Live Game Commentary: Cards at Mets

Here we go again...Don't be afraid to comment and discuss!

Pre-game:
The Johan Santana teasers are awesome. Just throwing that out there. Glad to get Luis Castillo back into the fold before the season starts.

First inning:
Santana comes out and throws 90 on his first pitch. Hit 91 on his last pitch to Skip Schumacher. Honestly, Brian Barton looks like the last guy to major in aerospace engineering, no offense. Jose Reyes gets a ground ball, throws to first base a little low and Carlos Delgado flat out drops it. Here come the Delgado haters. Albert Pujols absolutely rockets a ball down the third base line. Good throw by Angel Pagan, almost beat got Barton at the plate. Raul Casanova looked like he got Pujols at third. I love how Santana pops off the mound when he thinks he gets the strikeout. There he goes, as he sits down the batter up and in. Back to back K's. Sinker, low and away. Beautiful.

Surpise! Reyes didn't get out on the first pitch. Castillo on the other hand swings on his first pitch of spring...and almost beats it out. Showed pretty decent speed getting down to first. Good morning, good afternoon, and goodnight for David Wright. There was that darn curveball again from Adam Wainwright.

Second inning:
Can of corn for Beltran out in center. Brendan Ryan is sporting the high socks. I really wish more players did that. Popped up behind home for Casanova. Tony LaRussa's strategy here, with the batter hitting 8th is to get three hitters ahead of Pujols the 2nd time around the batting order. I think it could work. Wright goes into foul territory and throws a bullet to Delgado to get Wainwright at first. He's been working on that arm, I guess.

I absolutely love Beltran's swing. It's just so sweet and compact. And then he pops up in foul territory. Delgado goes down swinging...again. Angel Pagan lays down a perfect bunt and easily beats it out to first. This guy is good. They are checking on Pagan a lot, which makes me believe other teams think he is a big threat. And they're right. Pagan takes second against one of the best arms in the game in Yadier Molina. Casanova knocks the ball the other way, and Barton could have had it, misses it, boobles it and drops it. Pagan comes around to score, while Casanova only gets to first. Endy Chavez grounds out to first to end the inning.

Third inning:
Kevin Burkhardt is interviewing Fernando Martinez, and Oliver Perez is just standing there with his arm around FMart. You have to love Ollie's personality. Easy ground ball for Reyes for the first out. Santana issues a walk to Schumacher. Santana just made Barton look silly on a changeup. Barton almost spun himself into the ground. Another changeup and Barton knocks in deep into the gap. Easy triple, run scores. Someone said recently that Santana is using his changeup too much and people are going to start to pick up on it. Santana just shook off a changeup, didn't take any other pitches, went back to the changeup and chose that one. The mind games!! Pujols pops up in foul territory to Wright. Fastball, inside and Troy Glaus is down looking. Santana has done a great job of limiting the damage.

Here's Santana's first AB. Nice swing on an 0-1, but grounded out to second. Reyes slaps one to short, 2 away quickly. Castillo, in his second at bat of spring, works the count 3-2 before walking. Good eye for only his second turn at bat. Fielders choice, inning over.

Fourth inning:
Reyes is in midseason form in the field. Amazing diving play taking him onto the OF grass. Spins up and makes the throw. Beltran gets tested in center, having to make a long run and diving for the ball. It got past him, but he doesn't look too shaken or anything. Molina jogs in to second with a double. Santana is not having a good day, Ryan just knocked one off the top of the wall. I don't know why Pagan didn't go up for that, he might have lost it in the sun. 3-1 STL. Wainwright singles, it's now 1st and 3rd. A sac-fly to right brings in the run. This is not Johan's best day. Fielders choice ends the inning. Does Santana get trotted out there for a 5th inning, his pitch count is up in the 60's.

Beltran grounds out the second. Wainwright in ON today. Nice to see Delgado go the other way. That is definitely something he needs to do more this season. Pagan drills one to straight away center. 1-2-3 inning for Wainwright. Pagan has the only hit for the Mets so far.

Fifth inning:
Santana is out there again, working to an 0-2 count on Barton quickly. Now it's 2-2, almost got him to chase a sinker. Got him on the changeup again, and Santana tallies his fourth strikeout of the day. Santana is getting way up in the pitch count, but I guess everyone is OK with it. Pujols chops out to Reyes, two away. Santana ends his day with his 5th strikeout. Probably his best inning right here in the fifth.
Final line: 5 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 1 walk, 5 K's. 84 pitches.

