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The Mets take on the Marlins in Tradition Field today.
SS Jose Reyes will bat leadoff, followed in order by OF Brady Clark, 3B David Wright, OF Ryan Church, 1B Olmedo Saenz, OF Endy Chavez, DH Damion Easley, C Brian Schneider and 2B Argenis Reyes.
Mike Pelfrey start for the Mets. Duaner Sanchez is expected to take the mound as well.
Earlier today, Orlando Hernandez threw a bullpen session using his new, toned-down delivery.
…it’s great to see endy, brian, church and easley back healthy and in the lineup…one step at a time, guys…
…all that is left is for Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo to get back…obviously, we know Moises Alou will not be ready for opening day…and here’s the thing, folks, i watched beltran and castillo on the day before i left camp, Thursday, and they looked fine…they were hitting well from both sides of the plate, they did some running, smiling, fielding, etc…and so, my guess is, if the season started today, they’d be in the lineup…however, we are three weeks from opening day, so why rush it…delgado is clearly behind then, but he’s making progress…
Nice, great to see everyone healing up. Marlon Anderson is back too, he traveled to play the Orioles in the split-squad game, he’s DH’ing.
Take it easy.
lineup in Ft. Lauderdale
Ruben Tejada – SS
Fernando Martinez – LF
Richard Lucas – 3B
Ramon Castro – C
Marlon Anderson – DH
Chris Aguila – RF
Nick Evans – 1B
Greg Veloz – 2B
Ezequiel Carrera – CF
Jon Niese – P
Jorge Sosa, Willie Collazo, Nate Field, Joselo Diaz to follow
Not that I care, personally, but I’ve seen *a lot* of these lineups for the Mets, lacking the required 4 projected regulars. I would think this rule might not apply so strictly with a split squad (particularly the “B” squad), but I’ve been seeing these lineups without split squads, too. Perhaps they have been able to get away with it, due to their freakish amount of injuries, but I can’t help but think that this rule is not really enforced much, huh? I remember past Spring Trainings, where passing comments would be made about a team only having 3 projected regulars, and MLB not punishing them, and what a joke the rule was, etc. Now I feel like I routinely see only 1 projected regular in lineups, and nothing is done. Why don’t they just dump the rule, then?
Well, prior to today: Alou, Church, Beltran, Castillo, Schneider, and Delgado were all hurt.
Wright and Reyes were the only healthy guys. It was actually an impossibility for them to bring 4 starters anywhere.
Even now, Alou, Beltran, Castillo, and Delgado are all injured. The Mets’ healthy players should have to travel all over Florida just because they’re healthy.
They have to have 4 regulars in a Grapefruit league game, not a split-squad game which is what the Oriole game is. The Orioles dont have to have any of their regulars in that game either, but most of them would rather play in home games like this than go on the bus trips.
The MLB just reviewed the Mets situation, I think in the beginning of last week, because that was being questioned. Omar talked to MLB, explained about the injuries, and it was decided they wouldn’t be fined. The injuries are what are hurting them.
“Chris Aguila – RF”
This dude has an interesting history. He had the longest tenure of anyone in the Florida Marlins organization. He’s half Samoan/Tongan/Fijian and half Filipino (thus making him the second Mets organization ballplayer to be at least part Filipino…the first was of course Benny Agbayani). His hobby outside of baseball? The Samoan Fire Knife Dance. That’d be swinging flaming knives around while dancing. I swear I’m not making this up. I’m not sure links work here, but google “Chris Aguila Fire Knife Dance.”
Fernando Martinez scorched a sharp line single to center, but
Ramon Castro and Marlon Anderson both struck out swinging.
Bot 1: Niese pitching
Brian Roberts serves a single to right center
Melvin Mora singles on a ball that Veloz could only knock down, Roberts to 2nd
Nick Markakis hits a flyball but Fernando has issues with the wind, bases loaded
Kevin Millar hits a sac fly, Carrera makes a nice running catch, run scores, 1st and 3rd
Mike Costanzo strikes out swinging on the fastball
Ramon Hernandez flies out to Carrera
nice working out of the jam against big league hitters by Niese.
FM starts a two run rally with a single in the top of the 3rd, Castro with a sac fly, Marlon with another K swinging.
2-1 Mets, mid 3rd
Watching the game on SNY right now and it says that Pelfrey is hitting 81-83 on the radar. That doesn’t seem right, has it always been off this spring?
I dont think they are throwing that hard this early in the spring. He hit 89 last inning today…
The guns are often innacurate. Top speed for the Marlins pitcher was only 84, which seems low even for spring.
So, Pelfrey is human after all.
Keep this up, Nate!
Personally, with Niese working out of the jam in the 1st, that’s got to say a lot about his makeup. He could be in the rotation by the middle of next year . . .
