IGT 3/12/11 Mets @ Braves

[Ceetar]

Pitchers
70 Pedro Beato, RHP
23 Blaine Boyer, RHP
77 D.J. Carrasco, RHP
91 Mark Cohoon, LHP
43 R.A. Dickey, RHP
18 Ryota Igarashi, RHP
86 Eric Niesen, LHP

Infielders
4 Russ Adams
68 Brad Emaus
3 Luis Hernandez
25 Chin-lung Hu
28 Daniel Murphy
7 Jose Reyes
2 Justin Turner
5 David Wright

Outfielders
90 Matt den Dekker
21 Lucas Duda
6 Nick Evans
22 Willie Harris
20 Jason Pridie
93 Sean Ratliff
96 Cory Vaughn

Catchers
19 Raul Chavez
13 Mike Nickeas
92 Dusty Ryan

Staff
10 Terry Collins, Manager
58 Ken Oberkfell, Bench Coach
51 Chip Hale, Third Base Coach
59 Dan Warthen, Pitching Coach
53 Mookie Wilson, First Base Coach
56 Jon Debus, Bullpen Coach
84 Ricky Bones, Instructor

LINE-UP
7 Jose Reyes SS
22 Willie Harris LF
5 David Wright 3B
21 Lucas Duda RF
6 Nick Evans 1B
28 Daniel Murphy 2B
13 Mike Nickeas C
20 Jason Pridie CF
43 R.A. Dickey RHP

Tweet by Matt den Dekker wrote: Headed to Orlando to play the Braves at 1. Lets GOO!!!

Cory Vaughn wrote: Bumpin michael jackson on the good ol bus...gotta love it

[Ceetar]

Dickey getting rocked, 5-0 Braves.

[G-Fafif]

Observations proffered by Hagin and Coleman today:

--League maybe catching up to Dickey.
--Murphy not a second baseman.

Observation proffered by me:

--I think I'm finally getting used to Wayne Hagin.

[Guest Edgy DC]

If Dickey doesn't perform as well, I think it'll be him not being so on top of his game as much as anything.

I mean, the league's not going to figure him out all at once. This guy, that guy, maybe even a large chunk of a team, sure. But a knuckler is enigmatic enough and unique enough that you just can't pass around a scouting report. You have to see it to adjust, I think.

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: Observations proffered by Hagin and Coleman today: --League maybe catching up to Dickey. --Murphy not a second baseman. Observation proffered by me: --I think I'm finally getting used to Wayne Hagin.

I guess they reupped his contract huh? i know it expired this year right? we got details on that?

I make nothing of either of those observations either.

[smg58]

One bad inning and the league has caught up to him? Do we really need that shit from Mets commentators?

[Ceetar]

smg58 wrote: One bad inning and the league has caught up to him? Do we really need that shit from Mets commentators?

be fair now...it was two bad innings.

[ashie62]

Opening day observation

C Josh Thole
1B Ike Davis
2B Daniel Murphy
SS Jose Reyes
3b David Wright
LF Jason Bay
CF Angel Pagan
RF With Beltran Beltran/Hairston
No Beltran Duda/Hairston

Bench

Paulino C
Harris OF
Hairston OF
Emaus IF
Hu IF
Evans 1B

[G-Fafif]

Ceetar wrote: smg58 wrote: One bad inning and the league has caught up to him? Do we really need that shit from Mets commentators? be fair now...it was two bad innings.

Be even fairer. They were talking in a broader sense from throughout the spring, and included Bobby Ojeda's assessment in their own. And it wasn't deemed fatal. Dickey ain't dead by any stretch.

And thank god the Mets announcers express opinions, not propaganda. Was listening to the Bravescast for a couple of innings and the entire spiel was "watch out Phillies, the Braves are awesome!" Brooks Conrad was a Gold Glover by the time they were done.

[Benjamin Grimm]

G-Fafif wrote: And thank god the Mets announcers express opinions, not propaganda.

Word!

[MFS62]

It might be nice if the Mets could prove, to themselves and the world, that they can beat the freakin' Braves in a game.
Even in an exhibition game.
They might find out they like it.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I heard only a little of the radiocast but enough to know it was a pretty shitty showing all around. Their take in addition to Muffy being a poor fielder was that Emaus hasn't done enough to show he's any stronger an option.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I heard only a little of the radiocast but enough to know it was a pretty shitty showing all around. Their take in addition to Muffy being a poor fielder was that Emaus hasn't done enough to show he's any stronger an option.

They're not far off. Murphy did rake two hits-- one a screaming double-- on a day when the bats were in deep freeze.

But, yeah, this is probably the most frustrating thing about the spring. Not that I'm so much opposed to Castillo himself... but what he represents is pretty depressing.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Detach, detach, detach yourself from all that. The Mets didn't find their secondbaseman in 2006 until May and he had one of the all-time great keystone seasons fro the team.

