3-24 ST Recap - Jose, Murph, Johan, Niese - Mets 5, Houston 2

Spring Training:

It didn't take Jose Reyes long to become the center of attention this morning at Digital Whatever Field... now, I would have snuck into the trainer's room, put on a leg cast and a neck brace, and limped out in front of the beat reporters... but that's just me.

Today's lineup looks like what the opening day lineup will be, minus Reyes. Angel Pagan might not have beat out Gary Mathews, Jr, but Gary will be hasta la vista by OD. Also, watch for the Mets to play the shit out of Daniel Murphy the rest of ST in hopes of getting his confidence back.

That being said, watch for Pagan's average to start heading to the .300 level (leadoff hit today with run scored)... half this game is mental folks, and Pagan will play much better knowing Junior is on the block...

Once again, it's good to see Cory Sullivan and Jeff Keppinger... Kep is hitting only .222 going into this game, but any true Mets fan will always wish the best for Jeff.

I just had to spend some minutes away from the game to report on Doc Goodin getting busted on drugs again while his kid was in the car.  Someone needs to lock this guy away.  As Bill Parcells said some many years ago... "people don;t change..."

See this picture over der... well, this may be the last picture ever taken of Doc while he was part of the Mets' organization...

-did yu notice the bats are still on mute?

-regarding a Gary Mathews Jr. trade, why not package him, along with Daniel Murphy or Chris Carter to an AL team that could use a good DH?  I'm thinking Andy Sonnanstine...  

-Matt Lindstrom made his usual successful outing against his old team...

-Santana is done for the day... 5.2-IP, 8-H, 2-ER, 1-HR, only 2-K, 1-BB... an okay outing but not enough strikeouts and too many hits... ST ERA is now 6.75 for the season... I'm going to go waaaaaaaaaaaaaay out on the line here, but I think he'll wind upbeing the SP1 for the Mets come opening day...  jeez, I'm good...

-notice that Murphy and Pagan stayed for the first wave of substitutions... see?

-the Mets have to make a decision on RP Elmer Dessens (1.59) and he's not making it easy for them. His scoreless 0.1 today makes one wonder if he's competing for the ROOGY... yeah, I know he's 123 years old, but... 3.31 in 28 games as a Met last year, and 1.59 this spring...

What's more interesting is Jon Niese coming in for the 7th innong. The Mets simply don't have another day off during ST, so it's obvious that Warthen wants major mound time for his rotation.
Trust me... there are two games next Monday... if there is anyone (outside of the six guys everyone says is fighting for the 5 slots) that still stands a chance, we'll see him start next Monday.

No sign of Gary Mathews Jr.

Okay, overall... this was a great day for Mets starters... Santana gave up only two runs and Niese has obviously won the battle for the SP5 slot. We'll keep the circus posted, but look for Figgy to be calling his agent tonight...