Coleman's Corner: Peeking At The Pitching

Another fairly quiet day of drills (rundowns, bunting, etc.) and live BP occupied the Mets on Wednesday in Port St. Lucie.

Eight pitchers threw BP today  -  Henrry Mejia, Dillon Gee, Pat Misch, Pedro Beato, Taylor Buchholz, Manny Acosta, Armando Rodriguez, and John Lujan.  Beato has drawn some attention early on with his crackling fastball.  He's a New York kid who went to Xaverian High in Brooklyn, was originally drafted by the Mets, went to college and then was drafted and signed by Baltimore, and picked up in the off-season in the Rule 5 draft by the Mets.  Manager Terry Collins was asked what he sees in Beato.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen has also taken notice of the 6'-6" righthander and his assortment of pitches probably better suited to be a starter.

As a Rule 5 selection, Beato has to make the 25-man roster or be offered back to the Orioles, so he will see plenty of action early on to show his stuff, including the opening exhibition game against Atlanta on Saturday at Digital Domain Field.

Mejia was sharp during his outing.  The battle continues over whether he's a starter or reliever  -  he has the stuff and the pitches to be a starter, but some believe his delivery and motion and "max-out" style is better suited out of the bullpen late.  Collins  -  who is in the starter camp  - can see the other side as well.

Mejia will most likely begin the season at Triple AAA Buffalo to accumulate innings, but Collins was asked if he could see Mejia coming up later in the season to help out in either role.

What the Mets need at a particular time when Mejia is ready to advance may well determine the outcome of his role.

Gee had an off-day on the mound, fighting to get himself in a rhythm all the time.  After he finished there was an interesting scene.  David Wright, who he faced, noticed that he was tipping off his changeup by flaring out his glove.  He alerted Gee to that fact after he walked off the mound, teammate helping teammate.

For the third straight day, extra fielding drills for the 2nd basemen took place after the regular workout on the main field.  Daniel Murphy has been working on turning the double-play the past couple of days with Tim Teufel and Chip Hale overseeing.  Monday he was taking throws  -  Tuesday he was making them.

Today, Murphy, Brad Emaus, Jordany Valdespin and Chin-lung Hu were all out there.  Hu, set to back up Jose Reyes at shortstop, may see a lot of action at 2B late in games if the Mets are winning.  With the Chase Utleys and Dan Ugglas and their big bats patrolling second these days, Collins was asked what he's looking for at that position for his club.

Wednesday morning the team was tied up early with both a "dealing with the media" meeting and a security meeting.  On Thursday, it's photo day.

Has anyone seen Ronny Paulino?

C U soon
Eddie C.

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