The tempo on my changeup is a little off right now because I was gung-ho being out there and trying to make pitches. I needed to relax a little bit," Glavine said. "When you're facing a team other than your own for the first time, your competitiveness gets going a little bit."
Wonder how many NY tabloids will be writing Ground Control To Major Tom if Glavine ends up starting the season opener in place of Pedro...
In another tantalising slice of news, Paul Lo Duca made his Spring Training debut for the Mets he was hitless but hit the ball hard both times, narrowly missing an extra-base hit down the left-field line that went foul in his first at-bat and lining out to third base the next time up.
On defence, Lo Duca threw out Cleveland's Grady Sizemore trying to steal third and made a quick grab of a tapper down the third base line to get Ben Broussard at first and end the third inning. Clearly not the Kung-Foo grip catcher Mike Piazza was. Our pitchers should be grateful.
*****
After the B Side were handed a 16-2 pasting on Sunday by a Dodger team which had Derek Lowe and Odalis Perez pitching one after another as if this were the NL Playoffs (which it might be later on...) rather than a Grapefruit League game, the Mets were also humiliated playing against Team Puerto Rico as Beltran had a two run single off our new Wunderkind Closer Billy Wagner to lead the PRs to a 6-1 victory. Of course, on the good side, Wagner struck out Bernie Williams, a hated Yankee, so perhaps he was just helping Carlos out, giving him a little preferential treatment and a confidence booster in a meaningless game. We even got a glimpse of our new upandcoming pitcher of the future, the dazzling Mike Pelfrey who shut the PRs out for two innings, striking out Pudge Rodriguez in the interim.
Most interesting aspect of the Puerto Rico game was that Carlos Delgado chose to sit it out because of tendinitis in his left elbow.
“I’m going to get some treatment for it and see how it goes.
“If I’m not healthy, I will be honest to myself and to the team and take some time off. I will definitely be smart about it.” --- Have to say, didn't see that one coming. But that's probably do to all the braincells I've lossed thinking about Pedro. I forgot Delgado was sidelined by the same elbow tendinitis last March and missed the first nine spring training games for the Marlins, so perhaps this isn't as tragic as it first sounds.
Lost in the hoopla of Puerto Rico and the hideous loss to the Dodgers was that John Maine, who may one day bear fruits from the Mrs Benson trade, threw down two scoreless innings against the Dodgers in his first appearance.
Last night, Jeff Keppinger got the nod at second base whilst Anderson Hernandez played another game at short. Keppinger had two hits, including a double but Anderson was a quiet 0 for 4 to drop his Spring batting average to .357 and got thrown out trying to steal While X Nady was having an 0 for night playing in left field, Victor Diaz continued to stake his mark going two for three and hitting his third double of the Spring. Hard decisions for Manager Willie in both rightfield and second base but you've gotta be happy that the choice is tough because the competition is so good, not because it's so bad.
In the meantime, regardless of his chances of making the team, Jose Lima has already shown that he has a pitching face every bit is hideous and misshapen as Pedro's:
Lima had a rough debut, allowing 2 earned runs and 4 hits in less than three innings of work including a homer, but also struck out three while walking three. Pretty much the kind of performance you'd expect out of Jose Lima, I mean, he isn't going to take off his jersey to reveal Cy Young out there, is he then?
You make the call:
Who's got the uglier pitching face?
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