With opening day in plain sight, Mets anxious to pack up and depart St. Lucie
As quickly as Spring Training arrived, it has all but departed.
The Mets are winding down their Spring Training schedule in the Sunshine State as they prepare to fly up to the chilly Northeast. Considering how disastrous the team became with injuries in 2009, the Mets need to be thankful that their core players suffered no long-term setbacks this Spring.
Jose Reyes was arguably the most unlucky member of the team this Spring, as he fell victim to a Thyroid problem which forced him to cease baseball activities for two weeks. Reyes will likely not be dressing up for Opening Day, but fans should be happy that he’ll be ready shortly thereafter and should be fine going into the season.
Carlos Beltran will not be able to join the team until several weeks into the season due to his emergency surgery in the off-season, but he should have no problem returning to action by May and will likely be a determining factor in how the Mets fare this year. Moving to left field, newcomer Jason Bay looked good this Spring. Bay will be returning to the National League for the first time since he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Daniel Murphy, who was the leading candidate to win the first base job, fell to an injury today that will sideline him for several weeks. This news personally excited me because it paves the way for proven veteran Mike Jacobs to give his best shot. Jacobs has had great seasons with the Marlins when he hit over 30 home runs, but a lackluster season last year with the Royals led many baseball experts to believe he lost a step. Nevertheless, he is not old and has been there, done that. This gives anyone reason to believe that he could re-emerge as a top player.
The Mets seem to be in decent shape offensively but the pitching staff has many questions surrounding it. The starting rotation includes a group of young pitchers that had a lot of promise in recent years but began to disappoint shortly thereafter. John Maine has been plagued with injuries, Mike Pelfrey has had mental issues, Oliver Perez is far too inconsistent, and Jon Niese is a bit young and inexperienced. Obviously, Johan Santana is one constant that the Mets can rely on throughout the season and through the remainder of his Mets career.
In the bullpen, the Mets have several options to go with and this will all change throughout the season. Promising youngster Jenrry Mejia has shown that he has what it takes to pitch in the Big Leagues, while setup man Pedro Feliciano has proved himself in recent years and probably could carry this team whenever needed. Closer Franscisco Rodriguez had a bit of an off year last year but also didn’t get much work in. He saved only half the games he saved in 2008, which is a sign that the Mets better hope for some closer wins so that he can make his way into the game as often as possible. Rodriguez is known for producing best when he is not on too much rest.
As all of the positions become solidified, the sun at Spring Training will begin to set. The Mets will have say goodbye to the Palm Trees in St. Lucie and prepare for some chilly days in the Northeast at CitiField.
Mets need to ship overrated Murphy while he’s worth it
Daniel Murphy isn’t cutting it.
In the past two seasons, Murphy has gone from an aspiring and promising young star to a bust. Fans, writers, and others can say what they want about it being too early to write Murphy off for what the Mets are trying to do with him, but he isn’t getting the job done.
Murphy would be an average player off the bench as a utility man, but the Mets have thrown him into the spotlight and have expected way too much out of him. Last year, in his first full major league season, Murphy played over 100 games and hit only .266. Each player deserves an off year, as long as they are able to make it up in the future or at least show signs of improvement.
Murphy has a great reputation in regards to his work ethic, and is known for being the first one to the ballpark and the last one to leave. However, this means nothing if he fails to translate his “progress” to success on the field.
In recent years, many people have treated Murphy as if he is a golden prospect that will be flying through the ranks with flying colors. Because he has not done so and has, in fact, slipped, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the team to consider trading him to a team in exchange for players that could be more useful on the Mets.
Murphy has had a wide variety of problems in every aspect of his game, whether it is in the field or at the plate. His rookie mistakes of dropping fly balls were very shocking because it’s such a big no-no at the major league level. He has repeatedly made mistakes at various positions, yet the Mets decide to keep shuffling him around to different positions as if he’s a deck of cards.
What are their intentions with Murphy? Do they expect him to play every day? If so, he’ll fall through the cracks and become even more of a disappointment than he already is. Are they going to allow him to ease his way into the big leagues at his own pace? Absolutely not, especially with the departure of Carlos Delgado leaving such a gaping hole at first base.
Murphy is hitting a measly .133 this Spring. That is the result he gets for only getting four hits in his 30 plate at-bats. This guy was already slipping last year and now is just sliding even further down. At this rate, he’ won’t even be worth enough to trade.
They’ll just release him.
Braves closer Billy Wagner perfect fit in Atlanta
Billy Wagner was one of my favorite players on the Mets during his tenure in New York, and chills would soar down my spine each time he zipped his 100 mile per hour fastball down the middle of the plate in the ninth inning.
Wagner spent parts of four seasons with the Mets between 2006 and 2009, and his Mets’ resume includes an impressive 2006 campaign when he led the team to the league championship series and closed the door on both the NL East clincher and the Divisional Series clincher.
