28
2013
Mets Matters: News Good On Feliciano, Murphy and Santana Working Their Way Back, Sandy Speaks
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In a conference call Wednesday evening, Mets GM Sandy Alderson addressed several issues surrounding the team. Here are some of the things he told us:
- Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud will not be allowed to block the plate. The reason for that is obvious – his health.
- The leadoff spot is still up in the air but Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who is the leading candidate, still has a lot of work to do.
- If Nieuwenhuis plays full-time he will strikeout over 100 times that could give the Mets four players with over 100 strikeouts when you consider David Wright, Ike Davis and Lucas Duda. While strikeouts are a concern, hopefully they will be offset by an increased on-base percentage and run production.
- If the Mets are competitive this summer, he knows he will face the dilemma of trading pitching prospects to acquire an outfield bat and it’s not something he’s looking forward to do, but he may not have a choice.
- Alderson said how the Mets handled Matt Harvey last year should buy him patience from fans wanting to rush Zack Wheeler. He added there’s no sense in force-feeding a young player if he’s not ready. If the rotation pitches reasonably well there will be no obligation for him to bring up Wheeler when he can only benefit by more development.
These and other issues from Alderson’s conference call will be explored in greater detail in future posts.
MURPHY BREAKOUT: Terry Collins told us that Murphy is still a week to ten days away from returning to the lineup. Knowing the scrappy player and how he never wants to miss a start, it must be killing him not to be on the field as it is Collins. Joe D. reminded me that this is the first Spring where he’s not learning a new position and I agree with him that this will lead to a much improved season at the plate including a spike in home runs.
DUDA CONCERNS: If the Mets could take one positive out of Wednesday’s 12-4 waxing at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, it is that Lucas Duda broke a 0-for-7 slide with groundball single. No, they did not stop the game to give him the ball. Duda finished 1-for-3 with one strikeout, so it isn’t as if he’s found it all of a sudden. The Mets like his power potential, but must be concerned about his wasted at-bats. He had 120 strikeouts with only 51 walks in 459 plate appearances last season.
PEDRO HAS HEART: The Mets and Pedro Feliciano got some good news the lefty reliever’s heart tests came back clear, and that he can resume baseball activities. I’m happy to hear the good news. Pedro’s been fun to cover, one of the nicest players the Mets have had and always greets reporters with a smile and a hello.
CAPTAIN WRIGHT: Wright returned to the lineup with two singles. He’s not scheduled to play Thursday, but is Friday against Detroit at Port St. Lucie. David Wright hopes to play third instead of DH in that game. On Saturday he leaves for the World Baseball Classic. Collins is polling the clubhouse for opinions on Wright’s potential captaincy and wants this done prior to Opening Day, It’s impossible to think his teammates will vote him down.
JOHAN DOWN BUT NOT OUT: You have to feel bad for Johan Santana who was frustrated after his last bullpen so much so that the team decided to let him shut it down and work on some issues locating his pitches. The good news is that Adam Rubin reported yesterday, that he will throw off a mound on Friday with the hope that he’ll be getting ready to make a Grapefruit League start in about ten day.
ZACK WILL BE BACK: Zack Wheeler was scratched from yesterday’s start with a slight strain of his right oblique. Although the Mets have not said anything, expect him to miss at least another start. It’s precautionary and considering his value to the organization it’s the smart move. This front office has made a noticeable and improved difference in how seriously they take a players injuries no matter how minor. In all honesty, I couldn’t say the same thing about the last regime.
SPRING AHEAD: Four more days until I check into my hotel in St. Lucie and will begin covering the team again from Mets camp. It’s been a strange and new experience reporting about the team while being 500 miles away, and I look forward to covering them the old-fashioned way again beginning next week. I promised Joe D. some exclusive player interviews for MMO so look for those. And I look forward to bringing you some more insights from Sandy and his staff as well. Be good everybody.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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His comments on OBP were disturbing…
the first thing he said was The strikeout-to-walk ratio is overrated.
then later he says…
>But if you get on-base, and you do work the count, you’re going
>to put yourself in jeopardy and you may increase the strikeout rate.
unless this was miswritten….i have no idea what is the old man talking about
And in 2009 there was an article about OBP on mlb’s website…
here is what they said about our SS then…
“It takes a rare player to learn the value of plate discipline under a microscope, but Reyes certainly applies. In 2005, Reyes drew 27 walks and struck out 78 times. Two years later, he drew 77 walks and struck out 78 times. In the course of his makeover, Reyes upgraded a .300 OBP to the .350 to .360 range annually.”
