It doesn’t mean anything. Never believe what you see in March or September. You could write the results on a matchbook. You’ve never heard of any of these guys. It’s all just for fun, just to work on certain things, just to get into shape, just to show management what you might be capable of.
These are the truisms and advice that mark spring training baseball – The Pastoral Season. As of this writing, we are less than a week to Opening Day, when it all starts to be real – The Urban Season, which will last from now until October. At this late juncture in the Pastoral, is there any sign of what’s to come when we enter the Urban? Let’s take a look.
First of all, answers have mainly gone wanting for the Mets’ major question marks – problem areas? – that have been hovering over this team since Christmas. Shortstop, first base, the outfield and the bullpen are still mostly unsettled. It looks as though Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson are content to waste away the first couple of weeks of the regular year trying to tease out a final answer.
There is also some worry about Travis d’Arnaud’s bat and by-default shortstop Ruben Tejada’s all-around play. d’Arnaud has been touted as a fine offensive catcher with some pop – not exactly Mike Piazza, but supposedly close. He’s been beaten up by injuries the last few years, but it’s getting near put-up-or-shut-up time, though the pitchers reportedly love throwing to him. As for Tejada, a lot of ink and pixels have been spent on his situation and he has done little in Port St. Lucie to shift that narrative. The guess here is that he will be given just enough rope by Collins/Alderson and we’ll probably see Wilmer Flores back in Queens before May is out.
As for good news, there’s Chris Young. More and more, Young has been looking like one of Alderson’s shrewder moves, even at $7.5 million for this year. If he continues to rake as he has been the past couple of weeks, he may be in line for a quick extension sometime in June. Or he may be a viable trade candidate in August. In any case, it can’t be a bad thing if Young hits as he has and plays the stellar defense we’ve seen since the middle of March.
Likewise, Zack Wheeler. While Wheeler is 99.9% assured of staying put, his numbers this spring have been – at the very least – gratifying. The opinion over here is that despite Dillon Gee being named the Opening Day starter, and Jon Niese ending his DL stint quickly, Wheeler will end up being the de facto ace in Matt Harvey’s absence. We’ve seen hints of that this month.
Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jenrry Mejia staged a rousing battle for the fifth rotation spot, with Matsuzaka emerging as the putative winner. The takeaway here is that Matsuzaka will probably pitch just well enough to make himself attractive trade bait before the season is very old and the starting role will go to the people choice, Mejia. This is one of those proverbial “nice problems to have.”
It may be a coincidence, but the Mets – their pitching in particular – have gotten “hot” precisely when more and more regulars are appearing in opposing lineups. From February 29 through March 16, their record was 7-9-2. From St. Patrick’s Day through the 24th, they’ve gone 7-2. To ensure a winning spring, they need to go 2-3 in their remaining games. If there’s such a thing as momentum in baseball, the Mets might have it on their side for the start of the season.
And a good start can go a long way towards good will.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
Charlie … not so fast on Mr. Young.
You might notice that Chris has hit well every single spring since coming into baseball. His OPS before April is somewhere around 900.
It, like so many things as you have mentioned, is just a mirage. Whether or not Chris really revives, his numbers in March will disappear like a sand castle.
Yes, but remember, his last couple of seasons were sabotaged by a – being miscast in a platoon situation and b – big time injuries. We haven’t really seen what he can do in a healthy, full-time role.
One other thing we learned – that unlike last year, when there was no real alternative in the minors for OF or SS, and miserable choices (other than the emerging Byrd) for the start of season, this year, we have what looks to be at least an average OF with legitimate pieces like Dekker and Puello in the minors as needed, and Flores the hit machine lurking in the wings at SS. And either Duda or Davis, platooning with Satin or Brown at first, almost has to be more productive than last year’s first base horror.
The rotation without Harvey this year is better than last year’s going in – Gee was recovering, Marcum was a disgrace, and we got to see too much of the Hefners and McHughs. We have Thor, Montero, Mejia(?), and DeGrom in the wings in AAA, better right now than some teams’ major league rotations. And no Mr Softee righties in the bullpen like Acthison this year – just hard throwers.
All in all, I am much more positive for 2014 – Harvey notwithstanding.
Hefner was a hell of a pitcher last year, especially considering he doesn’t have dominant stuff. However, I see you overall point, and agree.
As much as I’d like to believe otherwise, I think Wheeler is destined to be a Gentry-esque mid/back-of-the-rotation guy.
If I’ve learned anything this spring training it’s that Familia looks like he has regained command of his pitches and has a nasty sinker. Very encouraging!!
Yesterday, however, Familia walked 3 in his first inning. All were heavy hitters, so I am not as concerned as I might be – and it presented him with a challenge….Ian Desmond with bags packed and 2 outs. I believe it was 3 pitches later, strike 3, and adios. A great learning moment. I hope he is the next Armando Benitez – in his prime – without the big game letdowns. Armando was great for a few Met years other than those moments.
A lot of folks also do not know that besides Familia’s great stats in official spring games, that in his 2 inning Feb intrasquad outing and his last 4 1/3 innings of winter ball (totaling 6 1/3 innings, or 19 outs), an incredible 16 of those 19 outs were by strikeout – he walked maybe one or two, gave up a few hits, and no runs. Amazin’