Mets at Cubs Series Preview

The Mets are playing terribly, and they need a team to beat up on. They have played three out of their last four series against teams above .500 and have suffered badly, losing six of their last seven games. Luckily, they play the Cubs this weekend, who, even though they might be better than the Mets, they are certainly easier to beat than the Pirates and Braves.

The Cubs are rebuilding. That’s very, very clear. Theo Epstein and the rest of Chicago’s front office is trying to build a team from the talented young core they have in place. So far, their plan seems to be working out well. Anthony Rizzo looks like he is a future star and Starlin Castro is shaping up to be a cornerstone piece at shortstop.

The Cubbie pitching staff is getting younger and with Jeff Samardzjia and Jackson to build their rotation around, they have a solid foundation for a playoff team. However, while the Cubs are building, they are still far off from being a playoff contender. They are currently 22nd in runs scored, and don’t have too many offensive threats. They have been carried almost exclusively by Rizzo and David DeJesus this season, rak=nking 24th in On-Base Percentage as a club. If it weren’t for those two, the offense would be one of, if not the worst in baseball. On the pitching side, their starting rotation has been solid, even without Matt Garza, but the bullpen has been awful. Aside from Kevin Gregg, who has been fantastic as Chicago’s closer as of late, they have received almost no consistent production out of the bullpen. Carlos Marmol has been himself (and therefore awful) and Kyuji Fujikawa has been unable to take his place. The Cubs as a team rank 22nd in baseball in bullpen ERA, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to get any better.

Long-term, while the Cubs are on the rise, they are still a very weak offensive team and have a long way to go before they become contenders. While two of the three pitching matchups this series don’t look great for the Mets, the series should be rather close.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Matt Harvey, RHP (56.1 IP, 256 ERA+, 4.43 K/BB) vs. Edwin Jackson, RHP (43.1 IP, 66 ERA+, 2.10 K/BB)

Jackson has failed to live up to expectations after signing a four-year, $52 million deal with the Cubs this winter. His 6.02 ERA is the worst on the Cubs among starters. He has been uncharacteristically wild, walking 4.2 batters per nine innings. Although some of his walk numbers from early on in his career are ugly, he has kept them largely under control the past few seasons. At least until now. He has failed to go more than six innings in a start this season. In his last start on May 11, he gave up two runs on four hits in 5.1 innings against the Nationals, walking two and striking out three.

Game 2:  Jeremy Hefner, RHP (41 IP, 80 ERA+, 1.69 K/BB) vs. Scott Feldman RHP (42.2 IP, 156 ERA+, 1.94 K/BB)

Feldman, 30, is your typical journey man starting pitcher. He pitched with Texas for eight years, in which he had a 4.81 ERA in 204 appearances. He has been much better since coming to the Cubs. He has put together a string of four outstanding starts, including his outing on April 26 against the Padres in which he gave up only two runs on three hits in nine innings, striking out 12 and walking a single batter. In his last start on May 12, he allowed one run on three hits in five innings against the Nationals.

Game 3: Dillon Gee, RHP (39.2 IP, 60 ERA+, 1.69 K/BB) vs. Travis Wood, LHP (53.1 IP, 195 ERA+, 2.12 K/BB)

Despite posting mediocre numbers from 2010 through 2012, Wood has been incredible this season. He leads the team with a 2.03 ERA in eight starts and has given up only 5.4 hits per nine innings. What has been the key to his success? Most likely luck. Wood hasn’t changed anything significant in terms of his approach and none of his pitches have gotten significantly better. However, his .193 BABIP makes it seem like he might come down to Earth soon. Wood shut out the Rockies over seven innings in his last start, allowing just two hits.

Series Notes

The Mets snapped their six-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at St. Louis yesterday…New York is 3-7 in its last 10 games…The Mets are 6-11 on the road this year.

In addition to this three-game series vs. the Cubs, the Mets will return to Chicago later this year to play the White Sox in a two-game series (June 25-26).

The Mets will play four straight day games (yesterday in St. Louis and three in Chicago) for the first time since September 3-6, 2010 (three in Chicago and one in Washington)…New York is 7-10 in day games…David Wright is batting .379 during day games, the fourth-highest average in the National League.

Daniel Murphy went 4-4 with two doubles and a walk on Thursday…The four hits tied his career-high…It was the eighth time he’s collected four hits in a game, last on April 12 at Minnesota…Murphy is 10-for-his-last-16 (.625) over his last four games and currently has a five-game hitting streak (11-20, .550) …Murphy is batting .394 on the road this season, the best mark in the NL and is second in the majors.

The Mets scored five runs yesterday but have scored three or fewer runs in eight of their last 10 games and in 13 of their last 19 games…New York is averaging 4.34 runs per game, the fifth-most in the NL and the 14th-most in the majors.

New York is hitting .238 (15-63) with runners in scoring position over its last 10 games…The Mets are fifth in the NL and 12th in the majors with a .266 (76-286) batting average with RISP…The club has 11 home runs in such situations, tied for the fifth most in the majors…John Buck has four of those home runs, tied for second in the majors…

David Wright is hitting .441 (15-34) with RISP, the fifth-best mark in the National League…As a team the Mets have stranded 256 runners, including eight yesterday, tied for 25th in the majors.

John Buck had one RBI yesterday and is tied for third in the NL with 31 RBI…Buck’s 31 RBI lead all catchers…San Francisco’s Buster Posey is second with 22 RBI.

Marlon Byrd is 4-for-his-last 8 (.500)…He is seven hits shy of 1,100 for his career…Byrd has at least one hit in seven of eight games this month (10-27, .370) with two home runs and six RBI.

Bobby Parnell has three wins and two saves this month…Parnell has hurled 6.0 scoreless frames in May…He leads all relievers with four wins and is eighth in the NL with a 1.04 ERA (min. 17.0 innings).

The early season struggles of Ike Davis have been well-documented. Following his second four-strikeout game of the season yesterday against the St. Louis Cardinals, he’s now hitting an awful .157/.245/.268 in 127 at-bats. That line is hard to look at, but it gets even harder when you realize it only includes four home runs, nine RBIs, and 45 strikeouts.

I’ve been in favor of sending Ike down to the minors for a couple weeks now because it’s been painful to watch how lost he is at the plate. I understand that in order for him to bust out of this slump, he has to play. While some think the best solution is for him to figure it out in the big leagues, I just can’t watch it anymore.

I’ve been watching a handful of Las Vegas 51s games these last two weeks, and I’ve been impressed with the performance of Josh Satin and Zach Lutz at the plate. The PCL may favor the hitters (as we’ve seen with the call-ups of Juan Lagares and Andrew Brown), but the approach throughout their at-bats has been sound. Satin is currently hitting .297/.412/.478 with five homers and 20 RBIs. More importantly, he’s collected 10 doubles in 37 games. I would love to see Satin get a chance instead of Ike right now, but it’s would be difficult since he’s not currently on the 40-man roster.

A guy who is on the 40-man that is hitting right now is Zach Lutz. The corner infielder is hitting .260/.340/.407 with four homers and 20 RBIs. Those numbers aren’t exactly eye-popping, but he’s currently riding a seven-game hitting streak. Over the last week, he’s hitting .444 with three homers, seven RBIs, and two doubles.

If the Mets were to make a move with Ike and actually send him down, Lutz should be the one getting a call. I really liked the call-up of Lagares, but was frustrated when he wasn’t inserted into the lineup consistently when he arrived. He was hitting .346/.378/.551 in Las Vegas prior to making his MLB debut, and I thought Terry Collins would try to ride that hot streak. If Lutz gets promoted, it would make sense for Collins to immediately insert him into the lineup to try and reap the benefits of his hot streak.

