Edgy MD

[fimg=600:l5g474fx]https://s.abcnews.com/images/Sports/gty-israel-baseball-team-04-jc-170310_4x3_992.jpg[/fimg:l5g474fx]

Hi, I'm Jay Bruce, once and future Met. I was in the midst of a career year in 2016, got traded at the deadline, and then farted my way to the finish. I similarly was tearing it up in 2017, got dealt off, and bumbled down the stretch. I'm not good with change. I didn't know that, but recent experience has sort of spelled it out for me. So I re-signed with the Mets. They're not the Reds, who are a beast I know, but I've now spent a full season with them. And with Conforto hurt and perhaps dozens more to follow him into the training room over the next three years, I know there'll be a position to play if I stay healthy and perform. Will I stay healthy and perform? I dunno. Perhaps you do. [fimg=330:1c2p47sk]https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/267ecbd690c5811bd0dc377d9419dad7758e9ff1/c=0-6-3921-2954&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2017/04/20/Cincinnati/Cincinnati/636282810684013166-USATSI-10005450.jpg[/fimg:1c2p47sk] [fimg=372:1c2p47sk]https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F670423822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale[/fimg:1c2p47sk] [fimg=151:1c2p47sk]http://www.bostonherald.com/sites/default/files/styles/featured_big/public/media/ap/2017/07/07/7d9e7d8d5cc04171a7beab6fbff2ae10.jpg?itok=Hac7UxCA[/fimg:1c2p47sk] [fimg=404:1c2p47sk]https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2016/09/05/images/mlbf_1139512283_th_45.jpg[/fimg:1c2p47sk] [fimg=147:1c2p47sk]https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/bj.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&strip=all[/fimg:1c2p47sk] Get your predictions in now or else all bets are off. [youtube:1c2p47sk]3Qo7t4rC5Ww[/youtube:1c2p47sk]

Mets held scoreless through six, and here come the reserves. Minor league camp floater Patrick Biondi takes over for Nimmo in center, David Thompson takes over for Frazier at third, Phillip Evans enjoys the benefits of arriving on time and takes over at first, and José Lóbaton straps on the catcher gear and makes his Mets debut. Moreover, Gavin Cecchini displaces José Reyes at second, Luis Guillorme steps in for Amed Rosario at short, Zach Borenstein moves into Kazmarski's rightfield business and den Dekker is booted aside in left in favor of Ty Kelly. Go, Team Israel!

Chris Flexie coughs up the unearned run with erratic help from den Dekker.

Hansel Rubble puts up an equal line to Wheeler. One inning, one hit, and two strikeouts. Looks like it's going to be another whiffy year.

Todd Frazier breaks the seal on the hit column for the 2018 Met Campers. Mets, I am told, elected to wear the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hats for the game. All of MLB (or at least all of the Florida teams) were supposedly wearing them for exercises today, but the Mets elected to wear them in the game, and I presume most other teams too. I like these gestures, but I think they have far more impact when the different organizations act on their own.

Wheelie is expectorated to be followed by some combination of Hansel Robles, Chris Flexen, Paul Sewald, Corey Oswalt, Jacob Rhame, Tyler Bashlor, Jamie Callahan, and/or Drew Smith.

BRAVESMETSAlbies (??), 2bSwanson, ssCamargo, 3bRuiz, 1bAdams, cfBrantly, cSantana, lfPeterson, rfJackson, dh Wisler, spBrandon Nimmo, cfAdrian Gonzalez, dhTodd Frazier, 3bPete Alonso, 1bTravis d'Arnaud, cJosé Reyes, 2bAmed Rosario, ssKevin Kaczmarski, rfMatt den Dekker, lf Zack Wheeler, sp Apparently Dominic Smith was originally written into the lineup yesterday evening, but replaced by Alonso this morning.

That was my first thought for a comparison. 1987 had Bill Almon, Lee Mazzilli, and Clint Hurdle, and almost had Tom Seaver III.

