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The Mets will play an intrasquad game today at 11:30 am, which will pit Sandy Alomar Sr. against his son, Sandy Alomar Jr.
The batting order for Alomar Sr.’s team will be:
SS Alex Cora
2B Marlon Anderson
LF Daniel Murphy
CF Carlos Beltran
3B Fernando Tatis
RF Ryan Church
1B Nick Evans
C Brian Schneider
DH Fernando Martinez
Jon Niese, Nelson Figueroa, Kyle Snyder, Conor Robertson and Heriberto Ruelas are scheduled to pitch.
The batting order for Alomar Jr.’s team will be:
2B Luis Castillo
SS Jose Reyes
3B David Wright
1B Carlos Delgado
RF Bobby Kielty
CF Jeremy Reed
C Ramon Castro
LF Cory Sullivan
DH Rene Rivera
Dillon Gee, Brandon Knight, Bobby Parnell, Carlos Muniz, Eddie Kunz and Jon Switzer are scheduled to pitch.
There are lots of clouds in the sky, and it looks like it could rain, but they say it should clear up as the day goes on.
I’m kinda glad to see Kielty get a starting nod in the game. Honestly if anyone were to supplant Marlon Anderson’s roster spot, it’d probably be him.
I know Marlon is a positive influence in the clubhouse, but unless he really rakes in the spring…our bench right now would be lefty Cora, lefty Reed/Sullivan, righty Castro as the backup catcher, Fernando Tatis (a righty BUT if it’s a day he’s platooning with Church, another lefty to the bench)…and then one spot left. Probably gonna be a dogfight between Anderson, Kielty, and Pagan.
Anderson is better than the other in house options, but I’d prefer Wily Mo Pena.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there’s any way Anderson is as bad as last year…but I’d really hate to be hamstrung with a nearly all lefty bench.
Wily Mo makes all types of sense…
Church won’t be platooned, not from the get-go at least.
Who’s suggesting a platoon? I like the pop off the bench, and Wily Mo has upside….the Nationals have a glut of Outfielders, and didn’t want Pena back, but he exercised his player option for 2 million. Anderson makes about 1 million….I think Washington would be interested in swapping players….
That swap I would do.
Mets could use a RH OF with some pop more than Marlon, and the Nats could probably use the “veteran leadership” more than a 5th RH OF.
Makes sense….
Can the Mets afford Pena?…..
“Who’s suggesting a platoon?”
Jerry Manuel
Jr’s team has the better lineup, in my opinion!
Matt,, Just want to thank you for the amazing job you’ve done this Spring Training. This blog is starting to really pay off for the fans.. Thanks for the hard work..
the first two hitters for the alomar sr’s squad will be 2 outs..
Cora leading off in the 1st game the Mets play this year? Must be your worst nightmare!
I know that you despise him for some reason (even his 1st name doesn’t help?), but I am really curious to see what he looks like in game action.
If he can play good D, get some tiemly hits, and stay healthy, he will be a vast improvement over what they had at 2B last year.
u damn right it is.. the first game of the year and this guy is getting the first at bat.. GOD is punishing me right now.. and about your IF, thta’s all it is, IF.. cora is a bum who we over paid to get and will be nothing but another out coming off the bench or when he plays.. yuck
It is NOT the first game of the year, it is an intra-squad game in February!
Damn, it is nice on weekends when your comically depressing negativity is not here….
well, they’re gonna pitch and bat anc catch, what does that mean??
miss you too kingman.. :-p
interesting to see the Castillo/Reyes/wright/delgado lineup. Might actually see that in a real game at some point, and might make sense if Reyes is hitting for some power, and Castillo revitalizes his OBP and still has decent speed.
It at least makes 5-8 better with (in some order) Beltran, Murphy, Church and the C (with Tatis subbing in on occasion).
Of course you get that line up too if Castillo hits 2nd…
I was just about to say the same thing.. look, castillo should be the 8th hitter in this lineup.. get him as far back as u ca if he doesn’t produce, but if he’s around 280 and obp of 370 leave him at 2nd.. but church at #2 will be deadly if he comes back to form..
I agree that Church in the 2 hole is dirty. He was on fire there last year seeing all those fast balls when Reyes was on so I don’t have a problem batting him in the 2 hole. I also like Murphy there. Murphy has the best eye at the plate on the team and has already been compared to Pete Rose when it comes to his eye for seeing pitches. Murphy should bat for a good avg. and be able to take a lot of pitches to give Reyes a shot to steal, and make the SP have to work before he faces the meat of the order.
Plus if Murphy is batting 2nd that would move Church to the 6 hole batting behind Beltran or Delgado. Having someone like Church who can hit for power hitting behind them forces the SP to have to pitch to them instead of around them so they don’t walk him and allow Church to hit a 2 or 3 run HR.
yeah, i don’t mind seeing murphy there too.. what i love about murphy is his abilty to drive the ball to left field, which can lead to many hit and runs with reyes on base if that’s the case..
guys lets relax a bit with murphy…he has had 131 abs in MLB….lets repeat 1 hundred and thirty one abs !!!! comparing him to pete rose is utterly stupid…..let see this kid grow and stop putting expecations on him that not realistic…at the moment…..and as far as having the best eye on the this team…i guess how soon we forget DW…sometimes in life people just make you laugh and this is certainly one of those times.
DW??
not after seeing him swung at that ball like 5 feet out of the plate against the cubs on that crucial game.. lol.. jk.. jk..
