Regular Season Game 4-Nationals at Mets

Here is the Mets lineup for tonights game against the Nationals. Mike Pelfrey makes the start against Garrett Mock. Mets Lineup: Pagan(CF) Cora(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Jacobs(1B) Francoeur(RF) Barajas(C) Tejada(SS) Pelfrey(P) Here are some of the game notes. Ruben Tejada is the youngest player to start a major league game at SS since B.J. Upton did it with Tampa Bay in 2004. The Mets have 5 rookies on the team which is the most in the major leagues. Jenrry Mejia is the youngest player in the majors and Ruben Tejada is the second youngest. Ryota Igarashi became the 11th Japanese born Met to appear in a game when he got into last nights game. Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur have collected at least 1 hit in each of the Mets first 3 games. Fernando Nieve has pitched in all 3 of the Mets games and hasn't allowed a run.

Additions to Citi Field for 2010

The Mets will display a game day starting lineup above the escalators in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. That is the main area where everyone comes into the Stadium. Each side of the field level will now display vintage baseball cards of Robin Ventura, Cleon Jones and Dave Kingman. Blue Smoke, Big Apple Brews and Box Frites will be opening additional locations on the promenade level of the stadium. The 1969 and 1986 clubs will be celebrated in the Champions Club. This club was formerly known as the Ebbetts Club. The VIP entrances will be renamed. The first base one will be "Hodges VIP" and the third base will be "Seaver VIP". Left field will be the "Stengel VIP" and each will feature images of them celebrating their careers. There are now banners in the parking lot of Mets from all eras. The outfield bridge will now be known as Shea Bridge in honor of Bill Shea. The homerun apple now resides in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda outside of Citi Field. Thank you to Matthew Cerrone for having this information on his www.metsblog.com. It is nice to see the Mets finally recognizing some of their history, it is a year late but better late then never.

New York Mets drop close one to Cardinals

The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals today in Jupiter by the score of 2-1. The encouraging thing for the Mets about this game was the way John Maine pitched. He started and pitched 5 innings giving up 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and he also had a strikeout. This is the best he has pitched all spring. Fernando Nieve pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit. Kiko Calero pitched a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. He hasn't given up a run all spring and may be the 8th inning guy. I know a lot of people want Jenrry Mejia to be that guy but Jerry Manuel has said if he makes the team he wants to break him in slow and I agree with that. I personally wouldn't bring him up just yet but I think the Mets will bring him North. Elmer Dessens pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk. Pedro Feliciano faced one batter and got him out. The offense only managed 4 hits with 2 of them by Fernando Tatis. Frank Catalanotto had a hit, rbi and walk and Jordany Valdespin had the other hit. I never heard of him, he must be up from minor league camp. The Mets will be in Jupiter again tomorrow to take on the Florida Marlins. The game is at 1:00PM. If you check out Matthew Cerrones Metsblog.com you can see an exclusive interview Jose Reyes has with SNY. It will be on Sportsnight.

New York Mets Recap and some Notes

The New York Mets lost to the Minnesota Twins today by the score of 7-3. Johan Santana started for the Mets and he wasn't good over 3 1/3 innings. He gave up 5 runs and 9 hits. He was pitching so well before this so I wouldn't get too crazy over it. Sean Green pitched 2/3 of an inning allowing 2 hits and 1 run. Bobby Parnell pitched 2 innings giving up a hit but 0 runs. He did have a strikeout. Pat Misch pitched 2 scoreless, hitless innings. He did give up a walk but also had 2 strikeouts. Jenrry Mejia gave up a hit and run in 1 inning, he did work out of a jam though. I think it is good for him to struggle a little and then see how he bounces back from it. Jason Bay was 2-2 raising his spring average to 357, Ruben Tejada was 2-5 with 2 doubles. Daniel Murphy and Jeff Francoeur were 0-7 combined though and left 11 men on base. Fernando Martinez had a hit, Russ Adams had a hit and rbi. Omir Santos had a hit, rbi and walk and Sean Riggans had a hit. Pat Misch has a 9 inning scoreless streak going. The Mets play the Cardinals in Jupiter tomorrow at 1:05PM. Kevin Burkhardt of SNY said today during the telecast according to Matthew Cerrone that Kelvim Escobar won't start throwing until April after the Mets break camp. You can check out Matthews blog at http://metsblog.com It is a great Mets blog, he does a great job, there is lots of audio and video and everything you need to know about the Mets.