Collins said he’s committed to having Davis bat cleanup this weekend in Wrigley against the Chicago Cubs. If he doesn’t show any signs of life in his bat, a move needs to be made. Honestly, I don’t think the Mets will actually send Ike to the minors, but when he looks as lost as he has (especially yesterday), it’s tough getting excited when he walks to the plate in the middle of a rally.

The July 2012 promotion of the Mets’ second best pitching prospect was met with much fan fair.  Harvey promptly rose to the occasion in the eleven strike out win that was his debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  For an encore, he went on to post an ERA well under three in ten starts comprised of almost sixty innings pitched.  For certain it looked as though the Mets had another quality starter on their hands, but no one could have anticipated what Matt Harvey had in store for the Mets and their fans in 2013.

Entering last night, Harvey’s 2013 campaign featured a 4-0 start which saw him yield more than one earned run on only one occasion over six starts, in route to the National League Pitcher of the Month award for the month of April.  Coming off a full seven day’s rest, Harvey spent Monday night victimizing the White Sox lineup in route to nine scoreless innings of one hit ball with twelve strike outs and exactly zero walks.  This saw Matt drop his ERA to an impressively low 1.27 while assuming the league lead in strike outs with 58.

The stats are impressive enough, but they are easily trumped by the undeniable presence that Harvey brings with him to the bump every night.  Each start celebrated as “Happy Harvey Day” on various social media forums, the fans have fully accepted Matt as the absolute ace of this staff, no questions asked.

Harvey’s rise to what will soon be, if it isn’t already, super-stardom, will make it that much harder for those that come behind him, namely Wheeler.  Having been billed as possessing the best repertoire in the system, its hard to believe that Wheeler can match the ridiculous change-up and slicing slider that Harvey has used to carved through opponents thus far this season.  While the Mets will need Wheeler to be a productive member of the rotation in short order if they hope to stay in the hunt this summer, Matt Harvey has made most, if not all fans forget that someone other than he may be the savoir for the Mets pitching woes.

Recent history has seen pitchers as unproven as Mike Pelfrey toe the rubber as the team’s ace.  Those days, at least for the time being seem to be behind us.  Having been drafted by Omar Minaya in 2010, Harvey will be ineligible for free agency until the 2019 season at the earliest and now represents the youth movement envisioned by Mets general manager, Sandy Alderson.  The franchise will need others to rise through the ranks in order to realize Alderson’s vision, but regardless of whether those who will soon follow his path are able to do their part, Matt Harvey is here and the Mets have their ace.

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

When logging on to Twitter, you’ll often notice the most popular topics bandied about are a daily redundancy of Justin Bieber, a sporting event or athlete that is making news, and middle-schoolers telling you what not to do on a first date. However, every once in a while a hash tag like #MetsBandNames or #MetsYouveForgottenAbout will sneak into the “Trending Topics” column. When that happens, you can be sure it is not the work of “Beliebers” or 13-year-old dating experts. Instead, the thanks should go to a large group of Mets fans enjoying just another day in the community of the Mets Twitter world, or as they prefer to call it: #MetsTwitter.

Mets fans have always been known to be loud in voicing their support (or disgust) for the team. Though the New York Mets official Twitter feed has just over 177,000 fans, ranking them 13th out of the 30 Major League Baseball team accounts, the Mets fans seem to love not only tweeting about their team, but sharing their thoughts with fellow fans and creating discussions and friendships.

“I’m happy to say that I have made a lot of friends through Twitter,” stated Matthew Falkenbury (@dailystache), founder of the popular Mets blog The Daily Stache. “Whether it is fellow bloggers or just fans of the team, it is great to meet people who love the Mets as much as I do.”

To show the rising popularity of #MetsTwitter, Falkenbury started doing a ”Mets Twitter Recap” on his site. The feature is a basic summary of that night’s Met game, incorporating jokes and insight, all through the tweets of Mets fans.

“I saw the Sports Illustrated College Football blog, Campus Union, use the same idea for every bowl game, and I thought it would work with Mets games because of the great volume of Mets fans that tweet during the games,” Falkenury explained, also noting that viewership of the site has doubled with every Twitter recap. “It has been a great addition to the site.”

Even when there is no game in progress, #MetsTwitter is never at a loss for ideas.

“The one thing that I’ve noticed most about Mets fans on Twitter is that everyone cares about the team winning, but at the same time, Mets fans have the ability to make fun of their own team without any shame,” noted Tyler Siminski (@tysim19), a Mets tweeter and contributing writer for the site.

When an article came out last year reporting the Mets disappointment in Ike Davis’s partying habits, the #DrunkIke meme quickly became a running joke that still holds strong today. ESPN’s Karl Ravech will forever live in #MetsTwitter infamy after his incorrect hunch of “not buying that Phillies are dead” was tweeted late last year. Even Jordany Valdespin (or JV1, as #MetsTwitter refers to him as) has become a cult hero, thanks to his cocky attitude and self-portraits.

“The Mets have been nothing short of entertaining, on and off the field,” said Siminski.

Meredith Perri (@MeredithPerri) grew up in a Mets household in downstate New York, so she was well aware of the passion of Mets fans before joining MetsBlog.com as an intern last summer. But once her first post hit the internet, she got to experience first-hand how passionate the fans can be on social media.

“I definitely got a lot more tweets and followers,” she said, pointing out that she went from 100 followers to over 400 over the course of her internship. “I tweet about a number of things, but if you go through the people who follow me on Twitter, the majority are Mets fans.”

An aspiring journalism student at Boston University, Perri certainly appreciated the acknowledgement, and admitted it boosted her confidence.

“It felt like people were actually reading my work,” she said. “It was kind of like: ‘Okay, I can do this.’”

Of course, as a result of going to school in Boston, Perri knows all about raving sports fans. While she has grown used to the surrounding Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, and Bruins fans, she says about Mets fans: “They are definitely very present and passionate on Twitter.”

Somewhat surprisingly, that passion has ceased to soften, despite the Mets woes over the last few years. While #MetsTwitter is certainly full of pessimists who sometimes make it seem as though they are rooting for the team to fail, thus causing some confrontation, the varying differences of opinions are what drives it to continually grow.

“I think that it is like having a gathering of Mets fans at a bar or a party that surrounds the watching of the game,” Falkenbury said. “People talk about the game. What has gone right, what has gone wrong. They make jokes, they fight, they live and die with the team and do it within 140 characters at a time.”

Still, Siminski feels it is the more jovial Mets fans who bring the spirit of a community.

“I think the main reason that Mets Twitter has become so popular is the fact that the team has gone through so many hardships the past few years. Everyone wants to be around once this team takes the next step.”

Eventually, that day will come. But for now, #MetsTwitter can take solace in the fact that they already have taken that next step, and it only looks to be getting bigger.

Thoughts from Joe D.

I thought it was uncanny that when Adam wrote this a few days ago, the next morning on Friday, there was an article in the New York Times by Richard Sandomir about basically the same exact subject that Adam has so cleverly covered here.

In an articled entitled, For Mets Fans, Even 140 Characters Can Be Too Many, I was pleasantly surprised to find our site mentioned in the very first sentence:

Those who use Twitter to comment about the Mets – from @MetsMerized and @kranepool to @TheHappyRecap and @metspolice — usually have plenty to say.