In the video that Matt posted yesterday which showed Castillo in the cage, he was swinging thru the ball and not slapping it which is a very good sign. He lost a lot of weight and has a lot to prove. With that being said he might be a big surprise for us this year. Now I’m not too hot on him batting leadoff but if he does the job I don’t have a problem with him in that slot. My problem is also my fear and thats having Reyes batting down in the order(2nd, 3rd, etc.) and feeling like he needs to his for more power. He is a special player that drives the ball into the gaps and legs out a lot of doubles and triples with a HR every once in a while. If he starts trying to hit for more power his HR’s will go up some but so will his fly outs, and his doubles and triples will decline a lot.
So back to the batting order. If Castillo leads off thats fine if he gets the job done, but if Reyes tries to become more of a power hitter you have to switch it back even if Castillo is doing awesome.
good point, but i’ll tell you something, reyes batting third at any point means that d-wright and beltran are off, or the offense need a shake up.. he is and will be our leadoff hitter for years to come, but gain, i like the way manuel is handling this, becoz if reyes hits 3rd and produce, he’s another type of monster.. i’m talking barry larkin 1995 type of monster..
If Reyes can become a Barry Larkin 1995 type of player than I am on board and will take back everything I said about moving Reyes out of the leadoff spot. I know Reyes has the skill and the talent to do so, the question is does he have the maturity. Take notice in past seasons what happens every time he hits some HR’s. As soon as he has a multiple HR game, or a few HR’s over 3 or 4 games he thinks he’s a power hitter and has a few games following those HR’s where he just flies out a lot cause he’s trying to hit HR’s.
As for Castillo, I still believe that its Omar’s idea to have Castillo do some leadoff work during spring training to try and build his value and have a better shot to move him.
honestly i doubt that if he starts hitting he’ll get traded, that is gonna help minaya prove doubters wrong about the signing of castillo, and if he doesn’t hit.. it’ll be a long season for castillo as his name along will bring boooo showers at all times
I get the feeling Luis was one of these guys that always took it easy during the winter. I don’t have evidence, just a hunch. I get the feeling that going into this offseason he knew he really had to work his a$$ off to get into good shape, because he is getting up in age a little. We have to remember, although Luis was terrible last year, he has always been a smart guy who just knows how to play the game. He also is not the kind of hitter to just completely fall off because he doesn’t rely on power. He is a singles hitter who can work the count, and he has always been very good at those things. Here is to hoping last year was an aberration and he will give us what we thought we would get when we signed him.
I don’t know what it is, i just don’t like him.. for some weird reason.. the signing made me grinch, but with that being said, he better do good and stop being so fragile, if he’s affected by the boos he won’t last a week longer
I’ve always liked Castillo and if I remember correctly (and at my age that can be a challenge) there were some articles indicating that the Mets were interested in trading for him before they signed Kaz Matsui. When he finally did come to the Mets I was surprised to see the extent of his chronic physical problems and I was surprised that Omar offered him that contract that could end up being an albatross around the Mets neck. I would like nothing more than to see a resurgent Castillo find the fountain of youth. Losing the 17 pounds should ease the strain on his legs and increase his speed (which is an important component of his game) but until I see that his body can withstand the rigors of playing every day without breaking down I will have question marks about him. Luis is one player that could benefit from using Roids. :)
anyone going to be liveblogging the game?
Hey Matt, are u going to video any part of the game? It would be awesome to see after months of no baseball. I think Jr’s team will take the win. I’m curious to see how the Castillo, Reyes thing works out.
I may head over to the game this morning, Anyone know if it’s on the main field or on one of the back fields?
Anyone else on here rooting agains Houston and Toronto all year? Rumor is that if Houston or Toronto are in real bad shape come the All Star game that they would possibly trade Oswaly and Halliday.
hahaha.. nice. the thing is houston seems to be a second half team for some reason.. and i can see toronto out of it by may, but to bring halladay here may cost a lot..
There are a few players on the team now that we can’t give up for him but everyone else including Omar’s and the Wilpons Souls should be available if it means having Santana and Halliday as the 1 & 2
if it happens, mark it down, the mets will be the 2001 version of schilling & johnson.. which means…. 2009 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
TRADE FOR ROY!!
Either one….
Why is everyone so interested in acquiring Patrick Roy? :)
Hmmmm, interesting idea…he would clearly block the plate better than Schneider….
ahhh.. nice comeback king..
Way to go Matt. You are covering the hell out of spring training. Not that you care about my opinion, but I have to say I think the quality of the site in the last couple months is at an all time high. I have never seen in depth coverage of spring training like this before, thank you, and good work. Don’t you sleep?
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
NO MURPH BATTING 2nd.
THE BIGGEST FLAW TO HIS GAME IS, “HE RUNS WELL FOR A CATCHER!” (LOL) WE DON’T NEED A #3 HITTING REYES TURNING TRIPLES INTO DOUBLES DUE TO SNAIL ON THE BASEPATH.
Murphy doesn’t have tremendous speed, but he is a great baserunner. (LOL DURRR LOL)
looking at guys that can be traded by july, i read that maybe if the tigers are out of it, they might trade justin verlander and jeremy bonderman.. that sounds very intriguin to me considering the are young and cheap..
why would they trade those two, being young and cheap? if anything, seems they would try to move the bigger contracts.
of course it also meantion willis, ordonez, polanco, many others including cabrera..
Outfield team vs. Infield team. That sounds like so much fun, I wish I could play (or at least watch)!
Starting OF vs. Starting IF, I’m taking the IF
Ahhhh, Spring Traing is great isnt it?
Where everyone will be an All-Star
and dreams of 10 game winning streaks fill the air.