Mack Ade – Randon Thoughts – Parnell, Harvey, Mejia, Carp, Byrd, Cantu, Garcia

We’ve all read about how the addition of a curveball has helped closer Bobby Parnell improve his game. Well, it looks like he’s not the only Mets pitcher reaching out to increase his repertoire. Word from camp is the secret to Matt Harvey’s fast start this spring is the fact that he now has worked on his curveball  to a point that it is a plus pitch, along with his slider and fastball. Probably the last thing National League hitters wanted to know was Harvey now has another great pitch.

Yes, it is true that SP Jenrry Mejia is operating a little behind the rest of the pitches in camp, but, he did work out at the Mets state-of-the-art DSL camp while he was having trouble getting a visa so he did arrive ‘mound ready’. My guess is his poor first outing (36.00) and his reported hyperactive thyroid problems have completely eliminated any chance of him being ready by opening day. Mets officials would be best served not pushing him and, frankly, leaving him back for a rehab assignment for the first couple of weeks in the warm weather of Florida.

I read that the trade that sent OF/1B Mike Carp from Seattle to Boston wound up for cash only. Cash only. I’m happy with what Marlon Byrd has done so far this spring, but I would have loved to give the younger Capr a second chance at being a Met. Lifetime as a major league player over four seasons: .255/.327/.413, 18-HR, 28-2B, 608-AB.

I love watching the World Baseball Classic. Especially when you find someone that isn’t on any major league baseball roster. Take Mexico’s Jorge Cantu. Here’s a guy that is out of baseball at 31 years old and yet if you look up what he has accomplished over his professional career (8 MLB years: .271/.316/.429/.755) you would think there would be a utility position in somebody’s infield for him. And then there’s his Team Mexico’s teammate, ex-Met Karim Garcia, who doubled off of RA Dickey in the second inning. It will be interesting to see how many players are signed by teams once this classic is over.

We’re getting deeper into spring training which means you will start seeing the development of the 25-man squad develop within the lineups. More of them will start each game and play deeper into the games. Starters will go 5+ innings. And relief pitchers and closers will pitch two days in a row.

Of Marlon Byrd is obviously winning a starting position in the outfield. My guess, due to his age, is he will settle into RF. On paper right now, Collin Cowgill is your centerfielder and Lucas Duda is in left. Frankly, it would nice to see Mike Baxter show some sign of life so this five outfielder process could be more easily determined.

I don’t think there is any chance of Kirk Nieuwenhuis of making the trip to Flushing. The recent injury is the excuse the Mets need to send his to Las Vegas and turn his poor hitting around.

By the way… it really doesn’t matter what Lucas Duda does the rest of the spring. He IS the left fielder of the New York Mets.


We've said this a number of times... the Mets hate talking about injuries. It turns out that SP Noah Syndergaard went down early in camp from an 'injured side muscle' and the only reason we know about it now is he's back to 100%. What happens on the back fields usually stay on the fields. Hell P Erik Goeddel was hit in the fact with a ball and the only reason we found out was the fact he posted a picture of his altered mug on Facebook. Anyway, 'Syner' is fine, but could hinder his projected B-Mets promotion.

The Mets are still trying to figure out where to play SP Rafael Montero next month. He only had eight starts last year at St. Lucie (2.13) so, on paper, that would have him going back there. Then, the Mets showcase him this spring and beat writers speculate that he could be going to Las Vegas. He should go back to Florida but won’t because he’s being pushed to Binghamton by all the talent behind him (Robles, Fulmer, Tapia, Mateo, deGrom, Verrett). I hope they aren’t rushing him a la Mejia.

I like what I see in Jeremy Hefner and Brandon Lyon. I think we can lock these two in at this point in the spring. Bobby Parnell seems ready and is only one of three pitchers (Aaron Laffey, Pedro Feliciano) with a current 0.00 ERA in camp.

Weather related, here’s a quick look at what the temperatures were on 3-9 at around 3pm EST: Las Vegas: 58… Binghamton: 51… St. Lucie: 69… Savannah: 61.


Lastly... I'm not exactly how he's accomplishing this, but P Jeurys Familia is on a very positive control streak over the past 10 days. It' s hard to get hard information out of camp in ST, but it looks like he has slowed down his delivery and is concentrating on pounding the zone while letting his natural sink take over from there. Right now, he looks like he has a chance to break camp as part of the Queens pen.

Later