Pre Game: Mets vs. Reds (Game 1)
Angel Pagan has been activated, and will start tonight in center field and bat leadoff for the Mets.
Nick Evans was sent down to Triple-A. Evans is batting .212 in his last 33 at bats.
Pagan will be followed in order by Alex Cora, Daniel Murphy at first base, David Wright, Ryan Church in right field, Jeremy Reed in left, Argenis Reyes at second and Brian Schneider behind the plate.
…for the first time in a long while, this is a pretty strong defensive outfield, which, like jerry said yesterday, must be this team’s second priority right now behind quality pitching…
Fernando Nieve will be tonight’s starting pitcher. Nieve allowed nine runs, 17 hits and seven walks in his last two starts, after starting 3–0 with a 1.31 ERA in his first three starts fo rthe Mets. Nieve has two hits in seven at bats this season.
Bronson Arroyo will start for the Reds. He is 0–3 with a 10.29 ERA in his last three starts, during which opponents hit .426 against him.
Update, 5:11 pm:
“He was huge for us,” Jerry Manuel said today, when asked about Pagan’s performance earlier in the season. “Hopefully we get back the same guy.”
Manuel will be in Sacremnto during the All-Star break, but expects to speak with management about the state of the roster.
In the end, Manuel said, if the Mets are going to ‘make a run,’ he feels the team will need four starting pitchers to get ‘hot.’