A thing about spring is that home field advantage is more acute, certainly these last two games. Teams should play three-game series and host the visiting team at their facility, giving them a field to work out on and a motel to crash in. Every game in spring is a getaway day and that's got to be miserable.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Marty is having a good week.

Spring a season for Mets to learn -- umps, too By Marty Noble / MLB.com | 03/12/11 5:42 PM EST printe-mailLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- In the forgiving world of Spring Training, even umpires are cut some slack. And so the phrase "It's Spring Training for umpires, too," is heard annually. It was inappropriately spoken a few times Saturday during a Mets' lopsided 12-0 loss to the Braves. Benefit of the doubt wasn't needed in the early innings -- a greater sense of how knuckleballs move was. R.A. Dickey brought his knuckler with him to the Magic Kingdom, and its fickle movement was new to young home-plate umpire Toby Basner. The pitch didn't flummox the Braves so much as it did Basner. Pitches Dickey thought were strikes were called balls in the first and second innings, when the Braves scored three and two runs, respectively. Each of the four walks he allowed during his five-inning workday came in those innings, three in the first. That Dickey became more effective after the second wasn't by chance. Before he pitched in the third, Basner acknowledged to Mets catcher Mike Nickeas that he never had worked the plate with a knuckleball pitcher on the mound and sought his input. "I think he should be applauded for what he did," Dickey said. "He asked [Nickeas] for feedback. He was being honest, and by his asking, you knew he was trying to do his job properly. I appreciate what he did." In Dickey's judgment, Basner cost him four or five pitches. "And a couple were critical to the count," Dickey said. "But the more pitches he saw, the better he got." Basner didn't count his misreads. But he knew some existed. "You realize you have to focus really hard with a knuckleball pitcher," he said. "You've got to follow [the pitch] until it's in the glove. ... We were just trying to get as many strikes as there were." To his credit, Basner adjusted. Dickey and Nickeas noticed a difference. "He stayed with the pitches longer," Nickeas said. Not that Dickey's pitches were all so precisely placed. He rated his knuckleball as a five on a scale of one to 10, and he conceded some were "grotesque" and likened others to coconuts. But he was pleased that he was able to complete five innings, throw about 100 pitches and "arrest the momentum [the Braves] had." Every pitcher needs some adversity in Spring Training to recall how to extricate himself. Dickey had surrendered three runs in seven innings before Saturday. Also facing adversity on Saturday was Daniel Murphy, who started at second base. He was guilty of two of the Mets' three errors -- he mishandled a playable ground ball that had bounced oddly, and later, he slipped making a play and threw away the ball. The club remains hopeful that Murphy's defense will be adequate so that his bat can be an everyday component in the lineup. Manager Terry Collins didn't condemn the errors; he essentially explained them as did Murphy, whose commentary was this: "It took a funny hop. I should have made the play [on the first one]." And on the second one, Murphy realized, "I should have eaten it [not thrown]." Murphy did participate in a ground-ball double play for the first time, but it was a 4-6-3 sequence. So he has yet to handle a throw and the pivot with a runner from first base closing in. He said he thinks his transition to second base is going well. "But I'd like to get the pivot out of the way," he said. If he wins the job at second, he'll get his chances. For now, it's Spring Training for second basemen. Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

G-Fafif wrote: Observations proffered by Hagin and Coleman today: --League maybe catching up to Dickey.

Goodness gracious me, sometimes I feel blessed to be isolated (insulated?) from crap like this.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: But, yeah, this is probably the most frustrating thing about the spring. Not that I'm so much opposed to Castillo himself... but what he represents is pretty depressing.

Can somebody give me the deets on Muffy's muffs?

Edgy DC wrote: Detach, detach, detach yourself from all that. The Mets didn't find their secondbaseman in 2006 until May and he had one of the all-time great keystone seasons fro the team..

The idea they MUST find an 2nd baseman by opening day is pure sensationalism. Not the end of the world if Castillo is on the opening day roster. Muffy's can have extended ST in Buffalo if needed. And I think they'll keep Emaus- JPR seems pretty high on him, and this administration won't succumb to the media-fuelled, knee-jerk decision-making of the previous.

[batmagadanleadoff]

So long as the Mets are in contention for a playoff spot, the issue isn't so much who is the Mets best second baseman, but rather, whether the Mets best second baseman is good enough.

[G-Fafif]

Edgy DC wrote: Detach, detach, detach yourself from all that. The Mets didn't find their second baseman in 2006 until May

So true. In early March, the competition was Matsui, Keppinger, Hernandez and Boone. Valentin on nobody's depth chart.

Also reminded of the three-way battle among Luis Rivera, Tim Bogar and comer Fernando Vina to play shortstop in 1994. The winner? Jose Vizcaino, acquired just before the season began. Gave the Mets two fine years (and opened a window for Anthony Young to be let out).

[Guest Edgy DC]

So, what we can safefly predict is that the Mets secondbaseman will be somebody named Jose V.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Or maybe Jordanny V.