New York Mets 2010

[sonny10305]

Hurray, it’s baseball time again.

2009 is a distant memory for me, we had a rough season to be sure but that is history, no more dwelling on what happened, it’s over and it’s time to move on.
The overall feeling at the Mets camp is one of optimism, you can see it everywhere. The players have all expressed a united front to play hard and win big, it’s contagious, I know I feel it, and I believe it, do you?
The theme of the Mets season is prevention and recovery

Still unanswered are a couple of questions regarding positions. The first being who will be our fifth starter.
The clear front runner now is Jonathan Niese with that awesome cutter (cut fastball) I have a feeling he will be our guy. That choice will work for me, I recall before that horrible injury last season thinking he was going to be a stud and an important part of the pitching rotation and now hopefully that will happen.

Next is first base, Murphy is he clear front runner here although he will have to prove himself worthy in a spring training competion with Mike Jacobs. Again here I don not see that as a problem for Daniel, I think he will get he job. As for Ike Davis who many have suggested is also in the running for the first base position let me tell you that I not true, Ike is not gong to be our opening day first baseman he will be returning to AAA to bone up his skills. Ike is a future star but I have seen him play often and even he would tell you he is not quite ready. But make no mistake he will get there and he will get there soon, just maybe not until late in 2010 or 2011. The only way you would see Ike sooner is if either Jacobs or Murphy fail miserably which is unlikely.

The next concern would have to be the middle of the rotation; Perez, Maine and Pelfrey are going to collectively have 90 good starts behind Santana. Based on the reports coming out about the three of them that idea is not far fetched. All three are healthy and have been pitching very well and looking really good, ALL THREE OF THEM!
Finally who will hand the ball to K-Rod, Igarashi has a good shot as does Parnell

Next up is Center field; Beltran is expected to begin baseball activities soon and could be ready as soon as mid May or early June at the latest. In the mean time the competion (and that’s what it is) between Pagan and Matthews Jr. My money is on Pagan, I have little faith in Matthews don’t really care for him all that much. Pagan is a true athletete he had a spectacular finish to his 2009 season and is without question in my mind the man for the job till Beltran returns. I don’t see Matthews as a met foe very long.

So yesterday we saw out first spring training game. Unfortunately we did not get to see the core guys, Manual opting not to use them due to the lousy condition of the field after some heavy rains. I was a little pissed since I had been waiting to see my boys out there but I get Manuals decision and it did give us a chance to see some of the wannabees strut their stuff for us to see I always like to se that. The pitching was good, Nelson Figueroa’s breaking ball looked great and he struck out three Atlanta hitters in a row Nelson is a middle-of-the-bullpen type reliever and I imagine he will play an important role in 2010 with Pedro Feliciano and Shaun Green and Bobby Parnell in that set-up role. I was also impressed with Bobby Livingston. Finally got a look at Igarash who pitched a scoreless ninth which earned him the save. I had heard he throws hard and yesterday he did.
Elmer Dessens had a bad day he got hit on the right thigh just above the knee and had to leave the game after just 1/3 of an inning. He was not pitching all that well anyways allowing two hits and a run.

Of course the highlight for me was seeing Ike Davis at first, Ike lined a double to start a three-run rally in the fifth inning, unfortunately Matthews Jr killed it by hitting onto a double play. But Ike looked relaxed and confident and as always I liked what I saw. He does need to judge the wind a bit better cause he went after a fly ball and was standing waiting for it to drop like 20 feet from where it actually landed. I got a kick out of that as I am sure he did as well. To his credit he also managed a single against the Braves lefty, so oh yeah, Ike can hot the lefties. Our boy hit 20 home runs and 31 doubles in the minor leagues last season

Next televised game will be Thursday on SNY, with Kevin Burkhardt and Ron Darling calling the game.
The full regular squad is expected to play as well, finally see Wright and Reyes.

As to Santana, he will pitch the game against the Astros on March 9th.