Wagner spent time closing out games with the Astros and hated Phillies before striking gold as a closer in New York, which the Mets saw as an advantage considering he was familiar with the rest of the division. The Braves are also satisfied at this point, considering Wagner has now been on three times in the NL East.
Wagner was a fan favorite in New York; He would march out of the bullpen to the sound of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” surrounded by the Shea Stadium faithful. He would reach the mound and unload a wad of his cheek-full of chewing tobacco before beginning his practice pitches.
These are characteristics of a stereotypical redneck, and Wagner clearly fits the bill in Atlanta. Most of the core players on the Atlanta Braves come from the Southern states, so it comes as no surprise that Wagner was born in Virginia. In fact, when the Braves visited him in the off-season, Wagner picked up manager Bobby Cox in a muddy truck.
It’s an interesting story that has unfolded, but it will be even more intriguing to see Wagner pitch against the Mets and the rest of the NL East. I don’t remember how it felt to see Wagner pitch against the Mets since I was so used to seeing him wearing orange and blue, but I’m sure I’ll be just as scared as fans of the opponent while he was on the Mets.
I’ll still feel the chills down my spine, but the chills will occur as a result of fear rather than excitement. Wagner would want nothing more than to beat his former team that traded him away.
Twenty-year-old Mejia surpassing expectations
He’s 20 years old, but has already been compared to Mariano Rivera.
His name is Jenrry Mejia, one of the top prospects in the Mets’ organization. Mets fans should get to know the name, because he’s pitching as if he’ll be around for awhile.
The youngster out of the Dominican Republic was initially a part of the Mets’ Dominican league team back in 2007. He pitched well there, and was assigned to the minor league system, where he blew everyone out of the water.
In 2009, Mejia was assigned to single-A St. Lucie, where he blew his brilliant cut fastball by hitters so often that he was sent to double-A Binghamton shortly after. In St. Lucie, Mejia started nine games and finished with a 1.97 ERA. Yes, you read that correctly — a 19 year old pitcher had a 1.97 ERA in professional baseball.
However, when he was rushed to Binghamton, he was roughed up en route to a 4.47 ERA in ten starts. The talent that sped him through St. Lucie obviously caught up to him when he was forced to deal with much-improved hitters at the higher level.
With all that in mind, there were several question marks surrounding Mejia but also a glimpse of hope as Spring Training rolled around. He received an invite to the major league camp and has turned so many heads that manager Jerry Manuel has hinted at the idea of having Mejia on the opening day roster.
In his first appearance of the Spring, Mejia faced seven batters and retired each one. This was on Friday, when the Mets hosted the Marlins at Tradition Field. Marlins players, scouts, and several others noticed Mejia’s sneaky cut fastball and admitted that he will be a dangerous pitcher if he is able to keep it up.
Mejia is only 20 years old, so people shouldn’t get their hopes up too much. If, at first, he isn’t all that he has been hyped up to be, he will be soon enough. Even if he takes three years, he’ll only be 23 years old. For him to be performing as well as he has so far in camp is impressive in itself.
If he keeps it up, it will be one interesting opening day roster.
Mets complete intra-squad game, will begin Grapefruit League play Tuesday
The Mets kicked off the new month of March with an intra-squad matchup in Port St. Lucie, featuring most of their stars including Jose Reyes and David Wright. The Mets played against each other in what appeared to be a lopsided matchup with Wright and Reyes on the same team, but the “visiting” team had several key players such as Jeff Francoeur, Angel Pagan, and Alex Cora.
Let’s face it, intra-squad games are about as informal as it gets, aside from simulated games or batting practice. The players are all on the same team, they’re in a laid-back Spring Training atmosphere, and the coaches sit on plastic chairs. It’s not exactly a nail-biter.
But today, everyone held their breath.
In his first “game” back from injury, Reyes was unleashed by the team doctors and was free to test his injured leg. This was a big step for Reyes, and the Mets knew that he would not hold back if he was given the green light. After all, he is known as the most exciting player in all of baseball.
In his first at-bat of the game, Reyes hit a laser to the back of the wall and began his sprint around the bases. Reyes rounded first without any trouble, touched second and aimed straight for third, where he jogged in with a stand-up triple. The Mets finally exhaled, and Reyes clapped his hands and pointed toward the sky, according to Matt Cerrone’s live update from St. Lucie.
It’s great to see Reyes running without holding back, and even better to see that his hitting is right where he wants it. A triple on the first unofficial game of the year proves that he did his homework this off-season and remained in great shape.
The Mets will begin Grapefruit League play tomorrow when they host the division rival Atlanta Braves at Tradition Field. The game will begin at 1:10 p.m., and fans can watch the game live on SNY.