Looking around camp, there are five second-tenure Mets back with the club after joining some other cause for a while. [list:20m4kosl][*:20m4kosl]Jay Bruce[/*:m:20m4kosl] [*:20m4kosl]Matt den Dekker[/*:m:20m4kosl] [*:20m4kosl]Ty Kelly[/*:m:20m4kosl] [*:20m4kosl]José Reyes[/*:m:20m4kosl] [*:20m4kosl]Jason Vargas[/*:m:20m4kosl][/list:u:20m4kosl] Assuming (no small thing) that all five guys at some point are simultaneously members of the big league roster, would this be some sort of team record?

At the end of last season, I was battering PCL pitching in the Diamondbacks' system while Travis Taijeron was doing the same for the Mets. But seasons end, and with them, so too ends the tenures of veteran minor league outfielders. Disconcerting, but it's for the best. Travis went on to join the AAA Dodgers, and I came around to the Mets. If the universe is balanced, I'm sure the Diamondbacks signed a Dodgers minor league free agent outfielder. So, what do I have that Taijeron doesn't have? Well, I strike out less, but that's true of just about everybody. I don't reach base quite as much, but I get the job done, and while I haven't always out-slugged the big galoot, I did last year. And I field better. I don't even need to check the stats on that one. I've seen Tiajeron and I know it's true. And so do you. Approaching 27 I am and I haven't seen a day in the bigs, but you know, when a team has only four outfielders on the big league roster, and I'm the fifth outfielder, well ... things could be worse. I just need to get climb over one more speedbump to get the majors. At least, I have to do it before that big, stupid Tim Tebow gets there first. OOOOH, how I hate him! [fimg=350:rjcv3ex2]http://metsmerizedonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/WorldBaseballClassicPoolEGame6IsraelfHo3h_7JoW2l.jpg[/fimg:rjcv3ex2] [fimg=350:rjcv3ex2]http://metsminors.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/zachborenstein.jpg[/fimg:rjcv3ex2] [fimg=380:rjcv3ex2]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dNjuGLGDmtw/maxresdefault.jpg[/fimg:rjcv3ex2] [fimg=320:rjcv3ex2]http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Zach+Borenstein+World+Baseball+Classic+Pool+w5t5shFI089l.jpg[/fimg:rjcv3ex2] Don't be jealous just because I'm one handsome ginger. Tell me honestly ... what's my 2018 going to be like? Because I can practically taste the bigs. I heard Seth Lugo used to play there, and well, let me tell you something about Seth Lugo. [youtube:rjcv3ex2]zOfCJ1j8HZY[/youtube:rjcv3ex2]

You know it.

I searched for Listerine and ended up dropping the post into a thread that split from the Listerine thread. Fix't.

Ceets knows how to put his cards on the table.

The search for lost and falling souls takes the Reverend Billy Graham to Shea Stadium, where he chats with sinners Ron Taylor, Mike Jorgensen, and Tug McGraw, 1970.

The Pirates: also tearing down the engine this winter.

Arguing, while making me embarrassed that I've paid good money to watch a team run by a mental case, is a lot more fun than watching a guy standing around pretending to talk philosophy while waiting for his coach to signal him.

I think the single biggest difference is the manager pretending to be hustling out onto the field, but really trying to look like he's jogging when actually moving slower than walking, eventually reaching the ump and pretending to advocate for his team, but actually just stalling as he waits for his bench coach on the phone to give him a thumbs up or thumbs down. That's not only low-cal action, it detracts from the high-cal action of a close, exciting play, it's full of fraud, and is against the spirit of the whole replay thingie. If you don't think he blew the call based on your own eyes and your own instincts, then you implicitly accept it, and let's get on with the game. If you do think he blew it based on your own eyes and instincts, then great, you're making a protest while putting your reputation on the line, matching wits with the ump. Also, enough with making the tubby umps jog over to the well where Radar O'Reilly is waiting with a set of 1970s headsets. Put a bluetooth on the crew chief and let him chat Soho right where he is. Coaches can't visit the mound, but we're having dramatic moments ruined with umpire jogging exhibitions? Get out of here with that garbage. The tech solution will come, but it is not this day.

