The Mets have a handful of prospects that everyone has been talking about all Winter and Spring. These are players like Ike Davis, Jenry Meija and even Josh Thole. Oh yeah, and we had this prospect that we all talked about a lot last year. Fernando Martinez? Do you recall? He had a swing like Sosa apparently, power potential. He got injured a lot if I remember correctly.

Well today was the Fmart Show. He went 4-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR. Thats right. TWO homers. By the way, he is getting hits 2 out of 3 trips now to the plate. Coming into this Spring he was a real outside shot for the CF position, especially with the GMJ trade. He was vocally upset about that trade. Now he is using his bat to make a statement. Ultimately, I think another year in the minors would do him good, so he could play everyday and concentrate on his health, but he is another young player making things very difficult for the Amazin's.

Another player who needed a big day was Jacobs who went 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB and his first hit this spring was a homer. With Murphy not playing amazingly out of the gate this Spring, Jacobs has an opportunity to turn heads, and maybe he will be able to do that starting now.

Also as a side note, in the first 6 games this Spring for the Mets, the Mets players have 7 homers. Nice.

On the other side of the ball today, Pelfrey didn't fair so well giving up 3 earned runs over 7 hits and over 3.0 innings. Hopefully he will be better next time out. Green bounced back in his outing today going 1.1 innings allowing only hit, and Kunz also had a much better performance pitching a clean no walk no hit inning.

This game featured the other two pitchers trying to get into the starting rotation and they made some strong cases. For Nieve, he went 3.0 innings, allowed a run, walked two and struck out two. Figueora went 4.0 innings allowing only one hit, and struck out 5. Before this week a lot of people basically had Figueora in the deep three spot for trying to get the fifth stater position, but you have to think now with two impressive performances he is making that race a tight one.

General offense notes:

GMJ went 1-3 as he continues to tear up Spring pitching with a .375 BA
Jacobs went 0-2 still looking for his first spring hit.
Fmart had a great day going 2-4, R, RBI
Tejeda 2-4, R

Another good day for the Mets, lets hope today is the same.

The most important note about the Mets home game yesterday was Meija. He really impressed a lot of people yesterday. He went out and pitched 2.1 innings of no hit ball while striking out 4 and walking none. A lot of people are now talking about if he could pitch himself into a position to make the team this season. Personally, I would like to see him in the minors for another season to develop his stuff but he is exciting and a lot of fun to watch.

Another pitcher with a lot of eyes on him also did well yesterday. Niese pitched 2.2 innings and allowed a run, walked two and struck out 5 in a pretty good performance. So far all of the Fifth starter hopefuls have had good outings, so its going to be an interesting race.

Only two offense notes:

Thursday's game was incredible for the Amazin's if you like offense. The Mets beat up on the Cards 17-11 as there were several key homeruns that made it a very special day. The first of which came from David Wright who in his first AB showed that he has power as he knocked one out of the park. The second one came from GMJ who needs to perform at a really high standard if he wants to upseat Pagan for the CF job (and if he keeps performing like he did, its possible). Finally, the biggest homer of the day, which was also featured on SportsCenter came from Ike Davis who in the bottom of the 8th blasted a grandslam outside of the ball park.

Going back to GMJ though, he had a huge day as he went 2-2 at the plate with a HR, 2B, BB, 3 R, RBI. Just a huge day for him. Castillo joined him in that department going 2-2, 2 R, BB, RBI. Finally, another person who needed a big day, Santos, went 3-3, 2R, and 2 RBI. He's basically playing for a spot that Barajas already has, so lets hope this might turn some heads on other teams and the Mets could get a good trade out of this.

Pitching wasn't anything to write home about for this game, but for Friday's game it was so we'll look at that in some other articles.

I will have a review of yesterday's 17-11 (really high scoring game) win up later today but for now there is a lot to look for today as the Mets have a split squad schedule, meaning two games, this afternoon.

The Mets will be taking on the Marlins at home today and the Mets will also be taking on the Cards away. Here are the player highlights:

In case you missed it, Ike Davis hit a Grand Slam in the bottom of the 8th yesterday that basically left the ballpark (in the sense that it landed almost beyond the picnic section). The homerun was so massive that it was actually the 9th play of the top 10 this morning on Sportscenter. Also, the Mets hit a total of 3 homers yesterday which is felt strange but nice (David Wright and GMJ with the other two).

The Mets return home for a 1:00 game today against the Cards and looks like the starters will finally get a chance to play today. Earliest indications are that Murphy, Castillo, Tejeda, Wright, Blanco, Bay, GMJ, and Francoeur will start off with RA Dickey pitching (then Meija following)

So far, the bigger story of the day was that Reyes was scratched from the lineup, apparently for a blood test associated with his physical. Lets try not to get worried about this.

Game will be on SNY, Lets Go Mets!

Alright, that title was a little mean considering that Kunz is only 24, but yes, yesterday was not a good day for Kunz, who after being handed a 4 run lead gave up 4 ER in one third of an inning. Anyway, now since that is out of the way. The Mets played the Braves for the second time in two days yesterday in Disney (or Away for the Mets) and unlike yesterday the Mets left with a 9-5 loss. It was also the second straight game that very few starters made the trip (setting up for today). Anyway here are some Highlights and Lowlights:

Players Helping Their Cause:

Players NOT Helping Their Cause:
Game Again Today! Lets Go Mets!

It was the first spring training game today in St. Lucie for the Amazin's as they played against the Braves. For the Mets, today was going to be the first time fans would see Mets starters in a game since October, but the weather had other plans and thanks to the rain a lot of Mets players got scratched from the lineup. There were also a few other bugs in way today. For people like me who tried to watch the start of the game on MLB.tv, the broadcast started later than it should have due to issues on their end. Also SNY started their presentation on time, but the umpires started the game early.

The game was a good one for the Mets as they beat the Braves to the score fo 4-2 notching their first win in the first game of the Spring. Alas, this time of the year has a lot of focus on individual performances. The following pitchers made a good name for themselves today:
Hitters that made a Good Name for themselves:
Players that Did NOT help their cause:
Other Notes: Hanson on the Braves is in form and looks to have a good year.

Over the past few weeks, the battles for who will play what and when for the Amazin's were being set up, and tomorrow begins the real fighting. Tomorrow at 1, the Mets will take on the Braves and players will start to get their chance. Clear cut starters will start to get their work in, some players will be presented with a great opportunity and others will get sent down to Minors camp. In years past we have seen surprise players shine in March. Last year it was Murphy and Parnell. Other players like Joe Smith made themselves in Spring. Its a big deal.

Here are some of the larger battles shaping up:

Who will play first?
Which Catching Pair will go to Queens? (More of a question before the signing of Barajas)
Who will be the fifth starter?
Who will be Set-up Man? (Parnell? Igarashi? Green?)
Will their be a suprise Bullpen Pitcher?
Who will be on the bench?

And then their are questions like:

How will Perez do?
Will Wright have power?
How will Green's new delivery work?
Will Ike Davis wow us?
How wild is Meija?


Baseball games start tomorrow!