Take a look at our boy Ike Davis and his double

 

[syam24]

Nice opener to the spring! I watched the first couple of innings before going to work, saw Ike strikeout, missed his two hits, damnit! Was just fun to see baseball back in whatever form, I was already bitching at some of the home plate ump's ball/strike calls. Saw Dessens take the liner off his leg, hopefully not a serious injury, not that I'm counting Elmer making the staff, but he was effective most of the time last year. Thanks for this thread Sonny!

 

[sonny10305]

saw Ike strikeout, missed his two hits, damnit!
I was already bitching at some of the home plate ump's ball/strike calls. Saw Dessens take the liner off his leg, hopefully not a serious injury, not that I'm counting Elmer making the staff, but he was effective most of the time last year. Thanks for this thread Sonny!

No worries dude, Ike will play most of the spring training games so you will have plenty of chances to see him play. I am hoping he will make the trip back to Buffalo next weekend for the Family Day open house at Coca Cola field. A bunch of us are going and Davis has said he wants to be there but is not sure he can make it. The kid is awesome, last year at AA Binghamton, where he hit .309 with 13 homers in 55 games. Then there was the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .341. You may also remember he was the Mets first-round draft pick in 2008..

Dessends should be ok he left the field walking on his own power, but still you hate to see that so soon.
I hear ya bout them umps, trouble is it's not just spring training games where they make bad calls, it's all year long. But it almost balances out, cause we get some that should have gone to the opposing team. But like I said, ALMOST

Back to televised baseball today as the Mets and the Cards square off
We will see more of our regular guys today Gary Matthews Jr, Luis Castillo David Wright, Jason Bay, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Fernando Tatis, and Henry Blanco. Tejada will play short Jose Reyes won’t play today cause he needs to go to the doctor to complete his physical, he will have follow-up blood tests and see a specialist after something unidentified showed up during his yearly physical, he will have follow-up lab work Reyes said there is nothing to worry about, the visit has nothing to do with his surgically repaired right leg. Am I the only one who has to worry about that.....just a little
Jenrry Mejia set to pitch in relief, there has been a lot of talk about this kid. I am looking forward to seeing him today.
Kevin Burkhardt and Ron Darling will call the game, Gary and Keith have the day off.

 

[syam24]

That's pretty funny that Gary and Keith have the day off, I'm sure it's been a really arduous schedule for them so far. I know I complained about the umps, but it is spring training for them too. I'll try to be lenient for a day or two.

 

[Absolut]

Uhhh, kicked the shit out of us too! 17-11! I didn't get to watch it because I was working all day


It's almost that time........

(I was debating when to start the 2010 MLB thread - when pitchers and catchers reports, first game of spring training, or the first day of the season? So confused!)

 

[sonny10305]

That's pretty funny that Gary and Keith have the day off, I'm sure it's been a really arduous schedule for them so far. I know I complained about the umps, but it is spring training for them too. I'll try to be lenient for a day or two.

Yeah Syam the boys are easing into this easy. Keith does not like to work hard; he enjoys just working on his garden or hanging by the pool and reading at his home in Jupiter. His regular season contract calls for him to do only 106 games. Gary is busy with his job calling the basketball games and will be finishing that up while bouncing in and out of Mets spring training games. Wasn’t Kevin terrific? That kid is getting better and better at calling the games. I have seen him call basketball games as well and he is very very good. He will call to days Marlins game today with Keith, Ron has the day off and Gary has basketball this weekend.
I guess we can give them umps a, little slack now, it won’t be before long they will be aggravating us again.

Uhhh, kicked the shit out of us too! 17-11! I didn't get to watch it because I was working all day


It's almost that time........

(I was debating when to start the 2010 MLB thread - when pitchers and catchers reports, first game of spring training, or the first day of the season? So confused!)

ABS!!! How the Hell are ya,
while some of us were here all winter talkin baseball where have you been?
Yeah we beat up on your Cards pretty good but it was all about the pitching which was pretty bad for both teams, add to that a couple of errors and the result was 11-17
Never to soon to start your 2010 MLB thread go for it .


