Game Recap: Mets 4 -- Nationals 1

Johan Santana was on fire tonight. Enough said.

On The Mound

Santana was in control from beginning to end. There's not much outside of his final line that needs to be said: 7 IP, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 6 K. He was pitching in mid-season form and absolutely dominating batters.

He is too awesome.

Francisco Rodriguez followed Santana, something Mets fans are hoping to see often during the season, pitching a scoreless inning. He did allow two hits, but struck out two in the inning.

I love it. Santana to K-Rod. Beautiful.

Pedro Feliciano pitched the 9th inning, striking out one in a no-hit effort.

With the release of Ron Villone, it looks like Feliciano is the only left hander going into the season. Very interesting.

At The Plate

The left fielder platoon drove in all the runs tonight. Daniel Murphy went 3-4, driving in two runs and Fernando Tatis drove in two runs on one hit.

Murphy has been absolutely raking this spring. He is such an exciting player sometimes.

Los Carloses each knocked a double, with Carlos Delgado scoring twice in the game on two hits. David Wright made his return to the lineup, singling once.

Delgado was hot during the World Baseball Classic, hopefully it lasts through the whole regular season.

Off The Field

Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling called the game on SNY, and did a pretty good job. There were flubs and mistakes, but overall I would say I was impressed at their play-by-play / color combination without Gary Cohen.

On Deck

The Mets welcome the Florida Marlins to Tradition Field tomorrow for a 1:10 p.m. start. The game will be aired on WPIX.

Ron Villone released; Figueroa, Muniz, Valentin and others demoted

My dreams have come true, but it warrants a major question.

The Mets have released Ron Villone, according to Adam Rubin.

This begs the question: Are the Mets really going into the season with only one lefty in Pedro Feliciano?

Other moves in camp today: Six Mets were sent to minor league camp, among which were Nelson Figueroa and Carlos Muniz.

I was completely under the impression that Figueroa was going to be the long man in the bullpen, at least until Tim Redding was ready to pitch again. I guess I was wrong.

Jose Valentin was also sent to the minor league camp.

So long 'Stache. It's almost time to hang up that uniform and put on your coaching cap.

The State of the Mets -- 3/27/09

Here is the 11th edition of The State of the Mets!

Topics covered: Will Ohman, Oliver Perez and a grab bag of Mets topics to end it.

Enjoy.

Chris Carlin and Bob Ojeda: Your new pre- and post-game hosts on SNY

In the seemingly ever-revolving door that is SNY hosts, the Mets have two new ones this year for their pre-game and post-game shows. Chris Carlin, who is most likely known from WFAN and Loud Mouths on SNY, and Bob Ojeda, who spent five years with the Mets from 1986 to 1990.

From Bob Raissman:

When SportsNet New York executive producer Curt Gowdy Jr. tore the cover off Carlin, he liked what he saw inside. Liked what Carlin, often self-deprecating, had to say, too. First he hired him to co-host "Loud Mouths" with bug-eyed Adam Schein.

Gowdy is now really rolling the dice. Carlin, with no experience in a baseball studio, will be under the nightly microscope anchoring SNY's Mets pre and postgame shows. Bob Ojeda, who proudly admits to being a total TV novice, will sit next to him. The openings were man-made after SNY jettisoned the team of Lee Mazzilli and Matt Yallof.

It's not up to me to judge them -- I'll leave that to Raissman and Neil Best -- but to put an extremely abrasive Carlin with no baseball experience and a novice like Ojeda in front of millions of fans on the team's own network just doesn't make sense to me.

I've never been a fan of Carlin's, so that's where some of this stems from. He just irks me. I'm willing to see what Ojeda has to offer, though. Lee Mazzilli was great last year, as was Harold Reynolds and Darryl Strawberry.

All the best to these two hosts, because I know I'll be seeing a lot of them in 2009. And maybe, just maybe, Gowdy will tear the cover off me one day and like what he sees.

Twitter Poll: If you could have dinner with any Met...

I'm trying a new thing out here on the blog. I've fully embraced Twitter, and I'm going to be occasionally throwing out some questions or polls about the Mets on Twitter, and posting the responses here.

Last night, I asked my Twitter followers: If you could have dinner with any Met, past or present, who would it be and why? Here are the answers...

• letsgoduke said: keith. He's the funniest.
• metschick said: D-Wright because I'm bad
• kierankelly said: Lenny Dykstra, because he was better as a Phillie. :-) haha (ed. note: He's a Phillies fan!)
• mets_geekette said: Pelf. He's a goof-ball.
• ProctorsArm said: Carlos Delgado so I could teach him a thing or two about patriotism. (ed. note: He's a Yankees fan!)
• cselland said: Keith Hernandez - no one else even close. Just a brilliant guy - and he was there for the fun parts
• JD1877 said: Todd Hundley. Always wanted to hear his side of the Bobby V incident, his dad was on the 69 cubs, & he was one of my faves.
• Retire31 said: Jose Lima or Dae-Sung Koo. Why? Just having a conversation with either of them is going to be hilarious, let alone dinner.
• charlieryczek said: Gary Carter because he just seems like such a nice personable guy who could talk about anything at anytime
• MetsGal said: Keith Hernandez. Because he's Keith Hernandez.

It seems Keith Hernandez was the most popular choice, and why not? The man was around for some of the Mets best years, was the leader, the best player and now he's on SNY and he's hilarious and wonderful. I'd pick Hernandez, no doubt.

What about you?

Follow me on Twitter to participate
in the next Twitter Poll!

Game Recap: Mets 9 -- Cardinals 5

A rough start for John Maine turned into a decent appearance, coupled with a seven run inning, led to a Mets win over the Cardinals.

