Per capire che Perez fosse scarso non avevate certo bisogno dello ST
Per il resto...lo ST conta meno di zero. I giocatori sperimentano, vengono fatte 4000 sostituzioni a partita, il clima non è certo quello della tensione agonistica...
Ragazzo, quando partecipi a un evento sportivo quello che conta non è vincere o perdere, ma quanto ti ubriachi
Johan talks to Perez after tough outing
Mets ace expresses team's need for struggling hurler to right ship
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Long fingers are an advantage for a pitcher. For a man generously listed as 6-foot tall, Johan Santana has relatively long fingers. They help him throw his changeup more effectively. On Thursday morning, they were used to make a point, and were they longer, they might have been stuck in the chest of Oliver Perez.
While others were talking about, but hardly praising Perez, Santana was talking to him. Consider it a talking to -- left-handed pitcher to left-handed pitcher, teammate to teammate, friend to friend and, the way some chose to see it, man to child. It was more monologue than a conversation.
"I hope it takes," a third player said after noticing the conversation.
For Perez, it was the morning after the day before. He had been hammered by the Tigers on Wednesday -- six runs, six walks and six hits in 4 2/3 innings. He needed 92 pitches to achieve 11 outs. And afterward, his pitching coach and manager expressed their dissatisfaction, respectively, about his conditioning and his performance. Neither was pleased.
Santana, the polar opposite of Perez in many ways, but also a mentor, became involved Thursday morning.
"I talked to him. ... He's got to get into pitching again and get going. He knows that," Santana said. "He's got to get his mechanics and his command."
Santana acknowledged it was rather late in camp for such a conversation.
Santana didn't condemn his teammate, nor did he offer words of encouragement, as he characterized the conversation. He didn't say "He'll be all right" or "I'm not concerned." The club is concerned and a tad miffed. It had suspected Perez's participation in the World Baseball Classic might undermine his preparation for the 2009 season. But it hadn't expected him to return "out of shape," to use the words of pitching coach Dan Warthen.
"He doesn't seem to take anything seriously," a teammate said of Perez.
And that is not the kind of assessment that flies well in a clubhouse still stung by the shortfalls of the past two seasons, especially not in light of the $36 million contract the Mets bestowed on Perez in February.
"We need him to be in shape and be serious," said Warthen.
Perez denied he is out of shape Thursday, but acknowledged "I'm a little behind." He seemed to challenge reporters who questioned him about Warthen's comments.
"If you want to run, we can run," Perez said.
He did allow that he might have been better conditioned by now if not for his participation in the Classic.
"We were working different in the Classic," said Perez. "We didn't do [pitchers fielding practice] and all the exercises we do here, but I feel good."
Perez noted he had pitched merely 6 2/3 inning in 19 days and said, "If I was here, I'd throw more than 10 innings. That's why in Spring Training, you need to get ready to have all your pitches."
John Maine took another step toward being ready for the regular season, throwing 95 pitches in the New York Mets' 9-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Maine, who had a bone spur shaved in his right shoulder in September, gave up six hits and three runs - one earned - in five innings. He struck out five, walked three and threw two wild pitches.
"This whole spring has been working on things," said Maine, who entered with a 10.38 ERA. "That's what I did today. I pitched a little more in situations where I didn't early in the spring."
"I got some swings and misses on changeups, gave up a couple hits with it, but they're still good pitches," he said. "My slider, it feels good. I threw some good ones but I threw some bad ones. I just have to be more consistent."
A quanto pare Maine sarà il quarto della rotazione dei Mets, nonostante le recenti brutte prestazioni di Perez.
Interessante articolo che comunica il 25-man roster dei Mets per l'Opening game. Decisi 10 pitchers su 12 e 11 giocatori di movimento su 13, quindi ci sono ancora 2 spots per categoria.
A quanto pare il GM dei Tigers Dave Dombrowski è interessato a Stokes, dopo averlo visto in azione mercoledi scorso, proprio contro Detroit, lanciare due scoreless innings. In cambio riceveremo Ryan Raburn, utility player destro.
----- The Tigers engaged the Mets about a potential swap of reliever Brian Stokes for Detroit's righty-hitting utility player Ryan Raburn, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The talks began after Wednesday's Mets-Tigers game, during which Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski watched Stokes fire two scoreless innings. The newspaper reported that talks fizzled because Stokes, who is out of options and must pass through waivers to be sent to the minors, is projected to make the Mets' Opening Day roster.
Raburn, 27, has a .255 average with eight homers and 48 RBI in 349 at-bats over the past three seasons with Detroit.
Raburn's inclusion in the trade proposal is an indication that the Tigers might be comfortable sending him to the minors if he's not traded this week.