In spite of the lousy pitching I really enjoyed yesterday’s game, best of which was D Wrights homer and Ike Davis and that bomb he sent out for grand salami. Just outstanding!
But the pitching really stunk it up,
R.A. Dickey and his knuckleball was a train wreck he allowed five runs in one inning. I don’t care for the knuckleball. I have tried it and don’t like the erratic, unpredictable motion. I get that it is supposed to minimize the spin of the ball and can cause the pitch to change direction on the way to the batter. Thing is while it makes the pitch difficult for hitters to hit, it is difficult for me as a pitcher to control. Besides, it’s a bitch for the catcher to even attempt to catch the ball and makes it harder for the umpire to determine whether the pitch was a strike or ball.
Then here was Sean Green, I dono what he has done with that sidearm delivery, but it don’t work. He needs to rethink that delivery; The Cards lefties ate him for lunch
We were supposed to see Mejia pitch but for some reason Manual did not use him.
He did throw a long pen session which I imagine will keep him out of today’s game as well, dono what’s up with that.

Today we see Niese and that will be fun. Let’s see if he can push it and make the 5th starting position decision a little easier for the Mets to make.

As it turns out there was nothing to worry about with Reyes after all. The blood test were good and he was back yesterday taking BP which was great to see. He is expected to play today against he Marlins

If you missed it here is our boy Ike Davis and his Grand Slam

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TirknshBYMs[/ame]

 

[sonny10305]

Well forget what I saod about Reyes, I just got word that he will undergo tests in New York after doctors in Florida discovered a thyroid imbalance.
Reyes will have tests on Monday and it could take up to 48 after for doctors to receive the results. Reyes is not expected to take part in any physical activity while he is gone.
"We're going to be conservative," said Mets general manager Omar Minaya.
The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces hormones that help control metabolism.
Doctors cleared Reyes to play Friday after he took a follow-up blood test to one conducted during his physical. However, Minaya said team doctors in New York wanted to take a closer look at the speedy infielder and pulled him out of pre-game stretching.

Good grief!!

 

[sonny10305]

There was a lot of very exciting pitching going on yesterday.
First up was Jon Niese who I thought pitched very well, Jon allowing one run in 2 2/3 innings and striking out five before reaching his pitch count limit. What I was most excited about was his new and improved cutter. I saw him throw it before but he never really developed it…until now. It is down right nasty and is very effective against the righties. AWESOME!
But next up was someone I had been waiting to see, Jenrry Mejia showed awesome velocity and very excellent control of all of his pitches, he struck out the first three batters he faced and retiring all seven batters he faced.
This kid is going to be tremendous; I was very very impressed with what I saw yesterday nd as I watched him pitch I don’t think I ever blinked afraid I might miss something. Phenomenal stuff including that 96 MPH cutter CUTTER!! It looks like a breaking ball but it’s his cutter and man does that ball move, just amazing movement. I mean so much movement on so many different pitches, incredible! He threw that hook for a strike and was able to keep that ball moving. I mean I am just so impressed. Forget about it, is gonna be very hard for anyone to hit that breaking ball he way he has it working and moving it in and out like he did yesterday.WHEW!!
Ok I’ll stop salivating now, but any of you guys who saw that understand why I am so excited.

Igarashi had a rough inning, I am concerned about the fact that Worthan has been giving him maybe too many new pitches to learn, plus he has to get accustomed to American baseballs which differ from the ones they use in Japan. I will need to see more of him. Same for Takahashi although I can say he does have excellent control
Bobby Parnell stunk it up pretty good, he just looked bad out there.
Big Game on Sunday, we will see Ollie Perez for the first time this year, really looking forward to that.

I also want to point out something Angel pagan did yesterday with absolutely perfect base running when he scored on David Wright’s fielder’s choice with an error by the Marlins. You had to feel good, with Pagans history of wacky base running, to see him think the play out properly and aggressively score. Like I have been saying if Angel can start to run the bases smartly and shake off those blunders from last year Matthews has no shot at the center field position. I know it’s early and we have not seen much of what Pagan will do this year but it looks like to me Matthews won’t even make the roster.