Casanova making his case to get on the team if one of the catchers can't go take Wainwright deep to right field. He waited on that curveball and made the best of it. 4-2 STL. Marlon Anderson is taking his first cuts in a while, still recovering from the collision with Ryan Church. Anderson goes down looking. Inning over on a Reyes pop-up to left field.

Sixth inning:
Ricardo Rincon takes over on the mound. Gary and Ron are lobbying to get Rincon in the mix for the bullpen spot. He's been great this spring, but I just don't see room for him. A long, fly ball into the gap. I don't think Beltran had a shot at that, healthy or not. Perfect placement. Seems the guys in the booth jinxed Rincon, as he gives up another double. 5-2 STL. Well take Rincon's name out of the hat, or his hat out of the mix, whichever you prefer. A single up the middle and a mishandled ball, 2nd and 3rd, no one out. Oh boy, this is getting out of hand. Grounder to third, tips the back of the bag and skips away and into the bullpen. 7-2 STL. Usually sure-handed Anderson Hernandez got caught in between on a ball, E6. Second and third, one away, looking.

Internet issues. I'll end here for the day. It's currently 8-2 STL, with 2 on and 1 out.

Be back later with a game recap.

Lineup vs. the Cardinals

The Mets will take on the St. Louis Cardinals for a 1:05 p.m. game in Port St. Lucie. The game is available on SNY, and I will be running game commentary.

Lineup:

Jose Reyes SS
Luis Castillo 2B
David Wright 3B
Carlos Beltran CF
Carlos Delgado 1B
Angel Pagan LF
Raul Casanova C
Endy Chavez RF
Johan Santana P

Castillo is making his first appearance of the spring. Santana will finally get a chance to show his bat today. Casanova or Robinson Cancel might get a shot at the team with both Ramon Castro and Brian Schneider out with injuries.

Happy Santana Day! (Part 4)

That's right! Today is another wonderful Johan Santana Day! Santana will face the St. Louis Cardinals at home for a 1:05 p.m. game. The game will be broadcast on SNY.

Baby Church

A big congrats to Tina and Ryan Church, who welcomed Mason Alexander into the world today!!

Congrats, Church! Now enjoy your spot in right field.

Game Recap: Mets 8 -- Marlins 2

John Maine looked stellar today, and the Mets coasted to an 8-2 victory over the Florida Marlins.

Maine went 5 innings, giving up only 3 hits, walking one, and striking out 6. Maine was getting them to pop out today, with his ground out to fly out numbers at 2-7.

What more can I add to that? A great outing by Maine who seems to be ready and raring to get the season started.

Scott Schoeneweis and Steven Register put together a scoreless inning each, with Schoe allowing one hit in his inning of work. Register faced the minimum of an inning, striking out one batter. Schoe tallied two strikeouts.

The bullpen is a crowded place.

Brian Stokes had another off day, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in the 8th inning. Stokes did strike out the side though. Ruddy Lugo finished out the game, throwing a hitless inning.

See you in AAA, guys.

Argenis Reyes continued to flash a hot bat, going 3-5 with an RBI. Reyes is batting .545 on the spring. Endy Chavez also added an RBI, going 1-4. Angel Pagan has cooled off a bit, going 1-5 in the DH role. He is batting .380.

Where does Pagan stand? Does Endy still get the nod for LF?

Carlos Beltran went 2-3, with a double, and scored two runs while starting in centerfield today. Carlos Delgado also tallied a hit, struck out once, and scored one run.

They asked to make the trip, and both seemed to take steps forward towards the season.

Robinson Cancel, who is benefiting from injuries to Ramon Castro and Brian Schneider, went 3-4 with 2 RBI's and a run scored. The Mets also picked up RBI's from Brady Clark and Anderson Hernandez.

If Schneider can't make the opening day roster, Cancel will take his place, I think. Any chance AHern makes the 25-man roster, over Valentin for instance?

FMart a "keeper"

There's a great article on SI.com profiling Mets prospect Fernando Martinez.

From Walter Villa:

He's the anti-Lastings Milledge -- a young man who has earned the veterans' respect with his hard work and humble nature.

He's Fernando Martinez -- a 19-year-old outfielder the Mets protected, even when the Minnesota Twins demanded he be included in the Johan Santana deal.

