Last season was a bit of a coming of age for John Maine. The first half of the season he looked like a rising star, but like the rest of the New York Mets-Miserables, he faded down the home stretch. He did have one of the strongest outings for a Mets starter in the second half last season when he struck out 14 Marlins over 7 2/3 innings in late September. Unfortunately it was the last Mets win of the season, and it was too little too late to catch the Phillies. Maine is slated to be the Mets #3 man this year, and hopes are high that he will be better prepared to endure the long season.

The injury bug is still hovering over Maine like a horsefly around your head in a swimming pool, as John Maine’s left hip is still a cause for concern. Spring training 2007 Maine “tweaked” his left hip to the point where the doctors diagnosed it as a sports hernia. I don’t really know what a sports hernia means, but I do know it dominated Donovan McNabb for a season, so it can’t be a minor thing. The Mets and Maine however disagreed with the doctor’s prognosis and worked through the discomfort. "Pain don’t hurt" (thanks for the quote Dalton) or at least that’s what Maine thought after his 5-0 start last season. Maine has made adjustments however, as the talk in camp is that he’s shown up in fantastic shape, and he’s up about 15 pounds in overall body weight. This is good news as the hardships of traveling across the country, sleeping with girls from Elliot Spitzer’s stable, and tossing a few innings should be offset by coming into camp prepared for the long season.

Maine’s biggest weapon on the mound is his smarts. A cerebral guy, Maine finishes the New York Times crossword puzzle everyday in the locker room before suiting up. The Mets are eager to exploit this type of pitcher as the ability to out-think opponents has created very successful careers to many other players. Tom Glavine is the prototypical cerebral pitcher, as his fastball never topped 90mph, but his smarts, location, and sheer cunning have developed his 300+ win, hall of fame career. Glavine’s always been a Brave though, so even his more productive starts at Shea were tarnished by his Atlanta roots. Maine actually shows a bigger upside then a young Tom Glavine; His fastball tops out at about 95mph, his slider is sharp and getting nastier, and his changeup is as filthy as a whore visiting a sailor’s picnic.

Maine, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte grad, pitched through discomfort and had a decent season for the Mets. 15-10 was a solid record for a guy who really wasn’t expected to be a prime contributor. Unfortunately nothing was going to save the NY Mess last season, history was calling, and the Mets answered. Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson seem fairly excited about the possibility that Maine will be able to win some games this year, pitch quality starts, and give them a reliable #3 guy to eat up 200 innings plus.