Getting Ready For Opening Day

So with the start of the MLB season just two days away and the Mets opening day just a week away, the rosters are shaping up for all teams. Starters are getting their final work in and hitters are trying to get into rhythm (which seems to be happening for some of our lineup). The Mets rotation may have taken its final shape today in their game against the Cardinals. The Mets got handed a huge loss by the score of 14-4. The game featured a battle for the 5th spot in the rotation for the Mets but the one guy competing for the spot might have won it without throwing a pitch. El Duque made his second spring start going just 3 innings and giving up 5 runs and fell behind almost every batter. The young Mike Pelfrey came in as relief and didn't fair any better. He went 4.1 innings and gave up 8 runs on 13 hits. Nelson Figueroa's could have become the front runner after this game for the Mets.

In other news for the Mets, a once talked about option for left field became available. Toronto's Reed Johnson was released today by the team with Shannon Stewart becoming their everyday left fielder. The big question is that the right handed bat of the bench the team was looking for to fill in for Alou. Only time will tell i guess...........

Complete game results the Cardinals game

A Test For Dauner Sanchez

An article for MLB.com written by Anthony DiComo talks about the health of Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez. The growing concern of the article focus not on the health of the 7th inning set-up man but whether his arm is ready for opening day. The Mets need to know if Duaner can pitch on back to back days with out feeling fatigued.

Dauner Sanchez on being ready for back to back outings:

""Everything is a process," Sanchez said of pitching on back-to-back days. "I know I can do it. Is it the right thing to do? I don't know."

As a Mets fan i can only pray that his arm can handle it. With so much talk about the Mets looking to trade a bullpen arm to get a guy like Marcus Thames, Dauner's roll becomes more and more important. I want to trust that he can go on back to back days but i am not in a rush to throw him out there in the first month of the season and risk another injury.

Bullpen Getting Interesting

So, I was not to bright and bought tickets to go see the Mets play the Astors on Sunday for their split squad game in Kissimmee. Don't get me wrong I love my Mets, but they really didn't bring much of any star power. I wasn't expecting anyone spectacular but I was hoping to see a Endy, Marlon Anderson or even a Castro. The Mets sent Angel Pagan, F-Mart, Jorge Sosa, and Nelson Figueroa. I was upset to know that Pedro was making his spring debut a little over a hour down south, but this spring I have come to enjoy watching Nelson Figueroa pitch. The guy is a great person for baseball. He is great to the fans and always has a smile on his face, well execpt when he gave a blast to Lance Berkman.

His finishing line for the game was 4innings pitched, giving up 1 hit on the solo home run and striking out 2, while walking 3. His control was a little off but he was keeping hitters off balanced all game with different timing on his delivery. He got some of the Astors All-Stars to look a little silly on some of their swings. I would love to see him being the Mets long reliever this season and he has had the type of spring to challenge for it. His main competition for the role if El Duque isn't thrown into the pen will be Jorge Sosa.

Sosa did pitch after Figueroa in the Astors game and he did look better than Nelson. He was dominate against every hitter, getting ahead on almost every batter and striking out 4 batter in 3 innings, he also struck out the side in the 6th inning. With the way Nelson is performing I wouldn't mind seeing the Mets trading Sosa while he is pitching well to get a good backup OF/1B. We will see what the Mets decide to do but I am definitely becoming a nice little battle out in the pen

Complete Box Score from the Astros Game.

My Mets Weekend In Port St.Lucie

The Mets "Maine" No. 2 Starter

With another great outing today against the Marlins, did John Maine just help his cause to become the Mets number 2 starter? I saw Maine pitch last Sunday in Port St.Lucie against the Astors, and he looked great. Before the game i was standing in the front row of the left field stands watching him warm up before his start and he was spot on in the pen. I mean Castro's glove was barely moving an inch. During the game Maine was unhittable. Not one hitter really made great contact against him and he ended the game with four innings of no hit ball.

Today was just about the same. Unfortunately I was unable to go see the game but the box score shows his dominance. Maine threw 5 shutout innings while allowing just 3 hits and striking out 6 of the 20 batters he faced. I am fine with John Maine being our #2 guy on the mound in any series, no matter if its a regular season series or a playoff series. I had a feeling that he would be something special when we got him with Jorge Julio for Kris Benson. You always got to watch out for those throw in guys when teams make trades. Thank you Baltimore!!!!

5th Starter???? Who's It Going To Be?

Looking at the way the season starts this year, the Mets may not need a 5th starter until after the home opening series against the Phillies. So where does that leave the Mets and who they take with them back home to Shea. Many baseball people say that Pelfrey hasn't done enough this spring to make manger Willie Randolph think hard enough to make it a race for the 5th spot. The only hope I think Pelfrey has is that he shines in his last few spring starts going at least 5 or 6 innings in each of them and hope El Duque struggles to make it back. Right now El Duque is set to make another simulated start before going into a live game. With only a few weeks left for spring baseball, El Duque will most likely be left back in Port St. Lucie when the Mets make their trip to Miami to start the season. He will get an extra start or two in PSL and should be ready for the home stand in the second and third week of the regular season, which will most likely mean Pelfery will be back in New Orleans with the Triple A team.

Personally i don't know who i want to be the 5th starter. Yes, we need to see what Pelfrey can bring as a starter on the Major League level for a full season. But if El Duque can pitch the way he pitched for most of last season I would have to say I want El Duque every fifth day. If he can't produce on that level then I am comfortable giving Pelfrey the spot. All I can do is thank the lord for the Mets not giving Kyle Loshe almost $5 million a year like the Cardinals did to be our 5th or 6th starter. Thank You Omar!!!!!

Injury Update

In a recent article from MLB.com, the Mets injuries take a front seat to their title hopes. Marty Noble, writer of the article looks at the current health of the Mets after 3 weeks of spring baseball. Players talked about in the article are: Delgado, Church, Alou, Schneider,Castillo and Pelfrey's and Reyes near collision, (so basically almost the whole team, lol)


Its nice to see a lot of the starters back playing. Yesterday against the Cardinals Beltran was in center field for the first time this spring, mostly because the game was played without a DH. Reports say that Castillo will be in a game this weekend. The opening day roster should be playing together at the start of next week besides Alou. I can only hope the team can start to gel in the final weeks of spring and start the season off on a hot streak. We are the oldest team in baseball and injuries are going to happen so a hot start could help in a long season with a thin minor league system.