Daily Archives: March 21, 2008
Mets Weekly’s first episode of the season premieres at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow on SNY.
The first installment features new host Jocelyn Pierce’s bowling trip with John Maine and Joe Smith, as well as:
- A look at the impact Johan Santana has made on the players and fans at spring training
- Brian Schneider and Ryan Church‘s view of the Mets’ 2007 collapse from Nationals uniforms
- And some of the cars the Mets have been using to get to camp
…if i’m recalling correctly, Pedro Martinez‘s no. 45 can be seen in the wheels of his Aston Martin…sweet…
Tagged SNY |The Mets defeated the visiting Nationals 8-2 this afternoon at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
- Pedro Martinez allowed two runs on five hits over five innings, striking out four and walking none. He allowed one home run, to Austin Kearns with the bases empty and one out in the fourth.
- David Wright had three hits, including his first home run, a no-doubt shot to left with two out in the fifth. That tied the game at 2. Wright could have had four hits, but was ruled to have reached base on an error in his last at-bat.
- Jose Reyes had two doubles, but was thrown out at third base twice: once on a steal attempt, once when he tried to stretch a double into a triple.
- Ricardo Rincon, Pedro Feliciano, Scott Schoeneweis and Matt Wise combined to allow just one hit and one walk in relief of Martinez.
- Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan both added two hits.
- Carlos Delgado went 0-for-3, throwing his bat in frustration at one point. He’s batting .179.
- Ryan Church showed off his arm from right field by throwing out Ryan Zimmerman, who was trying to stretch a single, at second base.
Paul Lo Duca went 1-for-3. His hit came off Martinez in the first inning on a grounder into the hole that Reyes couldn’t come up with cleanly.
For a complete box score, go to MLB.com.
With Moises Alou likely out until May, Adam Rubin of the Daily News is turning to Angel Pagan, Brady Clark and Damion Easley to step in in left field and balance out a predominantly left-handed bottom of the lineup.
Rubin writes:
“With three lefty hitters already in the Nos. 5-8 slots in the batting order … it’s virtually essential that a righty batter occupy the other slot and man left field.”
Pagan, a switch-hitter who entered today batting .333 in 60 at-bats this spring, has a .219 career average against left-handers—60 points below his career average against righties.
…pagan has to be the guy getting the majority of playing time out of the gate, but rubin’s right…opposing teams might need only a lefty reliever or two to plow through an alou-less mets lineup, or at least half of it…
According to an in-game report from SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, Mets C Brian Schneider is playing today in a minor league game on the backfields of Tradition Field while the Mets take on the Nationals.
Schneider, who has been sitting out with a hamstring injury, has homered and doubled according to Burkhardt.
Schneider is hitting every inning but not catching.
Mets GM Omar Minaya is scheduled to speak on WFAN shortly after 12 p.m. today.
Update (12:40 p.m.)
Speaking with Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts for about 20 minutes, Minaya said:
- Mike Pelfrey and Nelson Figueroa are both in contention for the fifth spot in the rotation
- Orlando Hernandez is still being looked at as a starting pitcher
- If injuries struck the rotation, the Mets would be willing to reach into the farm system and promote a Jon Niese, who will start the season with Double-A Binghamton
- Fernando Martinez could see big-league time this season
- Minaya wouldn’t definitively rule out signing Barry Bonds, but said he is happy with the guys he has
…it has to be pelfrey over figueroa, but you don’t want to promise anything…keep that competition going…
The Mets are scheduled to host the Nationals at 1:10 p.m. today at Tradition Field.
The game will air live on SNY, and on MLB.com.
Pedro Martinez makes his second start of the spring after holding the Detroit Tigers to four scoreless innings last Sunday. Martinez allowed just four hits and struck out four.
Brian Schneider won’t be catching for the Mets, according to The Record‘s Steve Popper, but Paul Lo Duca will be catching for the Nats, according to Newsday‘s David Lennon. Lastings Milledge is not starting.
The Mets are hoping Martinez can give them five innings in front of Pedro Feliciano, Matt Wise and Scott Schoeneweis, according to John Delcos at the Journal News.
