As of right now, Daniel Murphy is the Mets projected Opening Day starter. Murphy will be facing heavy competition from the likes of Fernando Tatis, and newly signed Mike Jacobs. Every spring, you see a "dark horse," come out of no where and surprise everyone with their ability to play. Young Ike Davis could very well be that dark horse surprise in camp and possibly run the table at first. "Ike Davis is going to push people," Mets GM Omar Minaya said. Davis probably isn't ready to be given the reigns at first, but however, Ron Davis, father of Davis, believes his son is big league "ready." You could argue that but, you can't shy away that where ever Ike plays, he hits. - link
What To Watch For: Who’s healthy? The Mets were riddled with injuries last year, and All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran is expected to miss part of the regular season after undergoing right knee surgery in January. Angel Pagan and Matthews, acquired in a trade with the Angels, will get most of the time in center while Beltran is out. New York hit just 95 homers last year, 49 at home in its first season at Citi Field, so power is a concern. Bay will help, but the Mets also need 3B David Wright to return to form. Wright had 10 homers last season after hitting a career-high 33 in 2008. General manager Omar Minaya also could decide to bring back Delgado if 1B Daniel Murphy struggles this spring. The other big questions for the Mets are in the rotation, where RHP Mike Pelfrey and LHP Oliver Perez struggled last season, and the No. 5 spot is an open competition likely to come down to LHP Jonathon Niese and RHPs Fernando Nieve and Bobby Parnell - link
Why Ranked Here: He goes to Spring Training in St. Lucie with a chance to break camp as a fifth starter. Crazy, but true. His fastball lives between 85 and 90 mph, but he uses a sinker at 80 mph almost as much as his heater. He mixes in a cutter around 85, a slider in the upper 70s-low 80s and an goofy curveball at 65 mph. He throws so many pitches with a full range between 75 and 90 with a few 65s that it’s not hard to see him keeping the league off-balance his fist time through. Thanks NPB velocity tracker! - link
A career .228 hitter will excite no one. I urge anyone who is excited to check their meds. He does however hit marginally better throughout his career against left-handers, something that could compliment Omir Santos fairly well. This was even more exemplified last season as he hit .122 points higher against lefties over righties. He has been around for quite some time, having been at least a part-time player for 10 of his 12 seasons. He is known to be a fairly good defensive catcher, but at 38 years of age, it may be a reach to say that he will be a productive platoon catcher in 2010. Also, please do not mention to me that he handles the staff well. We heard that about Brian Schneider as well. What a joke that was. That is a simple way of saying that a catcher has no significant talent. - link
LHP, Woodland HS (GA), #47 Overall: This was the ceiling of where Vineyard was expected to go as a projectable prep lefty. He threw an average fastball and above-average slider, though some, including the Mets, believed he’d add velocity as he filled out his frame. Following players selected: Josh Donaldson, Michael Burgess, Wes Roemer. Signing bonus: $657,000. - link
No comments:
Post a Comment