The other day I bitched about the crap interview num nutz Chris Carlin did with Ike Davis on Mets Hot Stove. Well here is a much better one

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma5M2lwkVdk[/ame]

 

[syam24]

The pitching by Niese and Mejia was great yesterday. It's still early and traditionally the hitters are behind the pitchers at this stage, but still good to see. I hope we don't rush Mejia, if we have other options for the bullpen. Coming off a less than stellar Arizona League performance, I'd like to see him get some seasoning against AA or AAA batters before coming to NY. Pagan's baserunning was good yesterday, as you stated. The first inning steal and scoring from second on the botched DP was nice to see.

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Syam, I wanna see Mejia in the minors a bit befoe we rush him in, you are absolutly correct.
But ya gotta be thinking, set up man and seeing him hand the ball to K-Rod would be kinda sweet.

Yesterday Mike Pelfrey had a not so good first spring training game. Giving up 4 runs to the Nationals. I did not se the game so I can’t evaluate what went wrong here. Pelf went three innings and allowed four runs, three earned and seven hits, but, and this is key for Mike, he didn’t walk a batter. I am told he got clocked on the knee by a ball but stayed in the game. Glad I did not see that. Considering how well the pitchers have been doing I expect Mike to get together with Warthen and figure out what went wrong. I fully expect Mike to have a breakout season in 2010.

The shinning star in yesterdays game had to be Fernando Martinez who went 4-4 including 2 home runs.This kid has been on fire this spring, he is 8 for 12 with two homers and a triple. He's also yet to either strike out. But oddly he has also yet to draw a walk, I have not seen much of his hitting so I dono why he hasn’t walked but I am gonna watch for that. But other than that he is hitting well, so no complaints here. Ike Davis also had a decent day going 3-5. Overall the Mets managed 20 hits to beat the Nats 14-6

By ther way, has anyone else noticed that the Mets have been quitely building what could turn out to be the best pen in the NL East?

Really looking forward to today’s game, Ollie Perez will be on the mound. All reports out of camp are that Ollie looks real good.

Reminder, todays game is on the WB at 1PM and not SNY

 

[syam24]

Like the amount of positive news coming out of Fla. Takahashi must have had the batters fooled yesterday with 6K's, Ike is hitting well, Ollie threw strikes (even if they got some hits/runs). Figueroa threw 4 nice innings the other day. It is early, but love the positives. Would like to hear good news on the Reyes and KRod front soon.

 

[sonny10305]

Yup syam the pitching yesteray was very intereting
we saw Ollie Perez pitch for the first time this season and he was...well.... not awful..but not good ether.
He gave up five earned runs on seven hits, while striking out two and walking one, The good stuff was that during three innings he had a good strikeout-to-walk ratio, 2-1 He threw 33 strikes out of 49 pitchers, which apparently was his goal for the day, Dan Warthen said he thought it was an extremely positive day for Ollie and that he maintained everything he’s been working on. I wanna believe that I really really do, let’s just hope Dan isn’t in La La land here. To be fair I did like the fact that he was able to throw strikes and he did use his slider more often than he usually does, I seem to recall him mixing his pitchers more. But he still can’t /doesn’t throw into the righties Ok, so lets be fair, he did throw strikes and felt no pain, plus it was his first start and of course we need to give him a couple of starts before we declare him DOA I just wanted to see more I guess, but it’s a start, the strike out thing and the pain free thing, but still…..
Something else bothered me about Ollie; He is back standing on the third-base side of the rubber, problem for Ollie with that is it allows him to easily start his right foot back and toward third base basically on a 45-degree angle. Now what this does is make his body go just a bit sideways or pretty much off line, now that has the result in somewhat of an over rotation which causes an opening of the front hip. If you do that it your follow through to be off balance and toward third base. Take notice next time you watch him pitch that way you’ll see him facing third base after the release. So why is that a problem? Well that over rotation is prolly what causes his inconsistency in his release point. I can’t be sure but I thought I once heard Worthan say he was gonna break Ollie of that so maybe now he will. What Ollie needs to do is stat his windup by stepping straight back, that will make him throw a more efficient straight path to the plate. I’m not sure why Warthen has allowed Perez to deviate from that habit.
I was surprised to see Santos catching for Ollie, I would have thought Barajas would have been better for him.