4-1 Marlins.
Jorge Sosa pitching in the 3rd.
Bot 3: Jorge Sosa pitching
Brian Roberts grounds out, 1-6-3. Nice play by Ruben Tejada…
Melvin Mora hammers a single to left
Nick Markakis walks, first and second
Kevin Millar GIDP, 6-4-3
typical Sosa inning…
man, they are really letting Pelfrey get a workout. Hopefully thats more about him pitching past the point of tiring out than lack of execution.
7-1 Marlins.
Different year, same results.
but he had 1K per inning, doesn’t that make it a good outing??
;)
another scoreless inning out of Sosa, but two more hits allowed…
and a clean third inning of work out of Sosa.
3 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 1 K
Jorge Sosa, #5 starter?
good GOD! Robinson Cancel is HUGE!
Saenz is rather big also
The Mets are rather tolerant with some of their players looking like Water Bison. Across town Girardi is a physical fitness nut and would have sent these guys packing. Between Castro, Cancel and Saenz they probably do a good job on the post game spread. :)
I find it funny that the team with most of our regulars on it is getting destroyed, but the A-AA-AAA team still seems to be winning.
and the St. Lucie Mets are still leading the Orioles big team 2-1… ironic
Quick, everyone start panicking.
start?
Surprise… the Show gave up a couple of hard hits to righties.
I hope Willie works out what we all know soon – Show’s a LOOGY.
Oh I’m sure thats a matchup that doesnt happen in the regular season. Was anyone really surprised that a hot righty ripped him?
I assume you didn’t follow the Mets last year.
Of course I apologize if your comment was tongue in cheek. But around here you never know. :)
Tankersley looks like he’d be impossible to run on… he’s checking 1st all the way until he releases the ball… even with noone on
Where did all these Reyeses come from? There’s a Reyes playing every position it seems.
…the DR?
Raul Reyes came in to replace Fernando Martinez in the away game. Be glad he wasnt on the home list… it would be too confusing.
“The Mets signed Rene Reyes to a minor league contract prior to the 2008 season. Reyes was originally signed by the Rockies in August 1996 as an international free agent. He made it to the major leagues in 2003 and 2004 but was released by the Cubs before the start of the 2005 season. After two seasons of not playing professionally, Reyes made a comeback, playing 12 games in the Mexican League in 2007. He then hit .303 in 62 games in the Venezuelan Winter League. Reyes is a native of Margarita, Venezuela.”
AAA outfielder I guess
Willie Collazo with a solid inning against the Orioles, 1 hit allowed.
SNY not on the ball yet again…
How long before they notice?
I cant believe it took them that long to realize the volume was down to almost nothing…
Messy game all around.
well the Orioles pulled all thier regulars at once, and Castro and FM are out of the game already… so no reason to keep watching the away game.
FM and Richard Lucas both has two hits, Marlon added a walk to his two swinging strikeouts.
Welcome back, Damion Easley – nice dinger :)
Argenis Reyes hit a homerun? Good Lord, I think I’ll eat my hat. He hit all of three last year in AA ball!
the wind is really carrying those balls to right field..
Soooo good to see Dirty back out there
Ouch… Saenz just got a real rib-tickler. Just as well he’s got some padding, but even so – I hope either Delgado or Abreu’s good enough to play tomorrow.
Im watchin the Yankee game on and off with the Met game and the Rays have David Price on the mound…that guy can freakin’ pitch, man. He throws absolute gas, pinpoint location, and from what i’ve seen so far, a very sharp breaking ball. I wish the Mets had some prospect like this guy!
Give it about 7 years when Johan is done and we’re looking for a good FA pitcher. The Price is Right.
yea well having the worst record in baseball affords you the luxury of getting guys like david price
You mean Mike Pelfrey doesn’t pitch like that…?
lol, not from what i’ve seen.
C.B. Bucknor ended the game only in a way C.B. Bucknor could…as a 1-2 pitch sailed in and Olmedo Saenz leaned away from it to avoid being hit, Bucknor called it strike 3. Now, I know it’s only Spring Training, but the frightening part is that we’ve seen Bucknor actually do stuff like that in regular season games.
Yeah, the strike zone was enormous today. Lots of people about to toss their bat on ball 4 only for it to be called strike, and shaking their heads walking back after strike 3 calls
Speaking of Saenz, I like what I’m seeing. Might not be so bad to let Delgado take his time…
I’ve followed Saenz for a few years now, back to when he was with the Dodgers, and he’s got a lot of pop. He’s a very solid bat, although I don’t know what happened to him last year. We should definitely keep him around as a pinch hitter and backup 1B when the season starts.
