After a rough first couple of weeks in spring training things are finally looking up for the Mets. John Maine threw four no-hit innings a couple of days ago. Johan Santana blanked the Red Sox yesterday. The Carloses, Delgado and Beltran, returned to action yesterday. Jose Valentin also made a surprise early return on Sunday. Valentin is not a lock to make the team but at a time when some key players (like Alou and Castillo) are not healthy we can use all the veteran help we can get.

Position players aside I think that the Maine and Santana performances are big news. Pitching is huge. If we have really good pitching the Mets can survive those periods when our position players are slumping or injured. Hopefully Martinez, Pelfrey, Perez and El Duque can find some grooves as well. The Mets have an abundance of possible starters right now. That's great because we won't need everyone to be totally in a groove in order to start the season on a positive note.