On a positive note we got a good look at Takahashi and I liked what I saw. He has a killer changeup which can be very useful to him as his out pitch especially if he gets in trouble. Actually he has 4 good pitches, throws strikes, has very good control, and I also liked how fast paced he was. He worked well with Santos as well, unlike Ollie. Takahashi struck out six in three innings.

Speaking of Santos, funny how I thought “what is he doin there with Ollie” so then what does he do, well besides calling a great game for Takahasi, Omir drove in four of the five runs the Mets scored in the second inning, hitting an inside-the-park grand slam .

Yesterday I mentioned that Pelfey got hit in his knee by a comeback pitch and had to leave the game, well he underwent an X-Ray on his knee, and the results were negative..

Francisco Rodriguez finnally returned to the Mets' clubhouse Monday morning after being quarantined for more than a week because of conjunctivitis in his eyes (pink eye).

Oh, and I know this is gonna sound very unsportsman like but it was kinda nice to watch Marquis pitch poorly yesterday. *bad Joey bad* he he

 

[Sausy]

Please excuse my late arrival to this most welcome thread sonny,syam,everyone...thanks again sonny for this thread and
here's hoping for a "happy recap" at the end of the year(I KNOW you have to remember that blast from Mets past)

At least Ollie basically threw strikes,but out of all the Met question marks from last season,if Ollie is going to be the most important factor to get back into contention...we is in trouble!

Much more concerned that Johann Santana stays healthy and strong,Mike Pelfrey forgets all about last year and pitches again like second half 2007 stud,John Maine keeps throwing free and easy and builds up more arm strength and Jon Niese continues to make great strides recovering after the terrible hamstring tear last August and makes a strong case to get the fifth spot.

Jennry Mejia looks like the power arm set up man of the future to K-Rod...the stuff is electric and if he can get his control,what a revelation for the Mets!

Ike Davis already looks like he knows what he's doing out there offensively...looks like he belongs and soon will.His defense has been a bit spotty,though...making a few errors so far.But at the plate he looks like a real good major league hitter.He just has this tall,elegant,graceful professional aura about him.

 

[Sausy]

A rough start for Johann Santana yesterday but not alarmed,just working out the kinks and he'll be much sharper his next start.Despite the loss David Wright pounded another rocket and Ike Davis,who already is having a scorching spring launched his second homer.Daniel Murphy better watch his back because keep hitting like this Ike,they can't hold you back long!

Jose Reyes was officially diagnosed with an overactive thyroid but the prognosis is very good...it's very easily treatable and with his being in such prime shape,he should have no difficulties at all returning to the top form he was displaying after recovering from the hamstring injury.

 

[sonny10305]

A rough start for Johann Santana yesterday but not alarmed,just working out the kinks and he'll be much sharper his next start.Despite the loss David Wright pounded another rocket and Ike Davis,who already is having a scorching spring launched his second homer.Daniel Murphy better watch his back because keep hitting like this Ike,they can't hold you back long!

Jose Reyes was officially diagnosed with an overactive thyroid but the prognosis is very good...it's very easily treatable and with his being in such prime shape,he should have no difficulties at all returning to the top form he was displaying after recovering from the hamstring injury.

I dono Saucy, once again here are all kinds of conflicting reports about this. I won't relax till the final test are in on Thursday and a treatment is in place.
Oh, and nice to see you here again

We are seeing now what our stating pitchers are looking like.

