A collection of some minor news, notes and updates from the Mets beat.
Syndergaard Dealt With Forearm Stiffness
The reason why top prospect Noah Syndergaard was slotted into the fifth game of the season for Triple-A Las Vegas was that the team was being cautious with their prized young arm. Apparently, Syndergaard had dealt with forearm stiffness during spring training, according to Terry Collins, who also said it was nothing alarming. (ESPN NY)
Mets Want Montero To Mix It Up
On Saturday, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen said he was bothered by the poor pitch selection exhibited by Rafael Montero that allowed two runs to score on a Phil Gosselin bases loaded single with two outs in the eighth inning. Montero threw 35 consecutive fastballs in that outing.
“What bothered me was Montero did not use his two-seam fastball, he did not use his changeup, which have both been huge pitches for him all the way along,” Dan Warthen said. He has to learn to shake off and call his own pitches. He will mature. He will get better.” (New York Post)
Travis d’Arnaud took the blame for Montero’s pitch selection and admitted that he did not call for any of his other pitches because he feared Montero might be erratic with his off-speed and the bases loaded. “I should have probably put down a three or a four, a slider or a changeup. I’ll take responsibility for that.” (MLB.com)
Gilmartin Gets Freeman Out
Mets lefthander Sean Gilmartin was effective again on Saturday, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief and recording two strikeouts. On Friday against the Braves, he forced Nick Markakis into a ground out and struck out Freddie Freeman in his major league debut. The Rule 5 Draft selection has tossed 2.1 scoreless and hitless innings with three strikeouts and lefties are 0-for-5 against him.
Murphy Has Some Fatigue
On Sunday, Terry Collins said Daniel Murphy would sit out the finale against the Braves because he is suffering from general fatigue and stiffness. Collins said Murphy it has nothing to do with the hamstring injury that caused him to miss time during spring training and that his legs are fine. Collins suggested that Murphy’s body is worn down because he did not have a regular spring-training workload to get acclimated for the season. (ESPN NY)
