In his first inning of work for the Mets, Johan Santana allowed three hits, including a three-run home run to Cardinals OF Juan Gonzalez.
…to me, the most noteworthy moment of the first inning was santana’s first-ever pitch, during which every single person in the Mets dugout – from players to coaches – all stood up at attention along the top step of the dugout to watch…
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{ 108 comments }
Ah Spring!! Where the dreams of all Mets fans go to die!
Some start…did the Wilpons ask for their money back yet?
Take that confidence rating now…..
He threw that first pitch to Juan Gone RIGHT down the middle. You know he was thinking, “I wonder if this old man can still hit?”
haha
Who cares how he pitches on Feb 29?
It’s not even a real day.
I’m with you Matt, the team will rally around him, and you can see they look up to him already.
LOL. I like that- it’s not even a real day.
First time I actually LOLed….
I wonder what the Mets all time record on Feb 29th is
You must have a really boring job if ur doing that research now…
Even if I was bored at work I still wouldn’t research that
I bet Elias could find it…
Team’s looking good to me. Reyes 1B, Clark 1B, Reyes to 3rd, Clark SB, who can complain??
Plus, we are watching SNY with our real announcers in February!
he sucks… lets trade him
We can trade him to the yankees with the contract for Hughs and Kennedy.
Yea man what a bust…
we should trade him to the red sox for bartlo colon.
that was a joke by the way.
i really think we should trade him for jose lima.
throw in Brian lawrence and Chan Ho Park and you have yourself a deal!!!
(kidding)
spring training really doesnt mean squat. santana is notorious for being a slow starter and this is his 1st inning of work all year so whatever. my pessimistic met fan heart is tying a neuce but my brain knows not to care.
Yep, just ask Butch Huskey how much Spring Training means… didn’t he lead the grapefruit/cactus leagues in HR every year? And then he’d hit like 12 in the regular season…
The sky is clearly falling.
The real test is going to see how he reacts tommorrow when at least one idiot reporter (probably more) will already be denouncing Santana and the Trade because of his frist spring inning.
Hank is busy getting the new contract ready for Cashman as I type this….
Santana is just helping Gonzalez get on the roster for opening day, so he can get another AB and quit again.
OMAR TRADE HIM!
we should trade Santana & Pedro for JOBA!!!! Because obviously neither of those guys are Joba.
we don’t need Joba or Santana…we already have the “next Joba.”
He’s getting hit hard.
The only thing I worry about in spring training is injuries. The rest is who cares. Different players take different approaches to spring training. Results, individual and team, don’t really matter.
ALL I KEEP HEARING while santana pitches is THE CRACK OF THE BAT of the cards
Juan Gonzalez can still hit? I’m actually more surprised he could stand after all the ‘roids he did in the 90’s.
Everyone JUST CHILL….
Let the hit’s keep on coming…just get them all out of the way before the regular season. Spring training is what it is, if you were expecting no one to touch him today, you are crazy. He’ll be fine and he will get the job done. I think giving up that 3 run homer makes him human, something we all have to keep in mind. It was great to see the team all lined up on the top step for his first outing.
Fire Omar. How dare he not only trade 4 of our top prospects for this hack, but give him the richest contract for a pitcher too.
I wish we had a real GM like Jim Duquette. . . .
Obligatory Albert Pujols “not impressed” line. Note: sarcasm.
It’s better he started like this.
Had he thrown 2 perfect innings, MLB would just handed us the trophy.
this is serious, our ace shouldn’t be giving up a HR to a steroid retread like Juan Gone. Truly pathetic, our GM, the genious Minaya, should have seen this coming. If you can’t pitch well in the 1st start of spring training, then when can you pitch well? Season’s over people, nothing left to see, well except if you enjoy watching a baseball team put together by a hispanic loving GM and a cheap skate owner. Pathetic. I’m telling you right now, we would have gotten through that inning clean if Vlad Guerrero was on the team, damn you Freddie Coupons! Do you hear me! No more money from this fan, haha! Take that Coupons!
good…got any tickets you can give me while you’re denouncing the mets?
Are you serious? I mean really? Is this a joke comment or what?
Darkstar is not on the dark side…he is joking
yes its a joke, i mean c’mon, that vladdy comment was too perfect (at least i thought so). I was simply filling the void of mrmet41, or whatever incarnation he so prefers to use these days…
Ah Darkstar, you’re a funny man. I miss the old days of the metsblog, when you were so much more active posting. Keep it up!
I miss those days too, a lot more back and forth between people actually talking baseball, seems more like a message board these days. Either way, I don’t have the time to post on metsblog like I used to, but I have been making a comeback the past month or so. You’ll be seeing more of me!
Huzzah. Keep the good fight going.
Just try to make a couple of in-game chats and I’ll be satisfied.
After the game Juan Gone is having maybe the Cards will go sign Alfonso, Offerman, and Rocker to fill out their all ” LI Ducks” alumni team.
I don’t really care about spring training because its is just about preparation.
I was watching the game and Keith Hernandez brought up something very interesting. Which hurt more, the loss in 2006 or the collapse in 2007?