---

The big question now is when Martinez will arrive at Shea. Earlier this year, he caused his first controversy with the infamous New York media when he was quoted predicting he would play in the big leagues this season.

"You know what happened?" Martinez said. "I said that I want to get to New York in September (when the rosters can expand to 40 players). And then they wrote that I said I would get to New York this year. You understand?"

Perhaps the message was lost in translation, but Bernazard has his own view.

"Making it to the big leagues and arriving to stay are two different subjects," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if by next year or the following year, he has arrived."

Regardless of when he arrives, Martinez is almost certain to arrive wearing a Mets uniform, for which he is grateful. "The truth, the real truth is that I did not want to leave here," he said. "I was prepared, because this is a business. But I wanted to stay."

Great stuff from Villa. Really makes you glad they hung on to this kid, and excited for him to get up to the majors as soon as he's ready.

Lineup vs. the Marlins

The Mets travel back to Jupiter, Fla. (why they didn't stay there, I have no idea) to take on the Florida Marlins at 1:05 p.m.

Lineup:
Argenis Reyes 2B
Endy Chavez RF
Angel Pagan DH
Carlos Beltran CF
Carlos Delgado 1B
Jose Valentin 3B
Brady Clark LF
Robinson Cancel C
Anderson Hernandez SS

John Maine SP

Glad to see Clark still getting a chance or two, though I don't see how he fits into the Mets plans right now. He'll probably go to AAA and wait for an injury. Cancel is sure getting a lot of time with the "injuries" to Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro. Especially happy to see Dos Carloses back in the lineup, with Beltran in CF. Hopefully Delgado can get a hit or two today.

Injury updates: Beltran, Delgado, El Duque

John Delcos gives us a quick rundown of the injured and some updates on how they are feeling:

-Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado were not on the original travel squad, but were added. The line-ups haven’t been posted yet. The Mets are waiting to see how Beltran feels.

-Ramon Castro has a tight hamstring. So does Brian Schneider.

-Orlando Hernandez will have to throw at least one more simulated game before appearing in an exhibition game.

Good news on Beltran and Delgado, because if they're willing to make the trip to Jupiter, they have to be feeling good.

Super. Both the catchers, who I just tagged as "simple choices" for the opening day roster, are hurting.

And all this talk about Mike Pelfrey vs. El Duque gets more and more interesting every day. El Duque said his next session would be in a game, and now we have this. Pelfrey is still leading in my book.

Poll results: Pagan squeaks one out

The latest poll is closed, here are the results.

Who will play more games in left field?
Angel Pagan - 41% (16 votes)
Endy Chavez - 35% (14 votes)
Moises Alou - 23% (9 votes)

Pagan, so far, has proven he can play in left field, but when the season comes along it will be a whole different story. Hopefully he can keep this up if he does get the starting nod in left. Chavez will play all over the place and get spot starts all around the outfield as the Mets struggle to keep Carlos Beltran healthy all year. Alou will go through another year of injuries, still, he will be a professional hitter as usual.

The opening day roster (fielders)

The opening day roster is far from set, at least in a few positions, so here's my stab at predicting the 25-man squad for the New York Mets.

Catchers:
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro

That one is pretty simple. Even though Schneider is battling a hamstring injury, he claims he'll be ready for opening day. Castro should see more time behind the plate for the Mets this season as they'll try to spell Schneider and keep him fresh throughout the season.

Infielders:
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Marlon Anderson
Jose Valentin (Ruben Gotay)

Even though Castillo is yet to see action in spring, he'll be the starting second baseman come April. Delgado, Wright, and Reyes are all locks. Anderson makes the most sense as the backup first baseman, but I would rather he come off the bench late in the game. He could also see some time in the outfield. Gotay is out of options, so he has to be on the 25-man squad or he can be picked up by another team. I'm not too sure how that all works, but if Gotay is on the 25-man roster, and is on the DL, I think Valentin will make the team in his place.

Outfield:
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Angel Pagan
Endy Chavez
Damion Easley

Beltran will gain stamina, and will soon be able to play all 9 innings without getting tired. Church will finally get a chance in the outfield to be a starter, hopefully also against lefties. Pagan, as of now, should be the starter in left, and he has proven himself so far this spring. Chavez is great off the bench, and will also make spot starts all around the outfield to spell all three starters. Easley still seems to be favoring his ankle, but played third base in a recent game. He'll be the super-utility player all around, probably starting or playing every position but pitcher, catcher and center field at sometime this season.