By Adam Rossi

As the season rolls on and the Mets continue to fight for their second consecutive NL East title, the focus now seems to be on Tom Glavine, and when he will get career win number 300. Needing only two more victories with two and a half months left in the season, barring injury, it seems inevitable that it will occur shortly or at least by season's end. In any case, whenever a team can go into the post season and throw a pitcher out on the mound that has 300 career wins, a World Series MVP Award, and a Cy Young Award, they should feel very good about their chances. But can the Mets say that about Tom Glavine this year?

As most Mets fans know, despite being 11 games over .500 and 2.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for first place, the 2007 season has been quite a roller coaster ride. While there have been many positive surprises and exciting moments, there has also been inconsistency and bad luck. The same can be said about Tom Glavine's season. So far this year, Glavine has pitched a complete game, one hit shutout (albeit a six-inning, rain shortened game), an 8-inning performance in which he allowed only two hits and one run. He has also gone at least six innings in 17 of his 21 starts. However, he's also had outings in which the Mets have given him first inning leads of 3-0 (at Detroit) and 6-0 (at Los Angeles Thursday night), and Glavine was not only unable to record the win, but not even get through the fifth inning. Thursday night the Mets spotted him leads of 6-0 after the first and 9-4 after the top of the 3rd inning, meanwhile Glavine was unable to record an out in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, the Mets handed Glavine a lead three different times in four innings and Glavine was unable to hold them (the Mets lost the game 11-8). Also, in an early April matchup against John Smoltz and the Braves, Glavine threw 114 pitches and lasted only 5.1 innings to take the loss. It seems that the recurring theme in all his less than stellar outings is that they have come against playoff caliber teams. In fact, against teams with a .500 or better record (also included are the Phillies, who are 57-58, but trail the Mets by 6 games in the NL East) Glavine has posted a 3-5 record with an ERA of 6.67. The Mets are 6-7 in those games. Meanwhile, against teams that are under .500, Glavine has a 5-1 record with an ERA of 1.80, and the Mets are 7-1 in those games. Of course it is much harder to defeat winning teams than it is to defeat team that are struggling. There's a difference, though, between losing to a good team and constantly struggling to beat them.

Come October, the Mets won't be playing teams like the Reds and the Nationals. Glavine is going to have to step on the mound and face teams like the Dodgers, who he allowed 6 earned runs in only 2 innings last night, and the Braves, who he has failed to beat in three outings this year. With the uncertainty of Pedro Martinez's health, and the fragility of Orlando Hernandez, it is essential that Glavine start pitching like the future Hall Of Famer that he is. John Maine and Oliver Perez have pitched well, but there's no guarantee they can keep it up. Maine has already showed signs of coming back down to Earth in his last two outings. The Mets need Tom Glavine to be the number one starter they thought he would be at the start of the season, otherwise, their hopes for a World Series could be in trouble.