5
2011
Spring Updates: Santana Takes Another Step, Bay’s Timing, Harvey’s First Pitch As Met
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Mets ace Johan Santana, who will start the season on the disabled list, took a small step this week in his rehabilitation from Sept. 14 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. Santana threw on back-to-back days from flat ground twice this week and said he is “progressing little by little.” He had been throwing every other day, three times a week since arriving in camp. “It’s coming along pretty good,” Santana said. “It’s a long process, and that’s the way I’m taking it – slow but steady.” – TC Palm
Earlier this week, Jason Isringhausen told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that he wouldn’t go to the minors if he failed to make the Mets and that he would instead pack it up and possibly retire. “I won’t go. I’ll go home,” Isringhausen said. “If I don’t make it, then there’s a reason I didn’t make it and that will be good enough reason for me to go home.”
2010 first round pick Matt Harvey will pitch in his first game as a pro for the Mets today when a team comprised of the Mets top prospects take on Team Italy, managed by Mike Piazza. Because he signed late and then had to deal with a death in the family, Harvey did not appear in a minor league game last year.
Daniel Murphy doesn’t care where he plays, so long as he can compete. But once again he finds himself trying to learn a new position just to get that opportunity. The 25-year-old is one of four players competing for the New York Mets’ second base job this spring. So far, he remains a strong candidate, despite the fact he is playing his fourth position in five years and might be better suited for a utility role according to the NY Times. “First and foremost I want to make this ball club,” Murphy said. “I want to help this team win. I hope the fact I can play first, I can play third, and I am getting more consistent at second that will allow me to make the team.”
Although he started at first base during yesterdays game, the plan is for Lucas Duda to start the season in Triple-A Buffalo and get some time playing in the outfield. “If you need an outfielder, and he’s swinging the bat, he’s going to come up and play the outfield,” Collins said. “But I just wanted to make sure he got some work at first base.” Duda,went 2-for-3, and regarding the Mets plan for him said, “I’m more comfortable in the outfield right now, just because I’ve played there more. But I’ll play wherever they need. I can handle first base.”
Adam Rubin posted a comment via Twitter from our old friend Pedro Feliciano who told the YES Network’s Jack Curry, ”It’s everybody’s dream to be a Yankee.” That’s funny… I can deal with that… Just as long we don’t hear something like this from Jose Reyes next Spring, I’ll be fine.
Jason Bay says he is still not comfortable at the plate, although he is 4-10 this spring so far, He is hitting the ball, but says his timing is still off. “I’m catching up to game speed — 88 [mph] looks like 98 the first week. I’ve kind of done this long enough where you don’t get frustrated. I’ve gotten hits here and there, but it’s a process.” The Mets have Bay working on keeping the bat flat and using a more closed stance. “It hasn’t been easy”, he says.
The Mets will be at the Disney Complex this afternoon to face the Braves. Mike Pelfrey, Dillon Gee, Bobby Parnell, Tim Byrdak, Blaine Boyer, Pedro Beato and Mike O’Connor are scheduled to pitch for the Mets.
Here is todays lineup:
- Jose Reyes, ss
- Willie Harris, cf
- David Wright, 3b
- Ike Davis, 1b
- Nick Evans, lf
- Fernando Martinez, rf
- Brad Emaus, 2b
- Josh Thole, c
- Mike Pelfrey, rhp
Todays video is of Jon Niese and comes courtesy of Buffalo Bisons TV.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
23 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 25 | 18 | .581 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 21 | .523 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 23 | .477 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 24 | .415 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 12 | 32 | .273 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/19/2013
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Whereas six months ago I figured Johan wouldn’t be back before September no matter what they’ve been saying, I’m really starting to believe he will actually arrive by June. This would be great news especially if he’s throwing like the Johan of old.
so emaus will be playing 2b. ok kid show us what u got.
My brother-in-law who has been in Port St. Lucie for almost 3 weeks now, has told me some interesting stuff about what he’s seen at Mets camp where he goes almost daily. Last night while talking about second base, he said Ruben Tejada is the only player he has seen in the filed that looks like he can play second base at a major league level defensively. By far the smoothest glove and best range and it’s no contest. He scouts football for the Carolina Panthers and also coaches a high school baseball team, so he has a good eye for stuff like this.
As for Murphy, I thought this was interesting. He said that Murphy has looked clunky out there but mostly on pivots, but that said he looked no more clunky than Brad Emaus. He said they basically look the same and have the same instincts and same range.
We both saw the obvious which is that Murphy has been playing second base for about three months while Emaus has played second base for more than five years.
Our conclusion was that in another three months, Murphy could actually pass Emaus up as the infinitely better defender at second base. So take that for what it’s worth.
