The bigger picture is how will this team respond? Jerry Manuel already has his doubters (including me) and if they throw the towel in early his dismissal could come before Cinco de Mayo. Last year’s team gave up after they were swept by the Yankees. Actually, they still had a chance come late July, but the talent gap was too much to overcome. A hot start by Bay, Wright, and even more essential, Francoeur could hold down the fort for a few weeks. The temptation to bring a Fernando Martinez or Ike Davis north becomes that much greater. Daniel Murphy now needs to be the guy we saw in September.- link
Entirely too many question marks here. Minaya needed to get a top of the line starting pitcher this offseason to pair with Johan. He got Takahashi, a 35 year old rookie from Japan. Last year it was Johan and a bunch of number 5 starters. This year it’s…. Surgically improved Johan and a bunch of #5 starters. With such an inconsistent and young pitching staff Omar better get a veteran presence behind the plate to help guide this staff through another rocky season. That leads me to…
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7.71 ERA, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 ER, 5 K - Considered by many including Jerry Manuel to be the #5 starter and will have to pitch himself out of the job to lose it to anyone else on this list. It may take a big collapse to push him out of this spot. His big league experience is slim, but he did pitch admirably for the big league team when called up. He pitched 6 games in 2 years. He’s healthy and has shown know ill effects from the leg injury that derailed his season. All he needs to do now is pitch his ass off. The consensus pick. - link
6.00 ERA, 6 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 ER, 2 K - The dark horse in the race for the 5th spot. He sported a 3-3 record in 7 games (2.95 ERA) last year at a time when the team really needed him desperately due to pitching woes. Now that he’s over the leg injury that put him down last year, he could very well upend Niese for the final spot. The only true difference between them is that one is a lefty and the other is a righty. Sounds trivial? That may make a huge difference as the Mets could use competent lefties in their rotations to offset the lefty heavy lineup in Philly, for one. Plus, Nieve is out of options and Niese is not. - link
0.00 ERA, 8 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 9 K - What’s to say? Figgy has been up and down and all around and rumor has it that the Buffalo to La Guardia Shuttle will be named after him, Figgy helps his cause this spring by pitching eight scoreless innings in his three appearances this spring. Figgy (and the Mets) know that if he is sent down once more, he may have seen his last opportunity in a Mets uniform. He clearly has been verbal about playing in Flushing and wants to remain with the team. He’s pitching, not only like he wants to stay as a Met, but like someone who intends to make it really hard for the powers-that-be to choose anyone else for the 5th spot - link
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