|
The Mets fell to the Detroit Tigers by the score of 4-2 today in the Grapefruit League opener in Lakeland, Florida.
- Mike Pelfrey started and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just a base hit and striking one.
- Ramon Castro drove home Angel Pagan with a sacrifice fly in the first, and Anderson Machado tripled home Michel Abreu in the second inning.
- Ryan Church, the only projected Major League starter in the lineup, was 0-for-2 with a walk.
- OF prospect Fernando Martinez was 1-for-1.
- Off-season signees Matt Wise and Brian Stokes both tossed a scoreless inning, as did Triple A LHP Adam Bostick and bullpen locks Pedro Feliciano and Jorge Sosa.
- Left hander Willie Collazo, a September callup last year, surrendered all four runs in the seventh inning.
…most important is the nice outing by Pelfrey, followed closely by solid bullpen work… the Tigers had nearly their entire big league lineup out there, too…
Pelfrey, after his start on his chances of making the team, as quoted by Adam Rubin at the NY Daily News:
“I don’t know if there’s even a slot open. Of course, anybody you ask, they want to be on the team. It’s the same way. I want to be on this team and I want to help them. I’ll just try to make the decision difficult. I think the chances of the whole staff going the whole year without something happening, it’s slim. If I don’t get it out of spring training, I’ll get my opportunity. There’s no way I can be mad. They’ve given me opportunities and I just haven’t taken advantage of them. That’s the bottom line.”
The Mets will be in Jupiter tomorrow to take on the St. Louis Cardinals. John Maine will make his first start of the spring.
 |
 |
 |
RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Phillies won today. Already 1 game back. Pathetic.
Dude, these games mean less than nothing. This is going to be a LOOONG journey. Don’t get too wrapped up in spring training games. The most signifcant thing here is Pelf’s outing. Very encouraging.
Ummm… I think hes trying to be funny…
Oh no already 0-1 in Spring training, hurry everybody, head for the hills!
I’m onthe ledge
he failed
These people are pretty funny.
Dear Lord you people are Ridiculous, who gave up those 4 runs? some guy that has no chance in making The Mets this year, so who cares what he did? The Mets Pithcers that actually matter pitched very well today, and Michale Abreu had another hit, hes looked good.
lets not even mention that the Mets only had 1 actual starter in the game at all, so all of you relax.
I think everyone acting upset about this loss today is being sarcastic. Everybody here realized these games mean nothing. Let’s just be healthy and ready to go in Miami next month.
good first game. gotta like Pelf’s quote. the final score means zilch…what matters is everyone gets a good solid outing.
Yeah, glad to see he has a solid outlook on things.
And the collapse continues. ;-)
not mentioned was the brawl that started when the
managers exchanged lineup cards.
Great another long year
Agree with Tug…I like what Pelf had to say…I’m sure everyone here is rooting for the kid..he’s got the ability, its a question of getting there mentally and learning to execute. Assuming it comes together, this is the best part of watching home grown talent
FIRE WILLIE. This is getting ridiculous.
What did the rest of the team do?
Carlos Beltran was seen throwing a baseball in the air to himself a few times and David Wright took a couple sips of Gatorade.
Henderson’s gone, so nobody played cards.
those guys didnt even make the trip. they just stayed in PSL and took bp and relaxed
how can you not root for this kid? The way I look at it, if you pencil him into the #5 slot, it will help the bullpen in 2 ways. Hopefully he is able to work deep into games giving the pen less work and two, duque is a better option out of the pen than jorge sosa. we can have sosa start in AAA and be ready for a spot start in case we need him.
The only problem is that El Duque may not be as good an option out of the pen as you think he would be.
How long do you think it will take for Duque to pull or dislocate something when he has to get loose as often as he would have to pitching out of the bullpen?
He’s better off with the time between starts. Nobody on our team benefits from rest more than Duque.
How often do you use a long man? 4-5 innings a week? Plus, if the choice is an injury prone 5th starter or an injury prone long man, i would rather store those fragile bones in the pen.
Point taken, but wouldn’t you want to have El Duque’s stuff available to you in something more than a long reliever’s role? That is, assuming that he is healthy to begin with and is not throwing BP fastballs to opposing hitters. I would. When he’s on he is better than a long reliever IMO.
Pelfrey > El Duque
Is Michael Abreau related to Bobby?
Doubtful. Michael is Cuban, Bobby Venezuela.
Michel abreu
Hah my bad I added two extra A’s
Was at the game today….gotta say that Abreu looked good. Made good contact all day. Absolutely stung that first single he hit. Someone definintely to look at this spring. ?sleeper backup 1B?
i have been waiting for him to make it to the majors for years….. whenever i would go to bigmanton mets games (which was like 3-4 times) he was the best player on the team, besides the year that carlos gomez was his teammate….. only problem is no one knows how old he is… when he came over from cuba he was originally signed by Boston i tihnk but they released him because he lied about his age or something and then he ended up in the mets system and has been in the minors for years….. its not like he’s some young prospect who is still developing and will inevitably make it big
he is actual 35. he played in the series with cuba and the orioles and if you had the amount of time that has past to his listed birth date it gives you 35 years old.
actually* add*
Michel is also not afraid of the wall.