I think the Mets should go with Tejada and Murphy at second base and not think twice about letting Emaus and Castillo go.
I would agree on Tejada except his bat isn’t ready. And he’s slated to go back to SS in AAA since there’s no one close to ready in the system at SS. I say leave Tejada in Buffalo and if the other guys completely flop then bring him up to play 2B.
Why are you saying his bat isn’t ready? He has bulked up and may possibly have the highest batting average in camp.
If not, he’s still hitting very good. You’re basing what you say on last year, this is not last year. He may have gotten a lot better at hitting. So far it appears that he has.
And thanks to Shamsky for backing up what i’ve been saying here for months. All Tejada has to do is hit some better than last year and the job should be his. I don’t mind Murphy filling in at 2B but you’re asking for trouble if you make him a starter. Anything less then the best defensive option you have at 2B will carry over to Reyes’ performance and weaken your infield even more.
Sandy is going to have to put his philosophy aside and do the right thing – baseball wise and that’s IF Tejada continues to hit, the job has to be his. Anything less then that defensively then the Mets are going to pay dearly in the field. You watch.
“he may possibly have the highest batting average in camp.” C’mon Bayonne that’s ridiculous. Wrights batting average of .337 in September of 2008 is just numbers” and Tejada’s BA in the first two weeks of ST (in about 8 AB’s) “Leads the team.” You are an too transparent, too consistently humerous. What a joke.
You’re the one that’s the idiot, not even a joke..and IDIOT.
It’s all relative…do you suffer from any comprehension defects?
Of course me talking about Tejada having the highest BA in ST has nothing to do with anything else. You gotta understand the context of things my man. Maybe there is something wrong with you, i don’t know who you are so…i wouldn’t know.
dude in what context is saying “He has bulked up and may possibly have the highest batting average in camp.” supposed to be taken?
I mean other than you are trying to convey how well he has hit so far?
Yet you call T Agee an idiot?
Cmon man stop with the name calling and just reply why you disagree.
Just Wow.
t agee, do you expect miracles? Every day it’s samo samo from you-know-who. He’s arguing with an arsenal of yesterday’s news.
Put forth a coherent thought for a change rather than constantly weaving in Wrights 2008 when he hit .337 and leaving out Reyes .243 and Castillo’s .111 (you know the “table setters.”)
Tejada leading the team in BA after 8 AB’s in ST doesn’t advance the thought that he might be ready one iota.
Everyone here understands that.
I’d rather see Castillo at 2B 3/4 of the time with Murphy getting some of the 2B and then, IF Tejada’s shows he can handle his AB’s bring him up June 1st.
“Bulking up” may be a part of what Tejada needed but it wasn’t even close to the whole thing. He hit too many soft fly balls against RHP because he didn’t take the high fastball. He swung at too many of them. Demonstrating that he can either get on top of that or take it over 100 AB’s in games that matter could earn him a promotion but anything else is just guessing on your part.
amazing how some continue to read so much into early s.t. games only as they see it fits them.
Tejada has how many at bats? Yet you have some that would talk about how his average may be among the leaders in camp yet Murphy on the other hand had 2 routine groundballs at 2b the other day and you get from the same people hey it was just 2 routine plays lets not go overboard.
Reading too much into the 1st 10 games of camp is imo a recipe for disappointment.
I mean really cmon.
Established pitchers are working on strengthening their arms, getting a feel for their pitches, getting their mechanics in order and often times working on something they were messing around with over the winter.
Unestablished pitchers are trying to show the coaching staff they can get guys out.
Different mindset, different priorities. If Tejada is able to come up here and hit at least .275/.340/.375 he would be the best choice but no one, fans or paid professionals will be able to determine that from ST, but they will be able to see what kind of AB’s he’s able to have in AAA and if their promising he can be up here as early as June 1st.
“Established pitchers are working on strengthening their arms, getting a feel for their pitches, getting their mechanics in order and often times working on something they were messing around with over the winter.
Unestablished pitchers are trying to show the coaching staff they can get guys out.
Different mindset, different priorities.”
Agreed
agee,
I’d rather him hitting against big leaguer working on things than send him back down. Also, the last couple weeks of spring training everybody starts bearing down and getting ready for the season and if he continues to hit during that time, when all big leaguers are stating to take it more seriously then it’s a no brainer. He comes north as the starter.
You could also retard someone’s development by sending them back down.
If this continues right through the end of ST he comes North. He’s also by far the best defensive 2B so that right there is just about enough.
Of course that’s if, they want to replace defense with a so so bat. Then the Mets lose games.
Retard someones’s development?
