The New York Mets are struggling. If this is surprising to you, you clearly do not follow baseball. Ever since Carlos Beltran watched strike three pass right by him in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, the Mets have been an organization in turmoil. In 2007 and 2008, the team failed to make the playoffs, collapsing at the end of the season each time. Last season, a myriad of injuries prevented the team from achieving any sort of success. The worst of the last three seasons was probably 2009 because they were not competitive whatsoever.

It’s still very early in the 2010 season, but so far it’s been the same old story. The Mets can’t hit with runners in scoring position, they haven’t been able to get enough consistency out of their starting pitchers, Carlos Beltran is hurt with no return date in sight and they can’t come back from a deficit. The self-proclaimed “Season of Comebacks” should mean more than just staying healthy; they should be able to make a comeback in the middle of a game, but they have failed to do that once.

John Maine and Oliver Perez simply cannot be relied on to be quality starters. Maine has completely fallen off a cliff; he has lost his velocity, his command and, as a result of that, his confidence. He’s a lost cause. We’ve already seen good Ollie and bad Ollie this season, which at this point is OK to have as a fifth starter. Unfortunately his $12 million salary says he should be a top of the rotation pitcher, which is why Mets fans have felt so much animosity toward Perez, as well as GM Omar Minaya for recklessly handing out such a lucrative contract.

There are reasons to be optimistic, though, and Mike Pelfrey is the primary one. He has gotten off to a tremendous start this season; he’s 3-0 in three starts with a 0.86 earned run average, and also notched his first career save in the 20-inning fiasco against the St. Louis Cardinals. It seems that Pelfrey has really matured. He has a different demeanor about him. He’s radiating with confidence on the mound. Less reliance on his fastball and the addition of a split-finger has Pelfrey in the best stretch of his career; he hasn’t allowed a run in his last 19 innings. If he keeps this going throughout the season, he will firmly entrench himself as that No. 2 starting pitcher the Mets so desperately need behind Johan Santana.

The offense has been really flat thus far. Everyone seems to be slumping all at once. Even Jeff Francoeur, who was white hot to start the season, is hitless in his last 22 at-bats. David Wright and Jason Bay have been striking out at an alarming rate. Jose Reyes appears to still have a ways to go in getting his leg strength back to 100 percent, which has caused him to struggle. There was next to nothing in terms of production coming from first base, which prompted the promotion of Ike Davis.

What I’m about to say may be a tough pill to swallow, but Mets fans need to be patient with this offense. There’s too much talent for them to perform so poorly for much longer. Reyes, Wright and Bay will snap out of their funks soon enough. Davis’ call-up will provide a young, hungry bat from the left side of the plate, as well as good defense, which he proved with his acrobatic play on Wednesday night. Hitting is contagious, and once one of the big bats breaks out, I think it will have a domino effect on the others.

Is it reasonable to expect this team to be playing meaningful games throughout September? The answer is simple: Ya Gotta Believe!