Category: Spring Training

Put The Rolaids Away For Now… Jose Reyes is Back

Aeon All Star Series Day 4 - MLB v Japan All-Stars

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsWhat a relief! That was my first reaction to hearing Jose Reyes could be back by opening day. Without having a chance to listen to WFAN and hear what other fans in the area were saying I got the gut feeling that the injury curse hanging over this team might have been lifted. I’m feeling optimistic again, “first time, long time”.

I also like that the experiment batting Reyes third is over according to Jerry Manuel. I had been shaking my head for a while as to the logic behind moving one of the most explosive lead-off hitters in the game into the third slot. Changes the game completely and certainly doesn’t give Reyes a chance to set the tone for the game.

So now that Reyes is back and in the lead-off spot I’m getting a little excited for opening day. If I was a betting man, I would bet that Reyes will be the first batter of the new season and he’ll be going for a triple…

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Mets Fans, Ike Davis Disappointed in Cut

Daniel Murphy and Ike Davis
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

For those of us that were dreaming of some offensive production at first base this season, that dream just died a little today. Ike Davis was cut from the major league camp and sent to work out with the minor league players. He’ll start the season at Triple-A Buffalo but it shouldn’t be long before he shows up in Queens.

Davis was asked by reporters if he was holding out hope of making the big league club. From the Daily  News:

“Of course,” he said, “that’s your dream as a baseball player. But it’s not right for right now. Hopefully someday it will be. Just to know that I’m not far behind is pretty comforting. To see your goal is not that far away is pretty cool.”

For those of you that are regular readers, you know how down I’ve been on Daniel Murphy as a full-time first baseman. I’ll be one of a million fans screaming if Murphy is hitting .260 with 2 HR’s at the end of April, and Davis is still tearing it up in Buffalo.

I won’t go crazy about a young guy like Davis starting the season in the minors right now. But if it looks like he’s the Mets’ organization’s best first baseman at the end of April, I’ll be calling for the early hook on Murphy. And I get the feeling that I won’t be the only fan beating the drum for Davis.

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Jose Reyes’ Thyroid Problem Over

Jose Reyes is returning to Port St. Lucie after two weeks at home recovering from a hyperthyroid condition.

Courtesy of Wikimedia

There’s some huge news today for us. Jose Reyes has been cleared to play again. The thyroid condition that kept him on the shelf for two weeks is sufficiently resolved for him to go back to Port St. Lucie and start working out and playing again.

I can’t think of anything that could be better news. I was dreading the thought of starting the season with Reyes and Carlos Beltran on the disabled list. It would seem like 2009 all over again.

Jerry Manuel told reporters that he thought Reyes would need 10 spring training games to get ready for the season. And Omar Minaya said that they would just see how things went and couldn’t commit to Reyes starting with the team on opening day. No matter how it shakes out, this is better than the possible eight weeks that Reyes could have been away from the team.

Here’s some video from ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf

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Mets Links: Spring Training, David Wright, Mike Jacobs

I haven’t done a “Mets Links” post in a while so I decided to bring that back this weekend. There’s plenty going on in Port St. Lucie this week with only two weeks left before the regular season starts. I’ve got some good links for you so read up below.

  • Remembering Shea – Live posts from PSL including images on #1 celebrity Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld
  • Daily News – Somehow Mike Lupica got on a kick of writing about the Mets this week. His first column is about how the Mets should stick with Jerry Manuel for the long haul. I have no idea where he came up with this one.
  • Mets Today – Mike Jacobs is starting to work out at catcher again. It’s a great move for him to try to stick as the 25th man on the roster as the emergency catcher.
  • Daily News – Lupica’s second Mets column of the week is a fluff piece on David Wright. Just what we needed. Another column about how Wright is the face of the franchise.
  • Crave – A Japanese university created a batting tee that rests the ball on bed of air instead of the tee. Check out the picture, it looks pretty good.
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Mets’ Ike Davis is on the Rise

Ike Davis
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

Mets first base prospect Ike Davis is having a big spring. His slash line to date is .500/.560/.909 after having an excellent season in the minors last year. We listed him as one of the five Mets prospects that could have an impact on 2010. It’s a great situation for the Mets to have an heir apparent at first base.

The big question is what the Mets will do with Daniel Murphy when Davis supplants him at first base. That’s “when”, not “if” Davis supplants him. There’s no question in my mind that Davis will be ready to square off against major league pitchers at some point this season. That poses a big problem for Murphy.

Regular readers here know that I don’t think Murphy is a full-time solution at first base. After the 2009 disastrous experiment in left field, it doesn’t look like Murphy is going to crack the lineup anywhere else either. Murphy looks to me like he could make a decent career in the major leagues as a pinch hitter/role player. But I don’t think he can hit enough to play every day and he certainly doesn’t appear to be able to play the field other than the infield corners.

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Jenry Mejia Should Make Mets Team

Dwight Gooden at Candlestick Park in San Franc...
Image via Wikipedia

It’s a young man’s game now and Jenry Mejia is a young man with a good arm. Sure, he’s only pitched 7 innings so far this spring to a 1.23 ERA. But he’s looked good doing it. I’m not buying into the hype about Mejia. It’s a simple equation. The Mets are built to win now and Mejia can help them do that. It’s that simple.

You may think that the Mets would take Mejia north next month because Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya are trying to save their jobs. They’re not looking out for the kid. They don’t care about his future. There may be something to that, I don’t know. But if you read Ken Rosenthal’s column today on Fox Sports, it sure seems that way according to Rosenthal.

To get back to where I started this post, baseball isn’t a game for 35+ year-old players anymore. The worm turned with the MLB 2003 steroid report and testing for steroids and amphetamines. It’s back to being a young man’s game again and we have to face that fact and this new reality. Dwight Gooden made the team and won 17 games as a rookie when he was 19 years-old. Mejia is 20 years-old and he’s not Dwight Gooden, but if he wins a spot on the roster this spring we need to accept this new reality. The funny thing is that the new reality is the old reality.

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Jose Reyes Goes Down – Call FEMA!

NEW YORK - MAY 11: Jose Reyes #7 of the New Y...

But seriously, as much as I hate to lose Jose Reyes for any amount of time I don’t think losing Reyes is a game changer. As good as he is, I think the Mets will do fine with Alex Cora at the bottom of their lineup. Can you say Rafael Santana?

In ’84 Rafael Santana was the backup shortstop for the Mets. In ’85 he was promoted to starting shortstop, and then in ’86 the Mets won it all with a shortstop that batted .218, 1 HR, 28 RBI’s and led the team with 12 intentional walks. He was a solid defensive shortstop, not a Gold Glove by any means. Fundamentally sound.

Also remember Kevin Elster was the backup shortstop who batted .167, 0 hr’s, 0 RBI’s in ’86. He was a better defensive player than Santana and was such a smooth fielder. A pleasure to watch on the field but an automatic out at the plate.

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