Hey Mack, how you been feeling? I've been thinking about this since Wilmer Flores has started off so well! With so much
inter-league a DH will be needed plus giving David-Ike-Murph time off, there
will be plenty of at-bats for him. Maybe he can be on the same plane as Wheeler
and D'Arnaud? – Steve Wilson
Hey Steve. Other than feeling old
every morning, I’m doing well lately (where’s your son going to play our
favorite sport once it heats up?).
The thing everyone has to remember
about spring training… most the hits made by minor leaguers after the 5th
inning are off of minor league pitchers from other organizations.
Regarding Flores, the first thing he
has to do this year is find himself a position. His execution on two double
plays Monday night is a good start. He will never qualify as a good utility
candidate because he was marginal at third and really sucked at short. No, it’s
his bat that will get him to the majors and it would have to be at second base.
I think he will eat up the lack of
air in Las Vegas. Look for a minimum of 15-HRs by the halfway point of the season
and I wouldn’t be surprised he isn’t part of a package to an American League
team for an outfielder.
I did some snooping around and there are some names that I’m pretty
confident of leaking out at this point. It looks like Las Vegas will be a very
talented team. Some names already assigned are: SPs Zack
Wheeler and Jenrry Mejia (Mejia could
stay north if Santana isn’t ready), RPs Brad Holt,
Craig Hansen, Ryan Fraser, and Armando Rodriguez,
1B Josh Satin, 2B Wilmer
Flores, 3B Zach Lutz, C Travis d’Arnaud, and OF Matt
den Dekker. Look for SPs Rafael Montero
and Cory Mazzoni and CF Cory
Vaughn in Binghamton… four members of the St. Lucie rotation will be Noah Syndergaard, Michael Fulmer, Domingo Tapia, and Hansel Robles… and OF Brandon
Nimmo will head to Savannah.
"It turned out well. I trimmed fat, got rid of some body fat. I'm
around the same weight as last year, around 185, but I'm a lot stronger. I was
working on mobility. It was a really productive off-season. I went there and
worked with a great group of guys in professional baseball. We pushed each
other. It was all about getting more flexible and stronger. I can't have my
back and legs getting tired. I worked a lot on my legs. We did dead lifts and
one leg split squats. I wanted to train this year with that mindset. And my
legs are a lot stronger. The Mets told me after instructional league that they
were happy with my progress. My focus this spring is to be healthy and to just
make sure I'm ready. I trust the Mets. I feel good about everything. And I'm
going to have fun and let it play out."
It sounds like Nimmo is ready to play for a full season
club. I can’t get anyone to confirm it; however, five or six people I know feel
Nimmo will come here to Savannah. We’re just going to have to wait and see.
I'm very excited to possibly have the opportunity to watch him this season.
I'm very excited to possibly have the opportunity to watch him this season.
Tuesday high/low lights –
This
is not much of a team out on the field for this game.
P Jenrry Mejia did a
lot Tuesday to prove he needs to spend some more time in Las Vegas. In his
defense, I’m not sure it was a wise decision to pitch him almost right off the
plane. Please… Dads and coaches out there… if you want to completely ruin a
great arm do what Jerry Manuel did
to this loyal kid.
There aren’t many times that minor league players come out
of nowhere and win a major league job, and we might be witnessing this with P Cory Mazzoni. There doesn’t seem to be any hesitation in using him this
spring and, so far, he’s close to perfect. We all know he’s a starter, but are
we witnessing a member of the 2013 Queens pen in the making?
P Hansel Robles is
another one that’s getting an awful lot of mound time early this ST. I
understand he will jump from Brooklyn to St. Lucie this season, but it almost
seems like he’s in a major league pen groove right now. Weird. Then, things
started to unravel when he gave up a home run to Giancarlo Stanton. Two batters later, Matt Downs went
yard. I don’t have Robles on my possible pen list and I’m keeping him off it.
He’s just not ready.
Nice eighth inning, featuring key singles by Josh Satin and Wilfredo Tovar and a
sacrifice fly by Travis d’Arnaud, his
first Met RBI.
From the way the Mets speak about Flores, I really think they want him to be part if this team's renaissance moving forward. If he just plays adequately at second, I think he's the future second baseman.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are right. I've not seen this kind of potential power from a Mets 2Bman since Jeff Kent
ReplyDeleteHopefully Murph can put together a good first half and be good trade bait. Flores slides into the 2B slot. He's looked really good this spring.
ReplyDeletethe more you read about Flores, the more you will see Murphy hit
ReplyDeleteEither way, Sandy loves power bats and cost controlled players. That's Flores and Murphy has started arbitration already. With Flores' upside, there's little doubt his bat might prove superior to Murphy.
ReplyDeleteSo Murphy, who isn't a slouch with the bat himself, might easily find himself as one of the best bench players in the league by July or traded for yet another prospect that'll add to the Mets' growing stable of young players. Either way, the emergence of Wilmer Flores only makes this team better.
Too bad Wilmer can't play the OF.
ReplyDeleteI see Mazzoni as a future member of this bullpen, if he starts pin 2013 and he's ready, then so be it. Parnell, Edgin, Mazzoni, and Gorski all look like the future of the pen. Everyone else can fight for the last couple of slots or get moved in trades.
watching today, too bad Marlon Byrd can't play the outfield :)
ReplyDeleteMazzoni is one of the few pitchers that have impressed so far this spring... I think you're right about the pen, or maybe trade bait
miss your posting, Michael
I'll put something together on the state of the pitching in the organization since that seems to be the focus.
ReplyDeleteI'll also work on fixing the OF, although it will be a bit more pie-in-the-sky.