The Mets put yet another star on the disabled list, this time center fielder Carlos Beltran. He joins Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes on the DL, and that's just in the lineup.

Pitchers John Maine, Oliver Perez and J.J. Putz sit on the DL for the Mets, as well.

So why am I so optimistic?

Amazingly, the Mets have been able to stay in the NL East race, as today they sit just 1.5 games behind first-place Philadelphia.

But is that the reason?

Not fully. The Mets are finally the underdogs again. They were in 2006, when no matter how talented the Mets looked on paper, you had to be crazy to pick them to win the East over the Atlanta Braves. But that was the last time.

They were expected to blow through the league in 2007, which they did for five months before having a dreadful September and coughing up the division to the Phillies.

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