Mets 4, Red Sox 2: Fernando Martinez Owns It

by Eric Simon on Mar 17, 2010 11:13 PM EDT

This'll be the first recap of the spring, as we need to get accustomed to banging these out six days a week (and sometimes seven).

Despite the original association of Saint Patrick with the color blue, the Red Sox and Mets were decked out in green today: the former in green jerseys and the latter in chapeaux verts. I wore a green shirt to work and ate a big salad with dinner. Honorary Irishman!

Mike Pelfrey was stretched to four innings, allowing four hits and a run while walking none and striking out two. His sinker was a nonentity, generating just four ground balls to six fly balls (and another four liners). His control was terrific, though, nailing the strike zone on 43 of 58 pitches (74%).

Jenrry Mejia needed just six pitches to dispatch Mike Cameron (grounder to third), Josh Reddick (liner to first), and Marco Scutaro (grounder to short). Kiko Calero made his second spring appearance after Mejia's exit, and worked around a Ruben Tejada error at second to face the minimum in the sixth.

Elmer Dessens likewise faced just three batters in the seventh, getting David Ortiz (first) and Adrian Beltre (second) on ground balls and Jeremy Hermida on a fliner to left. Tobi Stoner allowed a run on three hits over the final two innings, but did get five ground outs to just two in the air.

The Mets didn't manage much offensively, collecting just three hits through the first seven innings. Frank Catalanotto led off the eighth inning against Ramon Ramirez, who followed up that initial fit of ill control by walking the next batter, Chris Carter, too. Fernando Martinez showed everybody what's what by striding to the plate and depositing a Ramirez offering over the right-center field wall to give the Mets a 4-2 lead and, eventually, a win by the same margin.

The WPA graph for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of FanGraphs.

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Comments

Friggin a meija

cut it out!

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 17, 2010 11:19 PM EDT reply actions

Seriously.

by SuperT on Mar 17, 2010 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions

This

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on Mar 18, 2010 6:42 AM EDT up reply actions

For some reason

this was the first ST game that felt like a ‘proper’ MLB game

by deadspy3 on Mar 17, 2010 11:33 PM EDT reply actions

Sinker was a non-factor

because he didn’t throw it that much.

by Sam Page on Mar 17, 2010 11:39 PM EDT reply actions

I did call it a nonentity

by Eric Simon on Mar 17, 2010 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't see the game

did you see him throw his splitter, curve or slider?

"Never throw a slider to The Glider."

- Ed Charles, No. 5

by The Glider on Mar 18, 2010 3:05 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm ok with that as long as he brings it back for real games

but his other stuff looked great. He keeps the nasty sinker and throws his other pitches like he did yesterday he should have a good season

by KeithsMoustache on Mar 18, 2010 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Six pitches for Mejia?

Geez, Jerry, we get the point.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Mar 17, 2010 11:51 PM EDT reply actions

An Elmer Dessens sighting.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 18, 2010 12:27 AM EDT reply actions

Jon Heyman on WFAN today

I don’t know if anybody else caught this interview, but Heyman said that this ST shows the the Mets (1) have a much better farm system than people have given them credit for, and (2) that it is probably the only team that has four rookies competing for significant/starting roles on the team (Davis, Martinez, Tejada and Mejia) … which I guess could be interpreted as a bad thing, but in this case I don’t think so.

Heyman said he’s with Jerry on bring up Mejia and did not argue with Francesa who said that Martinez should win the CF job.

To listen:

http://www.wfan.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4480263

"Never throw a slider to The Glider."

- Ed Charles, No. 5

by The Glider on Mar 18, 2010 3:11 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah but Heyman's a moron, so...

by dtro on Mar 18, 2010 8:56 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm with Heyman on that ...

and I’m a genius. ; )

"Never throw a slider to The Glider."

- Ed Charles, No. 5

by The Glider on Mar 18, 2010 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions

four rookies competing

this is mostly a bad sign for the mets. tejada’s only competing because reyes is injured, f! is only competing because beltran is injured, and davis is only competing because the mets don’t have a solid-hitting first basemen on their team.

but at least heyman — and hopefully others in the media — is starting to realize that the mets have some good, almost major-league ready talent in their system. too bad we can’t just skip to 2011 already.

by englishgrey on Mar 18, 2010 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Correction

f! is only competing because beltran is injured and the organization has an unhealthy fascination with Jeff Francoeur

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Mar 18, 2010 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Seriously,

why are they going to waste Meija in the bullpen. This kid is only 20 years old, put him down in the minors and let him work on his stuff. This is beginning to infuriate me to no end. Manuel has got to be the stupidest manager in baseball at this point. And Omar must be completely powerless if he cant stop this.

by aparkermarshall on Mar 18, 2010 8:49 AM EDT reply actions

2011

I really think the 2011 Mets could be special if they don’t eff it up this year. Let’s say that Omar and Jerry get fired mid-year and the new GM has the testicular fortitude to trade Francoeur and dump Castillo (and maybe O’Perez).

