213 Miles From Shea

If we had this conversation before March 10th, statically speaking, Pagan looked like a much better player to fill in for Alou. However, over the past week, from the 10th to today, our conversation would be very different. Over the past week, against all teams, starters have been getting more playing time, and this is when roster moves are finalized. A player can hit up minor leaguers all he wants, but what he does against the major league caliber is what can make or break that player.
Throughout spring, Pagan's BA has been .351 and OBP has been .373. His BA is amazing. Clark on the other hand, thanks to his past week, is riding a hot streak that has raised his BA to .302 and his OBP to .412.
Specifically over the past week:
Clark 7-16, 3BB, .438 BA, .526 OBP
Pagan 5-22, .227 BA, .227 OBP
Pagan has hit a slump, and Clark has hit a hot streak. That spot on the bench has never been Pagan's or Clark's but this past week brings both of them up on an even playing field. Personally, what I think will happen is close to the start of the season, when Alou's condition is better known, he will be placed on the DL for the right amount of time and both Clark and Pagan will make the roster. Then it becomes a continued competition for who stays and who goes when Alou gets back.
On top of all of this, do not count Endy out for the platoon out if he is healthy enough by the start of the season.

Last week there was a list of roster moves on the Mets website that “narrowed” the field for the final spots in the bullpen and the bench. Basically, it showed that our future pitchers are not being considered for the pen for the start of the season, which is fine because they need more time and we have enough people now that are ready for the pen.
The players that got optioned to AAA are:
    Adam Bostick
    Willie Collazo
    Carlos Muniz

The players that got optioned to Minor League Camp to Re-Assigned:
    Robert Parnell
    Eddie Kunz
    Juan Padilla
    Andy Cavarzes
    Brant Rustich
    Ivan Maldonado
    Jon Niese
    Ryan Cullen
    Saloman Manniquez
    Anderson Machado
    Ben Johnson
    Michel Abreu

Jon Niese was one of the pitchers on that list that was really impressed with. Since the recent trades, he has continued to jump higher on the prospect list and his Spring Stats make a good argument for him. Over 2 games, 4.0 IP, 3H, ER, BB, and 5K. A while ago, I wrote about his previous stats here.
I was also a big fan of Abreu at the start of Spring Training. He got off to a good start, first with the Michigan game, which is not reflected in his stats, when he blasted a two run shot to tie the game in the ninth inning. The next day he had a hit, but then after that he really slowed down. His stats for the spring were 14 AB, 3R, 2H, 2BB, .143 BA. He also got injured and lost about 5-7 days of AB. He could have been an interesting story this Spring, but it wasn't to be.

The Mets had the baseball jumping off the bats again yesterday, but the real story yesterday, and what seems to be the big story for every game in the past week has been the pitching. Maine was an ace yesterday. He went 5 innings allowing 3 hits, a walk and striking out 6. He dropped his ERA down to 2.63. His total spring stats now are:
13.2 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 14 K
He leads the Mets pitching staff in innings pitched and strikeouts. He is striking out 4.67 batters for every batter he walks. Last season, he walked 75 and struck out 180, which is the same as striking out 2.4 batters for every walk given up. If this is a reflection of what we will get this year, that will be amazing. As I am sure all of you out there remeber, Maine was having a statistically amazing first half of the year that started to break down right before the All Star break, and then continued to break down as the season went on. If he has a great start to the season, that would be nice, but it would be great if he can pull it through all the way till the end of the season.

Other Notable pitching performances yesterday:
Schoeneweis 1.0, H, 2K
Register 1.0, K
Batting Notes from Yesterday:
A. Reyes, 3-5, RBI, (.545BA this Spring)
Beltran 2-3, 2R, 2B
Delgado 1-4, R
Clark 1-3, R, RBI, 2BB

Sorry about the lack of updates, I have been bogged down over the past few days. Anyway, here are some notes from the last three games, which included our B Squad one run loss to Boston Starters, a win against Baltimore, and the third loss of the spring to the Cardinals.
There really isn't much to talk about with Tuesday's game. Chavez continued to come back taking 4 AB, but had 0 hits. Pagan went 1-3 showing off his speed with a triple. Easley knocked a hit in and Church had an 0-2 day.