Grapefruit League Game 15-Mets at Red Sox

Mike Pelfrey will make the start for the Mets this afternoon. He has not won a game yet and has a 9 era, it is his second start against the Red Sox this spring. Here are some of the pregame media notes. The Mets will wear Green hats today in honor of St. Patricks Day. The Mets have hit 13 homeruns over their last 8 games and 21 this spring which is most in the majors. The Mets hit the least amount last season. David Wright has 3 homeruns this spring, he had 10 all of last season. Bobby Parnell,Kiko Calero,Jenrry Mejia, Tobi Stoner and Elmer Dessens are all schedule to pitch or available today. Here is the Mets lineup for todays game; Pagan(CF) Cora(SS) Matthews Jr.(CF) Murphy(1B) Tatis(3B) Catalanotto(DH) Santos(C) Martinez(LF) Tejada(2B) The lineup is courtesy of Matthew Cerrone and his great Metsblog.com.

Grapefruit League Game 14-St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets

Here is the lineup for todays game that is just starting. The lineup is courtesy of Matthew Cerrone and his metsblog.com. Luis Castillo(2B) Ruben Tejada(SS) David Wright(3B) Mike Jacobs(1B) Jason Bay(LF) Fernando Martinez(CF) Jeff Francoeur(RF) Rod Barajas(C) Fernando Nieve is making the start. Jon Niese, Francisco Rodriguez,Pat Misch,Sean Green,Tobi Stoner and Elmer Dessens are all scheduled to pitch also. Francisco Rodriguez is making his spring debut today. The Mets made their first cuts of the spring today. Here is the list of who was reassigned to minor league camp. Josh Thole Shawn Bowman Eric Niesen Jack Egbert Josh Fogg R.A. Dickey Travis Blackley Bobby Livingston Arturo Lopez Eddie Kunz Andy Green Mike Hessman Mike Cervenak Jesus Feliciano Luis Hernandez Clint Everts Kirk Nieuwenhuis I heard a disturbing thing today. John Maine pitched poorly in relief yesterday and afterwards said he just wasn't that into it. I understand your a starter and all of that but you haven't been healthy in a couple of years. I think you need to be into whatever the team asks you to do. This is very discouraging to the Mets and their fans. He claims it was a waste of a day for him, being up, down, up, down.

Still awaiting outcome with Jose Reyes as Mets lose

The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros at Tradition Field today by the score of 8-4. Johan Santana got the start and went 1 2/3 innings giving up 6 hits and 4 runs. He walked one, his problem was being up in the zone, his velocity was ok. I wouldn't worry about a guy like him, much like CC with the Yankees they have rough outings in the spring and there is no reason to panic, these guys know what they are doing and know what they have to do to be ready for the season. Clint Everts, Travis Blackley, Elmer Dessens and Sean Green each pitched perfect innings. Johan Santana had this to say courtesy of Matthew Cerrone on his metsblog.com "I was a little bit off with my mechanics, releasing the ball. The good thing is I felt good." Adam Rubin has a blog at the Daily News and he has more quotes from Johan. Offensively Ike Davis continued to tear it up with a solo homerun and Gary Matthews Jr. who is hitting 429 this spring had 3 hits and scored a couple of runs. I guess he was serious when he said he could be the leadoff guy. It is still early and I personally still think that Reyes should be the leadoff guy but if and when he comes back the Mets seem comitted to him in the 3 hole. I guess if that is the case Matthews is the leader for leadoff right now. The New York Mets will travel to Disney World to take on the Atlanta Braves at 1:00PM tomorrow.

Grapefruit League Game 6-New York Mets at Washington Nationals

The New York Mets will take on the Washington Nationals from Space Coast Stadium this afternoon at 1:00PM. Here are the starting lineups via Matthew Cerrone and his blog which can be accessed at http://metsblog.com/ Mets Lineup: Angel Pagan(CF) Fernando Martinez(LF) Jolbert Cabrera(2B) Mike Jacobs(DH) Mike Hessman(3B) Ike Davis(1B) Henry Blanco(C) Kirk Nieuwenhuis(RF) Ruben Tejada(SS) The starting pitcher is Mike Pelfrey and the other pitchers scheduled are Eric Niesen, Sean Green,Elmer Dessens, Travis Blackley and Eddie Kunz.

