Tag: John Maine

Game Preview: Mets At Marlins [Game 4] April 10,2009

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New York Mets (2-1 Road: 2-1) vs. Florida Marlins (3-0 Home: 3-0) 7:10 pm

John Maine (0-0 0.00) vs. Anibal Sanchez (0-0 0.00)

TV: SNY Radio:  WFAN

What to watch: The Marlins are coming off a sweep of the Nationals. I have the feeling that a lot of teams are going to be sweeping the Nationals this season though. Sanchez is a decent pitcher that barely beat out Andrew Miller for the fourth spot in the Marlins rotation. Maine is making his first start since last August when he was diagnosed with a bone spur in his right shoulder. After off-season surgery he returned to have an up-and-down spring training performance. The Mets need Maine to prove that he’s healthy and back to his 2007 form if they expect to be a solid contender in the NL East this season.

Visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans.

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Mets Off-Day: Maine, Garcia, Hernandez Working

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Javascripts/PisV3.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/javascripts/DataV3.ashx?ImageId=764398&PublisherId=1326MLB: FEB 27 Spring Training - Cardinals at Mets

While most of the Mets are enjoying a relaxing day off in Florida, several of the starting pitchers are working hard today. Livan Hernandez and Freddy Garcia are going up against each other in a minor league game. And John Maine canceled a golf game to work on his mechanics.

It seems like Hernandez has all but locked up the fifth spot in the rotation. The Mets even insist that they’ll use five starting pitchers to begin the season. I’m not sure why they would do that when they really don’t need a fifth starter for several weeks. Hernandez has proved himself able to work as well as possible with well below average stuff. He’s got a 3.07 ERA in 14.2 spring innings. You certainly can’t ask for more than that from a fifth starter.

Contrast that with Freddy Garcia, who looks like he’s got a long way to go before he’s ready to face major league hitters. He’s got a 16.71 ERA in 7 innings of work so far. The only way you could describe his work this spring is “ugly”. He’ll have a big decision coming up soon. That’s whether he wants to pitch at Triple-A Buffalo and hope for an opening with the Mets at some point this season or if he wants to be released. If he’s released he could get a shot at a job at the major league level somewhere else. Honestly, I don’t even think that the Dodgers would take him now. And they’re really hurting for starting pitchers.

John Maine is working on an ERA over 10 so far this spring and just really looks out of sorts. I don’t take too much from that because I’ve seen what he can do when he’s healthy. But there is reason for concern that he just hasn’t been able to recover from the offseason shoulder surgery that he had. He’s locked into the #4 spot in the rotation no matter what right now. But if he has a couple of bad starts at the beginning of the season we’ll all need to be concerned.

Mets Bring Curveball Back

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Pitching coach Dan Warthen started the Mets bringing the curveball back in the second half of last season. He got Mike Pelfrey throwing it again and this spring John Maine is doing the same.

From MLB.com:

“I’ve got to learn to do it again,” Maine said. “It’s been over two years since I’ve thrown it in a game. I’ve got to learn to do it sometime.”

Pitchers have been throwing curveballs for 140 years. I always hated that former pitching coach Rick Peterson discouraged it so much. He favored throwing the fastball, change, and slider low in the strike zone.

I think Maine was the one most effected by Peterson’s philosophy. He seems to naturally have success high in the strike zone. I realize that he can’t live there but there’s no reason not to go there on occasion.

I also never understand Peterson’s fascination with the slider. Remeber watching Jorge Julio and others throw them over and over? And getting knocked around constantly to boot. There’s nothing wrong with a good curveball. Darryl Kile ( RIP) and others have made a career out of it.

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Mets Tender Contracts To Five Players

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 05: Pedro Feliciano #25 of...
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The Mets decided to offer contracts to all five arbitration elegible players. Ryan Church, John Maine, Pedro Feliciano, Duaner Sanchez, and Jeremy Reed were all offered contracts.

The Mets have a history of agreeing to contracts without going to salary arbitration with their players. Last year Oliver Perez won $6.75 million in arbitration and that was the first time the Mets went to arbitration in 16 years. After the Mets got spanked there, expect them to agree to contracts with all five players before the deadline on Feb. 1.

