Category: Spring Training

Mets Oliver Perez Calms Pitching Fears

Oliver PerezOliver Perez was the talk of Mets camp since he put up a major stinker in his return from the World Baseball Classic. The big news is that pitching coach Dan Warthen called him out publicly as not being in proper shape to pitch. The message was misconstrued by some as Perez being overweight, but the message was that Perez didn’t keep his arm working during the three weeks he spent with team Mexico.

Yesterday he put the hammer down against the Orioles for 6.2 innings of one hit (and one walk) ball. Clearly, he got the message that the Mets coaching staff was trying to convey. Even Johan Santana spoke to Perez about improving his concentration and using the last week of spring training to get good results in the games he pitches in.

If Perez had another meltdown yesterday, it would have been time for Mets fans and the front office to have major concerns about the starting rotation. John Maine has been inconsistent this spring in his recovery from off-season shoulder surgery.  And Livan Hernandez is the current fifth starter after being waived last August by the Minnesota Twins. He’s looked solid this spring but the Mets coaches need to keep a very close eye on him as the season progresses.

I don’t think that we’ll ever describe Oliver Perez as consistent. But the Mets need him to be better than he has been this spring if the Mets are going to be serious contenders to knock the Phillies from their throne.

Audio: Mike Pelfrey, Mets News From ESPN Radio

Mike PelfreyMike Pelfrey joins Don La Greca on ESPN Radio to talk about his performance this spring. He also touches on comparing Jerry Manuel to Willie Randolph. And he admits that he occasionally lies about how he feels when the manager or coach asks him on the mound. I liked that he also plays COD (Call Of Duty).

Skip ahead to the 28 minute mark to listen to Rich Coutinho on Oliver Perez‘ poor performance today. They have some audio from Dan Warthen talking about Perez being out of shape. They discuss the fact that Perez gained weight since he left the Mets three weeks ago and the affect its having on his pitching.

ESPN Radio audio

Flickr photo courtesy of Alan Cordova

Mets Release De Los Santos; Cards Waive Royce Ring

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The Mets decided to let Valerio De Los Santos go despite liking what the lefty brought to the table. He had a good power arm and worked well with the Mets younger pitchers. He pitched in 4 games this spring to a 4.15 ERA. It’s surprising that they couldn’t find a spot at Triple-A Buffalo for him. Ron Villone looked awful against the Tigers today. I just don’t see him filling the situational lefty role for the Mets this season with any kind of success. So far this spring he has a 10.80 ERA in 5 games.

In other news, the Cardinals waived former Met reliever Royce Ring. He’s always had decent success against left handed hitters (.229 BAA for his career). Although he only pitched in a small number of games for the Mets, he did have a good run in 2007. Last year he was terrible for the Braves though. But I think he could certainly compete against Ron Villone for the lefty specialist role in the Mets bullpen. It would be worth checking into if he clears waivers to see if the Mets can get him to agree to a minor league contract.

Video: Astros Top Mets, Pelfrey 8-0 3.24.09

Mike Pelfrey got ripped for 10 hits and 6 runs in 4.2 innings yesterday. I thought that Pelfrey was starting to roll but you never know what exactly is happening for pitchers in spring training. In some games they’re just trying to work on a specific pitch, their mechanics,  or location. So don’t take too much from this bad start.

Mets Assign Freddy Garcia To Minors

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Javascripts/PisV3.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/javascripts/DataV3.ashx?ImageId=769716&PublisherId=1326First Round WBC: Italy v Venezuela

Freddy Garcia has accepted an assignment to the Mets minor league camp today. Apparently, they decided not to waste anymore time at the major league level on Garcia. His 16.71 ERA in 7 innings of work failed to impress.

Livan Hernandez is now locked in at the #5 sport in the rotation to start the season. That decision became inevitable when Jon Niese was assigned to the minor league spring training last week.

The Mets are hoping that Garcia will report to Triple-A Buffalo to continue his work, or possibly remain in Port St. Lucie for an extended spring training according to the Daily News. I can’t see Garcia asking for his release at this point. There’s no way he’ll catch on with another team at the major league level based on his performance with the Mets this spring. The best he could hope for is another minor league contract with a team that may be closer than the Mets to needing a fifth starter. We’ll have to see how this plays out.