Thank God he got a visa this year.
pelfrey just has to go out and get his work in and listen to what the coaches tell him.
it would probably be better for him to go to AAA, in warmer weather, on turn and get ready for the mid summer call.
he was excellent his first 3 or 4 starts in 2007 too.
met nation is pulling hard for mike to succeed.
Personally I think Pelf turned the corner last September. He’ll get his shot this year and I don’t think he’ll look back.
agree… had great command and movement today. Handled detroit best with relative ease(a very impressive top to bottom lineup.) Hopefully the begginning of things 2come
PELFREY FOR THE 5TH!
honestly…if he continues to pitch this effectively…it needs to be considered. If last septembers momentum continues thru this spring….we finally get the pitcher everyone has been touting for so long…..would be nice given the durablilty and contract issues of the rest of the staff
Lets all calm down with Pelfrey as the #5 starter.
If Duque is healthy he will and should be the #5 starter. He can do more throwing 60mph that pelfrey can do throwing 90 at this point. no need to rush pelfrey. i hope he does great this spring and he is ready to go when called upon. we all know Duque will take a mid year Ciesta, and at that point Pelfrey can come up.
There is nothing lost with Pelfrey in the minors while Duque starts every fifth day.
Its not like Duque is going to go 1-8 with a 6+ ERA. he will be the best #5 starter in the NL.
no problem with that approach….sounds very reasonable. just excited with how impressive he looked today. Tigers opening day and that lineup of stars was completely silenced…as was the crowd…….
conversly, moving Duque to the pen probably requires the waiving of Sosa or Wise.
i tihnk el duque should definitely start in the rotation, and if he does good remain there until at least the all-star break… after that he should move to the bullpen and pelfrey should come up after working half a year in the triple-A…. look at how pelfrey did last september after spending some time in the minors after his poor start t the season
These games dont mean squat. Look how horrible the spring training of 2006 were and look how they did
Hopefully Pelf can keep this up. Though, remember how great he was last spring then once the regular season hit it was downhill. He did look a lot better towards the end of last season. But yeah, nothing wrong with keeping him in the minors for a little while longer as he’ll get his chance when El Duque inevitably goes down.
lots of pitchers are up and down and scuffling for the first few years before it clicks. John Maine for one.
And Tom Glavine was worse his first few years then Pelfrey has been, and he turned out OK (blocking out last September here…)
glavin is a proven vetrene hall-of-fame pitcher
he’s talking about when Glavine started with the Braves. And you’re right. Check out 3 pitchers’ stats through their first 2 seasons:
Pitcher 1) 9-21, 4.76 ERA, 104 K/256.7 IP
Pitcher 2) 8-18, 5.59 ERA, 121 K/186.7 IP
Pitcher 3) 5-9, 5.55 ERA, 58 K/94 IP
Pitcher 1 is Tom Glavine, pitcher 2 is Greg Maddux, and pitcher 3 is Mike Pelfrey. So he still has plenty of time to develop into a good pitcher.
wow great argument and research…
although that can only be used to say that u can’t judge him yet on his performance in the majors…. u can’t use that to say that he will become good despite his start, because obviously there are plenty more pitchers who were highly praised and then started their careers off not so good (like the 3 u mentioned) and then never became good….so it just shows that anything can happen from here, good or bad
of course anything can happen. The point we were trying to make (or at least I was) is that some people are giving up on Plefrey way too early. So, give pelf a chance!
i was never a HUGE supporter of Pelf, because I didn’t ever see him do anything. it’s not like i wished him bad or thought we should trade him, just wished he would show me something. todays outing is very encouraging, and his quote makes me like him that much more because he has taken accountability for not making the best of the opportunities he had last season:
“There’s no way I can be mad. They’ve given me opportunities and I just haven’t taken advantage of them. That’s the bottom line.”
gotta love that…
I agree with stickguy. Look at Maine a few years ago, he came up with the Orioles and got knocked around quite a bit. I see a very similar comparison to Pelfrey. I think Pelfrey will find his way just as Maine has.
Matt is gone for 1 day and there is already talk of succession. Firemetsmanagement should change his name now that we have santana
Omar was lucky the twins let us keep Pelfry in the Santana trade. If the twins wanted him, Pelfry would be gone. I remember Omar saying Pelfry was not available in that trade after the trade was made and not prior to.
Plain and simple, the twins didnt want Pelfrey, and I hope Pelfry proves the twins wrong.
Now listen people, Pelfry will have to go to AAA and develop if he stands any chance of becoming a quality contributor to the Mets.
We are lucky to have an El Duque as a #5 starter, and we definately have the best pitching staff in the majors, yes even better than the Diamondbacks.
I really hope firemetsmanagement dies from a line drive off the bat of A-Rod or Utley or something, because he clearly is not a Mets fan.
You want to talk about jokes dude? YOU’RE the joke. Nobody likes you here yet you still keep coming back for more and more. You must live a real sad life that you can’t manage to leave a place that you’re least wanted.