…let’s say pedro (martinez) pitches great again, but does so without lighting up the radar gun…i have a feeling we’re still going to hear people say, ‘well, that’s good, but i still don’t know if he’ll be able to get by with a fastball like that in the regular season’…
…and let’s say pedro pitches badly today, without the good cheese…can you imagine the reaction, particularly with just one tune-up start remaining?…
…pedro won’t be able to convince everybody that he’s still capable until he’s successful in the regular season, making these games kind of a lose-lose situation…but just remember that if any pitcher deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s pedro…
In yesterday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer, Paul Hoynes reported that Indians GM Mark Shapiro and Mets GM Omar Minaya met in person on Wednesday night.
…naturally, this has led to a lot speculation that the two must have been discussing trade possibilities…
…from what i understand, the Mets are not looking for pitching…so, i believe we can scratch Cliff Lee from the list…instead, as has been reported quite often in the last week, the Mets continue to shop for an outfielder, who can hit lefties and has some power, such as Xavier Nady, who is barley available, if he’s available at all…for what it’s worth, the Pirates just demoted the one player who would have played in place of nady, had nady been traded…so, make of that what you will…
According to Tim Dierkes from MLB Trade Rumors, three outfield possibilities from Cleveland’s roster could be: Franklin Gutierrez, David Dellucci or Jason Michaels.
In 56 games for the Indians last season, the 34–year-old Dellucci hit just .230 with four HR, while batting .167 against lefties.
…umm, no…pass, please…however, he has been been battling forearm soreness all spring, while missing a lot of time, so, in that sense, he’d fit right in…
Michaels, 31, hit .270 with seven HR in 105 games for Cleveland last year, while batting .287 in 136 at-bats against lefties, during which he hit five home runs.
Michaels has played left, right and center field during his six-year career between Cleveland and Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez, 25, is slated to start in right field for the Indians, and hit .266 with 13 HR in 100 games last year.
Gutierrez hit .330 against left-handed pitching last year, and has a career .309 average in 68 games against lefties in his three major-league seasons.
…obviously, gutierrez is the most exciting of these players, and a guy i would go a bit out of the way to try and acquire…dellucci is not better than Angel Pagan, though…meanwhile, michaels seems fairly comparable to pagan…
…again, the goal must be better than pagan, otherwise i don’t understand giving up yet another young arm for the sake of adding to the outfield…if the Angels want a player like Jon Neise for Juan Rivera, it stands to reason that the Indians will at least want such a player for gutierrez – if not more, considering his slated to be a starter for them…
…that said, if the deal involves clearing a roster spot, or trimming a contract, that could make sense…otherwise i am fine with how the outfield currently stakes up – seeing as how no quality player will be acquired for free or for spare parts…
…of course, there is always the chance that minaya and shapiro just got together to have dinner and talk politics…
During last night’s win over the O’s, Carlos Delgado returned the lineup with stitches in his arm and went 1 for 2.
Additionally, Duaner Sanchez threw nine 
fastballs and two change-ups in one inning, hitting up to 91 mph, while allowing no runs and one hit in his first appearance since Monday.
He is scheduled to pitch again on Saturday.
Sanchez told reporters after the game that he will not pitch back-to-back days until next week.
…the Mets have essentially set ‘back-to-back days’ as the final step in duaner’s recovery…however, it appears that both the team and duaner understand that if takes beyond opening day for him to fully get in gear, so be it…
…at the same time, the bullpen is starting to take shape…
Aaron Heilman, Billy Wagner, Scott Schoeneweis, and Pedro Feliciano will be on the 25–man roster.
…Matt Wise and Jorge Sosa will likely be added to that list…
…meanwhile, my gut tells me that Steve Register will slot in for duaner on opening day…and the team will cross that roster-bridge when they get to it later in April…
In seven appearances this spring, the Rule-V Register has a 3.12 ERA, six strikeouts and no walks through eight innings.
…the key to keeping register, at least for now, is that, because he is a Rule V selection, if he is cut, the Rockies will have the option to take him back…
For more on Register, read Bart Hubbach in the New York Post.
In a video for FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal previews the NL 
East, and predicts Johan Santana will have a big season for the Mets.
Speaking of Santana, the Brooklyn Met Fan believes he can win 25 games, adding, “And I’m not even kidding!”
In the Star-Ledger, Lisa Kennelly explains how Latino players work to learn English.
Lastly, at MetsGeek, John Peterson asks, “Is it April yet?”
