Tag: Luis Castillo

Mets Injury News- Maine, Castillo, and Castro

Pitcher John Maine pitched a simulated game yesterday attempting to recover from a strained rotator cuff injury. He declared himself ready to pitch to the media assembled to track his every pitch. He threw three innings and plan to pitch a bullpen session today. The plan is for him to come off the disabled list and pitch against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.

Luis Castillo has been playing rehab games in Port St. Lucie preparing to return from the disabled list from various hip/leg/knee injuries.

To make room on the roster for Castillo, the Mets may put Ramon Castro on the disabled list to give him time to recover from an ankle injury. The Mets thought he’d be okay to play by now but the ankle is still bothering him.

Mets 2B Castillo Plays Rehab Game

Luis Castillo started playing rehab games in Port St. Lucie preparing to come back from the disabled list. He’s been on the DL since July 3rd with a strained left hip flexor. The word is that he could be ready to return to the Mets next week.

IMG_0114 This is going to be a particularly hot topic when he comes back because undoubtedly he’ll replace Argenis Reyes on the roster. A. Reyes has been playing really well in Castillo’s absence as has Damion Easley. Frankly, it seems like the Mets have improved at second base since Castillo went on the DL.

My sense is that Argenis has become somewhat of a fan favorite during his tenure on the roster. He’s been friends with Jose Reyes since they were kids and he seems to have a real knack for situational hitting.

Easley’s been nothing short of terrific as well. He’s making great plays in the field and hitting with power. Castillo may have a dog fight on his hands to get playing time at second base when he gets back. The thing is he’s making $6 million this year and the Mets want to get their moneys worth out of him.

Mets In The News: Beltran, Reyes, El Duque, And More

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As the Mets prepare to face the Phillies today at 1:35pm, there are several stories circulating the newswire:

  • Mets manager Jerry Manuel told the press that he’s thinking of moving Carlos Beltran to second in the batting order so he sees more fastballs. I’m in complete agreement. Even moving him to third would be better.
  • El Duque is going to start his rehab work in Port St. Lucie this week.
  • Moises Alou is working out in NYC now. He’s expected to play a few rehab games with Brooklyn or Binghamton before returning to the Mets from his calf strain injury.
  • John Maine feels fine after experiencing cramping in his left forearm last night. He’ll be doing his regular workouts between starts.
  • A fan has filed notice to the City of New York that he intends to sue for $5.5 million after being hit in the face last August by a piece of Luis Castillo’s bat that shattered.
  • David Wright will not participate in the All-Star game home run derby.
  • Mike Lupica writes at the Daily News that Jose Reyes is the best shortstop in New York this season and gets picked on too much for the things he does on the field.
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Maine Hurt As Mets Drop Phils 9-4

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John Maine went 5.2 innings before a cramp in his non-pitching forearm forced him to leave the game. He looked much better than his previous start in St. Louis when he complained of dead arm symptoms. The cramp in his forearm didn’t appear to be too serious though.

The Mets scored nine runs, so there were many offensive stars. But Damion Easley really stands out. He went 3 for 5 last night with an RBI and has really been a consistent offensive force. It’s going to be tough for Luis Castillo to break into the starting lineup when he comes off the disabled list.

The top of the eighth was tremendously exciting for the Mets (and fans). Easley scored on a wild pitch. Then Brian Schneider came off the bench to hit a huge pinch hit two run double to right. He’s been on the bench a lot lately but after that hit he’s guaranteed to be starting today.

The Mets tacked on three more runs in the ninth to secure the game in a must-win situation for the Mets. It was a great game to watch. Both managers emptied their benches including back up catchers which is really rare for a regular season game. It was obvious that both managers were going all out for the win. Gary Cohen mentioned during the SNY broadcast that it was a playoff atmosphere and he couldn’t have been more correct.

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Mets Roster Moves: Castillo to DL, Aguila Recalled, Reyes Called Up

No, not that Reyes! Argenis Reyes is a second baseman at Triple-A New Orleans. He’s being called up to fill Luis Castillo’s spot in the roster. Castillo is going on the disabled list with a strained left hip flexor.

Outfielder Chris Aguila is coming back from New Orleans for his second tour of duty with the Mets this season. He’ll replace Carlos Muniz on the roster. He might even get a start in St. Louis tonight. Jerry Manuel plans to rest Carlos Beltran tonight.

