Game Recap: Mets 3 -- Astros 0

John Maine pitched 4 shutout innings of baseball, and led the Mets to a 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros.

Maine only walked one batter and struck out three in four hitless and scoreless innings. The closest the Astros came to a run was when David Newman walked, stole second base, and advanced to third on a Maine wild pitch.

This is the kind of performance you like to see. Great stuff by Maine.

Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman, Juan Rincon and Carlos Muniz combined to finish out the inning, only allowing three hits to the Astros. Wags allowed one hit, and struck out two. Heilman gave up one hit and struck out one in 2 innings of work. Rincon threw a hitless inning, striking out two. Muniz allowed one hit and one walk, but closed out the game and earned the save, his second of the season.

Superb bullpen work. Nice to see Heilman toss two innings. He's probably still yearning to be a starter. This is as close as he's going to get.

Jose Reyes led off the game with a solo home run off of Jack Cassel. Reyes ended up going 1-3, striking out once. David Wright went 1-2 with a walk, picking up a triple in the first inning. Daniel Murphy and Angel Pagan each scored once. Pagan had a double and a walk, also striking out once. Damian Easley and Anderson Hernandez each picked up an RBI without getting a hit.

Reyes showing his power for the first time this spring, and Wright legging out a triple, is always fun to watch. The Mets improve to 8-4 on the spring.

Maine's final line

John Maine: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO.

That's what I like to see.

Lineup vs. the Astros

The Mets will welcome the Houston Astros to Tradition Field for a 1:10 p.m. matchup.

Lineup:

Jose Reyes SS
Endy Chavez CF
David Wright 3B
Ryan Church RF
Olmedo Saenz DH
Angel Pagan LF
Jose Valentin 1B
Ramon Castro C
Anderson Hernandez 2B

John Maine RHP

Valentin is playing in his first game of the spring, well before the "last week of spring" as expected. Is it just me, or is Saenz getting a lot of playing time? Can they actually be looking at this guy to come aboar for the Mets?

The game is available on the CW11. I cannot watch the game today as I will be celebrating my Great Grandma's 95th birthday!

Don't drop cash on Bonds

With the injury to Moises Alou opening up a starting position in left field, some (crazy) people have discussed the Mets trying to bring in Barry Bonds.

Buster Olney was the first madman to pitch the idea.

From Olney:

And thought process is why somebody in the Mets' organization should raise the one option nobody probably wants to consider but they should discuss as they figure out ways to cope with the devastating wave of injuries -- to Moises Alou and Carlos Delgado -- that has crippled their fragile lineup. That alternative is Barry Bonds.

It's typical baseball, and more specifically Mets, ideology to try and find a veteran to plug the whole. They almost never turn to a younger player to take over, unless they are at the end of their rope and without any other options.

So far though, the Mets seem happy with the team they have, and are unwilling to try and pursue Bonds and all his baggage. Peter Botte and Adam Rubin penned an article for the NY Daily News discussing the idea of Bonds in Shea.

From Botte and Rubin:

But asked last night if there is any remote merit to stories suggesting a pursuit of controversial slugger Barry Bonds is possible, a high-ranking Mets official insisted there is no interest in taking on the monumental baggage - which includes charges of perjury and obstruction of justice - stemming from the out-of-work home run king's involvement in baseball's ongoing steroids mess.

Mets fans, now is the time for to let out a big sigh of relief.

Let the young kids play for once, I say. I mentioned in a previous post that Omar Minaya is unwilling to let Fernando Martinez make the jump from AA to MLB, but we still have three very capable outfielders in Angel Pagan, Endy Chavez and Brady Clark in camp, along with fill-ins like Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson.

Any way this shakes out, if Bonds does not have "Mets" written in cursive across his chest come April, I'll be a happy man.

Photo of the Day: Duque

Here is photographic evidence that Orlando Hernandez can pitch.
El Duque's spot may be safe after Mike Pelfrey got tagged for 7 runs in 3 1-3 on Saturday against the Marlins.
(Doug Benc/Getty Images)

Sanchez looked good

Duaner Sanchez appeared in his second game this spring, and his first in over a week.

Sanchez pitches a hitless inning, allowing one walk and striking out his final batter on three pitches. John Delcos relays a quote from Sanchez on his outing:

When asked how close he felt, Sanchez said: “I want to say 100 percent, but I’m not crazy. … I was 97 percent of what you saw in ’06.’’

I will take 97% of 2006, any day. If he can wake up tomorrow morning and have his shoulder not be sore, it will be a bigger accomplishment than anything he did in today's game.

Game Recap: Marlins 12 -- Mets 4

Mike Pelfrey's third start of the spring did not go as he planned. From that point on, the Marlins just kept tacking on more and more runs, as the Marlins topped the Mets by a score of 12-4.

Pelfrey's first two innings of the game were a breeze, and started the third inning off nicely. Pelfrey allowed 7 hits, 7 earned runs, walked 4, hit a batter, and struck out 3. Pelf left the game with the bases loaded in the 4th inning, and Scott Schoeneweis allowed a bases clearing triple to Jorge Cantu. Schoe ended up pitching 1 2-3, allowing 2 hits while striking out three.