Mets split split squad

The New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins 4-2 at Tradition Field and defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3 in Jupiter. Jon Niese pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing a run and striking out five. Jenrry Mejia retired all 7 batters he faced and had 4 strikeouts. Ryota Igarashi pitched 2 innings and allowed a solo homerun. Pedro Feliciano allowed a hit but no runs in a inning. Bobby Parnell pitched 2 innings allowing 4 hits, 2 runs and 2 walks. He also had 2 strikeouts. He was in the upper 90's all day but just didn't look comfortable according to Matthew Cerrone. The offense saw Angel Pagan, Wilmer Flores, David Wright, Jason Bay and Rod Barajas each had a hit. Jason Bay had the lone rbi. The other runs were unearned. The game in Jupiter against the Cardinals had Fernando Nieve get the start and pitch 3 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run with 2 strikeouts and 2 walks. Bobby Livingston pitched 2 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 runs with a strikeout. Nelson Figueroa finished off the game with 4 innings of 1 hit ball, he had 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. That is a very impressive performance by him. Gary Matthews Jr., Alex Cora, Fernando Tatis and Chris Coste all had hits. Fernando Martinez,Ruben Tejada and Sean Riggans each had 2 hits. Frank Catalanotto had a hit in his only at bat. The rbi's were 2 for Catalanotto, 1 for Jeff Francouer, 1 for Fernando Martinez, 1 for Fernando Tatis and Sean Riggans. The Mets will play the Nationals tomorrow in Viera.

Mets lose their first grapefruit league game

The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves today at Disneys Wide World Of Sports. The final score was 9-5, the Mets spring record is now even at 1-1. Pat Misch got the start for the Mets and was impressive pitching 3 scoreless innings, he did give up a couple of walks. He only allowed one hit. Eric Niesen pitched 2 scoreless innings giving up a hit and a walk. Eddie Kunz didn't fare so well giving up 4 runs and 2 hits in 1/3 of an inning. He also gave up 3 walks, his era stands at a horrible 108.00. Josh Stinson pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up 3 hits and 5 runs with a strikeout. Only one of the runs was earned. Neal Musser pitched 1 inning giving up a hit and a walk but no runs. I don't know any of these guys except for Misch and Kunz. Angel Pagan, Josh Thole and Daniel Murphy all had rbi singles. Fernando Martinez had a rbi triple. He had a good day going 2 for 3. Mike Cervenak had a rbi single. The Mets committed four errors in the seventh inning, I thought they were working on fundamentals, that is pretty hard to do. Matthew Cerrone has some video and pictures from todays action. He also has a good interview with Gary Matthews Jr. It can all be found at http://metsblog.com. The Mets will take on the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:00PM tomorrow in Port St. Lucie at Tradition Field.

Mets have intrasquad game, get ready for first Game Tomorrow

The New York Mets had a intrasquad game today and will have their first exhibition game tomorrow. Manager Jerry Manuel told reporters after the intrasquad today that Johan Santanas first start will probably be on March 9th. Jose Reyes hit a leadoff triple in the first at bat he had today, he showed no lingering effects of his hamstring as he was running around the bases. This was a very welcome sight for the Mets and all of their fans, this is something you should see quite often in Citi Field if he can stay healthy. Jose Reyes is the sparkplug and I really think he needs to remain the leadoff hitter but I think he will bat third until Carlos Beltran comes back. Tomorrows game is at 1:00PM against the Braves. Nelson Figueroa will get the start. The lineup will be Gary Matthews Jr. hitting leadoff and playing center field followed by Luis Castillo,Jose Reyes,David Wright,Jason Bay, Mike Jacobs who will DH, Jeff Francoeur,Ike Davis who will play first and Chris Coste will do the catching. There wasn't much else coming out of today, Matthew Cerrone on his blog, this is where I got the lineup for tomorrow stated that it feels much looser in camp this year and that there is better chemistry. I hope the Mets do have a better attitude and stay healthy, if they do that they can win some games, but pitching is the key and they need someone from the group of Mike Pelfry, Oliver Perez and John Maine to step up.

The Day in Mets Camp

Here is a list of Mets pitchers for the intrasquad game on Monday, the first exhibition game will be on Tuesday. There is also a list for the first 3 exhibition games. March 1-Egbert,Everts,Blackley,Niese,Stoner,Dickey,Mejia March 2 vs Atlanta-Figueroa,Takahashi,Parnell,Dessens March 3 at Atlanta-Misch,Feliciano March 4 vs St. Louis-Dickey,Stoner Jerry Manuel said today that he doesn't believe that Kelvim Escobar will be able to contribute at the beginning of the year and may start it on the disabled list. He didn't rule out that he could start with the team but he hasn't even thrown off a mound yet, nevermind even throwing BP or in a game. There are some good pictures and video as always on Matthew Cerrones Metsblog.com which can be found at http://metsblog.com