Orlando Pelfrey will be a very good starter in my opinion.
I doubt that “returnoffiremetmanagement” is the same one that graced Metsblog so frequently from this past September until the Johan trade.
But it was a pretty spot-on representation of the BS that guy used to spout off.
it could be the same, but i’ve seen imposters steal nick names before (like someone out there who stole mine when metsblog switched over to the new server, darkstar77, where are you!) any, i digress, it’s actually probably the same guy, same guy who was firemetsmanagement, same guy who was willieisabuffon, same guy who was the infamous mr.met41. Must be a boring life I guess, who knows.
Pelfrey’s 2 inning stint today just proved my point that he belongs in the bullpen and not the starting line-up. ; )
Seriously, the dude has only one pitch that, as of last year, while a nasty pitch, he had trouble controlling. I know I’m pissing in the wind with this, but that’s why I think that Heilman should be given his chance at the 5th spot in the rotation. Heilman’s fast ball is every bit as good as Pelfrey’s (Aaron gets it up to 94 with sharp movement down and in), plus, he has an excellent second pitch (that Pelfrey does not have), his change-up. And Heilmans’ control is superior to Pelfrey’s.
With Duaner apparently healthy and ready re-take his position as the 8th inning set-up man to Wags, we can put Pelfrey in the 7th inning spot – or at least as part of the “committee” of relievers to handle the 6th and 7th innings.
lasting milledge:
2-3, single, double, 2 runs scored, 2 stolen bases
that trade is just sickening and will haunt the mets for 10 years
he will at the very least have a manny ramirez/gary sheffield type career
and he could have had it with the mets.
but instead they have ryan f-ing church
g-damn it minaya – YOU SUCK AND YOU SICKEN ME
oh yeah…and mike jacobs, who hit a 2 run home run, will outperform carlos “bored” delgado
i’d be so pumped to watch a team with milledge in right, jacobs at first and gotay at 2nd.
instead there are retreads there who suck and who i have no desire to watch.
minaya blows.
jacobs? c’mon man, this act is old and tired, did you see what Jacobs did last year? the year before? Delgado’s worst year ever was still better then Jacob’s year and that’s not even considering ‘06 when Delgado was a beast for us and Jacobs was nothing.
oh, and i should add, when we would end up losing with that team you propose, you’d be the first to bust minaya and the mets for not winning. great fan you are punk.
the very least a manny ramirez/garry sheffield career? hahahaha, funny stuff, stop worrying about that tweener who will never be able to hit like a corner outfielder should hit. He’s a CF and we have a gold glove CF that Milledge will never touch.
I think pretty much everyone mets fan would rather have Milledge than Church and Schneider. Unfortunately Milledge F’d up and every player on the mets could not stand him, enough to force Minaya to trade him. I just dont understand why Minaya didnt make a statement saying the real reason he made that trade. Also, although Milledge may be a future all star, Church will have some value as a player on our team.
I never cared for Milledge. He never showed anything on the field or at bat so I was indifferent to the trade.
On the game side who cares if they lost. Aside from 5 player a pretty much AAA team held the tigers off for 8 innings. There was only one bad inning with one pitcher. How does that speak for the rest of the team?
a pretty much AAA team held the tigers off for 8 innings
WORDDD
……Scott Spiezio is a scumbag…..
How’s my man CHIP AMBRES?!
god i love baseball
Holding the Bengals to 4 runs is a great accomplishment….
dem bums did good.
I like the development of Pelfrey, but I honestly think he needs more time in the minors to develop. He was rushed up to the majors WAY too early and he would definitely gain from pitching in AAA for at least a few months until hes ready. He needs to show consistency.
Plus, do we really want to throw our aging pitcher (who was arguably one of our top 2 pitchers last yr, despite the numbers), into the pen? I think having Duque in the fifth spot is a huge advantage for us. If you watched every game, you know he was awesome last yr. At his age, his effectiveness will decrease if he is in the bullpen.
This guy is kidding right.
boy will u feel like an idiot if this team goes far (which i think it definitely can) …. and omar is amazing – because of him, we have Pedro, Beltran, Delgado, Luis Castillo, Billy Wagner, Johan Santana, Moises Alou, John Maine, Perez, and El Duque……….. he has been one of the best GM’s in baseball since he was hired……
and the trade for church and schneider for milledge was amazing…. milledge was having all sorts of trouble outside of baseball (and in baseball) and he stock was dropping rapidly, and a right fielder and a defensive catcher was EXACTLY what we needed (and an ace, which omar landed just a few months later)….. Church had something like 43 doubles last year, a lot of which he claimed would had been homers if hit in shea stadium (yes, RFK is even worse for hitters than shea is)…. and i can’t remember the last time we had a catcher who could throw runners out (which is very important) because i can’t remember the mets before piazza (i’m 15)
If you’re serious you’re really, really sad…lol
How can you say that after one spring training game, you must be joking. Please go somewhere else with your idiotic statements.
Nah, just a loser with nothing better to do.
Yes, please dont encourage him…