Wednesday was a key due to some of the excellent performances from the pitching staff:
Perez 4.0 IP, 3H, ER, K, Game ERA 2.25
Wagner 1.0, H, K
Heilman 1.0, 2K
Smith 1.0, K
The offense wasn't bad either. Reyes, although he only had one hit, and reached on an error played with a lot of energy.
Reyes 1-3, R, 3B, SB
Pagan 1-2, R, 2RBI, HR
Pagan also had an excellent game knocking in a homer to take the lead for the Mets. The swing looked awesome, Pagan is very dialed in right now.
On the comedy side, the Mets played a four inning prank on Castillo which started with gum on his cap, then two more pieces of gum, and ended with a plastic cup on top of the gum.

Thursday was another grade day of pitching for the Mets despite the loss. The pitchers that will be on the Major League Roster did a great job:
Pelfrey 4.2 IP, 6H, ER, 2BB, K, 1.93 Game ERA
Wise 1.1, 3H, ER, K, 1.23
Feliciano, 1.0, 2H, 0.00
Sosa, 2.0 2H, ER, BB, 2K, 1.00
For Sosa and Wise, it was their first runs of the Spring that they let up, but as you can tell by their Spring ERA's they both deserve to be in the pen. On another note, Schowenweis, who if you read here often, you know I am hyper critical of, has been doing well this Spring as well. So the competition for the pen is alive, well, and fierce. On another note, it felt great, I mean GREAT, to light up Looper for 4 runs which was done with this offense (I have a dart board made of paper that has different Mets officials and players that I really do not like on it, and Looper is the third ring out):
Chavez 2-3, R, 2RBI, 2B
Reyes 2-3, 2R
Beltran 1-2, RBI
FMart 2-2, 2B
Pelfrey 1-2, R

Brady Clark has been around in Baseball for a while. In fact this is his second time with the Mets. In 1996 he was signed by the Reds and stayed there until he was traded to the Mets in 2002. When he was signed, he was only 24 years old. He was one of four players that were sent to the Mets for Shawn Estes. Another notable player in that group is Pedro Feliciano. Here is his stat line with the Mets in 2002:
10 G, 12 AB, 3R, 5H, RBI, .417 BA
Before 2003, he was claimed off waivers by the Brewers. In 2003 he played 9 games in the minors and the rest were with the big league club. In 2004, 2005, and 2006, he was with the Brewers full time, playing in 138 games or more each of those seasons.
Last season he played in the majors with the Dodgers and the Padres:
Dodgers: 47 G, 58 AB, 7 R, 13 H, 5 RBI, .224 BA
Padres: 21 G, 49 AB, 6 R, 15 H, 6 RBI, .306 BA
In total his MLB stats are:
778 G, 2007 AB, 264 R, 557 H, 36 HR, .278 BA, .387 SLG
Spring Training 2008:
30 AB, 2 R, 8 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SB, .267 BA, .300 SLG

It is safe to say that he has spent most of his career as a spot starter, a pinch hitter, late inning player, and not a full time starter. The advantage that he has over Pagan is that he is older, he will be 35, and is more experienced in this role. The maid disadvantage is that Pagan is really hitting better right now, and he could be the youth spark the Mets need right in the OF thats aging from left to center. Also young guys have the potential of turning into something great. Clark is someone to keep around though, you never know when he could end up on the bench because of injuries and he can still produce. He will also be helpful when rosters expand in allowing the starters to rest games, or not play full games.
(all information from thebaseballcube.com)

We are getting to that point in Spring Training where the bench and the bullpen will start to take shape. By looking at who goes out and when now, we can try to piece together who of the 50 at camp will be going with the team on March 31st. Game 12 (win over the Astros) and 13 (tie with Boston) were good examples of starting to our starters and regulars in more action.
The pitching in the 3-0 shutout of the Astros as you can guess was very good:
Maine 4.0 IP, BB, 3K, Dropped his ERA to 4.15 but more importantly, and more amazing, he did not give up any hits. He was then followed by Wagner who allowed a hit and that was all in his inning of work striking out two. Heilman followed him up with 2 innings of scoreless relief giving up a hit and striking one out.
The Offense wasn't too bad either:
Reyes 1-3, R, RBI, HR
Pagan 1-3. R, BB, 2B
Wright 1-2, BB, 3B
The key here is the consistency of Angel Pagan who is starting to prove to the Mets that he can fill in for Alou at the start of the season.