Johan Santana in his first start allowed four runs and six hits over one and two-thirds innings and threw 47 pitches. That might seam a little scary but it really isn’t. Johan said his arm felt great and there were no signs of problems with that elbow. Now for me that is most significant aspect of the outing that he felt fine physically and reported no problems with his surgically cleaned left elbow. I remember last year he was unable to fully extend his arm when he pitched because of bone chips in his elbow, but he said he had no issues with that Tuesday and was able to throw his slider, which he had stopped doing in 2009. Next up is that he was able to throw all of his pitches, although his mechanics were a bit off along with the way he released the ball. But that’s what spring training is all about; remember this was only his second time facing batters since last year. Keep in mind as well, the problems Santana had came with his mechanics is not uncommon during a pitcher’s first outing of spring training. I also know that his fastball command which was not as crisp as it will be later in the spring. Especially to that bomb he threw to matsui. I fully expect Santana to have 30-32 starts throw 7 innings and a complete game here and there and win his third Cy young.

I won’t go on about Ollie Perez, I wrote about the other day, suffice to say he was improved but has a lot of work to do.

Pelfrey is back on schedule after taking two days off because of soreness in his right knee. Mike was hit by a line drive in Saturday’s outing against the Nationals, and was forced to push a scheduled bullpen back a day to Tuesday. He said he still has a large bruise, but will start Thursday against Boston the knee is a little sore, but tolerable, hopefully, after two more days it will feel a lot better. Pelfrey said he had no trouble with that or the pitching. it felt good on the mound,”

John Maine’s first outing went well. He struck out four of the eight batters he faced and allowed one run, two hits and one walk in 1 2-3 innings. He threw 21 of his 39 pitches for strikes. I would say Johnny boy is off to a good start, his primary goal is staying healthy, which is no small feat, considering the shoulder injuries he has had the last two seasons. Which like Santana, the Mets were careful with Maine in his first spring start, pulling him with two outs in the second inning. John has plenty of life on his fastball but that his slider needs more work.

K-ROD, stepped on a mound Tuesday for the first time, up to now he has only participated in a light workout.He threw a bullpen session prior to Tuesday’s game and plans another toay. Reports are that the ball was coming out of his hand well, his location was great, and all, were happy with the results.

We still don’t know who our fifth starter will be but it is looking more and more like Niese. He looked sharp last week and I am all in favor of that. I wrote about Mejia who absolutely astonished me in his outing. But I still want him back in the minors a bit longer his time will come soon enough don’t wanna rush him. Same applies to Ike Davis, I love the kid to death and he is having an outstanding spring but again no rushing him please. Saucy you mentined Murphy should be worried about Davis, Well Ike is having a far better spring than Murph. One of things that may be hurting Daniel is the fact that he changed his batting stance, he is standing up straighter now and not crouched as he was last year. Now normally that should help him pull the ball better but it's not. He needs to rethink that change or get together with Ho Jo, who may have suggested it in the first place and figure out what's wrong.
I have also been told that D Wright who has been close to Murphy is also tooting Ike Davis' horn. David thinks the kid is awesome and has taken him under his wing a bit. Typical David.

By the way isn’t it nice that we have all that talent waiting in the minors getting ready to leap in and make their mark in the bigs? What a wonderful breath of fresh air that is especially when you compare that situation to last year. So many of the kids I watched growing up from the days as Cyclones and are getting ready to move up, I get so excited about that.

 

[Sausy]

Yep sonny....we can't forget Fernando Martinez seems ready to get back bigtime in the picture and we know he can swing the bat.Jennry Mejia with his explosive arm is rocketing into the picture and seems to be posed as the Mets set up man of the future and the great thing is he loves the challlenge.There's one player I really have my eye on,that's Kirk Nieuwenhuis,who should be in AAA this year and is a big,strong,pretty athletic kid who can play a couple of outfield positions and the only thing keeping him from being rated higher as a prospect is if he can develop consistent hitting mechanics.Has good gap power,runs well,defends and throws well...could be a JD Drew type(when he was good)

And I know you like Reese Havens(just wish he was more athletic,but could be a Jeff Kent type)so though the Mets system may not be as deep as others we've got hope that there can be some really good contributions from their ranks nonetheless in the near future!And I know as well just how atwitter the Cyclones get you going,sonny