Rich is right. Many of us do have plenty to say about the Mets on Twitter even with the challenges of a 140 character limit. But that only breeds new and creative forms of sharing a message or opinion, and that’s the fun of it. Twitter has become another way to revel with other Met fans during a win, or share our misery after a loss. I absolutely love it.

Those who embrace the technology and the social aspects of Twitter such as Adam, me, and thousands of other Mets fans, use the social monolith to stay connected with the team, the players, and all the beat writers, while interacting with other followers and friends. The common bond that brings all of us together are those amazing New York Mets.

Last month we finally eclipsed 5,000 followers on @Metsmerized and we’re now at 5,232 after gaining 37 new followers this week. Go ahead and click that banner and join the revolution… You know you want to!

Here are some other suggestions on who to follow:

@metsjetsnets88, @metstradamus, @Erica_L_Sweeney, @Lets86it, @EricBien, @citycynic, @johnstrubel, @DickYoungsGhost, @WexlerRules, @JoyChica, @MFS_71, Mets_Nation.

AHHHHHHH! THERE’S A TWITTER ON MY HEAD!!!

Starting Lineups

New York Mets

1. Mike Baxter RF
2. Justin Turner 3B
3. Daniel Murphy 2B
4. Lucas Duda LF
5. John Buck C
6. Ike Davis 1B
7. Ruben Tejada SS
8. Jordany Valdespin CF
9. Matt Harvey RHP

Miami Marlins

1. Juan Pierre LF
2. Donovan Solano 2B
3. Giancarlo Stanton RF
4. Placido Polanco 3B
5. Greg Dobbs 1B
6. Justin Ruggiano CF
7. Rob Brantly C
8. Nick Green SS
9. Jose Fernandez RHP

Game Alert!

David Wright is out of the game nursing a stiff neck. He told the team’s training staff about during yesterday’s game, but opted to stay in the game and tough it out. Manager Terry Collins said he didn’t want to push it and make things worse so he decided to have Wright have it checked out and get examined by a doctor, according to Marc Carig of Newsday.

Game Notes

• Catcher John Buck’s 23 RBIs are three shy of Jeff Kent’s team record for RBIs in April, set in 1994.
• Ruben Tejada is hitting .353 over his current five-game hitting streak.
• Wright snapped a 77-game errorless streak — the longest in franchise history for a third baseman and the longest current stretch at the position by a big leaguer — on a ground ball in Sunday’s first inning.
• David Wright ranks fourth in the National League with a .436 on-base percentage and Lucas Duda is fifth with a .429 on-base percentage. New York is tied for fifth in the NL as a team with a .317 on-base percentage.
• Over the weekend Frank Francisco threw 25 pitches in a throwing session and admitted he did not feel great after his outing. Francisco has made two rehab appearances with Single-A St. Lucie since being shutdown early in Spring Training after experiencing discomfort in his elbow.
• Pedro Feliciano had been hospitalized with a severe case of food poisoning, but the Mets hope to have him back on a mound this week. “He’s all good,” agent Melvin Roman told ESPN New York on Sunday about Feliciano’s current status.
• New York is fifth in the majors with a .290 (53-183) batting average with runners in scoring position. The club has eight home runs in such situations, tied for the second-most in the majors. Over the last six games, the Mets are hitting .211 (8-38) with RISP.
• Outfielder Juan Pierre is a .324 career hitter with 74 runs scored against the Mets. His 150 hits against New York are the second-most among active players, trailing only Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins (244).
• Matt Harvey takes the mound in the 7:10 p.m. series opener in Miami against rookie right-hander Jose Fernandez. Harvey is bidding to become the third Mets pitcher to go 5-0 in April, joining Pedro Martinez (2006) and Dwight Gooden (1988).

Game Preview

The Mets try to put last week way, way behind them as they travel south for a road trip to Miami. In the Mets last home stand the Mets started off on a good note take 2 of 3 from the Nationals and then dropping 5 of 6 to the Dodgers and the Phillies. Currently, the Mets are hoping to snap a 4 game losing streak. Luckily, it is Harvey day today as he takes on Jose Fernandez in another stellar young pitcher match up.

Harvey is coming off of his worst start of the season where he still was quality allowing 3 ER over 6 innings and the Mets still ended up winning the game thanks to a walk off grand slam from Valdespin. It also was the also the last time the Mets won a game. On the season, Harvey is 4-0 over 5 starts and 35.0 innings with a 1.54 ERA while he walked 10 BB with 39 strikeouts. This will be Harvey’s first start against the Marlins and the only Marlins who have faced Harvey are Pierre (2-6) and Polanco (0-1). The Mets booth added yesterday that Harvey’s most difficult task tonight will be Stanton (not a surprise) but Stanton has slider power, so if Harvey powers him with fastballs, he should be fine.

The Mets will be meeting Jose Fernandez for the second time this season. Fernandez is 0-2 this season with a 4.50 ERA over 4 games and 20.0 innings. In that stretch he walked 8 batters and struck out 19 batters. In his debut against the Mets he allowed 1 ER over 5.0 innings. In his first two starts he allowed only 1 ER over 11.0 IP. In his last two starts he has allowed 9 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Fernandez:

Cowgill 0-3
Baxter 0-2
Davis 0-1
Duda 0-2
Murphy 1-2
Recker 1-2, 2B
Tejada 1-2

Lets go Mets!

Life would have been better if no one said the phrase – ever — but it’s too late now. By the time Tim Leary first heard someone say it in his presence all he could do was go out and try to provide evidence to support the claims.

Leary, a UCLA graduate, overpowered hitters with a 96-mile per hour fastball, then buckled their knees with a biting curveball. In 1980, his first season of professional baseball in the New York Mets organization, he was unhittable. Leary was named Most Valuable Player of the Texas League. Honestly, that only made matters worse.

The occasional mention became an everyday occurrence. Scouts, fans, analysts were singing a chorus of praises that always ended in similar refrain: Leary was going to be “the next Tom Seaver.”

Mets manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson watched his 22-year old prospect blow away major league veterans in the Spring of 1981. Torre told the media Leary was “overpowering.” The Mets manager wasn’t alone in his praise. ”You look at him pitch and know that someday he’ll be a super baseball player,” added St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

”I like that son of a gun on the Mets. What’s his name, Leary?” Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda told New York Times reporter Joe Durso. “He can throw the hell out of the ball.”

Torre and Gibson knew they’d have to convince GM Frank Cashen to get Leary on the 25-man roster. Cashen was staunchly conservative in his approach to promoting young, developing arms.

By the end of Spring, Leary made it difficult for Cashen to say no. The Mets GM gave in. Leary was in. He earned it. He pitched his way North. Leary would join a 1981 rookie class that included Cal Ripken Jr., Fernando Valenzuela, Tim Raines, Tony Pena and Mets Mookie Wilson and Hubie Brooks.

It was a typical cold, windy 46-degree Sunday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It was a day filled with hope for the Mets. Hopeful that rookie Tim Leary would be all the things he was promoted to be, hopeful the 22-year old would not feel overwhelmed by the pressure, hopeful that they were witnessing the beginning of “the next Seaver.”

Leary struck out Ivan DeJesus swinging and Joe Strain looking at a called third strike. Two batters, two strikeouts and now hope was floating in the Windy City. Bill Buckner grounded out and Mets fans were confused. Was this Tim Leary or Tom Seaver?

In the second inning, after Steve Henderson lined out and Bull Durham struck out, Cubs third baseman Ken Reitz worked walked. Leary threw a wild pitch and Reitz moved to second. But Leary retired Scot Thompson on a fly ball to end the inning.

