The Mets are still contenders?

I guess Jerry Manuel has to say that on the radio today with Mike Francesa, but nobody's buying it, not when you're putting out this lineup against one of the best pitchers in baseball and the team is a game under .500. Granted, the veterans that he is replacing are struggling or injured, but let's take a look, just for fun, since there are five rookies in there tonight.

1. Jose Reyes-SS (891 career games played, 95 games started in 2010, batting .280)
2. Fernando Martinez-RF (28 career GP, 1 GS in 2010, batting .200), replacing Francoeur
3. Angel Pagan-CF (370 career GP, 94 GS in 2010, batting .311)
4. David Wright-3B (963 career GP, 108 GS in 2010, batting .293)
5. Ike Davis-1B (97 career GP, 94 GS in 2010, batting .253), now a regular
6. Chris Carter-LF (27 career GP, 9 GS in 2010, batting .264), essentially replacing Beltran
7. Josh Thole-C (36 career GP, 16 GS in 2010, batting .323), platoon with Blanco as Barajas is on the DL
8. Ruben Tejada-2B (36 career GP, 34 GS in 2010, batting .196), replacing Castillo
9. Mike Pelfrey-P

Good luck tonight against Ubaldo Jimenez of thr 17-2 record, 2.61 ERA. He should easily be in double digits in strikeouts tonight, but, who knows, the Mets beat Adam Wainwright last week when he was the hottest pitcher in baseball.