There’s a twinge of anticipation this morning as Matt Harvey gets the ball today against the Miami Marlins.Stephen Strasburg is an exceptional talent in Washington, but in Harvey the Mets also have a young arm this franchise can build around. If there’s one thing the Mets are noted for it is the development of young pitchers. Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Dwight Gooden and now Harvey. How long, or now successful he will become is one of baseball’s delightful mysteries because this [...]

This time, Terry Collins knew what Johan Santana was doing and seemingly both are on the same page, even though the left-hander was mum today on both his throwing and the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. After mugging with several friends on the Venezuelan WBC team, Santana long-tossed in the outfield, and followed that with several pitches off the mound from where he fielded bunts. The timetable is a bullpen session, then batting practice and possibly pitching in [...]

It’s not the pitching line, but the feel of his pitches this time of year. “I felt good. My stuff was very good,” Jonathan Niese said after this afternoon’s 62-pitch outing against the Venezuelan WBC team. “I am not used to that kind of workload (this early in spring training). But, that’s a good thing.” Niese said getting his curveball over and mastering his change-up is what concerns him most. Both are feel pitches requiring [...]

Updated by John Delcos at 10:00 AM Players hit in the cages this morning as it rained here. The weather here has been awful; rainy and chilly. Nothing sun drenched about PSL these days. Those hitting include Daniel Murphy, who took an injection for a strained intercostal muscle on his right side. Also on the injury front, Jenrry Mejia was examined in New York yesterday for a thyroid issue and Zack Wheeler threw on flat ground and will do so [...]

Good morning from Port St. Lucie, where there’s a chill in the air and the sun is just coming up. Had dinner last night with a friend on the Mets’ beat and like most people I speak with in the media he’s not enthusiastic about them having a good season. Drove around a little last night and this place has changed over the past few years. Really built up. New hotels and restaurants, including a [...]

Things just keep getting worse and not better on the Johan Santana front. Andy Martino spoke to more than one team source and the consensus seems to be that Johan Santana will not be ready by Opening Day which totally wipes out Santana’s assertion that “he knows what he’s doing” and everything is okay. “I know the deal, spring training is for training okay!”. The Mets’ private expectations for Johan Santana’s April 1 availability are even [...]

The majority of the Mets are off today, except for those who have a “B’’ game in Jupiter later this afternoon. Pitchers Shaun Marcum, Pedro Feliciano and LaTroy Hawkins will each log some innings. The projected fifth starter, Marcum, raised concerns when he didn’t report to camp in shape. Here is a guy trying to hang onto a major league job and got a $4 million guaranteed contract from the Mets. He doesn’t come to camp ready to pitch and [...]

It usually is not a good sign when a name not recently in the news shows up on the “What’s Trending Now,’’ list when one logs onto the Internet. Dwight Gooden was there this morning and we can expect to see future postings as his latest issue with the law unravels. Gooden, long out of baseball but not forgotten by Mets fans, allegedly threatened his estranged wife, Monique, on Friday, when he should have been on [...]

Some athletes will use anything as a motivator while others simply know what it takes to get ready. Today, pitching coach Dan Warthen tried to sell the idea Johan Santana used perceived criticism of his physical condition as the spark to get him on the mound for the first time since Feb. 19. Santana threw the day after GM Sandy Alderson said he didn’t think the soon-to-be 34-year old lefty would pitch for another ten days to put his [...]