Maine takes the hill in hopes of first succes

John Maine gets the start for the Mets tonight, and it will be the first chance for Mets fans to see Maine pitch in a major league game. I had a brief look at him in Spring Training, and I was not very impressed. In five innings Maine allowed seven runs, which is an un-impressive 12.60 era. However, in four starts in AAA Maine has a 2.62 era, despite a 1-3 record. Maine is 25 years old, and was required by the Mets, along with Jorge Julio, in the Kris Benson deal. Keep in mind this: if Maine bombs tonight in the minds of 60% of the fan base the Benson deal is a complete bust, since Julio appears useless as well. However, please remember that he has a good arm, and is still a young and developing pitcher, players are bound to throw some bad games in their career, so no matter what happens tonight please do not judge too quickly. Last season Maine's stats are worse than Maine actually was. He went into a bit of a funk ending the season, however through Maine's first 37.1 innings he had a 3.27 era. Although, in his last three starts Maine had a cool 18.00 era, a feat not easy to achieve. Maine said that if he controls his fastball and can control his changeup he will keep his team in the game, and I assume that he could not control his pitches, as he walked seven batters in eight innings.