Sunday, March 18, 2007

Spring training

Brief look at spring training so far:

Nice upside surprises:
1. Lastings Milledge, leading the team in BA (.375). Tied with Reyes for most hits (15).
2. Most HRs: Jose Reyes (3), who is also #2 in RBIs (7), #2 in avg (.349), tied for #1 in runs (9), easily #1 in SBs (7), and tied for 2nd most BBs (4) with only 2 SOs. If spring training is any indication, he will have an even more impressive season this year than last. I expect a big improvement in his OBP, something Rickey Henderson has really been stressing with him.
3. David Newhan: .273, 6 R, 3 2Bs, 1 HR, 9 RBIs
4. Glavine (1.29 ERA), Smith (2.16 ERA, 8 Ks to 2 BBs), Perez (3.86 ERA, 13 Ks to 3 BBs)

Disappointing:
1. Beltran (.216), Green (.190), and LoDuca (.154)

As expected:
1. Wright (.316, 1 HR, 4 RBIs). Looks like he'll have a solid season, hopefully build on 1st half of last year.
2. Alay Soler blew, Chan Ho Park still can't pitch, Burgos still has zero control despite great velocity and nice Ks (10) to BBs (3) ratio, and Humber still requires a lot of work.

10 comments:

SheaHeyKid said...

Update: Reyes hit another HR yesterday, giving him a tie for #1 among all MLB players for HRs this spring training (4):

Reyes blasted his fourth homer of the spring in the Mets' 5-4 loss to the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium, a solo shot in the seventh inning. His power performance is pretty impressive - entering yesterday's action no player in the majors had hit more than four homers this spring (seven had hit four).

Reyes, who hit 19 homers last year, said he still prefers hitting triples.

"We have to run faster," he said. "You never know what's going to happen at third base."

SheaHeyKid said...

I should also have given props to feliciano, maine, and pelfrey for solid spring trainings so far..

Fredo said...

From what I understand:

-Humber has already been demoted.

-Milledge has virtually no shot at making the big league club, with Chavez and Johnson as the 4th and 5th outfielders.

-Despite Pelfrey's performance thus far, it's unlikely the Mets will have him in the rotation. Say hello, Chan Ho.

-Mike Carp has been sweet at 1st base-- he looks like the 1B of the future.

Fredo said...

Bullpen is also sucking. Sanchez = MIA. Burgos = suck. Padilla = injured. Sosa = T Ball. Heilman = WHIP over 2.0 so far.

SheaHeyKid said...

Yeah, i saw on mets.com and nypost that humber is down, milledge is unlikely to start, and same for pelfrey. However, i also saw that mets are still very interested in pursuing a starter (buehrle), and might trade milledge for him.

Chan ho sucks. el duque looks like he might not even get out of the starting gate. i think we need pelfrey.

bullpen sucks, except for feliciano who looks awesome so far. mets have had a very lackluster and underwhelming spring training so far, i hope it's no reflection on what they plan to bring this season.

SheaHeyKid said...

Unless there's some reason why the Mets really don't want to start the season with Pelfrey (in which case they shouldn't have kept him in spring training that long), I can't see him not being #5. He had another stellar outing yesterday. This team is way short on pitching, we can't afford a Chan Ho in the rotation.

Also, seeing as how they were willing to give him starts last year, and they had no problems having Bannister and Maine start early in the season, I'd see the same for Pelfrey. I think you're looking at Glavine, Duque, Maine, Perez, and Pelfrey. Two of those (Duque and Perez) are already huge question marks w.r.t. how they'll do this year. Age is catching up to duque, no way around it.

SheaHeyKid said...

Jose Reyes continues to tear it up (.377 avg now, 4 HR, 8 RBIs, 6 BBs to 2 SOs). Milledge also great, hopefully they can trade him for a solid starting pitcher if they don't plan to use him. Pelfrey apparently all but locked up 5th spot in rotation, he continues to dominate.

Fredo said...

You get the feeling that Reyes could have a legendary season this year. I don't know, like .335/20/90, 80 SB's, and gads of doubles and triples. He seems to really be coming into his own.

Fredo said...

Tonight's Wagner line vs los bravos:

1 IP 5 ER / 4 H / 0 BB / 1 K

ERA up to 7.88 for the spring.

Lookin good...

SheaHeyKid said...

To me the most exciting thing about Reyes is how he really seems to be listening to Henderson stressing how important it is for a lead-off batter - especially one with the game-changing speed of Reyes - to get on base. I really hope he becomes more selective in pitch choice, and improves his BB/SO ratio and OBP. With LoDuca/Beltran/Delgado/Wright/Alou batting behind him, that could lead to a ton of Rs.

I also liked when he said he likes hitting 3Bs more than HRs, because you have to really run hard and earn it.

Wagner sucks. Pelfrey looks to be real deal. We are going to need every scrap of decent pitching we can find, especially with El Duque of questionable health, Pedro unknown (but looking positive with good attitude), Mota and Sanchez out and Bradford gone.