The Cubs are a very strong team this year. They’re eying the World Series like an alcoholic who hasn’t had a drink in about 100 years. With their win over the NY Mets last night, another strong team in the Major Leagues, they seem poised and ready to defeat their own curse this year.

The Mets have a super talented team, and have had some solid wins over the last few weeks. But going up against a major contender like the Cubs is sure to humble them and bring them to the reality that they’ve really got to step up their game if they want to compete in the playoffs.

Fortunately, they’ve got several months before that inevitability hits. And in September they’ll be able to play the Cubs again, gauging their improvement and growth throughout the season.

Main was the one bright spot in the Mets performance. The Daily News reports:

“Maine has allowed two runs or fewer while completing at least six innings in each of his last three starts. Monday night, he deferred to Duaner Sanchez after six innings, having held the Cubs to two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two.”

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Carlos Beltran’s got a welt on his arm due to a wild pitch by Johan Santana. According to a recent blog by Bart Hubbuch:

“Randolph said Beltran was among several veteran hitters who - upset at having to face young pitchers eager to out-duel them in mere BP - asked to go instead against an older pitcher unafraid to throw strikes.”

Thinking he was going up against one of the most controlled pitchers in the league, you can imagine Beltran’s surprise at getting nailed.

According to John Harper, the pitcher to watch this season is John Maine. He believes that the Mets may well have the deepest and most dominant rotation in the National League. When you put together Pedro Martinez, Santana, Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez, and Maine, you’ve got a pretty great line-up. Maine had a great year last season, where Harper claims that “there were more that a few days when Maine looked like on the best pitchers in baseball.”

With all of the depth and possibilities available for this World Series caliber team, there’s a lot of optimism going around. Both Brian Schneider and Ryan Church, two new editions the NY team report missing their friends in their old club, but excited about the possibilities with such a winning line-up.

“You look around this clubhouse and you see MVP candidates, All-Stars, Cy Youngs,” Schneider says. There are a lot of good reasons to buy Mets tickets this year.