Monthly Archives: February 2009
The Game:
The Mets take on the Cardinals today at 1:10 p.m. in Grapefruit League action from Port St. Lucie. The game will be broadcast on SNY.
The Lineup:
- 2B Luis Castillo
- P Livan Hernandez
- SS Jose Reyes
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- RF Ryan Church
- LF Marlon Anderson
- C Rene Rivera
The Pitchers:
Livan Hernandez begins his campaign to be the Mets’ fifth starter and right-handed power bat off the bench. Brandon Knight, Casey Fossum, Connor Robertson, Tom Martin, Rocky Cherry, Adam Bostick and Darren O’Day are expected to follow.
Update, 12:40 pm:
A scout just told me Sanchez was working with coaches in the bullpen, who were talking with him about how he snaps his knee back on his delivery and how it might cause him to lose balance.
Original Post:
Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano and Sean Green are all throwing in the back bullpen, under the watchful eye of Jerry Manuel.
Green threw roughly 30 pitches, and looked fine to me, showing no signs of any finger nail issue from the other day.
Mike Pelfrey tossed two innings, while striking out four batters on 29 pitches during his outing against Team Italy this morning.
Francisco Rodriguez followed to walk one batter, but let up no runs and no hits, in one inning of work.
This morning, I interviewed Ron Darling about his upcoming book, The Complete Game, and was able to play catch with him, while he tried to show me how to throw a curve ball.
He said I had good break on the pitch, but I am pretty sure he was just being nice. Thanks, Ron.
My video producer and I are off to check out the prospects who are signing autographs inside the gate of Tradition Field.
I followed the beat writers over to Field 6 this morning to listen as they spoke with Mike Piazza, who is coaching with Team Italy, who is in Tradition Field to take on the Mets B-squad team.
The minute he started talking I had a huge smile on my face, unable to not think of the late 90s. I loved that team.
Also, he was drinking a tall Starbucks coffee, with wrap-around sunglasses, and still sporting the ‘duck tail, bushy hair.
To me, he will be always be the definition of dorky-cool.
Piazza said he is using this experience to get his feet wet, and re-connect with the game of baseball, without the pressure of being a player, to see if 
he’d be interested in returning as coach at some point in his future.
Asked if he could one day return to the game as a coach, Piazza said, “I’m not gonna rule anything out. I think this is a good first step, without a huge commitment.”
He fielded a few more questions and talked about Italy, his heritage, coaching and his family – then said, ‘Alright, guys, I’m gonna go watch batting practice,’ and wisely walked away before any one had the chance to ask him about other more topical subjects in the news.
Tagged Mike Piazza |The Mets will play Mike Piazza’s Team Italy today in a 
B-squad game on Field 7 (the one cut like Citi Field), at 10 am.
Here is today’s lineup against Italy:
2B Andy Green
SS Jose Coronado
DH Fernando Martinez
OF Bobby Kielty
1B Nick Evans
C Ramon Castro
3B Jose Valentin
OF Rob Mackowiak
OF Cory Sullivan
RHP Mike Pelfrey
…i have to do an interview with Ron Darling about his upcoming book, after which i will run over to Field 7, mostly to see pelfrey, martinez and piazza…
Here are some random photographs I took yesterday in camp:
To keep an eye on my entire photo album from Tradition Field, including hi-res versions of the pictures in this post, click here.
In case you missed it…
Yesterday, I talked with David Wright about the things he is working on 
this spring; the coaching staff; dealing with media and bloggers; saying goodbye to Shea and hello to Citi Field; and staying strong over a 162–game season.
The following is a quick sample text from the interview, after which you can watch the discussion in its entirety through the video player below.
Jerry Manuel told reporters following today’s game that Jose Reyes is ready to take it to another level.
“I told you all and you got mad at me,” Manuel joked with reporters, saying Reyes is capable of hitting third.
Manuel has not yet talked to Reyes about where he will hit in the lineup, saying he does not feel such a discussion is necessary.
Basically, Manuel would not say any one move is permanent, suggesting Reyes could return to the leadoff spot, as Manuel learns where players can play, while giving him other options to succeed.
…in other words, the way i hear it, reyes will likely bat leadoff most games, but it’s good to know, should the team go in to a funk, that manuel can do other things with the lineup to help ignite it…
“I love the energy that Jose brings,” Manuel said, “I don’t always like the anxiety that comes with it. His anxiety. I want to really calm it down and put him in to the rhythm of the game. The game is played on a jazz beat, and he’s playing at a hiphop beat.”
In the end, Manuel says he is trying to find ways to make Reyes a ‘dominant player,’ which will only happen when he learns to pace himself and be a more balanced baseball player.
Lastly, Manuel said he will contact Team Mexico to request that Oliver Perez keep his innings count down during the WBC.
Tomorrow, from 11 am to 11:45 am, at Tradition 
Field, the Mets top prospects will be signing autographs for fans inside the main gate prior to the game, including Ike Davis, Wilmer Flores, Reese Havens, Brad Holt and Jenry Mejia, among others.
…this is awesome… i plan to head down there and check it out, and see if i can ask these guys a few questions… i mean, it’s basically all of their top prospects, short of Fernando Martinez, who is working out with the big league club…
Jose Reyes told reporters he is bringing back the Prof. Reyes Spanish lessons to Citi Field this season.
Reyes said he has yet to speak with Jerry Manuel about batting third, but he is willing to do whatever is asks of him.
Reyes hit third today and had two home runs.
Lastly, Manuel’s Cadillac got hit by a foul ball, that skipped from the stadium in to the player’s lot, cracking his windshield.
I hope it was Hanley Ramirez, as it would be one more reason to not like him.
For other post-game information, including quotes from Jerry Manuel, check out Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.
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