The John Delcos New York Mets Report Featuring Mets' commentary, analysis and news.

MANUEL: Looks indecisive.

Carlos Beltran said he felt better than expected after last night’s Single-A rehab game in Port St. Lucie. Beltran also said he would like to play in the Marlins series next week in Puerto Rico.

Manager Jerry Manuel waffled on the subject, first intimating it was possible then saying it was unlikely. What he didn’t do was what he should have done, and slammed the door on the issue.

“No, he’s not playing,’’ Manuel should have said. “I can appreciate him wanting to, but we have a plan for him and that would be rushing it.’’

There, now it is a closed case.

Manuel waffles all the time on a variety of issues, many of them injury related. It makes him come across as unsure and uninformed.

The last thing the Mets need is a setback with Beltran, and that’s exactly what could happen if they rush him. Why is that so hard to understand? Why can’t he just say it.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

MAINE: Not ready yet.

Jerry Manuel is saying John Maine might need another rehab start after Friday night, which probably isn’t a bad idea considering he was clocked at 88 mph. in his last outing.

When Maine comes back he would most likely come back as a starter because Manuel fears his shoulder might not be able to handle the up-and-down nature of the bullpen.

Several years ago the Mets once toyed with the idea of moving Maine to the bullpen but resisted.

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Word is Carlos Beltran is running with a limp, which still delays the timetable on his return.

Once Beltran moves from extended spring training games to a minor league rehab assignment the clock will start and the Mets would have 20 days to activate him.

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NOTES: Luis Castillo is taking ground balls in Port St. Lucie and might be activated for the Yankees series at the Stadium this weekend. … With the Mets facing righthanded pitching until Sunday look for Chris Carter to remain as the DH.

Posted under Mets News, Mets News & Features/2010

Eyes had to be raised when after Oliver Perez, who so vehemently refused a demotion to the minor leagues, suddenly came up lame with patella tendinitis after a MRI the day before the Mets activated Jon Niese from the disabled list.

PEREZ: In better times.

Major League Baseball reviewed the MRI because, shall we say, of the convenient timing of all this for the Mets.

Manager Jerry Manuel said Perez complained of knee pain Friday when he arrived at Citi Field, then had a MRI than revealed the tendinitis.

“He says he’s not able to pitch the way it is right now,’’ assistant general manager John Ricco said. “When a player tells you he’s injured and a doctor confirms that, from where I sit, that’s what the DL is for.’’

Maybe it is convenient, but the truth is Perez had surgery on the same knee in the offseason and this spring has had nothing on his fastball. To say it’s coincidental would be true; to say there is a link would also be true.

“I thought that with the velocity not ever getting to what I saw in 2008, that always concerns me to some degree,’’ Manuel said.  “But the athlete tells you that he’s fine, he’s fine, doesn’t feel anything, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.’’

Perez will rehab his knee at Port St. Lucie, but the team does not have a timetable for when he’ll throw again.

Perez is 0-3 with a 6.28 ERA in 11 appearances, seven of them starts, and has allowed 76 base runners in 38 2/3 innings.

Posted under Mets News, Mets News & Features/2010

GAME #49 at Brewers

The Mets open a six-game road trip tonight at Milwaukee, which has only won six games this season at home.

Coincidentally, the Mets have only won six games this season on the road.

However, they are hot, winners of five straight, with the last three shutouts over Philadelphia. The Mets have been doing it with pitching, solid defense and timely hitting. They’ve been fundamentally sound, and fundamentals play anywhere.

Johan Santana (4-2, 3.41) gets the ball for the Mets. He is coming off a strong effort, 7 2/3 innings last Sunday against the Yankees.

Santana is 4-3 with a 3.53 lifetime ERA against the Brewers in ten starts.

Here’s tonight’s line-up:

Jose Reyes, SS
Alex Cora, 2B
Jason Bay, LF
Ike Davis, 1B
David Wright, 3B
Angel Pagan, CF
Rod Barajas, C
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Johan Santana, LP

NOTEBOOK: Carlos Beltran has still not been cleared to run full speed and begin baseball activities. There is no timetable for his return, but one can assume it won’t be before the All-Star break. … Jon Niese will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow at Port St. Lucie.

Posted under Chat Rooms, Chat Rooms/2010

This falls under the `I’ll believe it when I see it’ category. Carlos Beltran is taking soft toss BP in Port St. Lucie and is hopeful of running, then resuming baseball activities later this week. “It all begins with running,” Beltran told reporters in Florida. There is no timetable for Beltran’s return until he begins running. Until then, everything is merely wishful thinking.

I thought of Beltran last night while watching the Mets’ offense sputter in losing to the Reds. Oliver Perez did his job, and so did the bullpen, but the game was lost at the plate. The Mets were cooked the last two games in Philadelphia, but last night was a winnable game, and losses like that ultimately come back to haunt a team.

Last night also reinforced the streaky nature of this team. It is capable of winning seven straight one week and going on a losing streak the next. As evidenced by their record, the Mets are barely a win-one, lose-one type of team.

Save for a few games, the offense has been inconsistent all season, and Beltran’s absence is a big part of the reason.

Losing Beltran forced Jerry Manuel to juggle his line-up by moving Jose Reyes to third. The problem is Reyes is not a No. 3 hitter and it has weakened the leadoff position. Reyes is not playing his normal game, two hits last night notwithstanding. Nor is his replacement, Angel Pagan, a leadoff hitter.