So when the great wise Alderson comes to town….and the question about Reyes naturally comes up…what does mr. wise old man say?
John Delcos: Regarding Jose Reyes, what do you have to see from him to warrant giving him an extension? Do you have to see that prior to the All-Star Break?
>That’s a compound question. First off, what do I have to see –
>he’s a very dynamic player. Its hard not to notice that. I think he is
>working on a couple of things which have been discussed
>publicly. Speed is his game, but for it to work, he’s GOT TO BE ON BASE, and he’s >acknowledged that.
When Sandy said that….the past few years previous, Reyes’s OBP was around 40 points above the average OBP for leadoff men…( which is around .311 in the NL )
The more Sandy speaks…the more he look more like a lawyer and less like a baseball guy…
I saw it as soon as he said that comment about Reyes’s OBP back in March 2011
Whose running against Wright for captain?
Rumor has it it is Mr. Met who is jeaulous of DW.
No not the money. Not not his dimples as Mr. Met has bigger one.
Yes his finance’ that is.
Capt. Kirk is rumored to have taken issue with giving up this title
LoL
Did Sandy really just say this?
“I’m not sure the average Mets fan is any more unhappy today than the average Yankee fan”
LMAO
unreal…
how out of touch this village idiot is
I guess you havent been scanning some of the Yankee boards. They are not happy campers. Reality is setting in for them that the spending plans by Hal are real. No major offseason FA signings when many thought they were going to be in on Hamilton and Greinke with none anticipated next year.
Trust me, this is popping a lot of bubbles in Yankee land and they are pissed about it.
I have been reading some Yankee boards and what you say is true – especially for the younger fan who hasn’t known anything but a contending Yankee team.
Glad to hear the news on Pedro. Interested to see if he’s got anything left in the tank.
Kind of figured we wouldn’t see Murph for about a half a month. If I remember correctly, Wright was out for a month last ST to let that injury heal. They’d just rather them all get healthy and be ready for the season’s start rather than pushing it in ST.
Going to be a problem if both Johan and Marcum are not ready for the start of the season.
I didn’t reach much in SA’s phone con with bloggers yesterday that we didn’t already know or assume – maybe other than the policy on TAD blocking the plate.
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Tell me a team in baseball that doesn’t have 4 guys who strikeout 100 times, it’s the way they play now
100 these days is not that much. if you get a normal FT set of ABs, say 500, that is only 20%. Not horrible.
Now, if they end up with 4 guys at 150, that will kill a lot of rallies!
Hence my apprehension about the Braves.
BJ, Uggla, and Heyward all were over 150K and C. Johnson, Freeman, and JUp have the potential to push that level.
Out of the 6 how many K 150 times?
I thought that when they picked up the first Upton, that Brave squad is going to be vulnerable to teams that can throw up a couple of swing and miss starters …
That doesn’t matter too much. Those are talented athletes on a well coached team and the fact that they k a lot doesn’t mean they won’t defeat a strikeout pitcher in any given game. You’re leaning way too much on the statistical end of the spectrum and have forgotten about the human part where these guys are gifted athletes that some, yes, may strike out too much. Doesn’t mean they won’t drive in runs at the right spot and win big games. They’ll hit.
I like Feliciano and I will root for him….
I don’t expect much from him to be honest but if we are going to insist on signing question marks it might as well be guys who did something for us at some point….
I have no problems helping a player to regain and revive his career after he has already been a contributor to us before he lost it….
Why I didn’t complain at all when Isringhausen was signed…
He was nothing great but he did the best he could and at least was a part of the family who gave us something at some point in time…
He is about the only Member of Generation K that actually turned out to be worth a damn!