On The Mound

Maine made his first start since Dan Warthen tweaked his mechanics. His first inning was a bit rocky, as he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. Ryan Church did not help matters with a throwing error. From there though, Maine recovered and shut out the Cardinals until the fifth, his final inning.

Maine's final line: 5 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs (1 earned), 3 BB, 5 K.

Pretty good. I wish the walks were down and the play in the field was a bit better, but it's only spring. If Maine felt good out there, I'm more than happy with his performance.

J.J. Putz and Bobby Parnell each logged a hitless inning. Putz picked up a strikeout while Parnell issued a walk.

I don't think Parnell will make the bullpen, but he's still with the team so he must be impressing someone.

Nelson Figueroa pitched one inning, allowing one run on two hits. Carlos Muniz pitched the 9th inning, also allowing one run. He let up a hit, walked one and struck out two.

Figueroa was the forgotten candidate for the fifth starter, but it looks like it's Livan Hernandez's for the taking. I still don't like Muniz.

At The Plate

Jose Reyes picked up three RBIs, going 2-4 with a double and a walk.

He seems to be in midseason form.

Jose Valentin and Carlos Beltran each picked up a double among their two hits on the day. Omir Santos drove in two runs. Brian Schneider, Carlos Delgado and Mike Nickeas each picked up one RBI.

On Deck

The Mets will welcome the Washington Nationals to Tradition Field for a night game on Friday. The game will be on SNY and will feature only Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez in the booth. No Gary Cohen. This is a must see/listen.

Make Opening Night become Opening Day

The Mets Police are spearheading a movement to switch the 7:10 p.m. game against the San Diego Padres, the first real game in Citi Field, switched to a 1:05 p.m. start.

You might ask: Why? Here's their explanation...

It's a new stadium, a new beginning and it's already annoying. If you're interested enough to read my dopey blog then I'm sure you had been to Shea in April for a night game. It's miserable. Even if it's 81 degrees at noon, it will be in the 40s at 8:30.

The Mets are selling "Opening Day" packages. Sunset for Monday April 13, 2009 is scheduled for 7:32pm. Unless the Mets have a deal with God worked out, or they plan to get the game in in under 22 minutes, I think they lie.

Funny stuff. I'm avoiding Opening Day Night, but if anyone is up for this, head over to MetsPolice.com to check out what they have to say.

Evans might make team...for now

Nick Evans has had a hot spring, which I've chronicled on this blog. It's a tough call for the Mets on what to do with him -- he's a young player who needs everyday at bats, but he has no starting position on the team.

Well here's a quote from Jerry Manuel which pretty much lays it out for Evans' future:

"We'd probably like to see [Evans] defend a little better in the outfield," Manuel said after the Mets' 10-6 exhibition loss to the Tigers. "We have to try to create as much versatility for him as possible, [but] he'll probably come with us at this point."

That may be true and congrats to Evans for working his butt off to make the team. But, Evans would likely be the first player sent down once the Mets add on Livan Hernandez as the fifth starter.

The team likely won't need Hernandez until a few games into the season the way the schedule is laid out, so he probably won't be on the Opening Day roster. Evans will be, and will stay with the team for the first handful of games. After that, it will be Hernandez's spot on the roster and Evans will likely head down to Triple-A Buffalo.

Twitter Poll: If the Mets had to retire one number this year, which one and why?

I'm trying a new thing out here on the blog. I've fully embraced Twitter, and I'm going to be occasionally throwing out some questions or polls about the Mets on Twitter, and posting the responses here.

Last night I asked: If the Mets had to retire one number this year, which one and why? Here are the answers...

• @fscker said: keith hernandez or gary carter. I'm going to lean towards carter becuase he's in the HOF.
• @JD1877 said: Piazza. The 90's were sooo bad but he carried them to the WS. Perhaps the greatest position player in team history.
• @sdn16182 said: #31 mike piazza because he made them respectable again and carried them for years and to a world series
• @letsgoduke said: 17 for good old keith. or 31 for obvious reasons.
• @jrobelen said: Mets should retire Gary Carter's 8 before any other, considering so many NY fans believed he earned his HOF cap here.
• @Mike_Peters said: ...31 duh
• @metgirl4ever said: i'm biased but pick # 31-fell in luv w/baseball & b/came Mets fan n late 90s & he was/is my fav-despite going blonde
• @BkCyclones said: 17, of course, for Keith Hernandez, the best defensive player ever for the Mets, a great clutch hitter, and THE captain!
  

I can't say I don't agree with all of these sentiments. 8, 17, 31.

Game Recap: Tigers 10 -- Mets 6

The Mets were down early, came back, then let the lead slip away again.

On The Mound

Oliver Perez was roughed up by the Tigers today at Tradition Field. Tagged for six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, Perez allowed five hits and walked six while on the bump. He did strike out four.

Yeesh. Hopefully it's just Perez adjusting his mechanics under Dan Warthen.

Ron Villone, making a play for the bullpen, also struggled. Four earned runs in only one inning, as he gave up four hits and walked one.

Double yeesh.

Elmer Dessens and Bobby Parnell each threw a scoreless inning, with Brian Stokes tallying two innings of hitless baseball. Carlos Muniz tallied one-third of an inning in relief of Perez, allowing one hit.

At The Plate

Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Jeremy Reed and Jonathan Malo each picked up two hits, with Reyes and Beltran picking up a double each. Fernando Tatis went 3-3 on the day, also with a double.

Beltran, Tatis and Malo each had one RBI, with Schnieder driving in two runs.

Just not enough, but it's only spring training. The Mets put together a nice string of hits in the fifth inning, picking up five runs in that frame.

On Deck

The Mets will take on the St. Louis Cardinals on the road tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. The game will not be on TV.