Posted under Commentary/2010, Mets Commentary

It wasn’t too long ago that it was March and the Mets were telling everybody who was asking that spring training records and statistics mean nothing.

Well, the games and numbers count now, and the Mets are 2-4, losing consecutive series to the Marlins and Nationals, teams they should at least be beating at home.

Pitching will decide this season and already the winter concerns resurfaced during the first week. Mike Pelfrey pitched better, but he’s had moments like that before and then regressed. For Pelfrey to be lit up in his next start, Thursday night in Colorado, wouldn’t be a surprise.

John Maine did not pitch well in his first start and neither did Oliver Perez. While Maine goes tonight against the Rockies, look for the Mets to skip Perez to keep Johan Santana on regular rest.

Jon Niese was strong in his start, but still lost – primarily because the offense is still in Port St. Lucie – and Santana has had both a good and bad outing.

The pitching has not been good with an average of just under five a game. Everybody has been wild and no starter has made it past the sixth inning, and everybody save Pelfrey has an ERA over 4.50.

Is there help on the horizon? Nope, and let’s not even think about trading for Cincinnati’s Aaron Harang, who is due $25 million over the next two years. Despite the talk on the call-in shows, Bronson Arroyo is not available.

Let’s face it, any pitcher of substance would, 1) be not be offered, and 2) if he were would cost a lot in prospects.

Help, quality help, isn’t coming. These guys have to pick it up for themselves.

If they don’t the bullpen will be quick to fall.

Without the bullpen, the Mets are 1-5 and there would be more wailing than wondering. Even so, a trend of recent seasons has returned, and that is an over reliance on the pen. At this rate, before you know it, the innings will have piled up and we’ll be talking about the holes in the bullpen.

Fernando Nieve has the hot arm and he’s been in four of six games already. With how Jerry Manuel has used the pen before, it won’t be long before Nieve is burned out.

Some of the pitching problems would be offset if the team was hitting, but it is third worst in the National League at .245, and .189 with runners in scoring position.

All of the losses can be traced to their inability to hit with runners in scoring position.

It’s too early to panic, but not too early to recognize a trend and how the Mets aren’t headed on a good path.

And, that path takes them into Colorado and St. Louis this week, two of the more difficult venues to play in the National League. Those aren’t places where a team gets well.

Posted under Commentary/2010, Mets Commentary

Jerry Manuel said after the Opening Day victory he planned on making no changes with the line-up, which would mean another start for Alex Cora at shortstop and Mike Jacobs hitting clean-up.

Of course, that means changes across the board.

Said Jacobs of going 0-for-4: “My first day hitting in this stadium, obviously in a game, I didn’t pick up the ball real well. As the game went on, it got a little better. But you just chalk it up to just first day and hopefully a lot more days left.’’

Still, I’d rather they go David Wright-Jason Bay in the 3-4 slots, with Jacobs fifth and Jeff Francoeur sixth.

I also don’t have a problem with Cora playing. He usually does the right thing.

Manuel did say he’d try to get all the position players in games during this homestand to make sure everybody gets involved. If you’re selling the concept of “team,’’ then everybody should play.

REYES UPDATE: The news continues to be positive for shortstop Jose Reyes, who reached base four times with two hits and two walks last night in an extended spring training game in Port St. Lucie. Reyes played nine innings of defense.

The Mets believe he will return as scheduled from the disabled list Saturday against Washington.

Reyes started the season on the DL due to a thyroid condition. He missed most of last season with a hamstring injury.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: John Maine, 1-3 with a 7.88 ERA during spring training, will start tonight. I’ll have something on Maine later today.

CHAT ROOM: Don’t forget, I’ll host another Mets Chat Room during tonight’s game. Hope to see you online.

Posted under Mets News

They are playing the “maybe’’ game again with Jose Reyes, with GM Omar Minaya not discounting him for Opening Day.

“We haven’t ruled it out yet, no,’’ Minaya said. “He looks good. He wants to bring it to the next level.’’

Reyes took live BP this morning for the first time.

The Mets could put him in a minor league game, where he’d lead off each inning and get six or seven at-bats. But, isn’t that rushing him, something they said they wouldn’t do?

Reyes hasn’t faced a major league pitch since last May, and even with a full workload this week that might not be enough.

Reyes is too valuable to this team to fool around with him. Better be certain than risk a setback. By Minaya leaving it open, Reyes might push himself to where he shouldn’t go. Better for Minaya to say
something now and take temptation away from him.

MEJIA STILL POSSIBLE: Jenrry Mejia to the Mets bullpen still remains a possibility, and if it happens he would presumably take the spot of Kiko Calero, leaving him behind for an extended spring training.

ONE GAME BAGGED: The split squad game in Viera, Fla., against the Nationals was rained out. Jon Niese was scheduled to start, but instead will pitch today in Port St. Lucie, against the Marlins.
Oliver Perez was to start that game, but will start tomorrow instead.

Here’s today’s lineup against the Marlins:

Angel Pagan, LF
Alex Cora, SS
David Wright, 3B
Daniel Murphy, 1B
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Gary Matthews, CF
Henry Blanco, C
Ruben Tejada, 2B
Jon Niese, LP

Posted under Mets News