Some positive developments for the Mets Saturday. Shaun Marcum got his throwing in, working his way up to 71 pitches. He only lasted four innings, but it’s not like anybody was counting. Then Terry Collins experimented a little and brought Robert Carson in for the fifth, which isn’t where you’d expect to see him, but roles are still undefined, so it didn’t really matter. The Phillies brought their A-club with them and Carson was kind of roughed up. Still, it was good experience for him. Terry stretched out LaTroy Hawkins for two innings, which was interesting to see. Scott Rice got two innings, two.
The manager also experimented by using the same lineup two days in a row, something you don’t usually get from him this time of year. Some of the fellas didn’t look too sharp. Mike Baxter, for example, had trouble with a fly ball to right, which may be something to think about once the season starts. It doesn’t look like they know quite what to do with Collin Cowgill yet, but figuring it all out is what this time of year is for. Ruben Tejada made both a great play and a bad play. Maybe if he’d reported sooner, it would have been a great play and a routine play, but who knows? There was some hijinks with Ike Davis’s glove when he couldn’t get a ball out and turn a double play — probably the result of a prank, since the next thing you saw was Justin Turner trying to fix it. (That guy’s hilarious).
The Mets didn’t hit much against the four pitchers the Phillies used. Since they weren’t exactly big names, I’d be concerned if this was already April, but since the Mets are just getting the feel of things, losing 9-4 wasn’t the big story. They’re taking pitches, they’re working counts, they’re learning Terry’s system and no doubt Sandy Alderson will have a crack 25-man roster in place come Opening Day.
Can’t wait for that to happen.
Is it me, or has extended spring training been going on for about seven years now?
I hate to put so much blame on one guy…but Ike Davis was supposed to be much better than this. I harped endlessly about him last year, so I’m not just jumping on him for a bad start. He hit .188 at home all of last year, which includes his second half renaissance…and this year so far…he’s at .188 at home. Against lefties last year, he had the worst OBP in 10 years for that category in all of MLB…this year, even worse at .130 so far. Basically, late in a game, you can throw any lefty at him in a crucial situation and it’s practically an automatic out.
I wouldn’t even be that anti-Ike if I saw any hint of athleticism in his swing, discipline or a good thought process at the plate. None of that exists sadly. Once and a while a pitcher throws one down the middle and he hits it out. I don’t see this ending well.
More like extensive garbage time [say it like Marv Albert]. The Mets are worse than Aristophanes; they’re ridiculous.
OK, we’ve gotten to the point of the season, or the decade, or my life, when I just have to say I’M SICK AND TIRED OF THIS CRAP. We hear and read much about Alderson’s approach, his plan, etc. Well, we’ve had a few years to observe this plan, and while I know that broken franchises are much like Rome in that building requires something in excess of 24 hours, we have still yet to see ANY progress. We hear/read much of the improved farm system, but I discovered a snag…turns out that all the other teams have farm systems too, and according to those who feel qualified and inclined to evaluate and rank farm systems, the Mets’ overhyped farm system (that sounds familiar) is no better than the middle of the pack among farm systems. And that’s with the arguably 3 best prospects all coming via trades rather than the draft. And there are no more Beltrans and Dickeys left to trade.
They want us to come out to the ballpark and spend a fortune to watch an assemblage of non-prospect minor leaguers and younger veterans who in a strong organization would be non-tender candidates. Today no doubt a bunch of drunks will drive 100 miles up the Turnpike to cheer on the opposing team who, even though their recent glory days are clearly behind them, will continue to humiliate us by outnumbering Mets fans by the 9th inning. And you know what that team will do if they’re not good enough Sandy? They’ll go spend some money and get players who are better than Greg Burke or Aaron Laffey or the one Cowsill brother who can’t sing and Quadruple-A players like Robert Carson and all the other dumpster diving roster moves you make over and over and over and over and over again…
OK, that was almost therapeutic. Except there’s another extended spring training game to play today.
Man, you are psychic. The real fun was seeing a Philthies party in that SportsStore field-level suite as Baxter was dropping a FO. I went Wednesday night, and as soon as Harvey was PH for, I joined the cold mass exodus. I feel ZERO watching 20 Met placeholders. Today, man, you called it. I found myself rooting for Philthy just to make the odious Wilpons wince. And yes, at the end, as in 1977 to 1983, or even worse, a home game was a road game.
Wilpons don’t wince. Wilpons giggle, talk about how they’re snakebit, baby, and suck down their high-class alcoholic beverages in their luxury seats while planning their next awesome vacation paid for by you and me and Bernie Madoff, barely noticing that the team they grudgingly paid for is getting humiliated yet again…
A few years ago, I was nostalgic for 1986. Right about now, in retrospect, even Mettle the Mule doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
Isn’t it better, though, that the other shoe drop in April? That way we won’t have our hopes up into June and the disappointment won’t be so crushing. I really am the eternal optimist but between Wheeler’s struggles and d’Arnaud’s foot, I don’t see any cavalry charging over the hill in midsummer to lift us to an unexpected playoff berth, a la the ’03 Marlins with Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. It’s gonna be a loooong summer. Hey, is Jack McKeon available?
Bring Wheeler up now and let him learn by facing MLB hitters…he should theoretically get better coaching up here and learn from watching how Harvey conducts himself also.
Plus, he’d get to pitch in a real pitcher’s ballpark, as opposed to the Las Vegas launching pad. And BTW, re Vegas, whose bright !@#$% idea was that?
They were actually better than this in spring training!
4th place here we come!…..this team is really ugly!
they have already quit on a lame duck manager!
Fire T.C….. That will buy us some time.
[…] Extended Spring Training Continues » […]
Brilliant.
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