Mets Lineup: Reality and Wishful Thinking

Tonight Carlos Delgado has been dropped to 7th, which isn't necessarily a bad thing given his declining production. That said, Luis Castillo remains in the #2 hole, which is something that has been discussed ad nauseum all year.

Here's tonight's lineup:

Willie's Lineup:

• SS Jose Reyes
• 2B Luis Castillo
• 3B David Wright
• CF Carlos Beltran
• RF Ryan Church
• LF Moises Alou
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• C Brian Schneider
• P Mike Pelfrey

Here's the lineup I'd like to see:

My Lineup:

• SS Jose Reyes
• 3B David Wright
• CF Carlos Beltran
• RF Ryan Church
• LF Moises Alou
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• C Brian Schneider
• 2B Luis Castillo
• P Mike Pelfrey

My thoughts are that shaking up DW and Beltran by moving them down and putting Church and Alou at 4 and 5 is exactly the kind of jolt this team needs.

David Wright and Beltran have both been struggling, and this slight shift in the order will, if nothing else, change their thought patterns.

Studies have shown that slight adjustments to a routine often bring on dramatically improved performance, and this is a great opportunity to implement that type of subtle shift under very favorable circumstances.