To me the loss in 2006 hurt more than the collapse in 2007. I began to expect the collapse, but that loss against the Cardinals after Chavez’s amazing catch? Nope, was not ready for that.
the loss in ‘06 and ‘88 was far more painful than last season, imo.
Juan Gone has to treat every at bat of spring training with utmost importance because he’s playing for the continuation of his career, This is it for him. Santana, assured of being the #1 starter, has nothing to prove in spring training and is building everything toward being ready for Opening Day.
OMG….
We gotta get Lohse now!
Trade him for Livan straight up!
give me a break, why would he try and throw his best stuff, he’s not trying to make the team or impress.
what the hell, this guy is a stud, all you idiots panicking over a spring training game need to shut the hell up
Spring Training is like Monopoly money, it doesn’t really mean a thing.
He topped out at 91 mph. He obviously wasn’t trying to throw his best stuff. Nor should he be. The last thing I want Santana to do is yank his arm out over-throwing a meaningless pitch in a meaningless game. He should concentrate on hitting his spots and working on his control — that’s it.
Remember: in spring training even the daises (trying to push their way up through the soil) work harder than the starters.
Besides, I’m really interested only in seeing Duaner pitch today.
But Duaner is scratched from today with a sore arm.
He isn’t. He told the Post this morning that he’s ready to play…
Can we get a urine test on Juan Gonz?
I love this–because half the people are serious and half the people are kidding, and I can’t figure out which is which!
Rule #1 of Spring—never worry about any healthy player in Feb.
Damn! You have the best handle ever!! Kudos!!
Im having the same problem deciphering the idiots from the comics. However anyone who is serious either never played baseball or is not a real fan if they are worrying about a spring start. Pitching especially is done at about 75% for the first 3 weeks to build arm strength and muscle memory. other than that pitchers long toss, stretch, run, stretch, long toss, stretch, long run, long toss, stretch, ice ice ice, stretch. thats it.
You don’t know what you’re talking about! The first spring training game is a pace setter – and Santana giving up this home run is a good precursor of what to come! I can’t believe this, OMG!!! :)
You don’t know what your’re talking about, a “precursor”? Come on! Are you serious? You can’t be!
apparently when people post sarcastic comments they need to write “SARCASM!” at the end bc subtle things like a big yellow smiley face arent enough for some.
I must say Anderosn Hernandez is hitting the ball with a little more authority in those 2 at bats. One of them against Adam Wainwright.
Hopefully he keeps it up.
Steve Phillips just said Tigers-Mets world series.
And that’s only because he’s in the studio and not in the front office…
:steve phillips: met killer:
steve phillips also predicted us missing the playoffs after the trade deadline. so hopefully hes right again. although thats kind of a cop out pick to me, the two teams in their respective leagues that made the biggest splash this offseason.
You guys are killing me. Anyone who really knows baseball knows that in spring training, especially in your first start, you work on mechanics, location, and your pitch type/selection. Stretch the arm…strengthen the arm….condition for the looooong season. Polish off the dust!!!
The Mets could go winless in the spring for all I care. It’s all about the regular season. What matters is the momentum of the last week of spring. Spring training is way too long anyway….shorten it by 2 weeks. OUT
I could not care less about his line. HOWEVER, after people were saying his velocity was down at the end of the year last year and that he has a bum elbow, I would have liked to have seen the rader gun hit 95 at least a few times. 91 wont cut it. Granted, he might not have gone at 100% but the way he was talking before the game (“im excited,” “I know all of NY will be watching”) you would think he would have some adreneline going.
No pitcher is throwing 95 right now. You build up arm strength in spring training so you can throw 95 in the regular season.
Look, most pitchers throw 4-5 mph slower during Spring Training than they throw during the year. That would put Santana right on pace to hit 95-96.
With his changeup, 91 will certainly cut it. Pedro throws 88 and still makes people look like idiots with his changeup. Johan’s changeup is 80MPH, so 91 would certainly cut it. He averaged 92MPH all last year.
power pitchers re creating themselves at a later age is a very rare thing. 1 in 10 do it with the ease Pedro did it. Im not saying Santana has to re create himself. I am just saying you cant compare Pedro to other pitchers that have lost velocity. Pedro is a freak of nature.
Right, but the point is, Johan’s changeup hovers around 80MPH. If he throws in the low 90’s, that is more than enough of a differential to make it effective. If he picks up 1 or 2 mph (92-93), that should be fine.
I remember last year, when the Mets kept losing in Spring Training and everyone said not too worry…lucky for us it turned out really well.
thats a feeling i echoed this morning… but lets see them lose cosistently (like 1-2 weeks of mediocrity) before we break that out
You really think that a poor spring training was the catalyst of the last 3 weeks of last year? Come on. they coasted for 6 months and it burned them at the end. If they had a bad total season then you can say that spring training games reflected that, not when you have that type fo collapse, it was a fluke Spring 2007 had nothing to do with what happened last year.
