Mar
28
2011

And Then There Was One…The Almost Opening Day Roster

An article by Sean Kenny

With today’s news that Luis Hernandez, Nick Evans and Pat Misch were placed on waivers, the opening day roster is essentially in place, with the last bench spot expected to be going to newly minted super-utility man Daniel Murphy. The last expected bullpen slot is a footrace between Blaine Boyer, who appears to have a place in Sandy Alderson’s heart, Manny Acosta and the grizzled veteran fighting for his roster spot, Jason Isringhausen.

What Does This mean for the opening day lineup?

Catcher – Josh Thole

First Base – Ike Davis

Second Base – Brad Emaus

Shortstop – Jose Reyes

Third Base – David Wright

Left Field – Jason Bay

Center Field – Angel Pagan

Right Field – Carlos Beltran

Bench

OF – Scott Hairston

Catcher – Mike Nickeas

2B/SS – Chin-lung Hu

UTIL – Willie Harris

UTIL – Daniel Murphy

The offensive side of the ball appears pretty good. Mike Nickeas should only be up until Ronny Paulino serves the duration of his 8 game suspension pending his bloodwork isn’t a more serious issue. Hu is the defensive specialist/late inning replacement at either position. Daniel Murphy isn’t an excellent defender, but plays 5 of 8 positions which adds to his versatility. Scott Hairston and Willie Harris will be the primary backup outfielders, but I expect they could be on the chopping block pending a slump.

Pitching Staff

SP1 – Mike Pelfrey

SP2 – R.A. Dickey

SP3 – Jonathon Niese

SP4 – Chris Young

SP5 – Chris Capuano

Long Reliever – D.J. Carrasco

Loogy – Tim Byrdak

Middle Reliever – Taylor Bucholz

Middle Reliever – Pedro Beato

Middle Reliever – Izzy/Acosta/Boyer.

Setup Man – Bobby Parnell

Closer – Francisco Rodriguez

The starting rotation is comprised of pitchers who minus Jonathon Niese are going to rely on their defense to turn batted balls into outs. Niese is the only pitcher who’s K/9 is above 6. The pen is the exact opposite, consisting of guys who pretty much all throw 90+, which is a big difference from the Takahashi/Dessens crafty bullpen and to the pound, pound, pound bullpen.

Overall, I see this roster as one that is capable of surprising many teams and playing good consistent baseball. My only worry is only having one lefty and the possibility of Byrdak getting worn down. If one of the righties can become a strong crossover guy, that will save Byrdak from becoming Feliciano 2.0

About the Author: Sean Kenny

Sean Kenny is a student/writer currently attending school at the City College of New York. For more Mets news, notes and thoughts follow him on twitter @TheSeanKenny

7 Comments + Add Comment

Vinny March 28, 2011 at 11:11 pm

Dude im pretty satisfied since the Mets were so limited this offseason spending wise..I am predicting the wild card right now..Mets Nation, Ya Gotta Believe
- Chris March 28, 2011 at 11:33 pm
  
  Amen.
- METS62FAN March 29, 2011 at 1:48 pm
  
  Vinny, don’t make that obvious mistake of NOT seeing BIG MOVES as I see it the increased time from both Bay & Reyes certainly portends as additions without payroll increases esp once u realize that in every single season where the team rec’d 153 GP or more from Reyes they finished above .500 as opposed to below .500 in every season less than 153G played. I don’t know about u; but I certainly don’t see as close a guaranteed track record directly from our competitor’s moves as each one had an accompanying loss to factor in as in Gnats adding Werth; but losing Dunn, Braves adding Uggla; but losing WaGNER. We’ve lost very little in actual results significance from last season(even Santana only provided 2 Ws more than Ls) Also we removed Castillo,Maine,Perez,Dessens,Cora,Tatis none of which are likely to be noticed in any but a positive way in the standings. While u may choose to overlook Young & Capuano as significant additions, I’d certainlty suggest their contributions will more than likely exceed the 1-8 combined contributions from Maine & Perez, their predecessors conservatively if they combined to break even that’s still 7 less losses we need to contend with & as our arguably best 4,5 since ’86, that breakeven consideration is very conservative considering the typical 4.5 opponents proferred by the competition.
  
  Certainly, I believe the Braves are less than they appear & 2nd may well be doable if our streak of horrible luck is behind us; but luck is uncertain & fickel very subject to being reversed tyhrough proper planning and we’ve certainly upgraded that portion of our franchise quite perceptibly, No?
  - Vinny March 29, 2011 at 9:59 pm
    
    Your Deff right..my point was merely to not count the 2011 Mets out in contention. I do agree with u that the Mets have added a lot of talent and subtracted a lot of failures.
stick March 28, 2011 at 11:25 pm

looks pretty good. Better than the last couple of years.

and nice that they made it through ST in one piece for a change, with even beltran seemingly on the opening day roster.

I still think Emaus is not going to be up to the task vs. good RH pitching, and would start murphy against many (most?) righties, including on opening day. But, they didn’t hire me to make that decision, so let’s see what terry does!

and I think the order should be:

reyes
pagan
wright
davis
beltran
bay
thole
emaus/2B
JerseyGuy276 March 29, 2011 at 5:12 am

I’d say its hit or miss this year, wouldn’t you all agree? The potential is there…it just needs to be tapped.
Metsie March 29, 2011 at 9:44 am

We live or die based on how the guys we have hit!

If Beltran plays and hits to his potential all will be well. It will even help Bay come back to where he should be.

If Beltran is out any extended period of time we will be pretty much the same team minus Santana!

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