“You could just tell. One of the things last year at this time that he really showed was that great feel for the changeup. He was trying to build up some velocity and he didn’t have a real good feel for his release point. But at least he had the arm speed, and the other day I didn’t see much arm speed.”
-Terry Collins of Johan Santana’s spring shut down until March 10-15
Tag: Terry Collins
Mets Johan Santana to Start Opening Day 2012
Mets manager Terry Collins announced the 2012 rotation this morning. I have to say that I’m happily surprised that Johan Santana will start opening day on Thursday at Citi Field. I know there are no expectations for this team. But having Santana out there on opening day is huge.
Santana will be followed in the rotation by R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Dillon Gee.
I’m still not expecting much this season but Santana pitching every five days makes this team much more interesting to me. Does this news give you any hope for the 2012 season?
Video: Johan Santana’s Comeback from Shoulder Surgery
Here’s some video from ESPN’s Baseball Tonight on Johan Santana’s comeback from shoulder surgery. Santana threw another bullpen session today and he’s scheduled for another on Thursday, if he feels good.
Today Terry Collins made some comments to the media that he’s hopeful that Santana could be ready for opening day. That would be quite a surprise to everyone. I’d expect to see him around mid-season. It remains to be seen what he’s got left in that shoulder when he does come back though.
Notice the comment by Karl Ravech in the video about people joking that the Mets could lose 100 games this season. Ouch…
Mets Have a Real Shot at Last Place
The Mets Could Win the Anti-Pennant Race…
After reading Yahoo Sports this afternoon, I wasn’t surprised to come across an article reporting that the Mets had a real shot at finishing up in last place. To me it seems for the last 4 years they have always had a shot at finishing up in last place. Coming into Spring Training I thought this looked like a last place team and now they may actually be that team.
Will they rise to the occasion this year and stay out of last, giving us hope for the future? Or will they wither from the dog days of summer and end up in last, right where I predicted they would be…?
Only time will tell but the Mets, Nationals, and Marlins are all within 2 games of each other. So, for the next 6 weeks there’s sort of an anti-pennant race we can all watch. The race to the cellar!
The Mets schedule for the rest of August is brutal. Milwaukee, Phillies, and then Atlanta. Then they’ll finish off with a strange series against the Marlins.
5 Game Series with Florida
The Mets have an interesting 5 game series with Florida coming up the end of this month. They then go on to play the Nationals and Marlins on the road.
They still have series against Atlanta, the Phillies, St. Louis and Cincinnati in September too. These will all be tough series to take. They have 12 games away and 14 games at home. This year home field advantage has not been an advantage at all.
It’s very possible they continue to play sub .500 ball while all the teams in a Pennant race beat them up. Continue reading “Mets Have a Real Shot at Last Place”
Reyes, Murphy Injured in Mets 6-5 Loss To Braves
As if it wasn’t bad enough that Bobby Parnell blew the game in the ninth, there are major injuries to talk about. Jose Reyes left the game in the second inning with a mild hamstring strain. Unfortunately, the last time this happened he was out of action for three weeks. Maybe the recurring injuries will keep his contract down in the offseason.
Daniel Murphy was injured more severely in the seventh inning when he took a spike from Jose Constanza in the lower leg at second base. Murphy had just come into the game as a pinch hitter in the inning. The Mets have already put Murphy on the disabled list and called up Ruben Tejada to replace him.
If Reyes goes on the disabled list too, it’s going to be a severe hit to an already under-manned team. The faint glimmer of hope for a late season miracle will be completely out the window with Reyes and Murphy out for any lengthy period of time.
Terry Collins said after the game that Murphy indicated when he was coming off the field that the injury was pretty serious. He was telling them “Get me off the field” as they helped him off.
video: Mets Weekly Report – 2011 Mid-Season Awards
In this week’s edition of the Mets Weekly Report, Kerel Cooper of On The Black and I talk about where the Mets are at the mid-point of 2011. We also get into a discussion of the biggest surprises, both good and bad, for the Mets so far this season. We don’t agree on everything. So check out the video below and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Topics include who’s been the best pitcher and position player so far?
One of the points that Kerel and I differ on is the mid-season grade for Terry Collins. What grade would you give Collins for the job he’s done so far?
Audio: Mets Turner, Dickey, Collins on Win Over Yankees
There was some celebrating going on last night by Mets fans after the 2-1 win over the Yankees in the Bronx. It was only one game but beating the Yankees in their stadium and finally getting back to .500 was something to enjoy for one night. As Mets fans, we’ve had to find small victories in recent years.
Justin Turner had another big night and R.A. Dickey finally got his first win since his season debut nearly two months ago. Here’s some post-game audio from the team regarding the win last night.
The Mets Report 