MACK - MY Tuesday Observations

 

Good morning. 

There's been a lineup change here.

I have moved my Thursday Observations post here to Tuesday.

Sorry for the bouncing ball.

First Montas, now Manaea. Hope we have run out of starters with a last name that starts with M.

THIS is why you come to camp with as many guys you can find that can throw 80+ pitches a game.

Especially if most of them are over 30.

The Manaea one brings question marks to me. You bring in Johan Santana to work with him and THIS is the result?

So. For now. You got Senga, Peterson, and Megill, and Blackburn, Canning, Holmes, and Kranick all fighting it out for the SP4 and SP5  slots. Not exactly the 1971 Baltimore rotation.

One thing. The talk of camp is the nastiness coming out of the arm of Brandon Sproat. His new pitch, the 2-seam sinking fastball, has potentially made him a more dangerous future piece.

Too early? Yeah, it still is, but if one more arm goes down... well... who the heck knows?

As for outside, the available starters still unsigned do not jump out at you so the Mets might want to make a serious run at Dylan Cease.  They really only have to protect Sproat, which leaves a projected offer of:

1.     Jonah Tong or Nolan McLean

2.     Drew Gilbert or Ronald Hernandez

3.     Jett Williams or Jesus Baez

4.     Brett Baty or Nick Morabito

 

Psst. Did you notice the inning Mack Darkhorse Candidate Douglas Orellana pitched yesterday? One inning, three strikeouts. Just sayin…

 

As all of us know, the Mets spring schedule started this past Saturday and I will share my thoughts on what goes on in these spring games. I also will try and pick up the pace and write more than I have recently. The posts may be shorter but they will continue to contain the kind of content ya'll are used to.

 

Carlos Mendoza mentioned this past Sunday that he wants Brett Baty to lower his bat trajectory and concentrate hitting line drives rather than going for the fences. It’s obvious Mendoza is looking for Baty to fit in somewhere while, at the same time, sending signs that this team will get its power from other bats. Good move in my opinion, but I still can’t see how Baty is going to fit in to this team. Other than a AAA third baseman waiting for Mark Vientos to either stumble or go down with an injury. 

I’ve said this before… the Mets have enough second baseman and Luisangel Acuna doubles as the backup shortstop. Baty needs to get his bat in order while in Syracuse, get some reps on first, and wait for the team to trade him where he can play regularly. He’s both talented and a nice guy and he deserves to play. Somewhere.

 

Let's revisit CF Simon Juan. He's 19. He doesn’t turn 20 until July. He stands six feet. He is projected to stick in center. In 2023 he had two homers for the FCL Mets. In 2024 he had seven for the same team. Sunday he hit a 3-run homer that came down just outside of Baltimore. His OPS went up .200 from the previous season. Forget the $75,000 signing bonus. That’s chump change these days. But it does look like this commitment is beginning to pay dividends.

Look for Juan to open up this spring in the St. Lucie outfield. The assumption is he would finish the season in Brooklyn. That would leave 2026 for stints in both Binghamton and Syracuse. Past that is all gravy in my boat.

 

Sadly, we need to revisit Nick Madrigal.

Remember when the Mets said they had big plans for LuisAngel Acuna this season? Well, it looks like that’s pretty much guaranteed now that Nicky boy’s left shoulder went pop.

Oh, and there could be another contracted infielder now in play. Here’s what Anthony DiComo said about him on Sunday:

Mets: INF Jared Young

The Mets signed Young off a successful half-season stint in Korea, where he slugged .660 over a 38-game sample. The 29-year-old isn’t quite as snug a roster fit as Nick Madrigal, who could back up Francisco Lindor at shortstop and garner some second-base reps as a right-handed foil to Jeff McNeil. But Young is versatile as well, with significant experience at both corner infield and outfield spots. He’s always had power, including two home runs in 22 career Major League games. With a strong spring, Young could win the lone Mets bench job up for grabs. 

 

Johan Santana

On working with Sean Manaea in camp, who idolized Santana while he was growing up:

"It was an honor, it's pretty cool - great kid. Whatever it takes to get him better and help him"

 

Carlos Mendosa

On writing in Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso on the lineup card:

"It's a good feeling."

 

Juan Soto

On the reception of the fans towards him in Port St. Lucie:

"It's been really cool to see them enjoying the moment and enjoying this time. First year with the Mets and everything, it's going to be unforgettable."

  

Codify        @CodifyBaseball 

Postseason wins since MLB went to 30 teams in 1998:

113 NYY    77 HOU   73 LAD   69 STL   68 BOS

50 SFG      49 ATL      47 PHI    35 CLE NYM 

Sandy Alcántara's fastball on Sunday:

98 99 99 99 99 99 99 98 98 99 99 99 99

 

MLB Network         @MLBNetwork

Career milestone watches to follow in 2025

Manny Machado - 2,000 H

Kyle Schwarber - 300 HR

Bryce Harper - 1,000 RBI

Trea Turner - 300 SB

Justin Verlander & Max Scherzer - 3,500 K

Chris Sale & Charlie Morton - 150 W

Terry Francona - 2,000 W

Clayton Kershaw - 3,000 K

 

Jim Koenigsberger       @Jimfrombaseball

The first time the word "f***" was ever heard on television, was during the broadcasts of Brooklyn Dodgers games on CBS, 1948