Reese Kaplan - More Dispatches from the Bizarro World

Jenrry Mejia and Rafael Montero are mere mortals after all.  After being given a whopping 3 IP all spring, Mejia finally got a start today and pitched badly.  He was up in the zone and didn’t have his usual pinpoint control.  He was relieved (?) by Rafael Montero who also gave up a pair of runs.  So let me understand this line of thinking…you can’t start Montero’s service time clock ticking due to his Super Two status despite the need for a 5^th starter, but today the, ahem, “manager” proclaims he could start the year in the bullpen. 

Then the news about Jon Niese comes down and all of the sudden the foregone 2^nd lefty in the pen, John Lannan, may have leapfrogged Daisuke Matsuzaka for a starter’s role.  Without Niese the Mets are all righties and they’re not likely to go into the season so ill prepared to neutralize lefty sluggers.  If this development does indeed happen, then it might explain the talk of one or both of the aforementioned righties being banished to the bullpen, but will Terry Collins use everyday Rice even more than he did last year?  I'd like to see the oddsmaker's line on how long before his arm falls off.  Calling Tim Byrdak…

There’s been a little bit of publicity about Travis d’Arnaud’s ongoing  struggles with the bat this Spring.  He’s obviously number one on the depth chart, but it’s curious how little publicity is being generated about his sub-Mendoza line production.  If other starters without a track record struggled as much at the plate it would be front page news.  Ask Wilmer Flores how much benefit of doubt he’s getting. 

Speaking of Wilmer Flores, he got his second start at SS today after surpassing the halfway point of spring training.  Nothing much was written about his performance in the field today, and in his case no news is probably good news.  He’s hardly setting the world afire with his bat this spring, but when the leading contender for the position has more errors than hits you’d at least THINK the club would consider him somewhat seriously as an alternative (or trade for one of the available alternatives).  Then again, this is Bizarro World and Ruben Tejada has been proclaimed the starting shortstop by the great motivator.

The Eric Young vs. Juan Lagares debate rages on, but lost in the increasingly tedious Terry Collins lunacy are the very fine springs of Matt den Dekker, Chris Young and even Kirk Nieuwenhuis.  I recently got into a debate about Captain Kirk vs. Matt den Dekker and to me the choice was obvious.  With a lineup filled with K machines like Curtis Granderson, Eric Young, potentially Ike Davis and often David Wright you really can ill afford another guy who strikes out in 1/3 of his ABs.  Add in den Dekker’s superior power and defense then to me it’s a non-debate.  That’s why I figure they’ll go with the guy who has had 377 ABs already to demonstrate what he’s NOT capable of doing.  In Bizarro World proven mediocrity trumps potential every time.

Has anyone noticed the very fine springs being put forth by Josh Satin and Zach Lutz?  They’re doing what they keep hoping Lucas Duda and Ike Davis can do.  More importantly, they’re both on the field right now.  Would it be so crazy to give one of them a chance?  Also lost in the shuffle are their career OBP numbers that approach .400.  A slow footed first baseman batting leadoff (or second)?  Nah, getting on base doesn’t contribute to scoring runs.  Nevermind.

There are a slew of underperforming veterans like Bartolo Colon, David Wright, Curtis Granderson, Jose Valverde and Kyle Farnsworth.  In general you give them benefit of doubt because they have track records on which to rely as a fairly accurate predictor of future success.  Jose Valverde and his gray hair are most likely coming north, but the other grizzled graybeard, Kyle Farnsworth, may have to brush up on his blackjack if he’s going to stick with the organization.  He’s not fooling anyone and his velocity is still way down.  Then again, these are the Mets we’re analyzing, so incompetence is not necessarily a deal breaker.