Did you see it? What … the wild pitch?

No. Leary felt “a searing pain” in his elbow as he worked to Reitz. Something was wrong, really wrong. “I felt some pain in my arm on the way north,” remembered Leary.

When the Cubs came to bat in the third inning it was Pete Falcone, not Leary pitching. Four days later he was placed on the disabled list. He wouldn’t throw a major league pitch for another 30 months. Cashen never forgave himself – or Torre – for what happened wrote Peter Golenbeck in Amazin’.

”Since I was 8 years old, I pitched hundreds of innings and was never hurt,” remembered Leary. “Now, I was hurt. Any time you even sit in a whirlpool, you get criticized. And I was taking whirlpools twice a day for months. When I went home to Los Angeles, I’d walk the beach. I became a loner.”

The whispers about being “another Seaver” faded – fast. Injury trumps all in professional sports. Being a “head case” is a close second and Leary was branded with both. Once a player is tagged, the climb to the majors becomes Mount Everest.

“The pressure is on in New York,” former teammate Terry Leach told Peter Golenbeck, author of Amazin’. “Some people can’t handle the attention, because they expect so much of you. Or you think they expect so much of you, so you try to do more than you’re capable of, and that’s not good. And that’s what happened to Tim Leary in New York. He was young, it’s hard to cope. You don’t know what it’s like until you play big league ball in New York. That is the big leagues.”

Leary reported to Spring Training in 1982, hopeful. He spent the winter exercising, strengthening his elbow. Leary pitched one inning against the Philadelphia Phillies and he was “roughed up.”

”Every time I threw, it hurt,” said Leary. “I couldn’t even pitch. I went back home, and didn’t do much of anything except walk the beach and worry. That was the low point.”

In June 1983 Leary visited Dr. Daniel Alkatis, a nerve specialist in New York. In minutes Alkatis diagnosed Leary with a pinched nerve. “I’d been lying around for eight months, he found it in five minutes,” he said. “I still had a long way to go, but my mind was finally free.”

Sure the modest crowd that peppered the box seats on the final day of the 1983 season was a far cry from the dreams Leary once carried on his right shoulder, but No. 38 was pitching again. The “next Seaver” comparisons were gone, maybe for good, but he was back in uniform, on the mound, in the major leagues at Shea Stadium. And that was all that mattered now.

Leary pitched nine innings and beat the Montreal Expos. It was his first victory in the big leagues.

1984 was an ironic convergence of the past and then-present. Dwight Gooden, Tim Leary and Frank Cashen arrived in Florida for Spring Training.

Gooden was wearing Leary’s 1981 shoes, Leary was “damaged goods,” a reclamation project hoping for a spot on the roster and Cashen was waxing, bordering on hypocrisy, to the media about the lesson he learned.

”We’re starting to hear Gooden used as a standard of comparison for other young pitchers,” said the Mets GM. ”The scouts are starting to say that so-and- so has a Gooden-type fastball. That’s a form of subtle pressure in a way, but Gooden doesn’t understand what subtle pressure is, while Leary did.

”Gooden is very phlegmatic. He’s not burdened with a lot of hangups. I don’t want to say that Tim Leary was emotionally immature, but he was like Cassius in Shakespeare. You know, ‘Young Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much.’ That can be dangerous.”

His overall line left a lot to be desired, as he allowed four earned runs off three hits and the aforementioned six walks, while striking out four in 4.1 innings.

Wheeler is under a lot of pressure as the Mets’ top prospect right now and he seems to be running into the same issues he’s always had – walking too many batters. If you break down his start a little further, you can see that he threw 108 pitches. His strike to ball ratio was 61:47, which was rough, and nowhere near the level of efficiency we need to see from him.

He blew a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning, where he was eventually lifted in favor of Greg Peavey. To be fair, Wheeler left with the bases loaded and Peavey allowed all three inherited runners to score, but he was still wild overall and they were his runners.

This was Zack’s second start since the blister problem that was causing him discomfort in his first two starts. This was also one of Wheeler’s worst starts since joining the New York Mets organization after being acquired for Carlos Beltran.

As Mr. North Jersey mentioned in the comments, we can only hope there is no injury issue at play here, and that this is all a part of his growing pains. The potential still remains for Wheeler to become a dominant ace-like pitcher in the near future, so remember that this is all part of the process.

Thoughts from Joe D.

As I said after Wheeler’s last start, was his no-walk performance a sign of things to come, or just a fluke and a blip on the radar given the control problems that have plagued him throughout his pro career?

This is now fourth straight start in which he failed to deliver six innings. It was another start where his pitch count was remarkably bad. 108 pitches and only 61 strikes in 4.1 innings is not going to get anyone promoted to the majors no matter how high you rank on Baseball America’s Top Prospect. You still have to execute.

So far this season, Wheeler has pitched a total of 18.1 innings, averaging only 4.5 innings per start. That’s not going to cut it. He’s walked 12 and allowed 17 hits and his ERA now stands at an unsightly 4.91 his WHIP is now north of 2.00. The thing of it is that you can’t blame all those walks on the PCL or park factors. This has been a chronic problem for Wheeler throughout his career.

Collin McHugh, who I bring up all the time and am very high on, has walked just four batters in 18 innings and has 0.49 ERA to lead the team if you’re looking for a comparison.

And yet despite all of this data, day in and day out Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins are constantly bombarded with questions asking when Wheeler will be promoted.

Wheeler simply has not shown any signs that he is ready to take on the likes of Joey Votto, Bryce Harper and a host of other National League sluggers. He is not ready to mow down a major league lineup.

As one scout told Kevin Kernan yesterday, there’s dozens of pitchers who can throw 98 mph. Until Wheeler can consistently string together at least a half dozen quality starts (6.0 IP, 3 ER) calling him up shouldn’t be an option. How does promoting him now help him from a development standpoint, or more importantly how does he help the backend of our rotation?

When your pitch count is consistently around 90 pitches after four innings, how can you possibly provide any relief to an already very taxed Mets bullpen?

You can disagree with me all you want, but this is not a slight mechanical kink he needs to work out. The problem is much deeper than that. Zack Wheeler is simply not ready for major league duty and needs to show he can handle a full season in Triple-A. Currently, there are 30 qualified starting pitchers in the PCL who have a better ERA and WHIP than Zack Wheeler.

Terry Collins said back in March that if Wheeler wanted to make it to the Mets he needed to go to Las Vegas and lead the league in pitching. Wheeler isn’t even close.

For the first two weeks of the minor league season, the Mets were represented with a prospect cracking the Baseball America Hot Sheet. Last week it was Rafael Montero. This week, it’s Wilmer Flores. Both players were listed “In The Team Photo,” which is basically considered an honorable mention.

As I stated in the Mets Minors Report earlier today, Flores is quietly having a nice season offensively. This fine hitting prospect seems like he has been overshadowed by Travis d’Arnaud and Zack Wheeler for these first couple of weeks. But Flores continues to put up solid numbers, and hit his first home run of the season last night, adding three RBI in the Las Vegas 51s victory.

For his efforts over the past week, he was selected to Baseball America’s Hot Sheet. Here’s what they had to say about him:

Wilmer Flores, 3b, Mets. Against the backdrop of Triple-A Las Vegas teammates Zack Wheeler (blister on middle finger) and Travis d’Arnaud (broken foot) dealing with injury woes, Flores just keeps hitting. The 21-year-old went 12-for-30 (.400) with a homer and four doubles this week, but more remarkably he has just three strikeouts in 15 games this season.