In yesterday's game, pitching was the star over hitting once again.
Santana 4.0, 2H, 4K, 4.00
Wise 2.0, 2H,
Feliciano 1.0, 0H
And some offense notes:
Pagan 1-3, R, 2B
Clark 2-3
Easley, Delgado, Beltran, Schnieder: 0 Hits
Besides the obvious of Santana having a great game for the Mets, and what we expect out of Santana. It is important to look at Wise here. Wise is trying to get in the pen. And his constant being in games in the Spring is showing that he is in the running for a pen spot.He has appeared in five games so far for  six innings and he still has a 0.00 ERA. It will be tough to get a spot in the Mets Pen, but Wise is showing that he is worth it.
So between these two days, we have seen two Mets starters excel, 3 pen regulars excel (Heilman, Wagner, Feliciano), and hopefully, a new addition to our bullpen excel.

Mike Pelfrey has been an interesting story for the Mets. He was touted as the Mets new ace of the future for a while, and then as a starter of the future. He has struggled and at the same time, showed signs of great things to come. Lets look at where he has come so far since 2006:
Spring Training Stats:
2006- 1.29 ERA, 2 G, 7.0 IP, ER, HR, BB, 6K
2007- 5.48 ERA, 6 G, 23. IP, 14 ER, 3BB, 5K
2008- 7.56 ERA, 3 G, 8.1 IP, 7 ER, 4BB, 4K
MLB Season Stats:
2006: 2-1, 5.48, 4G, 21.1 IP, 13 ER, 12BB, 13K
2007: 3-8, 5.57, 15G, 72.2 IP, 45 ER, 39BB, 45 K

First off, lets breakdown his stats for Spring Training 2008. He wen 5.0 IP without any BB and without any ER (Technically, 7.0 scoreless innings in a row). Over 1.1 Innings, he let in 7 runs. He hit a rough spot and started to struggle. This has been the main critique that I have had of Pelfrey over the past few years is that he gets through the order fine the first time around, then struggles when trying to get through it again. Still, his Spring, without these 1.1 innings has been very good when compared to his 2007 Spring and his 06 and 07 MLB season.
Even though his ERA's in all categories have been rising through the years, I feel that this year in the MLB, his ERA will dive below what they have been. There was an article on mets.com today about how Pelfrey is trying new perceptive tactics this season to allow him to pitch more efficiently, its an interesting article, go check it out. It really talks about the need for him to do this because he was tipping pitches, that is more than enough reason to explain his inflated statistics.
(all stats from thebaseballcube.com and mets.com)

Since the road game with Baltimore ended before the home game with Florida, it is safe to say that the Mets had a 7 game winning streak, mostly by their B team, which was then broken by A team with a 12-4 loss to the Marlins. (The B-squad beat the Orioles 4-1). That being said, the Spring Record, which does mean nothing but is fun to look at, is now at 7-4, after starting 0-3.

Lets start with the road game:
There has been a lot of articles and news about trading Sosa, I have never been for this because lets say El Duque cannot pitch for one reason or another, and Pelfrey starts to really struggle again, Sosa makes a great substituted into the rotation, and he is good in the pen as well, that being said here are some stat lines for today.
Niese 2.0, 3H, ER, 2K, 2.25 ERA
Sosa 3.0, 3H, BB, K, 0.00 ERA
FMart 2-3, R, .333 BA
Lucas (3B) 2-4, R, .429 BA
Anderson, 0-2, BB, 2K

