louis Cardinals went down for a second straight night to the San Diego Padres in an extra inning, late night thriller.

The Red Birds lineup managed to get 16 men on base by way of 10 hits and six walks. With that amount of production, it is a wonder how the Cardinals only had one man swipe home plate. 

While getting 16 base runners, the struggling lineup also managed to strikeout 16 times, including four from David Freese. Jaime Garcia didn't strikeout once at the plate and posted a hit while pitching six scoreless from the mound.

Eduardo Nunez is not really a common name among Yankee fans, but it soon could be.

While Derek Jeter has not had the best start to the 2010 season, Nunez has had a brilliant start down in AAA Scranton.

He is currently hitting .328 with two home runs and 21 RBI, he also has 12 steals and has scored 19 runs. Basically, he can do it all, except for fielding.

On the one hand, the Cubs have Mr. Gorzelanny to blame for losing the game yesterday, as he allowed seven runs in five innings.

But at least it solves one dilemma; it solidifies the decision as to which starter will be replaced by Carlos Zambrano next week.

While the offense continues to struggle scoring runs (three runs in Tuesday's win, three of their five runs yesterday were scored after the game was 7-2, and only two hits through seven innings today), Gorzy never really gave the Cubs a chance to win.

The rumor mill is swirling with talk of the Marlins potentially recalling super prospect Mike Stanton as soon as today (Mike Lamb was recalled instead). 

It never made sense (especially considering the financial implications of waiting another week), but there is no doubt that now is the time to stash him away if you are in need of a power boost.

It's almost Memorial Day, and a lot of Mets fans are getting really excited about the potential chance at a playoff run.

There is reason for that excitement as the Mets have put together a good home stand and have shut the Phillies out two straight games.

At the same time, there are a lot of things that the Mets will have to do well from now through the Trading Deadline to stay in the race.

The Mets have some starting pitching concerns and may have some issues in their lineup, concerning the oufield.