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Mets 2008 Off-Season Needs: Starting Pitching

You probably thought my next off-season needs post would be the bullpen. Yes, that post is coming soon. It’s almost too much to think about though. So for now, let’s talk about the starting pitching situation.

Returning starters Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine will be in the rotation. Santana is a shut-down ace and really requires no further discussion. He’ll be starting on opening day in Cincinnati, period. Pelfrey had a break out season in 2008 and should be the #2 behind Santana. He seemed to run out of gas a bit in September but really found himself in May.

John Maine is coming off shoulder surgery to address a bone spur. He’s cleared to start throwing again in December and should be fine for spring training. I really thought he was going to have a break out season after being nearly unhittable in spring training. But the injuries really damaged his season.

Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez will both be free agents after the World Series ends. I don’t expect to see Pedro back again. And Ollie will probably get a better offer than he’s worth from someone other than the Mets. If Omar Minaya can make a decent deal with Ollie and Scott Boras (doubtful) in the neighborhood of 3-years/$27 million, he should take it. But I think some team out there will go to four or five years for Ollie because he’s only going to be 27 years old during the 2009 season.

That leaves two openings to be filled in the rotation. Expect Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell to get a shot to compete for one of those spots in spring training. One of those two promising minor leaguers should get a chance to occupy the #5 spot in the rotation.

The Mets will probably look to fill a #4 spot from free agency and take a chance on a “project” starter as insurance in case Niese and Parnell aren’t ready for the majors yet. You can see the complete list of starters that will be free agents next month at MLB Trade Rumors. Beyond CC Sabathia (17-10 2.70) and Ben Sheets (13-9 3.09), the list isn’t really that impressive. Don’t expect the Mets to splurge on another ace like those two. They got Johan Santana last off-season. So I don’t see the Mets making another huge financial commitment to a starter.

A.J. Burnett (18-10 4.07) will probably opt out of his Blue Jays contract. But he’ll be looking for a long-term deal and I don’t expect the Mets to get into a 4+ year deal with any pitchers at this point.

There are several guys that could fit nicely into the middle of the rotation like Derek Lowe (14-11 3.24). Despite the rumors that he doesn’t want to be on the east coast again, he’ll go where the money is. He’ll be 36 years old next season but he could certainly fill the spot in the middle of the rotation. Jon Garland (14-8 4.90) and Ryan Dempster (17-6 4.51) are certainly worth talking to about a three year contract as well.

The “project” pitcher that the Mets pick up on a one-year deal could be anyone from Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Carl Pavano, Matt Clement, or Sidney Ponson. The tricky part will be finding a pitcher that will agree to a minor league contract so the Mets can give Parnell and Niese a legitimate shot at the fifth spot in the rotation. Colon and Clement seem the most likely candidates to agree to start the season in the minors.

Even with Pedro and Ollie probably leaving there are plenty of free agent options available this off-season. I certainly wouldn’t like to see the Mets get into a contract longer than three years for a middle of the rotation starter. That should be the key criteria, even if the contract has to get into the $33 million plus range. Gil Meche and Ted Lilly both got five year deals, so that throws off the market. But the Mets really need to keep their contracts to as short a term as possible.

Add a comment below with your thoughts.

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Mets Maine Positive After Shoulder Surgery

John Maine had a bone spur removed from his right shoulder this week successfully. He spoke to the media about the surgery:

“I feel great. I feel like I want to start throwing now,” Maine said. “That’s what I wanted to hear. So now I can be ready.”

Maine can start throwing again in December and expects to be ready for spring training. Good news for the Mets. He’s got a bright future ahead of him, and the Mets will be counting on him more than ever in 2009. With Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez  becoming free agents, the Mets really need Maine to step up his game.

Links: Mets News Sept. 23, 2008

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 29: A New York Mets fan h...
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Reader TD tipped me to this column by Jayson Stark on relief pitching in the NL East. I know it’s a sensitive topic but it’s a really good read. Thanks TD.

SI’s John Donovan continues the trend of writing about the Mets weak bullpen.

Mets P John Maine says he’s ready to go after throwing a simulated game yesterday.

Jerry Manuel says he won’t re-arrange the starting rotation this week.

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