Mets Camp Is Going Pretty Well, Huh?

Here's the man who is paid significant amounts of money by the New York Mets to manage the professional careers of 25 other men saying... something?

“I talk about patience,” the manager said. “Right now, I’m out of it . So I’ve got to regain it. I’ve got to go back tonight and have my wife beat me up so I can find my patience again.

I had a buddy that used to have a bear — a pet bear. He used to, when he got mad, the bear would go kick him around the cage. And he finally said, ‘OK, I’m back down to earth now.’ ” (via Hardball Talk)

Just when the Mets make you think they've hit rock bottom as a professional sports organization, they plow right on through and keep sinking to new depths.  I mean, what the hell is going on with this team??? 

Their owners are incompetent boobs at best, possible dirty criminals at worst, who are being sued for half a gajillion dollars; their best player is out with an oblique injury and looking at a lot of missed games; their only good lefty relief pitcher is out for six weeks after meniscus surgery; their payroll is dropping only slightly slower than the number of fans they're losing; half of their roster is injured and the other half just completely sucks; and now their manager is so pissed off by the injured half that he's practically speaking in tongues.

But at least Johan's back, right?

P.S.- So glad I'm a Yankee fan

Big Injury News Of The Day- Garcia, Swisher

If you haven't been following the updates on the AB4AR Facebook Page (hint, hint, "Like" it), here's what you missed today.

- Freddy Garcia left his start against Toronto after taking a comebacker off his pitching hand.  He immediately walked off the mound and into the clubhouse with the Yankee training staff trailing him, which is never a good sign, and was taken for precautionary x-rays.  The x-rays turned out to be negative, which is a good sign, but with the reported amount of swelling in the hand it's almost certain that Freddy will miss at least one start.

- The other injury casualty in the game today was Swish, who left the game early with tightness in his left groin.  There weren't any tests done and no more are scheduled, so it doesn't appear to be too big a deal.  Swish wasn't scheduled to make the trip for tomorrow's game anyway, so a day of rest might be enough to take care of this.

- Not at all bad news, though.  D-Rob spent 30 minutes on a treadmill today and didn't report any pain in his bruised foot.  He could be able to throw a bullpen session some time this weekend.

(Props to Chad at LoHud for his coverage of the injuries)

As The Rotation Progresses

I'm a little short on topics this morning, so let's just have some fun with small sample sizes.  Ivan Nova's start last night was by far his best of the early spring and signified the start of the 3rd time through the rotation this spring for the six guys "competing" for a spot.  The first time through, including Hughes' "relief" start behind CC, the combined pitching line looked like this:

11.1 IP, 16 H, 8 ER, 0 BB, 10 K

Not too shabby for the first outings of the spring.  Most everybody was focusing on a particular pitch or two and pitch counts were pretty low.  Here's the line the second time through:

17.1 IP, 16 H, 6 ER, 9 BB, 8 K

Not exactly what I expected to see, although the overall numbers are a bit better; same number of hits and fewer earned runs allowed in more IP, with all 6 of the runs and 10 of the hits coming from Nova's and Pineda's second outings.  What's stands out to me is the walk totals.  For as much as the general theme was guys not having great command the first time through and having improved command the second time, not a single batter was walked in anybody's first outing and every single pitcher walked at least one batter the second time through.  I also would have expected to see a few more strikeouts the second time through, but it's still early.

If Nova's 4 shutout, walkless innings last night are any indication, this third time through could be even better.  Stay tuned.