Baseball America has to update their files, Flores has been playing second base the majority of the year. But that is besides the point, and Flores is having an excellent season. With the news that d’Arnaud will not require surgery, he should be back in eight weeks or sooner. This could be a chance for Flores to pull himself out of the shadows again with a continued hot play.

I was kind of shocked to see no mention of Brandon Nimmo on the list. He has been virtually impossible to keep off the base paths this season, but it was most likely his power numbers that caused him to get snubbed. Out of all of his hits, he only has three for extra bases this year. Some players on the list had that many home runs alone this past week.

During the Hot Sheet Q&A session this afternoon, a couple of questions came up regarding some Mets prospects. I found one exchange very interesting, regarding Jacob deGrom, which is shared below:

• John (Chicago): Might not be hot sheet worthy, but Jacob deGrom had an 8 ip, 3 h, 8 k, 1 bb line in his first AA start. He’s already 24 (missed a year to injury), but he looks like a major league starter in the making, no?
• Matthew Eddy: Yes, deGrom has a great arm and *just missed* making the Mets Top 10. Some scouts who saw Savannah last year preferred him to Sand Gnats rotation-mates Michael Fulmer and Domingo Tapia. The area to watch for deGrom and all sinker-slider pitchers is the platoon split. Can he consistently retire lefthanded batters?

Players To Watch For Next Week’s Hot Sheet

• Watch out for Aderlin Rodriguez, who is on a tear, and has homered in his last three games.
• Jacob deGrom could crack the list with another solid start on his next visit to the mound.
• Rafael Montero is always a threat—the kid is the goods.
• Kevin Plawecki, who started the season hot and hasn’t started to cool off yet.

That hasn’t stopped me before, but based on the wind, I had a feeling I was in store for a low-scoring game.

I even turned to my buddy before the game and told him to look at how quickly the flags on the top of the stadium were blowing in from the outfield. “We’re not going to see any homers tonight,” I said.

I sometimes like when I’m wrong.

Lucas Duda and Ike Davis crushed pure bombs deep into right field, while John Buck hit an impressive opposite-field two-run shot to right as well.

Duda’s ball was actually still rising as it cleared the yard and landed halfway up the Pepsi Porch. Davis’ blast was a moonshot that reached Shea Bridge. So much for the wind blowing in!

These home runs were an excellent sign for both players.

Duda struggled to open the spring but seemed to gain his stroke over the final few weeks. The contact he made on his homer last night was so solid, and he even added a booming double to right center as well.

For Davis – who had a good spring – that home run washed away any lingering thoughts about his Opening Day “Golden Sombrero.” Davis is going to strike out; it’s a fact. But if he’s dropping bombs like last night, the strikeouts won’t be too much of a concern.

Even more impressive is that these two lefties hit their homers off lefty Clayton Richard, who is no slouch on the mound after a 14-14 campaign last year for a mostly poor team. Davis and Duda don’t necessarily struggle against lefties, but it’s a great sign to see them display power against a southpaw.

Davis and Duda’s offense is one of the keys to this Mets’ season if the team stays relevant. The power they can provide in the middle of the order if they’re hitting can really go a long way.

Throw in right-handed hitters David Wright, Marlon Byrd and the hot-hitting Buck, and all of a sudden you have the makings of a balanced offensive lineup. And just imagine if Travis d’Arnaud pans out like expected!

It’s just two games, I know, but there is some potential here, which is exciting from a fan’s perspective. For a team that’s not supposed to set any home run records, Davis and Duda can at least provide a little bit of thump for the Amazins.

Noah Syndergaard will lead a talented Advanced-A rotation in St. Lucie.

The Port St. Lucie residents will be in for a treat this season, as the St. Lucie Mets arguably have the best rotation in the minor leagues. If they aren’t the best right now, they certainly are in the discussion.

The way the roster has shaken out, it looks as if the rotation will consist of Noah Syndergaard, Domingo Tapia, Luis Mateo, Hansel Robles, Alex Panteliodis and Jacob deGrom to start the season. The roster also consists of Michael Fulmer, who is currently recovering from a knee injury, and will definitely be in the mix once he is healed.

You will be hard pressed to find a pitching staff as deep, and as potentially dominant as the St. Lucie Mets. The majority of the Mets top pitching prospects will all begin their season in St. Lucie, and in a recent edition of Baseball America, they gave their 2013 rankings for pitching prospects where three St. Lucie pitchers were ranked. They separated their rankings into three categories: Right-Handed Pitchers, Left-Handed Pitchers and Relief Pitchers. The Mets had five pitchers ranked in the top 75 right-handed pitchers in the minors. They are Zack Wheeler (5), Noah Syndergaard (19), Luis Mateo (65), Rafael Montero(66) and Michael Fulmer (75) — Syndergaard, Mateo and Fulmer will be playing for St. Lucie this year.

All eyes will be on St. Lucie this year, as some of the top pitching prospects in the Mets’ organization will be on display. Any Mets fans that live in the Port St. Lucie area may want to look into a season ticket package at Tradition Field, because this may be the last time this many top pitching prospects are pitching in the same rotation for a long time. Don’t you feel bad for St. Lucie’s opponents? Yikes!

How could you not take notice?

The game featured more than adequate starting pitching, solid relief work, clutch hitting and even a grand slam.  The Mets’ already ostracized outfield corps went a combined 4-for-12, with three walks, six runs batted in, and the aforementioned grand slam. As a matter of fact, with the exception of the four strikeout performance by Ike Davis, there really wasn’t much negativity to be taken away from the first game of the season.

However, please heed this warning.  It was only the first game of the season.  Met fans, every single one of us. are searching for something.  Whether it’s just a reason to head out to Citi Field, or to turn on the television and watch, or even a reason to simply stick around at this point.. each and every one of us is trying to find that one reason to believe.  For some, yesterday’s game was just that.  It was great.  Great enough that as Colin Cowgill crossed the plate after his seventh inning grand slam my wife stared at me as I muttered over and over again, “I will not buy in..I will not buy in..I will not buy in.”

You see as much as I want to believe, I’ve spent the last two months convincing myself that the reason to watch this season was the maturation of young players like Matt Harvey and Ruben Tejada, along with the eventual promotion of Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud.  I entered last season under a similar guise, but crumbled quickly under a 4-0 start that saw me quickly invested once again for the long haul.  Of course that eventually led to the annual mid-summer heartbreak that we’re all so accustomed to at this point.

So while I, like many of you I’m sure, fight the urge to once again dive head first into the shallow end of what has all the makings of a fatally flawed 2013 New York Mets season, lets all remember that our team boasts a roster of unproven players searching to find their own way.  Is it possible they shock the world as the Oakland Athletics did last summer?  Sure..but its far more likely that we’ll soon be wallowing in the puddle of self pity we frequent each season.  Only time will tell.  If you chose to take the plunge early, don’t say you haven’t been warned!

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

“Keep Your Enemies Closer”

The National League East has been known for it’s pitching staffs, going back to the Mets rotations of the 80′s, the Braves of the 90′s and early 2000′s, all the way up to the Phillies and Nationals of the past few seasons. What’s clear is that each team has quality pitching in some way. Teams like the Mets and Marlins have some good rotation options, with high-end quality prospects entering their respective staffs this season. While other teams like Phillies have a three-headed monster at the top, and the Nationals are building around the all-world Stephen Strasburg.

Let’s take a look at each rotation, and rank them in order from last to first.

