- Mike Nickeas may be the frontrunner for the righty-hitting complement to Josh Thole behind the plate, but the Mets are not handing Nickeas an Opening Day roster spot yet, writes Adam Rubin. The defensively capable Nickeas will need to demonstrate he can produce at the plate at a competent-enough level that Terry Collins will not need to pinch-hit for him in the middle innings. Nickeas does have the advantage of already being on the 40-man roster. His main competition will come from former Seattle Mariners/San Diego Padres catcher Rob Johnson, who has started 193 major league games.
- Andres Torres arrived in camp Wednesday, after being acquired in an offseason trade with the San Francisco Giants involving Angel Pagan. Torres was born in Paterson, N.J., but moved to Puerto Rico a year after his birth. He worked out this winter with former Giants teammate Carlos Beltran. Terry Collins projects Torres as his leadoff hitter, where he will supplant Jose Reyes. “We just talked a little about hitting,” Torres said about his conversation with Beltran.
- Yesterday, Mets first baseman Ike Davis was sent to New York to be examined by team doctors as a follow up to his physical, which the team said had nothing to do with his ankle. The Mets are now reporting that Davis has been cleared to resume workouts and is is expected to be back in camp tomorrow. “They wanted to do a double-check on some things,” Collins said. “We got a report back that he can resume practice tomorrow and will be OK.”
- Beat writers are reporting that manager Terry Collins is not happy and expressed disappointment that incumbent shortstop Ruben Tejada will not be in camp ahead of Saturday’s official report date for position players. “I am a little surprised,” Collins said today. “A lot of it is just selfishness on my part. I take great pride in the game itself, and respecting the game. I wish everybody had the same respect for it to want to get started as early as possible.” Collins is hoping that Tejada will report in great shape and be ready to go when he gets past his VISA problems.
- Daniel Murphy opened some eyes when he took batting practice on Field 7 of the Digital Domain Complex today. Field 7 was recently remodeled to reflect the exact dimensions as the new Citi Field outfield wall. According to Kevin Burkhardt, Murphy knocked some balls out of the park and while it was only Spring Training, Burkhardt thought it was worth noting because, “nobody hit the ball out in years past.” Now there’s some encouraging news.