Read the full story from Adam Rubin of the Daily News here.

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Cards Glaus Walks Off Against Mets 8-7

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There were a lot of good things that happened for the Mets offense. The same Mets offense that’s struggled for consistent production all season. But for all of the good that the Mets did on offense, it was undone by bad pitching.

Pedro Martinez was bad again. Tonight was his third consecutive bad start and it raised his ERA to a whopping 7.39. It’s time to be concerned about his long term viability as a starter. His line tonight was 5 IP | 7 H | 5 R | 5 ER| 1 BB| 4 K| 2 HR. Pedro did come back after a rain delay in the fourth inning. But the damage was done by giving up four in the first inning on an RBI single by Rick Ankiel and a three run bomb by Troy Glaus. More on Glaus later.

In the eighth inning Aaron Heilman hit Ryan Ludwick with his first pitch of the inning. Then Chris Duncan hit a two run bomb off Pedro Feliciano on his first pitch to tie the game at seven. Troy Glaus hit his second homer of the game off Carlos Muniz in the ninth. Muniz is clearly overmatched by big league hitters. He’ll probably be sent back to Triple-A New Orleans after tonight’s game.

The Mets had some great offense tonight that went for naught. Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Damion Easley all had three hits in the game. Easley also had 3 RBI’s in his second consecutive start at second base. He may become the starting second baseman as there’s talk of Luis Castillo going on the disabled list.

Tough game tonight.

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Mets In The News July 2- Pedro, Kazmir, And More

There are several Mets related news items today coming off the rare offensive outburst in St. Louis last night. Tony Armas sure wasn’t fooling many Cardinals and doesn’t have the velocity to instill much confidence in the Mets’ fan base that he can capture a permanent spot in the Mets rotation. But he did a nice job for one start. I think he was more lucky than good.

Onto the news for Wednesday July 2:

  • Even though I dislike Newsday’s Ken Davidoff columns generally, he has a good point today about the Mets. He writes that the Mets shouldn’t give up on the 2008 season. I’ve heard the sentiment from Mets fans to start breaking down the team and prepare for next year. I couldn’t disagree more.
  • Christina Kahrl has an extremely well written column for the New York Sun. She contrasts the Atlanta Braves ability to make a deal for a veteran rental with the Mets. She writes that the Mets farm system doesn’t give the Mets much flexibility to bring in non-waiver deadline deals that will impact the 2008 season. By the way, if you don’t read the sports writers at the New York Sun, you’re missing out. Their writers are without equal when it comes to covering the Mets in longer form columns.
  • AP put out a story picked up by just about every sports news outlet that Jerry Manuel is keeping Pedro Martinez on his regular rest today and giving Mike Pelfrey an extra day between starts.
  • Ben Shipgel of the NY Times has a couple of nuggets in his column about the Mets seducing fans into believing that the “turnaround” is beginning after games like last night in St. Louis. Perhaps the biggest news is that Orlando Hernandez is about a week away from making his first rehab start and may re-join the Mets by the end of July.
  • The NY Post Mets Blog has some interesting information about Pedro Martinez. Pitching coach Dan Warthen says that he thinks that Pedro looks terrific right now and resolved his problem of tipping pitches with the help of the Mets hitters. And Jerry Manuel isn’t babying Pedro like Willie Randolph did. Manuel is pushing Pedro harder and says that he’ll go easy on him after “three or four shutouts”.
  • Adam Rubin at the Daily News has several interesting topics today. Moises Alou went 2 for 3 with a homer and 2 RBI’s in his rehab game last night. Jerry Manuel is trying to get Jose Reyes to be more prepared in the field. Willie Randolph will skip the All-Star game this year. Jerry Manuel continues his tweaking of Luis Castillo in the media.
  • David Lennon of Newsday has a good column on Carlos Delgado’s statistics when hitting at night versus day games. He’s a much better hitter during the day. And Delgado didn’t know about the difference when it was brought up to him. Delgado actually said that he likes hitting at night better because there aren’t shadows to contend with.
  • Roger Rubin of the Daily News talks about Scott Kazmir’s shock and sadness when he found out that he was traded by the Mets to the Rays. Now he’s thrilled to be in first place and hoping for post season baseball in Tampa.