Off day: Thoughts on Bay, Gee, Paulino

So Jason Bay has come back and immediately the Mets have won four games in a row. Coincidence? Let's check out the facts first:

• Bay has hit 5th in the lineup each of the four games, between Beltran and Davis.

• He's hitting a torrid .333/.412/.667 with a homer, 3 runs, and 3 RBI. His strikeout-to-walk ratio has not been pretty at 2:7.

• His defense has been adequate, and there's no reason to expect anything less than what he gave last year out in left. He's a downgrade from Harris, but an upgrade from Hairston and Duda.

• He's shown no ill effects of the rib injury he suffered this spring. Much more importantly, he hasn't shown any signs of the post-concussion syndrome that kept him sidelined for almost the entire second half last year.

Obviously those slash stats won't hold up, but if Bay can stay anywhere close to his career averages (.278/ .374/.509) he'll hold up well in the 5-hole for the Mets. Maybe they can get something out of his enormous contract after all. Before Bay came around, the rest of the team was hitting .222 in the 5-spot with only 1 HR and 10 RBI. Davis had the most plate appearances in that spot, followed by Pagan. Bay hitting between Beltran and Davis should strengthen and stretch out this lineup, giving the Mets a formidable 1-6 in the order, assuming Pagan hits second and hits well when he returns. Murphy and Thole could round out the rest of what should be a solid lineup (which ironically, was a lineup they could have used last year).

In other news, I'm sure all Met fans are excited that Dillon Gee has remained on the roster, at least for the time being. GM Sandy Alderson has said this will probably be only for a week or so, but you have to love what he and the rest of the big-club's management have been trying to do to change the way this ballclub has been run the last couple of years. Under Minaya, the Mets always tried to keep the "under-contract" guys on the roster no matter what, with Perez and Castillo being the best examples. Alderson signed D.J. Carrasco to the only multi-year contract that the Mets agreed upon with any free agent this offseason. He hasn't performed, so now he's in the minors. It's great that even though expectations for this team are low, Alderson is showing to us fans that winning is the priority even now.

It seems as though Ronny Paulino will be activated sometime this week, which will be bad news for Mike Nickeas, who seems to be the likely candidate for getting sent down. Nickeas has been showing signs of life with the bat and has continued to be a solid defensive option behind the plate. He seems to be calling good games as well, as the staff's ERA when he is behind the plate is 3.50 as opposed to the 4.94 mark that they're posting when Thole is behind the plate. Sending down Nickeas will thus be leaving the Mets with two defensively-challenged catchers on the rosters. I've always thought that Thole had upside defensively, as he's been learning on the job, but he seems to have taken a step backwards this year. He hasn't been hitting either, which have made his contributions to the club minimal. At least Paulino can hit, but the good feelings caused from this nice four-game winning streak have been a result of improved pitching. The Mets may be taking a step backwards here.