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Saucy, I hear you saying about K-Mart he has been doing really well this spring. Trouble is he seems to lose it when he gets into the bigs. But no matter cause right now with our crowded outfield there really is no room for him. As to the bench we have guys like Alex Cora, Fernando Tatis, Gary Matthews Jr. and completion from Mike Jacobs, Chris Carter, Frank Catalanotto, Chris Coste, Jason Pridie and Nick Evans,
Actually there will be only two spots up for grabs, I’m thinkin the Mets go with only 11 pitchers so the bench will consist of Cora, Tatis, Matthews and Blanco. Now we know Manuel wants a power bat off the bench and ya gotta figure that would be Chris Carter or Mike Jacobs. By the way watch out for Carter he is someone to watch. He can be very valuable in that he can play first base and the corner outfield. He has maintained a high on base average and good command of the strike zone. Which by the way can not be said of Jacobs. Speaking of versatility, that is where Catalanotto comes in. He too has command of the strike zone with a high one base percentage as well as some decent pop, plus this dude can play five positions.
Another kid to watch is Shawn Bowman. I love the way he hits left handed pitching sorta reminds me of D Wright in that regard. plus he an excellent defensive player. On the down side he only can play third base, which is a big problem, he will have to establish some versatility in the minors in order for him to be someone to look towards down the road. Of course we also have Brad Holt and Reese Havens.

As for Nieuwenhuis, he has the tools for the bigs, particularly speed, and range, what I also like is his clean swing mechanically, and gap power. I saw him often in Brooklyn, I think it may have been ’08 and he was one of the most productive and consistent Cyclones, hitting for a decent average, getting on base and I seem to recall him knocking in a few doubles.

Cute story, Josh Thole has given both Kirk and Ike Davis names. He lovingly called them both goofballs;
Davis tells the story of Thole saying Ike was tall and gangly and that he's got an above-average nose.

Big Pelf pitches today, really looking forward to that.
Mike is going to be a very important part of starting rotation this year.

 

[syam24]

Some days I just want to bang my head against the wall, and with all this Reyes crap, today is one of them. Can almost guarantee it has to do with HGH, possibly caused his leg issues last year, too. Hopefully, his stay on the DL will be relatively short, but now we're without two big time lineup guys, Reyes and Beltran. I'm not panicking over who will play SS, as the Mets have viable options with Cora, Tejada. There are also usually a few folks available at the end of spring training as the rosters shrink down to 25. Really need the back end pitchers to step up early this year.

 

[sonny10305]

Yesterday, Mike Pelfrey allowed three runs on four hits in the first inning,
but then retired the final six batters he faced, four of which he struck out.
So the outing was not great but there was a good reason for that and I like that he recovered nicely in the second inning. Of the four strikeouts three were caught looking, anytime Mike can freeze em out like that works for me. Plus it was good to see him throw for strikes using his secondary pitches as well as his fastball. That fastball is his key to all of his other pitches. He also used less of his curve ball and more of his new changeup, a pitch he is still trying to master. I also thought his sinker was a little flat. So he did what I expected, experimented, played with things and learned some things. Which is what he is supposed to do in spring training.

Ok, so I guess I have to comment on the Reyes thing.
I said the other day that I was not convinced all was well; there were simply too many contradictions. Well the contradictions continue into today. We have “experts” saying all he needs is complete rest and he will be fine in 2-8 weeks. 2-8 weeks! What kind of a spread is that? Supposedly there is no medication needed for this, he just needs to stabilize his hyperthyroid and bring it down to an acceptable level. In order to do that we have experts who say he should not indulge in any physical activity, nothing to raise his heart rate, others said he has to be very careful with his diet. One quack err sorry doctor, said Reyes had been eating to much shell fish and that’s what caused it while another quack, I mean doctor, said that is not the case cause Jose would have to have eaten huge amounts of fish to cause the problem. So here is my concern, Many agree that he exasperated the problem with his heavy workouts the days before the blood test, well then what is to say that after his levels return to normal and he resumes baseball activity that the levels won’t rise again?
With all the boo hoo Reyes may miss opening day and oh the poor Mets talk, no one but one man has come out and said what I have been saying to all that will listen. What about Jose the man, how is he coping? How is his mental state? That poor kid must be devastated by this, and yet only D Wright (of course, who else) came out and said a set-back like this that is really beyond Jose’s control, it's tough for us as a team. But it's really tough for him individually and that he was more concerned for Jose the man than he is for Jose the Met.

