Mets upcoming opponent primer: San Diego Padres

Citi Field vs San Diego Padres Monday 4/1 1:10 (Opening Day) Edinson Volquez (Third consecutive OD start) vs. Jonathan Niese Wednesday 4/3 7:10 Clayton Richard vs. Matt Harvey Thursday 4/4 1:10 Eric Stults vs. Dillon Gee Projected Starters: 1B #23 R/R Yonder Alonso 2B #9 R/R Jedd Gyorko (Top Padres prospect, making big league debut) [...]

Mets bullpen watch: Part IV

Week four of Bullpen Watch is our final edition, as Spring Training is over and the bullpen appears to be solidified. Last week's predicted bullpen consisted of the following pitchers: 1. Bobby Parnell 2. Josh Edgin 3. Brandon Lyon 4. LaTroy Hawkins 5. Scott Atchison 6. Pedro Feliciano 7. Greg Burke It was an interesting [...]

Predictions for the 2013 Mets

With Grapefruit Season over and the regular season yet to begin, it’s time to check in with my annual predictions column. Some of these predictions that follow come up short of being “bold” yet I believe that all of them fall outside the boundaries of “safe” or “conventional wisdom.” If history is a guide, most [...]

Mets’ Byrd flies onto Opening Day roster

The Mets have announced the projected Opening Day starting line-up they plan to use on Monday when they square off against the Padres at Citi Field. CF: Jordany Valdespin 2B: Daniel Murphy 3B: David Wright 1B: Ike Davis RF: Marlon Byrd LF: Lucas Duda C: John Buck SS: Ruben Tejada Back in February, we asked [...]

How can Mets justify Robert Carson on Opening Day roster?

If you’ve read this site before chances are you know my position on LOOGYs. To me they are one of the worst things about baseball in the 21st Century. Because they pitch so little, they create a drag on the rest of the bullpen. And to make matters worse, managers operate to maximize the success [...]

A farewell to Johan Santana

June 1, 2012 is a night permanently engrained in the memory of all Mets fans. Just like our parents, or grandparents, or even some of us might remember where they were when Kennedy got assassinated, Mets fans will always remember where they were when Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in franchise history. For me [...]

Collin Cowgill, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda, Marlon Byrd, Mike Baxter: Mets Are Pioneering the Specialist Outfield

Opening Day is four days away and a lot of Met fans are excited. It’s safe to say that the seven-week narrative that has been spring training is played out. Issues and surprises have been covered ad nauseum. We fans can get excited about the springs of Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey and Ike Davis. We [...]

Are Ruben Tejada’s spring struggles a reason for concern?

After going 0-3 in the Mets’ 6-2 exhibition win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night, Ruben Tejada is now batting .080 in Spring Training while also struggling to make consistent contact. At what first was a promising start when he hit a home run off the Nationals’ ace Stephen Strasburg in early preseason action, [...]

Why Collin Cowgill should be the Mets’ full-time starter in CF

When the Mets traded for Collin Cowgill it seemed to be a nice stroke by Sandy Alderson, as it gave Terry Collins a player to platoon in center field with Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Cowgill had a .784 OPS against LHP while Nieuwenhuis had a .740 OPS versus RHP. While it wasn’t going to make fans forget [...]