Thursday, February 26, 2015

New York Mets notes before full squad workouts begin



Lucas Duda has been dealing with a left oblique issue and will swing a bat in two or three days.  Curtis Granderson is not concerned about where he will hit in the lineup.  Terry Collins is unsure if Rafael Montero can crack the 25 man roster. 

There was already a bunch of praise for new hitting coach Kevin Long especially from Granderson who worked with him when they were both with the New York Yankees.  There was some talk with a couple of people who are close to manager Terry Collins that he will retire at the end of the year.  Collins denies it though.  He did say he doesn't want to manage to 75 and he turns 66 in May.  He did also say if he has a good season he would want to come back.  I think they will bring him back if they have a good season but if they get off to a slow start he will be in trouble. 

Dillon Gee will be the sixth starter, not prospect Noah Syndergaard.  Collins wants to see similar determination out of Syndergaard as he has seen out of Matt Harvey.  John Mayberry Jr. provides the Mets with a lot of options.  He can play the outfield, back up first base and a righty off of the bench.  Rule five pick LHP Sean Gilmartin will get a lot of work this spring and will get the chance to face lefty batters to see if he can get them out.  Rafael Montero will be looked at as both a starter and reliever this spring. 

Here are some things Syndergaard spoke to the media about on Wednesday.  He said he learned how to become a pitcher more than a thrower last season.  He said especially learned that he can't rely on his fastball all the time.  He put a lot of pressure on himself last season , paying special attention to the Super 2 cutoff date.  He said he eventually deleted twitter from his phone to avoid the news reports and fan comments. 

Syndergaard said he wasn't ready for the major leagues last season and didn't deserve the call up.  He was still disappointed not to get called up in September and will use that as motivation going forward.  He really loved working with AAA pitching coach Frank Viola last season.  Viola helped him with his changeup among other things. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

 

Resistance Bands is a Free Blogger Template