Saturday, March 17, 2007By Mike Steffanos
Hard to believe that we're only a couple of weeks away from the start of the season with a winter storm raging outside here in Connecticut. Tonight's game against the Marlins was not televised, but here are a few brief thoughts.
The bottom line for Tom Glavine looked good: 5IP, 0ER, 3H, 2K, 2BB. Still, as reported in the game story on MLB.com, Glavine threw strikes on only 44 of 84 pitches, and I'm sure Glavine would like to be more efficient than that once the games start for real. Still, with so much riding on Glavine this season, it's nice to see him having a decent spring.
Aaron Heilman came back from his week off looking sharp, pitching a 1-2-3 sixth inning with 2 strikeouts. For what it's worth, I wouldn't get worked up about Aaron experiencing some soreness in the spring after surgery this winter to clean out his elbow.
The bad Ambiorix Burgos showed up tonight -- the one who can't keep his pitches down or locate them. Burgos struggles when asked to pitch more than an inning this spring. The problem is the Mets need that flexibility from him if he is to make the bullpen. At 22 years old he should be able to handle that.
The offense struggled again, producing only 6 hits tonight. Jose Reyes had two of them. Jose Valentin had a 2-run homer. David Wright and Carlos Delgado had the other RBIs in the Mets' 5-4 loss.
The Mets split their squad tomorrow. Chan Ho Park gets the start in St. Lucie against the Nats, and really needs to show something after recent strong performances by Mike Pelfrey. The game will be televised on channel 11 at 1PM.
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Comments (2)
It's something that hasn't been discussed much but possibly worth mentioning:
A portion of the off-season's chatter was devoted to the idea that the Mets had to find a replacement for Jose Valentin, that he had a rough time versus the lefthanders after the All Star game, that possibly had a fluke year and anyway he is getting on in years.
All of which had merit, to varying degrees; but lost in the compilation was the fact that Jose had just had what probably was the most productive season of any Mets second baseman not named Alfonso, both at bat and in the field. And while his season was impressive, it didn't burst forth from nowhere; Jose has hit 246 home runs as a major leaguer.
So, he's 37 years old, but in terrific shape and comfortable. He seems to have put those nightmare years in Chicago and L.A. behind him; and he is hitting the ball with authority this spring.
If Valentin has another strong season this lineup is REALLY going to be loaded, again.
It's interesting that while the Mets Spring Training won/lost record is nothing to brag about, so many things seen to be going well for this team, with Pelfrey, Milledge, Perez, Maine and the backup outfielders all cranking, Glavine looking good, and those buns in the outfield oven. It is a new experience for this Mets fan.
Posted by dd | March 17, 2007 12:07 PM
dd - I think with a right-handed platoon partner with some pop Valentin can have another good year. He'll get more days off partnering with Easley than he did with Woody last year.
This is a good spring, despite the lackluster play. Was really disappointed in Park today, though.
Posted by Mike Steffanos | March 17, 2007 4:12 PM