The Mack Attack - 3-28-09

Mets News

If Luis Castillo is able to fashion a comeback season maybe he can follow in the footsteps of two Mets heroes who also rebounded from awful years to lead the club to post-season glory. In 1968 Tommie Agee was beaned in his spring training debut by Bob Gibson and then struggled in his first season with the Mets, hitting just .217 with five homers and 17 rbi's, including an 0 for 34 stretch. Agee bounced back of course in 1969, hitting .271 with 26 home runs and driving in 76 runs atop the Mets order before his Fall Classic heroics.

Ray Knight's first full season in New York in 1985 was also a disaster. Knight hit just .218 with six homers and 36 rbi's and was nearly released the next spring before going on to hit .298, with 11 home runs and 76 runs batted in as a prelude to his MVP performance in the World Series.

Livan Hernandez seems to have locked up a spot in the Mets starting rotation. Non-roster invitee Ron Villone still has an outside shot of making the staff as well. Both have a chance to join a short list of one-time Mets pitchers who also started against the Mets in an opening day game. Hernandez started for the Washington Nationals against the Mets on opening day 2006 at Shea. Villone was on the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea vs. the Mets in the 2002 opener. Here are the five other pitchers who started season openers against the Mets and also pitched for them:

http://www.wfan.com/pages/4089852.php?


I know I've said that I'm willing to give Luis Castillo a clean slate this season. He showed up to camp in great shape and has put together a great spring. But deep down, I'm still worried about how his knees will hold up and if he can still perform up to his contract and at the major league level. The Mets are particularly thin at the second base position through the minor leagues, but Jonathon Malo had been impressing Jerry Manuel -- until he was sent down to minor league camp. And as scant a chance as Green had, it was diminished by the late emergence of Jonathan Malo, a 25-year-old Canadian-born second baseman who has impressed Manuel to such a degree that the manager has told people in the organization that Malo is among his favorites among the possible reserves. But there seems to be no place for Malo on the roster.

http://theropolitans.com/2009/03/possible-castillo-replacment.html


4) How do you think Citi-Field will play? Pitcher’s park? Hitter’s park? Why? I have no idea, and neither does any one else. I asked Jeff Wilpon this very question, when I talked with him during spring training, and he said there have been no indications yet, and nobody will really know until the team starts playing in April - and even then it will likely change as the weather warms up, the wind patterns change and it gets more humid in the summer. I believe, however, they want it to be a pitcher’s park, consistent with the team’s history.

5) Luis Castillo is projected for 490 ABs and 0 HRs. That would be a sub-Herculean achievement. Think he can pull it off? My readers at MetsBlog.com like to call him Slappy McSingleton, but, like Clark Kent in a phone booth, turning in to Superman, he becomes Slappy McHomerton at least once or twice per season when batting from the right side of the plate – I expect the same in 2009. I am far more concerned with his OBP than his home run totals, though

http://razzball.com/2009-mets-fantasy-baseball-preview


David Wright currently ranks 5th in team history with 130 home runs. With 25, he'll pass Dave Kingman into 4th place on the Mets all-time list.

* Wright ranks 7th in Mets history in RBI with 489. If healthy, he'll pass Cleon Jones (521) and Edgardo Alfonzo (538) for sure. A 126 RBI season slips him past Ed Kranepool (614) into 4th place.

* Wright (819) should also move into the top 10 on the all-time Mets hit list. Jose Reyes (919) will as well. The current 10-spot holder is Keith Hernandez with 939, 20 more than Reyes and 120 more than Wright. Reyes should be Top 5 by the end of the season, as he's 110 hits behind current 5-spot holder Bud Harrelson (1,029). Wright's top target is 9th-place holder Jerry Grote (994) and 8th-place holder Howard Johnson (997).

http://www.metswalkoffs.com/2009/03/wright-on.html



Prospects :

New York Mets Top 5 - by Brett Sullivan - March 26, 2009 - #1: Fernando Martinez – The youngest player in Double-A in 2007 and 2008, Fernando Martinez is fresh off his best professional stint since Low-A ('06). Though his production still hasn’t matched up with his hype, the 6-foot-1 lefthanded outfielder is progressing in some areas of his game. His .145 isoP ('08) was up from .106 in Double-A in 2007, although still down from his breakout 2006 campaign (.194). He’s been consistent in his rates (7.0 BB%, 19.0 K% in '08) and hit more line drives last season (19%) than he has at any point in his career. Martinez made modest improvements in translating his raw speed to baseball speed last season. Still, if he sticks at center field in the bigs, he'll likely be one of the worst center fielders in baseball. Age is still the biggest factor on Martinez’ side. He’s young enough that he can evolve into a very good major leaguer, but he will need to considerably raise his performance on the field if he is going to reach his ceiling.

http://projectprospect.com/article/2009/03/26/new-york-mets-top-5


Mets Alumni:

Do you remember Darren Reed? Perhaps not. Reed was a prospect that played for both New York teams during his career. He was involved in a rare trade between the two clubs as well. On December 11th, 1987 he was part of the deal that sent Rafael Santana to the Yankees. During his time with the Mets he was known to have huge spring training’s (I believe he hit 10 homers in the spring once), but was never able to come north with the team. In 1991, after being assured he would be on the Mets opening day roster, he was traded to the Montreal Expos; a week to ten days later, he had his forearm broken by a Met pitcher and missed that entire season. The Mets brought him back in 1993, but a day or two before the end of spring training, he injured his hamstring, an injury that was understated and possibly misdiagnosed. He missed that season, as well. In short, Reed never was able to catch a break despite his potential.

http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=8797


It's Lima Time once again. Jose Lima, the irrepressible pitcher and entertainer forever in search of his next major league appearance, has signed with the Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden League. Lima got a lot of mileage from his five-hit shutout of the Cardinals in the 2004 playoffs, the Dodgers' lone postseason victory between 1988 and 2008. Lima went 13-5 for the Dodgers in 2004, then 5-16 for the Royals in 2005. He has not won a major league game since then and has not pitched in the majors since 2006, but Times columnist T.J. Simers caught up with Lima last summer, when he was pitching for an independent team in Camden, N.J.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/03/jose-limas-back.html


Draft:

The train kept rolling in San Diego last weekend, even though Stephen Strasburg registered his first non-decision of the season. While the Aztecs came out of their weekend series to BYU on the heels of a 4-2 loss, their ace was hardly at fault, scattering two hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings. Strasburg struck out 15 of the 25 batters he faced, bringing his season total to 74 strikeouts in 131 attempts (56.5 percent). His other outs have been generated by 14 ground-ball outs and 13 fly-ball outs. The two hits allowed are his best showing in that category this season. In total, the eight-figure arm has given up 21 hits so far: 16 singles, four doubles, and one home run (to San Diego redshirt junior Nick McCoy). Here's a non-diagrammed hit chart of what he's allowed:

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8667