New York Mets News from Port St. Lucie

Here is some of what Jerry Manuel the Mets manager had to say today down in Port St. Lucie. He said that reliever Pedro Feliciano is working on a cutter and feels it can be a good weapon for him. He hopes that Sean Greens prounounced submarine delievery doesn't make him a specialist. He said he doesn't know Rod Barajas well but does not about his ability to handle pitching staffs. He will wait and see how the catching competion pans out before he decides how many games Baraja will start. The Mets are looking at Hisanori Takahashi as a Darren Oliver type pitcher. That means a guy who can come in for multiple innings or they also may use him as a situational lefty. He said lastly that Fernando Nieve will be in competion for the long man out of the bullpen but he feels he is versatile enough to be a 8th inning guy or starter. There are a bunch of photos and some video diaries on http://metsblog.com Matthew Cerrone does a great job and you should check it out. Rod Baraja arrived in camp this morning and is in pretty good shape even though he just signed and pitchers and catchers have been there for a week already. He will wear number 21. Arturo Lopez was designated for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for Barajas. Both of the new Japanese pitchers threw live batting practice today. Mets catchers today were involved in extensive drills. The drills included blocking balls in the dirt, throwing to first and second base and working on popups. The Mets full squad will officially report tomorrow although a lot of them have been down there and popping in and out.

New York Mets report to Camp

The New York Mets seem to be quiet a chatty bunch early on. Johan Santana met with the media today and when asked who the best pitcher in the NL East is he said Johan Santana. You have to remember that Roy Halladay is in the NL East now also. He also said that he expects the Mets to win the World Series just like David Wright had said yesterday. The Mets are coming off a terrible year which was preceded by 2 epic collapses to miss the playoffs. I wonder if this is a new attitude because of all the losing, they decided to be cocky and arrogant and maybe it will rub off on everyone. They have to remember the best way to get people to forget about the dissappointments is to win. They just have to get on the field and win ballgames and then no one will care about anything else. Johan Santana said that he spoke to Oliver Perez who is mentally prepared this year, he said he didn't have that last year. That is a big problem, to me this is your livlihood shouldn't you always be mentally prepared?? The Daily News has a video of Oliver Perez throwing a bullpen. Jose Reyes did a interview with Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. He said that he doesn't want to go anywhere and isn't thinking about his contract. He will earn 9 million this season and the Mets have a 11 million dollar option for next season. He said right now he just wants to go out on the field and do his job to help the team win. He said he wants to finish his career as a Met. Reyes is a huge key for the Mets this season, when he goes the team goes, he has to stay healthy and tone it down a little bit and produce. It looks like he will take on more of a leadership role this season which the team really needs.

New York Mets Notes from Florida

The New York Mets had some news coming out of florida today. According to the Star Ledger of NJ Brian Costa who talked to GM Omar Minaya today he said that Henry Blanco would be the backup and the starters job would come down to either Josh Thole or Omir Santos. The 23 year old Thole hit 321 with 3 extra base hits in 17 games for the Mets last season. It looks like they were impressed with how he handled the pitchers. I think the best thing for him would be to go down to AAA and get some more seasoning in before coming up to the majors later on in the year but with this being the Mets who knows what they will do. Jose Reyes had a informal workout today and there is some video of him on Matt Cerrone http://metsblog.com/. He was at tradition field where he did agility drills, jogging, batting practice and fielded ground balls. He said this " I have been doing so much of my rehab without the team, but now to be back with my team is really exciting. I feel like a little kid bro." He said that he has nothing to be afraid of that " I am able to do everything that I want to do." Mike Jacobs and Daniel Murphy worked together fielding ground balls at first base. Mike Jacobs also took batting practice in front of hitting coach Howard Johnson.

Welcome to New York-Jason Bay

The New York Mets took center stage today as they introduced Jason Bay in a 11AM press conference. He will wear #44, he is a solid addition to the team and will be a better left fielder then what they had last season and in at least a couple of years. He will provide power to a lineup that is sorely needing it. The thing about the Mets is their lineup will be better just by getting guys back healthy. They really need pitching but I don't want to get on them for this signing because it was a good one and Bay played well in Boston so he is able to handle the pressure and he seems to be a clutch player. Here are some quotes courtesy of Matthew Cerrone of the wonderful Mets blog metsblog.com It appears that Jason Bay settled on the Mets by Christmas it just took time with the holidays and all to get everyone together. I don't think he had any reservations about New York like a lot of people assumed. It is intersting though that he said he wanted to come to a winner, Boston was in the postseason last season and the Mets were terrible. I never believe what these players say, it is usually about the money but they will never admit that.