Just a terrible 2 innings from Pelfrey. When it looked as though he could lock up the 5th spot with a good start and El Duque staying injured, he shoots himself in the foot with this debacle.
Schoe gave up the double, which allowed 3 more to get tagged on to Pelfrey's line, but not much else.

Joe Smith had his spring struggles continue, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk. Duaner Sanchez pitched for the first time in a week, walking his third batter and striking out one.

Smith had the bases loaded and only allowed the one run to score. It doesn't look like "The Man" is going to make the team. Dirty looked pretty comfortable and claimed he felt "like 2006."

Brian Stokes pitched the 8th inning, allowing one hit and striking out one. Steven "Cash" Register struggled mightily for the first time this spring, only lasting 2-3 of an inning, giving up 5 hits and 4 earned runs. Register tallied one strikeout. Ruddy Lugo came on to finish out the game and only needed one pitch to end the inning.

Register, who is still my dark horse to make the team if Sanchez still struggles with shoulder issues, stumbled for the first time. He had 4 innings of scoreless baseball under his belt before today's miserable inning.

The Mets saw a ton of their regulars returning to the lineup today, with Ryan Church, Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and Brian Schneider getting into the starting nine.
Church delivered, going 2-2, with two roped singles to right field. Chavez added a single, going 1-3 with a run scored.

Great to see Church, who is still sporting a black eye, back after the big collision.

Easley and Schneider each went deep for the Mets. Schneider put the first Mets run on the board with a solo home run to right field in the second inning. Easley drove in 2 with a home run in the 6th inning.

Schneider flashing a bat, very nice. Easley still seemed to favor his ankle as he rounded the bases, but seemed to be alright.

Argenis Reyes continued his shot streak, going 2-4, with a solo home run in the sixth after picking up 3 hits the day before.

We have 3 Reyes' on the team. This is craziness.
The Mets unbeaten streak in March was snapped at six. Isn't it interesting that when the Mets get the regulars back in the lineup, they lose?

Lineup vs. the Marlins

The Mets are underway against the Marlins in Port St. Lucie. The rest of the team is playing the Orioles as part of a split squad day. The Mets/Marlins game is available on CW11.

Lineup:
SS Jose Reyes
LF Brady Clark
3B David Wright
RF Ryan Church
1B Olmendo Saenz
CF Endy Chavez
DH Damion Easley
C Brian Schneider
2B Argenis Reyes
RH Mike Pelfrey

Church, Chavez, Easley, and Schneider are all back in the lineup after sitting with injuries.
Intrigued to see how Pelfrey does as he tries to lock up the 5th spot in the rotation.

Duaner Sanchez is supposedly slated to pitch an inning out of the bullpen today.

Church takes BP; Sanchez hopefully a go for today

Ryan Church, who is recovering from a Grade 2 concussion after a collision last Saturday, took batting practice today.

The Mets are waiting to see how Church feels to see if he will be able to get in one of the the lineups today. The Mets have two games, one home against the Marlins at 1:10 p.m. which is available on CW11 and an away game against the Orioles at 1:05 p.m.

Hopefully Church is finally beyond any lingering dizziness or nausea from the misplay in the field. I still remain one of Church's strong supporters, so I hope he can get back into a game and start swinging a hot bat.

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Duaner Sanchez aims to make an appearance in one of the games today, as he tries to recover from two injuries.

With all the injuries, and the first cuts of spring coming already, the Mets need everyone they can get to play in a game.

One can only hope that Sanchez returns to his 2006 form, otherwise a spot for a guy like Steven Register, who has 4 shut out innings of baseball under his belt, may present itself.

The left field paradox

Moises Alou is old. Old and broken.

The Mets are in desperate need of a left fielder, and with GM Omar Minaya apparently unwilling to catapult Fernando Martinez from AA to the bigs, the spot can go to any host of players already in camp.

The three players who are leading the pack, in order, are Angel Pagan, Endy Chavez and Brady Clark.

Pagan is absolutely tearing up spring training, batting .438 (14-32). The only qualm I have here is that thirteen of those hits are singles, with his first double coming in Fridays game against the Indians. He has driven in 6 runs so far, which is twice as many as the player with the second most. He has shown decent defense in the field, and being one of the only healthy players left on the team, he is getting the opportunity to show what he can do.

Endy is a fan favorite who is trying to recover from a ton of injuries from playing in winter ball. Chavez injured both his hamstrings and his ankle playing in Venezuela. Chavez plans on getting into a game on Saturday, when the Mets have split squad games against the Orioles and the Marlins. Due to his injuries, I think Chavez has fallen out of the top spot for the LF job that would have easily been his had he been healthy coming into Port St. Lucie.

Clark is an interesting case. In his major league career, he has never started anywhere but the outfield, but he has recently expressed interest in working at first base, something that might help him land a job with the Mets. If Clark can keep hitting (.273 AVG, .360 OBP, 2 RBI, 2 runs) and play a decent outfield and first base, he may be able to hang on with the team. Ruben Gotay going down with a sprained ankle might open up a roster spot for Clark to jump in.

Right now, I see the outfield as Pagan/Beltran/Church to start. The Mets have also been exploring options to find someone to platoon with Church in right field. Chavez and Clark, and also guys like Marlon Anderson and Damion Easley, will probably see time in the outfield this season.

It should be interesting to see who makes the team out of spring training and who has to wait in AAA, or for injuries to heal, to make it to the bigs.