We could be starting Thole, Davis, Tejada, Reyes, Wright, Bay, Beltran, and F!M. Our rotation could be Johan, Pelfrey, Niese, Mejia, and Maine. Quite literally, I’d be excited for the upside of every single one of those players — even Maine. Our bullpen probably would be good. It’d have all the makings of a special season if things clicked. And hope is all I ask for.

by Dan Lewis on Mar 18, 2010 10:13 AM EDT reply actions

that team would be exciting for sure

Not sure it would be a world beater, would depend on a lot of young players playing up to par, but I would enjoy watching every game regardless.

by KeithsMoustache on Mar 18, 2010 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

I think we would need a better

bat at 2nd in 2011 than Tejada. I’m all for those other guys playing though, and it will be fun to watch.

by Mackey Sasser on Mar 18, 2010 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions

I disagree

As long as Tejada has decent on base skills, his glove alone should make him a very valuable piece, and at least an adequate starter that allows the Mets to spend some money on pitching. I’m probably in the minority here, but I think he’d be close to a league average 2nd baseman today if the Mets plugged him in as the starter.

Pinella: Where th f*ck was that pitch at?
Ump: Lou, don't you know that you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition?
Pinella: Where the f*ck was that pitch at, a$$h*le?

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 18, 2010 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

His defense would have to be WAY WAY above average

the average 2nd basemen’s offense is usually equal to 3rd base, would people think Tejada was the answer for third base if Wright went down? I feel like sometimes people lump 2nd base in as a position where teams don’t receive that much offense when the opposite is true these days.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 18, 2010 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I should say I don't mean would people consider him an adequate replacement

for Wrights production vs Castillos. More that if the hole was at 3rd and not 2nd would people assume his defense would make up for his lack of offense there.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 18, 2010 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

His scouting reports would suggest that he's a very good defensive SS, and his TotalZone numbers seem to think he's decent there.

I think the switch to second would take advantage of the things he does very well, and somewhat mitigate his arm (which isn’t a big concern, but it’s not a real plus either). I really think he’d be safely above average at 2nd right now, so his bat should be somewhat hidden by that fact. I think the defensive adjusment to 2nd fits his skillset much more favorably than sliding to third.

Pinella: Where th f*ck was that pitch at?
Ump: Lou, don't you know that you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition?
Pinella: Where the f*ck was that pitch at, a$$h*le?

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 18, 2010 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions

But I mean for him to be an average second basemen

he’d have to be more than safely above average, to make up for his bats projections, Chone has him projected to be 20 runs below average at what I believe is SS, which would be way further below average at 2nd.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 18, 2010 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions

But his slightly above average glove at SS would likely look far better at 2nd,

espescially since he’s not the strongest armed SS in the world. I really think CHONE’s projections are closer to his floor than what he’d likely do. A triple slash of .235/.291/.314 seems awful low to me.

Remember to check the batteries in your sarcasm detector

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 18, 2010 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I disagree, that looks pretty close to right to me

He doesn’t draw a ton of walks, and he could be BABIP overmatched in the majors even with a decent contact rate.

As for defense, I agree he’d look better at second than short. There’s a bit of a tweener fallacy involved in MI defense. The offensive standards for 2B are similar to 3B, though the components are often different, but the defensive standards are also different between 2B and SS. If a player can be expect to play 2B just as well as SS, he’d probably gain quite a few runs of defensive value just by virtue of the fact that the defensive standard for 2B is lower. Obviously, this isn’t quite the same as the tweener fallacy in the outfield, since 2B and SS do require some different skills, but its closer than, say, 2B to 3B.

The other thing about Tejada’s defense though is that the defensive standard for infielders is much higher in the majors than the minors. This isn’t true so much with outfielders, in fact an average defensive corner outfielder in A-ball is better than one in the majors. Its the opposite for infielders though, so an average defensive infielder in Double-A is likely going to be a below average defensive infielder in the majors. This issue is getting glossed over a bit too much in terms of Tejada’s chances of filling in for Reyes methinks.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Mar 18, 2010 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions

that would make me so happy

which is why the Mets are gonna f it all up. It’s just what they do

2009 Did Not Happen

by cjmulrain on Mar 18, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Tejada for Guzman, and the Nats pay 4 million of his salary?

I can just feel it coming.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 18, 2010 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Those are ugly hats

And would someone please stop the Mejia insanity?

by JoshNY on Mar 18, 2010 11:35 AM EDT reply actions

I can live with the Mejia insanity as long as he ends up in the minors.

It certainly beats being subjected to “no heart” or “Beltran and Reyes are cryass” stories. If the NY media doesn’t write bitch stories, it seems like the national media follows suit.

Pinella: Where th f*ck was that pitch at?
Ump: Lou, don't you know that you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition?
Pinella: Where the f*ck was that pitch at, a$$h*le?

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 18, 2010 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Well, right

I don’t mind insanity in the sense of “hey, let’s all be excited about this new prospect with great stuff!”, it’s the possibility that he might wind up in the MLB bullpen that pisses me off.

by JoshNY on Mar 18, 2010 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Exactly.

Saying that he’s good, and that he has a chance to make the MLB team is probably good for his confidence and all of that stuff. So, in that sense, that’s a good thing. Him actually making the MLB team, though, is not.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 18, 2010 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions