Results tagged ‘ Johan Santana ’
Report from Port St. Lucie, 3/26
David Wright (below) made his long-awaited Grapefruit League debut today, playing four innings in the field and going 1-for-2 at the plate. Among the highlights were a diving snare of Rafael Furcal’s sharp grounder and a single up the middle in his first at-bat.
Not so sharp early was Johan Santana, who struggled to find his command and velocity before settling down — and, perhaps more importantly, speeding up — in the middle innings against the Cardinals. Santana has one abbreviated start remaining before his Opening Day assignment April 5 against the Braves.
Follow me on Twitter: @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 3/21
It’s getting down to the most interesting time in camp, when game action is magnified and competitions really start heating up. To that end, Terry Collins called Johan Santana’s 69 pitches in Wednesday’s game “a giant step forward” in Santana’s road back from left shoulder surgery.
Other than Santana, the most interesting aspect of camp right now may be the center field situation, with Andres Torres still nursing a tight left calf, Jason Bay volunteering to sub in center, Jordany Valdespin experimenting at the position while hitting the cover off the ball, and Mike Baxter and Adam Loewen still duking it out for a bench job that is purportedly still one of theirs to lose. I profiled Baxter, a Queens native, for Mets.com today.
Follow me on Twitter: @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 3/11
Those looking for good news may want to close out this window now. The Mets revealed Sunday that David Wright has traveled back to New York for an examination and possible cortisone injection in his left ribcage. Details on his and Tim Byrdak’s injuries are available on MLB.com.
Some better news for Mets fans came courtesy Johan Santana, who allowed one unearned run over 2 2/3 innings in his second Grapefruit League start. Strong early, Santana struggled with his control in the third inning but still came away encouraged.
Finally, since the rain prevented me from taking any good shots during the game today, here’s a picture of a lizard who found his way into the press room and decided to chill upside-down on a ceiling panel:
Follow me on Twitter: @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 3/8
It was all about Johan Santana again today at Mets camp, where the left-hander took another significant step by throwing a full bullpen session two days after his start. You can read about why that’s important here, and check out the pictures below:
Follow me on Twitter: @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 3/7
A quiet day at camp gave me a chance to catch up with Josh Lewin, WFAN’s new color commentator for Mets radio broadcasts. You can read my profile of Lewin and the rock band he left behind in Texas on Mets.com.
The rest of the day was quiet mostly because Johan Santana did little more than receive a massage on the day following his first big league action in 18 months. Santana will throw again in some form on Thursday, which should be far more telling.
Also, an apology for the lack of pictures lately. Here’s one of Ruben Tejada hanging around the cage; I’ll try to be more diligent regarding pictures in the future.
Follow me on Twitter: @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 3/1
Things are ramping up at Mets camp, with intrasquad games scheduled throughout the weekend and the first Grapefruit League game against the Nationals on Monday evening.
Before Johan Santana threw to live batters Thursday for the first time since October, I caught up with R.A. Dickey and some of the people who have made the past year of his life such a whirlwind. Check out the profile on Mets.com.
As for the pictures, here’s Santana chatting up Terry Collins after his live batting practice session:
Follow me on Twitter: @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 2/26
A rare cloudy day did not stop Johan Santana from throwing an “up-and-down” bullpen session on Sunday, simulating game conditions (pictures below). Santana will throw twice next week, once off flat ground, in preparation for his first Grapefruit League start on March 6. From there, his April 5 assignment against the Braves will be in sight.
One other interesting note today revolved around David Wright and his friendship with Ryan Zimmerman, who just inked a six-year, $100 million contract extension with the Nationals. The deal could — but probably won’t — have implications for Wright’s own financial dealings in the future, even if he’s not too keen on talking about it now.
Today’s main story, of course, revolved around shortstop Ruben Tejada finally reporting to camp after manager Terry Collins called him out this week for not arriving early. The two smoothed things over early this morning, freeing Tejada to go about the business of replacing Jose Reyes.
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- The University of Michigan baseball team huddles up Sunday prior to their game vs. Iona at the Mets’ complex.
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- CF prospect Matt Den Dekker shows off his stance.
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- R.A. Dickey delivers a pitch during his warm-ups Sunday.
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- Santana lets another pitch fly during his bullpen session.
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- Johan Santana uncorks a pitch Sunday morning.
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- Terry Collins and Dan Warthen watch Johan Santana throw.
Follow me on Twitter: @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 2/24
For once, a quiet day at Mets camp. No ripples today, save for a couple minor news stories: that Johan Santana will make his Grapefruit League debut on March 6 rather than March 5, and that Mike Pelfrey rolled his ankle during fielding drills. No red flags in either instance.
The recent quiet gave me a chance to catch up with David Wright, who is entering a career crossroads at the age of 29. Wright could be traded this year. He could be traded next year. He could stay for good. Either way, he is burning to win a championship with the Mets.
Here’s a picture I snapped today of Wright relaxing before batting practice with Daniel Murphy, who is also quoted in the story:
—–Follow along on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 2/23
An eventful day here in Port St. Lucie, highlighted by bullpen sessions from Jenrry Mejia, R.A. Dickey (below) and Johan Santana, who said he “felt good” after his third session of the spring.
Jason Bay also showed up to camp a couple days early and spoke about his winter, in which he stripped his swing down to what it was with the Pirates and Red Sox. Bay has said similar things in the past, but he appeared relaxed and refreshed during a 15-minute chat.
After workouts ended, Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, general manager Sandy Alderson, manager Terry Collins and other members of the front office boarded a private helicopter bound for Miami and the Knicks-Heat game. Earlier in the day, Collins had called Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin an inspiration for his team, though an immediate Twitter backlash indicated that the helicopter — given the Mets’ money woes — may have been in bad taste.
About an hour before that crew departed, a hearing began in New York that could have major implications on the Wilpon’s litigation with Irving Picard, the trustee seeking to recover funds from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Picard wants $83 million from Mets ownership before the March 19 trial even begins; the Wilpons want the trial thrown out altogether.
—–Follow along on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Report from Port St. Lucie, 2/21
The big news today was something routine, that Johan Santana threw another 30 pitches on his road back from left anterior capsule surgery. That came about an hour after Terry Collins reiterated that he expects Santana to be ready for Opening Day.
Or, if you prefer not to read those 1,000 words (actually 800 or so), here’s a picture:
—–Follow along on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Anthony DiComo
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