I too have been following Saenz a while, but the one thing in my memory that really sticks out is the 2006 NLDS where in I think it was Game 1 or Game 2, Steve Lyons and Thom Brenneman repeatedly…and I mean through the entire game…talked about what a dangerous hitter he was and must’ve literally called him “The Daaaannnngerous Olmedo Saenz” (with “dangerous” being stretched out like salt water taffy) about a dozen times. Ever since then, he’s always been “Olmedo the Dangerous” to me in a sort of mocking yet complimentary way.
anyone know whos pitching tomorrow?
Interesting question really. I know who it won’t be:
Not Johan
Not Pedro
Not Maine
Not Perez
Not Pelfrey
Not Niese
Not Figueroa
Not Vargas
Not Armas
Parnell?
Who’s pitching Tuesday, as well? Petey’s not mkaing the long bus ride.
Jose Lima..lol
Maine would be in line to pitch tomorrow. maybe Heilman and Wagner who pitched in the simulated game on Fri morning.
Tuesday is likely going to be a minor league starter followed by a host of relievers. probably a lot of the guys we saw today.
Yes, they said today that it’s Maine tomorrow during the broadcast today.
What happened to one-pitch Pelfrey today?
I just read the box score.
Ouch!
Pelfrey belongs in the bullpen, as I’ve said all along. Why is it that Heilman, who has two solid pitches, is, according to Mets’ brass, only a relief pitcher, while Pelfrey, who only has one solid pitch, a starter?
he actually looked very good the first two innings, with lots of nice sliders, a couple strikeouts, then he had 2 outs in the third, there was a walk and a couple bleeders, and then the wheels came off and the Marlins started knocking him all around. Willie and the Jacket obviously wanted to see how he’d handle it when he went back out in the fourth, and the answer wasn’t pretty. The aggressive, keep the ball down Pelfrey disappeared again and he was missing all over the place and nibbling and anxious looking, almost a complete reversion of much of the progress we’ve seen in this kid…unfortunate I think, but hopefully he’ll bounce back strong. I’m still skeptical of El Duque and his new windup…
So after one bad start…no, scratch that, one and two thirds bad innings, you’re relegating the guy to the bullpen? Are you aware of what he’s done the rest of ST? He finally managed to get his slurve and four-seamer under control, thus making him a guy with three effective pitches. The pitch he struggled with so badly today was his changeup (his worst pitch). And if you were watching (which you weren’t), you’d have noticed he was throwing almost exclusively his secondary stuff. He wasn’t even throwing his two-seam fastball all that much. His slurve looked good. He had some control problems with the four-seam fastball, but it was moving and not flat. As mentioned, the changeup was basically a BP fastball.
No. I”ve ALWAYS said that Pelfrey would be better suited for the bullpen because he lacks a solid 2 pitch, at least. My argument for Heilman is that at least he has a solid second pitch (an excellent change up). And Heilman went through as entire spring training and put up great numbers as a starter. So why not let Pelfrey develop in the bullpen?
I tend to agree with the Glider.
BTW if someone was watching the game they would have seen that the gun was registering very low for all the pitchers so don’t use that as a gauge that Pelfrey was throwing changeup after changeup. Actually a number of them were nothing fastballs and hanging sliders. If you’ve watched Pelfrey in the past he loses command and then starts throwing BP fastballs. This is nothing new and the announcers commented on it.
BTW last ST Pelfrey was also outstanding. It didn’t carry over to the regular season did it? But this was only one game and hopefully Pelfrey will mature and put it together.
He was also getting squeezed in teh third inning. He had two pitches that looked like strike 3 to Luis Gonzalez, but didn’t get the call. Then the wheels fell off.
He didn’t have his best stuff today, but did wiggle out of trouble in the second inning.
3 of the 7 runs on his line were due to Show giving up a bases loaded double when he relieved Pelf in the 4th.
All in all, not a good start, but not entirely a meltdown, either.
Uh, you guys do know that all the pitchers are working on their pitches. Pelfrey was working on his breaking ball and his change-up. Trying to throw them for strikes. He wasn’t pitching to win a game, but to get ready for the season. Same as every pitcher.
Well yes, the gun WAS registering low for all the pitchers, but did you notice that Pelfrey’s velocity was down in the 70’s on about half his non-breaking pitches? The fastballs (both four-seam, which Pelfrey was mostly throwing in terms of his fastball today, and two-seam, which is Pelfrey’s out pitch) would register at least 80 compared to the other pitcherswho were throwing. Pelfrey’s slurve (he doesn’t technically throw a slider) naturally breaks early…the very nature of the pitch would make every single slurve look like he hung it on TV (watch Kerry Wood the next time he throws a breaking ball and you’ll see what I mean). He wasn’t getting slapped around with that pitch…he was getting hit hard with the change. Also, Pelfrey’s four-seam fastball, which he normally throws mostly to lefties, he’s trying to throw to righties. Again, he got hit there. Experiment aborted, back to throwing it to lefties. He still needs to develop and was rushed, now he needs to pitch through that (I heard the same critcisms of Jeremy Bonderman when he first came up with the Tigers…throws one pitch, will never make it as a starter).