Wrong, it was a warning sign that things were not right. I hope I am wrong about it, I really do, but it was a warning sign none the less. The other warning sign was when they kept losing to the Braves at the beginning of the season. It looked like the typical Mets psych themselves out because we are playing the Braves. After that first series with the Braves, I bet a friend $100 they wouldn’t make the playoffs because I knew something was wrong with them.
Honestly, I am really excited about this year and I loved the acquisition of Santana, which I think will re-energize the team, like Piazza.
yeah, it took a monumental collapse to lose the division. pretty sure the reds had the best ST record last year. how’d that work out for them?
idiot.
It worked out rather poorly for Cincinatti no, but then again having a losing record during Spring Training didnt excatly help the Mets either. So, I guess .500 is the sweet spot.
And what about the collapse, They were playing poorly throughout June, July and August. So I guess the “collapse” was more indicitive of their lousy play all year. The only reason it was much of a collapse was because the Phillies finally strung a few games together.
False, if they had continued to play “lousy” they would have finished in 1st place and with the best record in the NL. Unfortunately they played worse than lousy.
Good to see Reyes hitting breaking balls so early in spring. I’m eager to see Duaner Pitch the next inning after Nelson Figueroa, who is looking quite impressive.
He did look good. Hit some good spots. Reyes hitting is always a good sign. What was even more interesting is the future pitching coach career for Pedro. Anybody see that? He was calling it like a champ, no doubt.
More interesting than Johan will be the upcoming inning of Duaner….hope it goes well. He should be the only guy that has topped out speed since he’s been at camp longer than anyone. Let’s hope.
c@ work and cant watch…any Duaner update?
Alou should be banned from doing that
Hey Guys,
@ work so any description of the game you provide helps. Waiting for the other blogs to post is annoying.
Last I heard Reyes RBI single, sweet.
Is he break dancin or just chillin.
Baseball’s back thank God,
Enough basketball highlights on ESPN, I can’t stand it.
Dirty Sanchez just got taken deep on his second pitch by Pujols…..DANG!!!
…not the update I was looking for
grooved a fastball, that’s gonna happen just about every time against him
Wow…Juan Gonzalez off of steroids looks about as beefed up as a slim jim. And Sanchez isn’t looking too hot on my account. Walked Troy Glaus. And he’s topped out @ around 85, and throwing about 75% change ups and breaking balls. Wasn’t everyone talking about his velocity a couple of weeks ago? What’s with that?
everyone is saying how he is in such great shape but who cares if he throws with less velocity than Bobby Jones. This guy can not be counted on for anything significant this year. They should sign Lohse immediately and put Duque in the pen. Sanchez, if he is healthy, will get torched all year long.
I’m not watching the game, but it’s completely plausible that he’s out there working on his off-speed stuff, thus throwing a lot more and not rearing back for his fastball.
Just saying….
Sanchez should not be working on anything. He shouldnt be guarenteed a roster spot. He should be worried about making the team.
That’s just ridiculous. Unless you’re a low level rookie, you have to work off the dust in ST, especially if you haven’t pitched in a year.
I’m pretty sure if Duaner is damaged goods or hiding an injury, he will be handled accordingly by our talent evaluators, not our rash fans who are already on the edge of a cliff before the start of March.
I agree Piazza. I have absolutely no faith in Sanchez to do anything. It has been 2 years and multiple surgeries since he pitched, and the only thing people are hanging onto are 2 or 3 good outstading months in an otherwise unspectacular career. I count on him for nothing and consider any production he gives us a bonus.
I don’t think anyone should pencil this guy in for the 8th inning here but I think it’s stilly to also treat one inning in ST where he’s throwing a majority of off-speed pitches as some kind of indication that he’s no longer effective or hiding something as Piazza is doing here.
The guy also had two very solid, if not good (relative to other MR pitchers) seasons in LA back-to-back where he pitched to under a 4 ERA in a good amount of innings. He’s not Rivera in ‘96, but if he could even pitch to that level again it would only help the Mets bullpen.
DP saves Sanchez from a big inning. Thank goodness for Defense.
i think everyone needs to take a deep breath. i just want it to be the regular season so we can win games that matter and relax.
Well, if he was really working on his Breaking Stuff…then I’ll give him credit for looking good. His break was sharp and spots were pretty good for this time of the year. This Joselo Diaz guy looks nice too. Though speed may not matter too much right now, he topped out @ 91 several times. 123 inning.
Gotay drew a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the 7th, Brady Clark ruins the rally by grounding into a DP, Anderson Mochado grounds out to second to end the inning.
Old man Rincon is coming on to pitch the 8th.
I know neither matters, but I like that after the HR he K’ed the next guy …
Not a good start.
Now all Met haters and Santana haters are going to have a feast on this. Its going to be torture….
yea…just tell them it’s Spring Training but they still won’t shut up..
Ryan Church singles against a lefty, after F-mart gets hit in the hand by a pitch. First and third one out.
Gustalvo Molina and Angel Pagan were retired to end the 8th.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
Fernando Martinez flashed his glove skills with a diving catch over the foul line in left. Bottom of the ninth, 5-3 Cards.
Gotay just homered from the right side of the plate, 5-4 Cards, Mochado is up……………acutally he’s out. Game over.
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