5. Miami Marlins

1. Ricky Nolasco
2. Henderson Alvarez-DL
3. Nathan Eovaldi-DL
4. Wade LeBlanc
5. Kevin Slowey
6. Jose Fernandez
7. Alex Sanabia

4. New York Mets

1. Jonathon Niese
2. Matt Harvey
3. Shaun Marcum-DL
4. Dillon Gee
5. Jeremy Hefner

3. Atlanta Braves

1. Tim Hudson
2. Kris Medlen
3. Paul Maholm
4. Mike Minor
5. Julio Teheran
6. Brandon Beachy-DL

2. Philadelphia Phillies

1. Cole Hamels
2. Roy Halladay
3. Cliff Lee
4. Kyle Kendrick
5. John Lannan

1. Washington Nationals

1. Stephen Strasburg
2. Gio Gonzalez
3. Jordan Zimmerman
4. Dan Haren
5. Ross Detwiler

What are your starting rotation rankings in the National League East?

Scott Rice made his Mets and major league debut by pitching a perfect ninth inning in this afternoon’s 11-2 Opening Day win over the San Diego Padres. After the game, Rice told reporters he intends to relich the moment as long as he can and let it all sink in.

“Obviously I had a little jitters just running out there, but once the batters get in, it’s baseball. So I went out there and just tried to stay slow, stay relaxed.”

Rice gave the game ball to his dad afterward, who was on hand to see his son’s lifelong dream finally realized after 14 years in the minors.

“My dad has been the reason why I played baseball growing up. He basically taught me the fundamentals and everything I know about baseball,” Rice said. “He’s the guy I called when I had a bad outing. He’s the first call after every outing. It’s nice that he was able to be there. It’s just as rewarding for him as it is for me.”

Rice is a great story that just keeps getting better.

Original Post 3/29

A short while ago, the New York Mets announced which players have made the Opening Day Roster. Marlon Byrd, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Atchison, Jeurys Familia, Scott Rice, Greg Burke and Anthony Recker all made the final cut.

But wait, let’s skip back past a few of those names to what I consider to be the biggest surprise on that list… Scott Rice.

At the ripe young age of 31, the lefthander will be making his Major League debut the moment the Mets make a call to the bullpen this season and say, “Bring in No. 56.”

After toiling for 14 years in the minors – only three of those at Triple-A – and for five different organizations, the Simi Valley native will get his first shot in the Bigs with the New York Mets.

Rice, the former 1999 first-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles, has somehow managed to find his place in a wholly revamped Mets bullpen and I bet even he didn’t see that coming. To pull it off, the Mets gambled and won, by sneaking a few names through the waiver wire and not losing any of them.

Last season, Rice made 27 appearances for Triple-A Albuquerque (Dodgers) where he posted a 4.40 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 59 innings pitched.

Overall, he has a 4.52 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 129 Triple-A appearances where he’s struck out 100 batters and walked 65 of them in 147 innings pitched.

There’s nothing here that jumps out at you, and he could be the first guy to go once Shaun Marcum is activated in ten days, but I always find stories like this somewhat fascinating.

The kid inside me loves to pull for a guy like Scott Rice. I love the backstory… Grinding it out for a decade and a half in the minor leagues is not easy, so right off the bat I see a fighter and someone who has no quit in him.

Maybe Rice was just waiting for his one chance – his one golden opportunity – his one moment to prove something to himself.

We may look at this move today and just shrug our shoulders. But I bet all of Scott’s friends and family smiled a big smile for him when they all learned the news.

I bet his iPhone was surging with activity as the congratulatory texts all rushed in.

There’s something very special and heart-warming about the thought of that…

So let me chime in, along with the rest of his family and friends, to say:

Congratulations, Scott… You’ve made it to the show…

Welcome to the New York Mets!

TYLER PILL, RHP

Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’1″ Weight: 185 lb.
Position: RHP
Age: 22
ETA: 2014
MMO Top Prospect Rank: #28

Background:

Here is a brief profile on Tyler Pill from the recent 2013 MMO Top 25 Prospect series:

Pill’s fastball basically sits in the high-80s. Pill also tosses a curveball out there, which I feel is pretty underrated, and a slider and change-up. The slider is extremely inconsistent and hittable, but could potentially be worked on. Logically, it would seem more useful for a guy like Pill to keep a fourth pitch, but it does more harm than good at times. The change-up is a good pitch, and I like the movement on it.

Pill’s success as a pitcher is directly related to how good he can control his pitches, because he just does not profile as a power or dominating pitcher. The issue built in here is that his stuff does not exactly look like a prime fit for the bullpen either, so its going to be a long road for Tyler Pill. A 2.30 ERA in 113 innings is a start, and the numbers that are more important are the 22 BB/105 Ks. Tyler Pill is trying and I am rooting for him. We have seen stranger things.

Analysis:

Everyone is boasting about all the right-handed power arms in the Mets system right now, and Pill is often not mentioned because he is not what you would consider a power pitcher. As stated earlier, his fastball sits in the high-80s and touches the low-90s. However, the impressive thing about Pill was that even though he does not have overpowering stuff, he is practically striking out one batter per inning. His career strikeout rate is 8.5 per nine innings, which is a solid ratio. His career 2.34 ERA is also very promising. The key for Pill’s success will be keeping guys off balance and keeping them off the basepaths, which he has done a good job of doing thus far in his career. He will throw strikes, and as long as he continues to do so, will have a chance to continue progressing through the system.

Best case scenario is that Pill is a back-end of the rotation starter at the big league level in a couple of years. Worst case scenario is that he is a Triple-A pitcher that will be called up now and then for spot duty. We have yet to see him pitch against advanced hitters, so the big test will be in 2013, where he is projected to make that jump to Double-A Binghamton. If he continues to dominate hitters by keeping them off-balance and throwing strikes, then he could be pushing for a call-up sometime in 2014.

Pill tends to get lost in the shuffle when discussing right-handed pitchers in the Mets organization because everyone is drooling over the power arms in the system right now. However, guys with power arms have a tendency to suffer arm injuries (not wishing for it, just stating a fact). A guy like Pill will continue to fly under the radar, but out of all those promising right-handed pitchers in the Mets organization, Pill may be the first one to crack the Mets starting rotation in the next couple of years due to his consistency and ability to throw strikes. Pill is definitely a pitcher that fans will want to monitor over the course of this summer, as he often gets overshadowed by other pitchers in the system.

To read previous editions of this feature, go to our MMO Prospect Pulse Archives.

Follow MMO Minor League Analyst Mitch Petanick on Twitter at @FirstPitchMitch for even more Mets Minor League and prospect coverage.

This causes concern for two reasons. The first reason being the length of his stride. When a hitter has a long stride, it changes their eye level significantly, which could cause issues at higher levels in the organization. The second reason being out on his front foot. If I were a pitcher, and saw his aggressiveness at the plate (being out on the front foot) I would never throw him a fastball. He would get a steady diet of off-speed stuff to take advantage of his aggressiveness.

An easy fix for his stride length would be to have Rosario start with a wider stance. With regards to being overly agressive at the plate, there are some drills that the hitting coach can have Rosario do which can help him keep his weight back. He will have to learn how to become a complete hitter, and accept the principles that are taught to him, then execute them. His pitch recognition will develop in time.

So while Rosario is a very exciting prospect, he is still quite raw, and has a few things he will have to work on in order to become a more complete hitter.