As for bringing up last ST, I can guarantee you that he’s matured far beyond that level. He’d come apart as soon as one guy got on base or he let a single run score before that game against Atlanta, which by his own admission he needed.
Why not let him develop in the bullpen? Well, look at a lot of these guys from the past decade that were hailed as the next Tom Seaver or whatever that began their MLB careers (not counting September callups) as relievers. Although you have Johan Santana, Roy Halladay, and to a much lesser extent Carlos Zambrano, A LOT (and I mean a good-sized, though not vast majority) of the guys that hung around as spot starters/middle relievers in the bullpen either stuck there or burned out transitioning to the starting rotation (Scott Williamson comes to mind immediately, as does ironically Scott Schoeneweis). Bottom line, he still needs a chance as a starter.
Now, Heilman as a starter? He no longer throws a breaking pitch of any kind. A split-fingered fastball (the pitch he’s developing) is not a breaking ball. Further, his chronic tendonitis is not solely a result of overusing the guy (remember, he was pitching through it way before anyone said he was being overused). Part of it came from throwing a breaking ball in the first place! He has extremely sub-par, high injury risk mechanics and if he started, he’d likely come apart physically (albeit not mentally). I know Rick Peterson took a ton of flak for trying to get him to get up his arm slot and level his elbow with his shoulder as he brings his arm back (this was in 2004-2005), but realistically, that’s the only way he would last a full season if he did indeed become a starter.
Pelfrey definitely did not have it today but I wasn’t as down on him today as I should have been. It seemed that he was just falling behind lefties the entire game. I haven’t seen him in the other starts but from what I understand he wasn’t falling behind any one and was locating his pitches down and in on the batters.
I’m sure now we’re going to hear “Pelfrey to the pen” or “ship him to the minors” but you have to realize that : (a). He got beat today with a low-eighties changeup (his worst pitch) and (b). El Duque is definitely not going to be ready when the season starts. I’m sorry but I”m not buying this new windup. The guy is 44 and has done things a certain way his entire life. Now he’s expected to go out there with something totally different and stay healthy the entire year. Memo to Omar: Today was a mulligan. STICK WITH PELFREY!
Again – it’s because he doesn’t have a solid second pitch which he can consistently throw for strikes.
that slider of his is developing into just that.
Agreed. Pelfrey belongs in the rotation. Met fans and more importantly the Mets need to tone down the ‘win now or else’ mentality. Let him have the fiver and he’ll develop into a solid middle of the rotation starter.
I’m not sure what team you follow but the trade for Johan, the age and considerable talent on the team, the dearth of talent in the minors, the large payroll and the statements by the ownership is rather a tell tale sign that this club is built to win now.
I’ve followed the Mets since 69, and I can promise you if the 2008 team plays as ‘tight’ as the 06 and 07 teams, you can kiss the playoffs goodbye. For nearly every game attended last year, I witnessed a team that did not play at level equal to their talent. The fact they were a better road team for a good portion of the season speaks volumes. New York teams will always need to be competitive, however the entire Wilpon/Minaya/Randoph dynamic combined with a new host of fans who have played more Xbox than sandlot has resulted in a team and board that quite frankly reeks of desperation.
cgpublic, i agree about the ‘07 team…however, the ‘06 team played with a different flare and feel short, 1 game away from the world series, compared to blowing a 7 game lead last year, I don’t think it’s fair to compare the 2 in that respect saying if the Mets played like the ‘06 and ‘07 teams then we can kiss the playoffs goodbye. I agree if they play like last years team, we can kiss them goodbye. However, if they play like the ‘06 team, they will be in the playoffs, b/c well, that team made the playoffs. The ‘06 team was a very fiery, exciting team, and that’s what got us excited, the ‘07 team didn’t play like the ‘06 team and thus had the meltdown and which made Met fans hate how the team played all that much more. They were not the same team in ‘06.
these fast updates are amazing
Lets take a poll. Who’s a better outfielder, Shawn Green, Bobby Abreu, or bonds?
Do you mean offense or defense because if it was offense Abreu would win easy but for defense they all suck but Green would win. It’s says OF not DH so Bonds would have to play D which would hurt his offense.
I would say let’s give Pelf a chance. Sure he got the job out of camp last year and it didn’t translate well in the majors but he’s very young and had a LOT of pressure put on him last year. With Johan and Pedro leading the way, plus two budding aces in Maine and Oh Pea, Pelf should have plenty of pressure taken off him. There was no margin of error for him last season – plenty of room for him to screw up and learn from it.