New York Mets Recap and Postgame Notes

The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals at Tradition Field by the score of 6-5 today. The starting pitcher was Fernando Nieve and he pitched 3 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 runs. He also walked 1 and didn't strike out a batter. The offensive star was Angel Pagan who hit a 2 run walkoff homerun for the victory. Here is how the other players performed. Pitching wise Jon Niese was the worst of who pitched today. His line was: 3 innings giving up 4 hits and 3 runs, only 2 were earned and he did strike out a couple. Sean Green, Pat Misch and Francisco Rodriguez all pitched scoreless innings. K-rod had a perfect inning with a strikeout in his debut. Sean Green walked 2 batters but didn't give up a hit and Pat Misch had a walk but gave up no hits. Luis Castillo had a hit, Ruben Tejada had 2 hits and a rbi. David Wright and Mike Jacobs each had a hit and Jason Bay and Fernando Martinez each had 2 hits. Fernando Martinez also had 2 rbi. Jeff Francoeur had a hit, rbi and walk. Francisco Rodriguez was sporting new goggles and told Adam Rubin of the NY Daily News after the game he has to get used to them. According to Gary Cohen Fernando Martinez will start the season in the minors. He said this during todays broadcast and said that GM Omar Minaya said this.

Recap of the day in Mets Camp

Jenrry Mejia threw live batting practice today. He was wild but Jerry Manuel was impressed with the natural cut on his fastball. Jon Niese and R.A. Dickey also threw batting practice and according to SNY producer Matt Dunn, Niese was happy to just be throwing again. The team had a media training this morning and Darryl Strawberry, John Franco and Mookie Wilson all spoke during the meeting. The Mets announced their will be a interleague game on Monday and Nelson Figueroa will open the grapefruit league on Tuesday. Arturo Lopez has cleared waivers and will return to camp as a non roster invitee. Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News is reporting the Mets have made an offer to lefty reliever Joe Beimel. Top prospect Ike Davis is drawing a lot of buzz around camp. Jerry Manuel said today he envisions a opening day lineup of Angel Pagan, Luis Castillo,Jose Reyes,Jason Bay, David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francouer and Rod Barajas. He said he could flip flop Bay and Wright. He said he thinks Ike Davis would best be served down in the minors. I agree with this you don't want to rush the kid, he is the first baseman of the future, you have to be patient with him and let him develop. He also said he thought Luis Castillo had a good year last year despite the dropped pop up agains the Yankees and expects him to be good this year. To see some video and photos of todays action in Port St. Lucie visit here

New York Mets First Day Of Camp

Jerry Manuel met with reporters this afternoon for the first time this season. He mentioned that he would like to bat Jose Reyes third. I don't know about anyone else but I don't think this is a good idea. He is a good leadoff hitter that sparks the lineup. I think if you hit him third he may change his approach and it wouldn't be for the better, he would try to hit more homeruns in my opinion plus you take away his stealing game. I think you have to keep him as the leadoff hitter. To Reyes credit he said it doesn't matter to him, he just wants to be playing and helping his team win games. He said that Jerry Manuel just mentioned it yesterday and even if he does it, it will only be until Carlos Beltran returns. He said he is the boss so whatever he decides he will go along with it. Jerry said that Jon Niese can be the fifth starter if he pitches the way he did last summer. He said Daniel Murphy is the starting first baseman, I assumed that but now it is confirmed. He wants a power bat off the bench like the Phillies had with Matt Stairs even if the player isn't able to play multiple positions like Mike Jacobs. Henry Blanco is the backup catcher and Alex Cora is the backup shortstop. You can see a video of Jerry Manuels press conference at http://metsblog.com/category/video Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News spoke with Kelvim Escobar who expressed little concern about being ready for opening day and the rigors of pitching everyday out of the bullpen.