Other News and Notes:

• The Triple-A affiliate of the Mets, the Las Vegas 51s, recently announced they were joining a new marketing strategy called Project Brand. They will be teaming up with 159 other minor league ball clubs in an attempt to sell the overall brand of Minor League Baseball to national advertisers.  Minor League Baseball has more than 40 million fans, and this would be a big step in gaining national recognition for teams that are usually just locally marketed.
• The Mets’ minor league pitching prospects continue to put up solid efforts, and the latest one came yesterday from Logan Verrett. The right-hander was selected in the third round of the 2011 MLB draft, and spilt time between Savannah and St. Lucie in 2012. Verrett allowed two runs during the first inning of yesterday’s contest, but then finished strong and didn’t allow any runs over the next four innings of work. In 2012, he had a solid season going 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA.
• Happy Birthday to Brandon Nimmo who turns twenty years old today!

While injuries are sometimes unpreventable and part of the game, the injuries this spring that really made me scratch my head were the intercostal injuries suffered by the Mets’ infielders Daniel Murphy and David Wright. I scratched my head because while this injury is caused by twisting the torso, which baseball players do for a living, many people can go a lifetime and never experience an intercostal injury, or even know where their intercostal muscles are. It seems preventable.

When I saw two players suffer from the same preventable injury, on the same team, a giant question mark appeared over my head. Were these two prominent players not properly warming up before action? Is it something in the off-season program that needs to be tweaked or added to avoid these injuries in coming years?

I decided to call on an expert to give an idea on what causes intercostal injuries and how they can be avoided. Ken Stabler, of Ropestone Fitness, specializes in the Training for Warriors system which is primarily used by MMA fighters, but more and more athletes outside of the MMA world are using the system due to its benefits, especially with rehabbing injuries. I asked Ken to weigh in on this intercostal confusion, and give us a better idea of what Wright and Murphy are doing to try and get back on the field…

Thoughts from Ken

The intercostal muscles or “rib cage muscles” lie in-between and around your ribs. There are 2 types of intercostal muscles: the internal intercostals and the external intercostals consisting of 11 of each. These muscles are primarily used to aid in respiration by reacting to the diaphragm.

Strains in the intercostal muscles are caused in sports by a quick and forceful transverse contraction of the torso. This means that a sharp twisting motion can cause the strain. The injury can cause anywhere from minor to severe pain upon inhalation (breathing in) or reactive actions such as hitting or fielding the ball. When these muscles are strained they also become tight and difficult to stretch. This especially affects baseball players because their whole game revolves around twisting the torso. Whether they are at bat or throwing the ball, there is generally some act of twisting involved.

The origin of the injury doesn’t just lie with the twisting motion. In my experience, the more probable cause of the injury is from weakness in the intercostal muscles as well as in the diaphragm. Chronic motion in the transverse plane (twisting) coupled with weak deep core muscles will cause the injury rather than just the twisting component alone. This is why more and more athletes are adding in Pilates and Yoga to their program, and practicing proper breathing.

Unfortunately, there is no set time frame for recovery. There are generally 3 levels of severity for the strain but every person is different and has a different recovery time. However, there are certain activities to engage in to not only rehab the injury but also prevent future occurrences. I don’t like to place value tags on fitness techniques but I always tell my students that if you can master your breath, you can master your body. I have outlined below some basic techniques to be performed, preferably by a licensed PT or fitness professional but can be done on your own. I will begin by explaining some stretches to be done prior to the exercises.

1. Kneeling latissimus stretch (AKA “children’s pose”). Start by kneeling on the floor. Place your hands, palms down in front of you and reach as far as you can out in front of you. Keep the elbows flexed and lower your head and chest to the floor without compromising your flexed elbows and place the stretch in your lats. Perform 3 times for 30 seconds.
2. Abdominal stretch. Lie Face down with your hands at your sides, next to your chest. Push your upper body and leave your hips and thighs down. DON’T FORGET to keep the core engaged on this one so you don’t compress the lumbar spine. Keep a neutral pelvic tilt. Perform 3 times for 30 seconds.
3. Swiss ball stretch. Lie on your back over a Swiss ball. Begin at the shoulder blades. Let your arms go overhead to your end range of motion. Do not overreach the arms back because then your erector muscles of the spine will start to become engaged. Think of your arms just falling behind you. From that point, roll slightly down on the ball towards your low back and then roll back up towards your shoulder blades (in a rocking motion). Relax on the ball and let your abs stretch out. Breathe in slowly through the nose and exhale slowly and completely. Perform for 5 deep breaths.

Ribcage breathing: this breathing technique is most notably seen in Pilates and Yoga but it is also implemented by many of the top fitness professionals because of its ability to strengthen the core from the inside out and minimize recovery time from a high intensity exercise. This technique is vital to the rest of the program and to an effective strength and conditioning program. Diaphragmatic breathing and ribcage breathing should be done during all activities to keep the deep core muscles strong which in turn, prevents injury.

First lie on your back and pull your feet in as you would in a bridge position. Next, find a neutral pelvic position by activating your core until you feel your lower back against the ground (this position may vary from athlete to athlete depending on the state of which you live in extension). Once you find a neutral pelvis, place your thumbs on the posterior rib cage (in back) on both sides and wrap your fingers along the front of the ribs but do not squeeze. Your hands serve as your marker to see where the ribs are moving but do not apply resistance. Next, inhale into the ribs but do not let the stomach rise by keeping a tight core. This will force the intercostals to expand and contract much more than normal and thus, create a stronger core to prevent future injury.

Release technique: Once you are comfortable expanding the ribs laterally with ribcage breathing, find the same position stated above. Take your thumb and find the injured area or trigger point. Next, slowly expand the ribs with a breath and gently apply pressure to the area. The amount of pressure is subjective to the individual but I would apply it generously if you can tolerate it. Release the applied pressure gradually as you slowly exhale. After each rep, massage along the muscle with your palm to promote blood flow for 15 seconds. Repeat for 5-10 reps.

After this “therapy” session:

1. Ice the area. Icing will decrease inflammation.
2. Compress. A compression shirt is really handy to have around for multiple reasons but especially for an injury like this one. If you do not have a compression shirt then wrap the ribs snuggly.
3. Rest. Do not engage in regular activity until you are pain free. There is a rule I follow. Once you wake up pain free, wait an extra week before attempting more demanding exercises.

Rehabbing an injury is all about diligence and patience. Don’t harp on the injury. It will heal. Take the time to evaluate what you may be missing in your program that caused the injury. You might not have had enough quality sleep, or you haven’t been practicing good form, maybe you have a muscular imbalance that needs to be addressed. Reflection and evaluation are critical if you want to prevent future injuries.

We already know both Wright and Murphy had cortisone shots to try and speed up the recovery process, but Ken lays out a very in depth analysis of the rehab process that the two athletes are also probably going through. Wright seems to be on pace to be in the lineup on Opening Day, and Murphy thinks he can be ready, but only time will tell if one, both, or neither of the two Mets stars start the season on the disabled list. It looks like they’re both making progress with their rehab now, so any time that may have to be spent on the DL will hopefully be minimal.

Latest Update by Joe D:

Great news on starting pitcher Jeremy Hefner, who left today’s game after getting hit on the elbow by a come-backer. The team announced that he only sustained a contusion and that X-Rays showed no broken bones.

Hefner has won a job in the rotation and according to Terry Collins he will probably start the fourth game of the season. The right-hander finished off a solid spring with a 3.47 ERA over eight appearances.

Follow Jeremy on Twitter at @jeremy_hefner53

Original Post:

Jeremy Hefner left today’s game after getting hit with a comebacker in his fourth inning of work. He is headed to the hospital for X-rays.