So it will be day to day now or I should think week to week as Jose gets retested to be sure the levels are dropping. I pray Jose will see significant improvements by not excerting himself and he is cleared to play ball sooner than later. It is still possible for him to be in the opening day line up. My only concern is as I said that this thing does not come back again later in the season.

Syam I will write more tomorrow about our SS options and what you wrote about
Stay calm, breathe, D Wright has some important advice for us in these times, Lemme write about that tomorrow. For now, please my friend STOP listening to all the fools with all the gloom and doom, wringing their hands and sobbing about the end of the Mets in 2010.

 

[sonny10305]

So I’m still bummed cause we had to cancel the road trip to Buffalo yesterday cause of the freakin typhoon rains here in NY, I was looking forward to that for weeks. Last time we went to the Bisons open house we got to pig out on food and best of all Practice hitting in the batting cages and tour the place. But we still plan on getting up there for the Bisons opening day, April 14.

So instead me and the boys stayed in and watched a pretty decent ball game with Ollie Perez on the mound.
He did much better than his first start going four innings of no hit ball, allowing three walks, and no strikeouts.
I liked the pop in his fastball hitting 90-92, and we did not see much of that in ’09. Still seems to love pounding the righties inside. He did have trouble with command of his off speed pitches, but he’s working on that, He was sharp and worked at a better pace this time as well.
My biggest concern is his inability to keep it together as soon as there are base runners and he has to pitch out of the stretch, that’s when he comes apart, just like last year. Ollie my boy, if ya gonna have base runners ya gotta be able to pitch from the stretch, what is it with theses guys who have trouble with that. I don’t have to remind you guys about the agony I went through last year with Pelfey who is even worse than Ollie with that, When Pelf has base runners he has a total meltdown. But Mike has said he is not going to have that problem this year. Good grief I hope not.
Good to see Barajas catch for Ollie, I liked the way he seemed to be able to calm Ollie down and help him through the rough patches, I always said he would be good for that. Rod had a good offense day as well
Next up was Takahashi who had a great outing; I am liking this guy more and more. Maybe we will see him in the pen this year, I realize he is not a lefty specialist but he would be a great compliment to Feliciano and we could use another lefty in the pen. Takahashi has 4 good pitches, fastball, curve, changeup and if I’m not mistaken he has a screwball as well.

Syam you wrote about Reyes replacement while he is out,
Although I like Cora, he has a great attitude, years of experience and good fundamentals, but he also has zero range, and not that great an arm for a SS and then there is his offense which is decent but nothing to get too excited about. Of course you have to hand it to him playing through two major thumb problems.
But I would like to see Russ Adams get a shot, have you seen this kid? He is a solid defender with good fundamentals and a real scrapper, and I am sure would produce more offensively than Cora, he is an absolute upgrade offensively from Cora he can provide power and drive in runs,
Then of course there is Tejada, but I still have not seen anything from him to make me stand up and take notice, I just don’t see him as what I would call a rising star like Adams. Tejada’s defensive skills are just ok; offensively he is raw, with, flawed hitting mechanics. What I am saying is he is a cut below both Cora and Adams.


Next game Monday with St Louis, don’t worry Abs we won’t beat you up to bad.
We will get to see two of the candidates for the 5th spot, Niese and Nieve will both pitch as well as K-rod, finally get to see him. Gary Cohen returns to the booth, I sure have missed him. Although Kevin B did a great job at filling in, Gary is the master.

Every now and again Keith Hernandez will say something outrageous in the booth and yesterday was one of those days, Keith had noticed all the minor leaguers were out running in the back field and said “It’s a meat market out there” Now I am sure Keith did not mean it the way I interpreted it,
but come on…that’s good stuff.