And now the Home game:
Reyes 0-4
Clark 0-5
Church 2-2
Chavez 1-3, R
Easley 1-4, R, 2RBI, HR
Schnieder, 1-2, R, RBI, HR
A Reyes, 2-4, R, RBI, HR
Pelfrey 3.1, 7H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3K, HR
Schoenewies 1.2, 2H, 3K, 1.80 ERA
Sanchez, 1.0, BB, K
Stokes, 1.0, H, K
Register .2, 5H, 3ER, K, HR, 5.79 ERA

So there are some statistical highlights from the two games yesterday and there is a lot to point out. The first is that Pelfrey had a scoreless 2.0 innings to start the game, and then allowed 4 runs in the third inning, came back in the fourth, and allowed 3 runs then. Register also self-destructed yesterday. Register's destruction is more damaging to his hopes for making the major league club because there has been a lot of good pitching for people trying to make the pen, and this one bad day for him drops him way down the list, because he was an outsider looking into the MLB before spring training started.
There was a large amount of Mets making comebacks from injury yesterday as well. Marlon Anderson struggled in his first day back while Church had a good day at the plate with 2 singles in 2 AB, Chavez came back strong going 1-3, Easley had one hit in 4 AB, but it was a homer and Schnider had a good game too with his homer.
In fact, before Friday, Gotay was the only Met to hit a homerun this Spring. Then there were 2 on Friday, and three on Saturday. (And as I was writing this, Jose Reyes hit one today), so welcome back power.
We are heading towards the end as starters go longer, and that door into the bullpen is closing.

Yesterday was the first day that I was able to see a Mets game live, and it was basically watching the New York Mets in five years from now. First off, before we get to some stats, how bout that field? I have never seen a baseball get stuck in the ground from just landing on it, and it happened twice. That shows the difference between Spring Training Fields and Major League fields, which have efficient draining systems.
Some stat lines from the game:
Pagan 2-4, R, RBI (6), .438 BA
A Hern 0-4
Saenz 2-4, 2R, 2RBI, HR
FMart 1-4, R, SB, .292
Cancel 1-3, 2R, 2RBI, 2BB, HR
Figueroa, 3.1, 3H, BB, 2K
Wise 1.0, 2H, 2K
The reason I highlighted the title of this entry with Cancel is because he was playing first base. I really know more as a catcher, which can been seen on one the entry about catchers in the Mets system that can be found here. I am assuming that he has played 1B before, and that he was playing it yesterday to get some practice at the 1B bag as injuries have destroyed the lineup of 1B's in our system.

Hampton left today's game early due to a minor right-groin strain. This is the same leg with the hamstring injury. According to mlb.com, he got the first batter out in the second and then Cox and a trainer came out of the dugout to pull Hampton out of the game. After the game, the Braves released a statement saying that it was precautionary and listed Hampton as day-to-day.
Every Brave fan across the nation start to hold their breath…

For the Twins, Liriano made his first start since Tommy John surgery today. He went 1.2 innings, 2H, BB and a K. No runs, so a good day for his progress back to the mound. As we are on the topic of the Twins, lets see how some old friends did today:
Gomez 2-5, 2R, RBI
Mulvey 2.0, 2K
Humber 2.0, H, 3K

Finally, I was watching today's game on ESPN, and last year, I cannot locate the specific entry, I wrote about why watching Nationally broad-casted games annoy me because every time they say the same thing about the Mets. For the past several seasons it has been Franco is the oldest player in the game (they even made a big deal about this AFTER the Mets got rid of Franco), they talk about Reyes being the most exciting player in the game, and they talk about Wright being a nice guy. This might not sound like a big deal, but generally I only get to see Mets games when they are national games, or away games with the Nats and Braves, so I hear the same things about them all the time.
The reason I bring this up again is it just occurred to me today, that no matter what lead or nonlead the Mets have this season in the NL East, the announcers on these channels will want to remind the audience about the collapse.
Looks like during night time, nationally broadcasted games, I will be muting the TV, and hoping for the WFAN 660 signal to trickle down consistently to Maryland. (I am going to try to get MLBtv this year to see Mets games with SNY to avoid this problem all together)