Author: Dave Doyle

Frequently disappointed Mets fan

Orlando Hernandez Rehab Shut Down

Multiple media sources are reporting that El Duque has a strained tendon in his foot and will be wearing a walking boot for the next two weeks.

New York Mets Practice
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I don’t think we’re going to see much of El Duque or Pedro Martinez in the first half of this season. It would be great if the Mets could get a lead or hang in there until the All-Star break. Having those two pitchers come into the rotation at that point would be a nice shot in the arm for the team and avoid having to part ways with valuable prospects to obtain more pitching.

On Deck: April 9, 2008

Philadelphia Phillies (4-4) at New York Mets (2-4)   7:10pm  TV: SNY, ESPN2   Radio: WFAN

Kyle Kendrick (1-0) vs. Mike Pelfrey (0-0)

What to watch:  Although it’s early in the season, the Mets really do need a win to take this three game series from the Phillies. They don’t want to lose two series in a row so early to division rivals. Mike Pelfrey had a very rough spring and is only pitching by default, due to injury to El Duque. He needs to impress or he might not get another start.

What We Know So Far

It was a disappointing home opener but it’s way too early to panic or fire the manager. The Mets really do need to win this series against the Phillies after losing the two game series to the Braves. You can’t have a successful season and lose too many home series within the division.What we’ve learned so far:

  •  Jose Reyes needs to start hitting. He gets the whole offense going when he’s on base.
  • The starting pitching needs to get healthy. We need a decent season from Pedro Martinez and some kind of contribution from El Duque.
  • The bullpen can be shaky. Schoenweiss, Sosa, and Heilman have all been giving it up early in the season. That needs to turn around quickly.
  • Carlos Delgado looks much better offensively than he did last season. He’s still a complete stiff in the field but I can live with that if he’s hitting.
  • Angel Pagan looks like he can play. I was worried about him playing every day in left but he looks pretty good so far.
  • Brian Schneider is supposed to be here for his defense and he had two passed balls today. He needs to do better than that to justify his weak hitting.

The bottom line is that it looks like this division won’t be a cake walk. The Phillies are really good and the Braves always field a competitive team. The Nationals and Marlins should start to fall away fairly quickly.

Braves Top Prospect Gets HGH Suspension

PED

The Atlanta Braves hot prospect Jordan Schafer was hit with a 50-game minor league suspension for HGH use. I had read some columns prior to the season starting that he would give Mark Kotsay a run for the center field job this season.

I’m not passing judgment on him. Of course, I’m in no position to judge as a Mets fan. The Mets franchise has as many, or more, links to performance enhancing drug use as any team in baseball.

It’s a shame that these guys keep trying to get an edge with PED’s. I’m especially surprised that such a highly touted prospect would go that route. Schafer has a really bright future ahead of him from everything I’ve read. I can only guess that he was doing it in an attempt to make the major league team out of spring training.