Carlos Beltran was the hitter when Hefner was struck, and Hefner was unable to get out of the way of the ball headed right back at him off of Beltran’s bat. The ball hit him in his pitching arm around his elbow, which is always scary.

It’s a frightening sight any time a pitcher gets hit by a batted ball, but according to a tweet by ESPN’s Adam Rubin, Dan Warthen stated it didn’t seem serious. Hopefully the X-rays will confirm what Warthen has stated.

Before leaving the game, Hefner pitched three innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs.

We will update this post with any further information…

Vicente Lupo, OF

Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’ Weight: 180 lb.
Position: Outfield
Age: 19
ETA: 2016
MMO Top Prospect Rank: #15

Background:

Here is a brief profile on Vicente Lupo from the recent 2013 MMO Top 25 Prospect series:

Signed as an international free agent in July of 2010, Lupo quickly showed a penchant for extra-base power at a young age. While his 2011 season was marred after a dangerous bout with malignant hypothermia that ruined his DSL season, the strongly built slugger came back with a vengeance the following season.

2012 saw Lupo explode in the Domincan Summer League, where he posted a .343/.508/.600 batting line while drawing as many walks as strikeouts –  something seldom seen in power hitters.

Of his 70 overall hits, 31 were for extra-bases. While not possessing top-flight athleticism, he has the bat you look for in a corner outfielder. According to what Mets executives said in response to some questions from Joe D., Vicente will be playing stateside in 2013, so look for him at Kingsport or possibly even Brooklyn this summer.

Everyone is super excited about Lupo. His .500 OBP in 2012 was completely ridiculous, and he had 1.108 OPS to go with that. If he continues to put up numbers like that, maybe he will live up to some early comparisons to Miguel Cabrera. Not much has been reported on Lupo thus far, but what little info is out there has many Mets fans excited. I am proud to say that thanks to fellow minor league analyst Teddy Klein, MMO is the first to have some video footage of Lupo, which you can see below.

Analysis:

We’ve all read the reports – great bat with plus-plus power, raw strength, solid frame and a good eye at the plate. At this point, it’s almost like Lupo is somewhat mythological, since not many fans have gotten a chance to see him play. This video was the first chance many of us got to see of Lupo, since he has spent the majority of his playing time in the DSL.

Vicente Lupo is a player who will need his bat to carry him through the system. He’s not considered speedy and doesn’t have a very strong arm which limits him defensively. He will most likely be relegated to a corner outfield position, probably left field.

Baseball Reference has Lupo listed as six feet, but after seeing him stand in the batter’s box he is probably closer to 5’10″ or 5’11″ tall. He does have a solid build, and seeing as he’s only 19 years of age, he’ll probably put on even more muscle as he matures.

Regarding his swing, he starts with his hands high and then quickly gets them into a good hitting position. Hitters have to be careful with starting their hands up high, because it could take them longer to get them into the hitting zone, leaving them susceptible to better fastballs. But Lupo does a great job of getting his hands down into the zone, and keeping his hands high is a good way to make sure he stays on top of the ball.

Unfortunately, the swing in the video attached is not his greatest effort. He looks like he was confused by an off-speed pitch, and is very off-balance. You can even see in the first pitch that he takes, he is out on the front foot a little. Keep in mind that it is only one swing, and he is 19 years old, so as he matures, he will learn to adjust to the off-speed stuff. He has probably made a living at this point of his career by eating a steady diet of fastballs for breakfast, so as he progresses through the system he will have to work on his pitch recognition and driving the off-speed pitch the other way.

In 2013, we will see how Lupo progresses during his first season playing stateside. Look for him to start with one of the short-season leagues (Kingsport or Brooklyn) and stay in extended spring training until then. He’s definitely a player you’ll want to keep an eye on in the coming seasons and could easily become a top ten prospect for the Mets if he continues on this torrid pace.

To read previous editions of this feature, go to our MMO Prospect Pulse Archives.

Follow MMO Minor League Analyst Mitch Petanick on Twitter at @FirstPitchMitch for even more Mets Minor League and prospect coverage.

Updated by Joe D. 3/26

A team source told Adam Rubin that veteran righthander LaTroy Hawkins has made the Opening Day roster. This comes as no surprise given manager Terry Collins‘ propensity to lean towards players with more experience as long as they are healthy.

Hawkins, 40, has not allowed a run over five innings during Grapefruit League action. He is coming off a season where he posted a 3.64 ERA in 48 relief appearances.

The Mets signed him to a minor-league deal in late January and will have to cut someone from the 40 man roster to make room for him.

Looks like Rob Carson will be the second lefty in the pen, which was also Adam Rubin’s belief when we asked him in an interview yesterday.

Carson has made 10 appearances this spring with a 5.40 ERA. Last season he posted a 4.73 ERA in 17 appearances for the Mets.

Originally Posted by Mitch 3/25

Pedro Feliciano has been advised that he will not be with the Mets’ big league club when spring training breaks in a week. The Mets want him to head to Triple-A to build up his arm strength.

Marc Carig of Newsday tweeted that Feliciano hasn’t ruled out starting the season in the minors, but thinks he is ready for major league competition now. According to ESPN New York, Feliciano stated that “[Batters] have to think about my deception mechanics-wise. You don’t have to throw 100 mph. You have to throw a strike to get some lefties. They made that decision. I’m going to think about it and see what I decide. Hopefully somebody picks me up. We’ll see what happens.”

Feliciano has had a rough spring. He was recovering from shoulder surgery, and then was almost shut down with a heart ailment earlier in camp. His velocity is still hovering in the low to mid 80s, and the Mets probably feel more comfortable starting the season with Robert Carson and Josh Edgin as their lefty bullpen options.

Joe D. reported yesterday that the Mets had until Tuesday to decide what to do with Feliciano, as the Mets had to clear some roster space in order for guys like Marlon Byrd, Scott Atchison and LaTroy Hawkins.

Hank Ratner, president and chief executive officer of The Madison Square Garden Company, today announced that distinguished sports executive, Dave Howard, has joined the company as president, MSG Sports, effective April 9. In this role, Mr. Howard will be responsible for running the business operations of the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Liberty and Hartford Whale, as well as the management of the company’s Sports Properties unit.

“I am honored to be joining The Madison Square Garden Company, and particularly thrilled to have the privilege of leading MSG Sports,” said Mr. Howard.

“There are very few organizations anywhere with the strength of MSG’s sports brands, and I look forward to utilizing my experience to ensure we build on MSG’s position as one of the world’s leading sports organizations. I would also like to thank the Mets’ ownership and organization for what has been an amazing professional experience in Flushing.”

Mr. Howard joins MSG Sports following more than two decades at the New York Mets organization and Major League baseball. Most recently, he served as executive vice president of business operations for the Mets, where he had overseen all business departments, including ticket sales & services, corporate sales & partnerships, marketing &communications, broadcasting, media relations, venue services, ballpark operations, guest experience and security.

In addition, he was responsible for the team’s Florida training facility and the St. Lucie Mets and Brooklyn Cyclones minor league business operations. During his 20 years with the Mets organization, Mr. Howard held a number of significant roles, including as the team’s general counsel, corporate secretary, vice president, business affairs and senior vice president, business and legal affairs.

He played a key role in moving the Mets from Shea Stadium to Citi Field, where he was also instrumental in attracting other premiere events, including top concerts and college lacrosse, as well as the first-ever major soccer matches.

Wow, this is a huge loss for the executive branch of the New York Mets. We wish him the best on his new venture and thank him for his years of dedicated service.