After an encouraging series against the Florida Marlins the Mets return with a respectable, albeit disappointing, 3-4 record on the road. The Mets start their series tonight with the Arizona Diamondbacks, their first against an NL West ballclub. The Diamondbacks have been surprisingly good thus far, and the Mets will get to see why as they face their more consistent starters over the next three games. In the first game of the series, the rejuvenated Kris Benson (3-1, 3.86) will square off against former Yankee farmhand, Brad Halsey (3-2, 3.34). In Game 2, Victor Zambrano (2-5, 4.74) will attempt to trick Omar Minaya into leaving him in the rotation for another start as he faces D-Back ace, Brandon Webb (6-1, 3.39) And, in the finale, the Mets will send to the hill Pedro Martinez (5-1, 2.79) in the hopes that he can fend off former Met Shawn Estes (4-3, 3.79).

Game 1: Brad Halsey

What’s the Story? Considered the Yankees best pitching prospect, Halsey found himself as one of three players traded in the offseason for Randy Johnson. Halsey quickly earned a spot in the Diamondbacks rotation and has pitched pretty well in his nine starts with the team (and is making the league minimum, as opposed to somebody like, say, Jaret Wright). Halsey, a lefthander, has a low 90’s fastball, a solid cutter, an average change, and an excellent slider.

Last Year: Who could forget Brad Halsey’s start against the Mets last season? Halsey came in — making only his second major league start — and was pounded, giving up seven runs in three and a third innings. The start was out of character for the Halsey we’ve seen thus far this season, as he surrendered five walks in the game (almost half of what he’s given up so far this year).

What to Expect: Halsey is a completely different pitcher than the one we saw last season. He’s learned to pitch, and has been aggressive in the strike zone, with no fear of throwing inside. While he has pitched lights out in the early innings of his starts, he gets hit harder after he’s gone through the lineup once or twice. Because his changeup isn’t anything special, he mostly uses his fastball and slider to get strikes. Because of this, he has developed an over-reliance on his slider, his major out pitch, which has hurt him in some starts.

Game 2: Brandon Webb

What’s the Story? After the Curt Schilling trade, Arizona was depending on Webb to simply step forward and fill the spot. He went on to lose seventeen games and walk 119 people. Not pretty. Webb has, however, realized his potential this season. Though he’s still walking his fair share of guys, he’s having more success spotting his pitches this season, while the infield defense behind him has improved. Webb features a decent curve, a nice changeup, and one hell of a low-90’s sinker.

Last Year: Webb lost his lone start against the Mets last season, surrendering five runs on six hits, while walking three and striking out two.

What to Expect: The sinker. Often. While Webb has struggled with command, he has complete and total control of his sinker, and it’s been nearly impossible this season to get good contact off it. While Webb has had success with his sinker, his other pitches leave something to be desired. He works predominantly in the bottom half of the strike zone, because he gets hammered when he leaves his pitches up. While Webb has a solid changeup, he rarely uses it, depending more on his pedestrian curve. If Mets hitters can keep waiting on him to hang his pitches (ie: last season), they could find some success there. Whether it be enough to get Victor Zambrano a win is questionable.

Game 3: Shawn Estes

What’s the Story? Estes is best known in his Mets career, and possibly for his entire career, as the pitcher who threw behind Roger Clemens. Since that start, Estes has done nothing of note, and has pitched some hideous ballgames. However, even with an ERA of 6.42 since leaving the Mets, he’s managed to win twenty four games including fifteen last season for the dreadful Colorado Rockies. Because of those empty wins and the fact that he’s left-handed, the Diamondbacks handed Estes a one year, 2.5 million dollar deal. So far, Estes has pitched fairly well for the Diamondbacks, even keeping his walk totals low (for him, anyway). Estes sports four pitches: a high-80s-to-low-90s fastball, a solid changeup and a solid curveball.

Last Year: Estes was horrible against the Mets last year, losing both his starts and pitching to the tune of a 8.44 ERA. In 10.2 innings he gave up seventeen hits for ten earned runs, gave up four homeruns and walked ten. Mets hitters hit .378 against him.

What to Expect: As any Met fan can attest to, you never know what to expect from Estes, as he’s about as hot and cold a pitcher as it comes. One day he can go out and throw a one hit, complete game shutout, and in his next start he could walk the ballpark and give up seven runs. One thing about Estes that has changed from his time with the Mets is he’s started to rely on his changeup more, which was something Charlie Hough tried to get him to do while he was here. Mets hitters should be as patient as possible against Estes, because he usually pitches himself into trouble. Estes major flaw is his inability to give into hitters, which leads to lots of walks. If Met hitters can lay off pitches on the outside of the corner, they can get to Estes early.

Overall: There’s a running trend to all these pitchers, and it’s the fact that the Mets dominated all three last season. While enough has changed from last season to the present, there’s still a chance that the Mets can hang around in all three games. Benson against Halsey is a wash at this point in the season, and it really depends on who blinks first. Webb, by all means, should wipe the floor with Victor Zambrano. Likewise for Pedro against Estes. I’d be disappointed if the Mets didn’t take 2 out of 3 this series.

Predicted Record: 27-24
Actual Record: 26-25