Know what's cool? That guy warming up next to me in the morning stretching exercise? That's Matt den Deckker! Three springs ago, that guy was sent to Washington for me, and while I've pitched in 165 games for this team, mostly effectively, with a twice-broken arm in there, that guy pretty much gave the Nats bupkis. Now he's back for free — or chump change, anyhow — and I'm still banging it for the Mets. Getting lefties out. That's my game, and I'm pretty good at it. I'm not a lost cause against righthanders either, but it's the Freddie Freemans and the Bryce Harpers I'm here to fight, often one at a time. Yeah, I may walk a few, but that's the game. You come in with the go-ahead run on second and first base open, with an all-star sluggerino at the plate, you want maybe rather miss outside the strike zone than in. I'm lanky and a little goofy in the manner of lefthanded specialists, but I'm now coming to camp with nearly as much equity as anybody. I'm Jerry Blevins, and another year of this stuff, they'll be calling me a true Met. [fimg=362:23dsv9sv]https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2017/02/09/images/mlbf_1222288683_th_45.jpg[/fimg:23dsv9sv] [fimg=338:23dsv9sv]http://dailystache.net/wp-content/uploads/080615-mlb-Jerry-Blevins-pi-mp.vresize.1200.675.high_.40-660x400.jpg[/fimg:23dsv9sv] [fimg=350:23dsv9sv]https://content.sny.tv/assets/images/0/7/2/214882072/cuts/USATSI_9385393_q2zlvnly_mbjrzqkm.jpg[/fimg:23dsv9sv] [fimg=350:23dsv9sv]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2015/0331/mlb_Blevins01_bl_608x342.jpg[/fimg:23dsv9sv] Goofy, maybe, but I bet my sizzle reel is better 'n' yours. [youtube:23dsv9sv]eJ8Cwib9A1c[/youtube:23dsv9sv] The past is prologue. What does my future look like? Like, my immediate future. The next eight months.

By the way, the more I think of these rule changes, the more I think they're attacking the wrong part of the game. A runner on second: no quick trip to the mound to change the signs? A bunt situation: no meetings at the mound to discuss defensive alignment?

Depending on which of the four commonly used pronunciations for "Jeurys" you are working with.

Confession: Never seen The Silence of the Lambs, and never really had any particular interest.

Tall and lean, fast and mean, I was the lowest-ranked of the three prospects the Mets got off the Red Sox for Addison Reed. The lowest ranked, but with the highest ceiling. And that's because of a fastball. A fastball that can only be described as blazing. My bautismo de fuego has topped out at 101, and I don't think I even have consistent mechanics yet. But here's the business: Boston had me going in the high-A Carolina League and I pitched there to the tune of a 5.16 ERA. I had 53 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings, but also had 28 walks. I know what you're thinking. Project. The kid's a project. But here's the other thing: I came to the Mets system and they sent me to St. Lucie. I'm still in high A, but things are different. In 14 1/3 innings, I strike out 20, and I walk only 3. And that's to the tune of a 1.26 ERA. I know what you're thinking now, too. Project COMPLETE. Maybe not, but somebody owes St. Lucie pitching coach Marc Valdes a beer. Well, from there, you know the Mets had to protect my skinny ass. So they added me to the roster, and here I am in St. Loo, throwing bullpens next to the big boys. Where do I go from here? You tell me. [fimg=389]http://metsmerizedonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DHhn46NV0AEzEi9.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=311]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGVtpT7XgAAKviR.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=317]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT5Fc53_TUea3cIc08i-Kozz_qA-g7OaVVcYuk_gJjJEko13XV8[/fimg] [fimg=383]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWgMdYAVQAEVxXt.jpg[/fimg] Please don protective eyewear before watching the video: lEYrfuTpG8M

It sure seems silly to me, making a call now, even if it's the sensible one (from today's perspective). There's like a 75% chance that at least one of the six guys goes down during the spring, even greater if you count the possibility of a somebody not quite coming up injured but being demonstrably ineffective. Best to let it play out and start talking about final decisions a month from now.

Yup. Whoosh. Right over my head. Every morning, I'm "OHHH, now I ... still don't get it."