Bayonne the kid has barely played a half season at AAA.
Cmon stop lookin for xcuses man.
Bayonne, I’m huge on D. I thought the kid looked very good, wasn’t overwhelmed and at the least is going to have a long career as a back up MIer but I’m willing to bet on him that he can be better than that but in order to do it he has to change some of his habits. Work on his stance or make it translate better than he did or all he’s gonna be is that back up MIer.
The last two weeks of ST can give us an idea but won’t allow enough time for him to prove it. It will be great for the team in general to know there is someone in the wings ready to step up and end this air of entitlement that has been around here forever and I expect that whoever does establish themselves in the rotation, bullpen or on the field might be moved for other guys sooner than you think and the path will be cleared for our higher ceiling players that start out below and get off to a good start.
Just think if A-Rod goes down and Burnett’s off to a bad start. What might the Yankees pay for Murphy and Young if their playing really well? Youkalis and Beckett? You would have to listen.
Giving guys the chance to reestablish themselves that didn’t cost us anything and then turning THEM into longer term solutions can right this team faster than anything else. Having the young guys to bring up who are in midseason form and have some recent success under their belt will allow us to do that.
agee,
you CANNOT send down your best defensive 2B at the expense of hurting the big club. If he is hitting decent, he already has some big league experience so if he hits..he HAS to come north. That’s it. You’re over the top with this development kick you’re on.
You cannot hurt the big club by sending down your best 2B option. Period. Again, all he has to do is prove he can hit some and ST, especially the last 2 weeks, will tell.
Bayonne dude, if Tejada makes the team and hits well enough to stay on the team for the entire year that will be great but if he is sent to AAA to start the year you need to accept that it was in Tejada’s best interest and hope he hits well enough in AAA to force his way back up.
It’s that simple.
Bayonne, The flip side to that statement is that we’ve hurt the big club AND the prospects development by binging them up too soon.
Some guys it didn’t really matter. Duda for instance as a Sept call up was a good move, he did hit a few HR’s, worked out his over anxiousness a bit and probably has much more confidence in himself. Tejada got to see first hand the things he needs to work on in order to be a GOOD Major League starter. Let’s let him work on those things and come up here when their more ingrained in him then they were.
Pelfrey gave up his curveball and never redeveloped it after being rushed up here. Mejia didn’t work on his off speed pitches until August. Bringing Fern up didn’t help him. Kunz cost us games, Humber cost us games. Thole was worked in, catching only guys like Figgy and Misch and out before K-Rod came in because he wasn’t a good enough catcher yet. A. Hernandez was up here before his bat was ready and now he’s considered a washout. He played good D, if we had properly developed his approach offensively we might have gotten something.
Other teams that routinely make the post season don’t bring guys up BEFORE their ready to contribute. They pave the way for them and develop their game so their in a position to take off WHEN they get here. Heyward and Freeman might have been able to do something for the Braves before last year but they didn’t rush their guys.
Sending him down again could set him back, letting him work on the things he knows he needs to improve on will give him the foundation to be the answer up here if he’s capable of it.
At some point the Mets and their fans have to realize that the reason this team has so woefully underperformed for the last two decades is because 99% of the thought process is always geared toward THIS YEAR. That mentality has cost us way more games than Murphy, Emaus, Castillo, Turner, Hu or Hernandez could possibly cost us over the first half of the season.
Ruben Tejada hit .185 against RHP last year and hasn’t played a single meaningful baseball game since last September. He may have matured physically since then but that wasn’t the only reason he hit .185 and it would be hard to believe that he was able to correct those flaws in one off season.
I’m willing to be convinced but not by 25 AB’s in ST. That’s not realistic.
Having a guy who might very well duplicate his .185 BA against RHP hitting 8th in the line up virtually assures you the #7 hitter is never going to get a pitch with runners OB.
You should know that.
Why would a pitcher with runners on let #7 get a chance when he’s got .185 and the pitcher up next?
If Tejada has drastically improved his hitting prowess against RHP it will be evident very soon by his results in AAA. If not, it would be best to let him work on that weakness where it won’t cost games at the ML level.
What did he hit vs. LHP?
Besides….again….that was last year. And yes, lots of things can be decided by ST performance. It happens all the time.
The only possible argument for Tejada is if he and Murphy platooned at 2B with Tejada coming in for Murph in the 6th or 7th and giving Reyes a day off here and there but that would have the result of Murphy needing to play the whole game at 2B, something you don’t (nor I) feel is very realistic. If that was the way we went we’d be trying to minimize both of their weaknesses without giving either of them a chance to work on them.
That doesn’t make sense. That’s what the minors are for.