Mets baseball blog

Pelfrey looks sharp

Mike Pelfrey might want to pitch with a strained leg muscle more often.

The big right-hander was terrific here yesterday in his first start since missing a week with the leg injury, giving up just two hits in four scoreless innings of an eventual 6-2 Grapefruit League loss to the Nationals.

"Pelfrey was very good," Jerry Manuel said. "That was outstanding the way he pitched. Both sides of the plate. Sunk the ball when he needed to."

Said Pelfrey: "I only threw 50 changeups all last year, and I probably threw 10-11 today, so that part of it I thought was very good for me." (NY Post)

Amazin' grace

The Mets have as sumed many per sonas across the years, some of them laughable, some of them loveable. This one is laudable. They do not own the rich history of their baseball neighbors, the Yankees. They have spent too many seasons acting as an organization like kid brothers, pining for what they don't have.

But what they do have is legacy of the highest order. They are the spiritual descendants of the Dodgers and the Giants, inheriting the DNA of the two National League clubs who were quickest to embrace the demolition of the color barrier six decades ago. They are the ones who hired the first African-American manager in New York City, the ones who empowered Omar Minaya. Continue

El Duque brings back high leg kick

Orlando Hernandez's big leg kick is creeping back. But even with a quality pitching line against the Orioles Friday, the initial reaction seemed to suggest that El Duque could use more time building arm strength for the season.

If Hernandez starts the season on the disabled list, Mike Pelfrey would open as the fifth starter, and his first turn would be opposite Tom Glavine next Saturday in Atlanta. Pelfrey also would get the call six days later against the Brewers at Shea, since El Duque wouldn't be eligible to be activated until April 13. Continue

John Maine locks up spot in rotation

John Maine will have to wait until the second series, in Atlanta, to take the mound. But he's the No. 4 starter in title only. Maine's stellar spring continued when he blanked the Orioles for six innings Monday while surrendering just one hit - a third-inning single to Nick Markakis - in the Mets' 1-0 win.

Maine had lost a 10-inning scoreless streak in his last outing when he gave up a first-inning homer to Cleveland's Jason Michaels, but he now has a better streak building: 10-2/3 scoreless innings. He also owns a 1.78 Grapefruit League ERA. "You want to pitch well, but the bottom line is you're getting ready for the season," Maine said. Continue

Trying to make case for 5th spot, El Duque and Mike Pelfrey get ripped

The bunion-toed war-horse or the unproven underachiever? That's the fifth-starter choice the Mets will make this week. And miserable showings from both Sunday did little to inspire confidence in either option: Orlando Hernandez or Mike Pelfrey.

"As a whole, you wish it would have been a better day," GM Omar Minaya said after watching the revamped El Duque allow five runs in three innings, then Pelfrey allow eight runs in 4-1/3 innings in the Mets' 14-4 loss to the Cardinals. Continue

Ollie taken downtown by Indians

Oliver Perez looked more like the Pirates castoff he was two years ago than a big arbitration winner yesterday. In a worrisome outing for the young left-hander so close to the regular season, Perez was blasted for four home runs by the Indians during a five-inning stint in the Mets New York Mets ' 5-2, rain-shortened loss.

Perez struck out six but walked two and gave up five earned runs, all of them courtesy of shots that left Chain of Lakes Park in a hurry. Victor Martinez went deep in the second, then Asdrubal Cabrera, Casey Blake and Ben Francisco teed off on Perez in a four-run fourth by the Tribe that turned the game into a blowout. The shots by Blake and Francisco were back-to-back. Continue

It'a time to register

Don't be fooled by the big-market status or the NL's richest payroll. The Mets are just as willing as the Pirates and Royals of the world to work baseball's nooks and crannies for pitching talent. Steve Register is proof of that.

A Rule 5 Draft addition from the Rockies who inexplicably never got a chance in Colorado, Register is on the cusp of finding a middle-relief spot in the Mets' bullpen this season. "I don't think I've earned anything yet, but the fact that I'm still here and we're almost to Opening Day has to be a good sign," said the 24-year-old right hander, a former third-round pick by the Rockies. Continue

Dominant Maine mows down Indians

The season can't start soon enough for John Maine . The Mets New York Mets ' young right-hander continued to dominate Grapefruit League competition last night, stifling the Indians for 5 2/3 innings before reaching his pitch limit in a 3-1 victory. "I'm ready to go," Maine said after throwing 97 pitches, striking out seven and scattering three hits after a first-inning homer by Jason Michaels. "I'm bored of Port St. Lucie."

Michaels' blast ended a 10-inning scoreless streak by Maine over his previous three starts, but that was the only rough patch as Maine lowered his spring ERA to 2.33 - lowest of any Mets starter with more than one appearance. Continue

Lo Duca, Milledge still have issues with Mets

Whether or not the Mets consider the Nationals a threat in the NL East this season, they definitely have made two new enemies in the D.C. clubhouse, where Paul Lo Duca and Lastings Milledge seem to be closer now than they ever were in New York.

Looking back, the two players were more alike in their Mets experiences than either one knew at the time. Lo Duca was no favorite of the front office, for both his inflammatory comments and extracurricular activities. Milledge often found himself under the same type of scrutiny, except that he irritated many of his teammates, too. Continue

Amazin' staff has another Maine man

John Maine's 15-win season last year is looking like anything but a fluke. The young right-hander gave the Mets another terrific outing yesterday, scattering three hits and striking out six in five scoreless innings of an eventual 8-2 Grapefruit League victory over the Marlins. Maine, who walked one, has now pitched 10 consecutive scoreless innings and has allowed just one earned run in his past three spring starts. Yesterday's outing lowered his ERA to 2.63. Continue