Mack On – ST-BP, B-Mets SPs, 1st Base Projection, Underdog T-Shirt, Fred Wilpon

·         There was quite a lot of excitement Monday in St. Lucie. Many of the SNY-guys were reporting that they were very impressed with the hitting of both Ike Davis and Luca Duda. In fact, they were drooling over the bombs being put over the fence by Duda.

There were other reports that members of the team (which included David Wright and Daniel Murphy) were taking the sites in as Duda took his licks. The fans ate it up and everyone was dreaming about all those home runs that are going to be hit out of the now shortened CitiField walls.

There are just two things I want everyone to remember before you order your playoff tickets.

1.  Have you ever put a radar gun on the pitches being thrown during batting practice? They are around 80-mph and have no movement whatsoever.

2.  Did you ever catch one of the ST balls and notice they are stamped with one of the all-star games? Did you know these balls have the same chance of passing a drug test as Manny? Yes, they are the balls used in the home run derby and they are juiced to high heaven.

Spring training is a lot of fun and nothing brings more smiles than a fan catching a ball that left the yard, but one must remember that these are far from even ST game-like conditions, no less regular season.

·         The B-Mets published a story from Anthony DiComo that it’s just about confirmed that Jeurys Familia, Matt Harvey, and Zack Wheeler will all start in the Binghamton rotation come April. This means:

·         Buffalo looks like Miquel Batista, Collin McHugh, Chris Schwinden, and Dylan Owen, with one slot open.

·         Darin Gorski would be the SP4 in Binghamton, with one slot open

·      There will be plenty of people (Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner) available to back up Ike Davis in Queens this spring. But the big question mark is in Buffalo. Alan Dykstra is ready to play AAA, but the Bisons keep inviting back fan-favorite Val Pasccuci. They also will have Josh Satin who will also play 2B and one of the corner outfield positions. Stefan Welsh has moved to Pittsburgh, so either Dykstra or Jefry Marte will play first for the B-Mets. I’ve got Sam Honeck in St. Lucie and Cole Frenzel in Savannah and it looks like Eric Campbell will be odd man out.

·      A member of the 25-man squad did not appreciate the humor in Fred Wilpon’s “underdog t-shirt” and quickly offered it up for grabs. Your guess.

·      There were multiple reports on the Fred Wilpon interview where he said that he plans on remaining the owner of the Mets for a very long time. What did you expect him to say? This is interview-speak for “it’s spring training and we all need to stay positive, even to pond scum like you media guys.” Don’t worry. If he loses the Madoff trial, he’s calling Century 21.