Mets Win One, Lose One: Niese Looked Good, Mejia Awesome

Today the Mets split their games in split squad action, beating the Cardinals 7-3 (box score) and losing to the Marlins (box) 4-2 in 10 innings.

In the game against the Cardinals, Fernando Nieve started and went 3 innings, giving up one run.  Bobby Livingston, who pitched as well against the Braves, didn't fare so well today going 2 innings and giving up 2 runs on 5 hits.  Nelson Figueroa finished the game throwing 4 innings of one-hit, shut out ball, while striking out 5. 

At the plate, F-Mart went 2-4 with a rbi and a run scored.  Also driving in runs were Francouer, Tatis, Riggans Pridie and Cattalanotto, who drove in two runs on a pinch-hit triple.  3 of the mets 7 runs were off of Brad Penny in the first two innings, and another 3 were off Mitchell Boggs later in the game.  Not a bad outting for the split squad.

At Tradition Field, the rest of the Mets fell to the Marlins as Bobby Parnell gave up a two-run homer to stud prospect Mike Stanton in the 10th.  Niese had another nice outing for the Mets tossing 2 and 2/3 innings, striking out 5 and giving up a run on 3 hits.  Niese was then replaced by Mejia, who looked AWESOME.  He pitched 2 and 1/3 innings striking out 4, and giving up no hits, no runs and no walks. Oh, and Feliciano pitched an inning and only gave up one hit, while striking a better out.  Once again, I want him to be the set-up guy...

At the plate, Bay went 1-3 with an RBI, while the other Mets run came off an error.  Although there wasn't all that much to cheer about at the plate for the Mets, Angel Pagan did show some nice hustle scoring on a two-out error on an infield grounder.  With Matthews doing it yesterday and Pagan today, it's nice to see the Mets putting a little effort out there.

Summary:

The pitching was clearly the high point today, with Nieve, Figueroa, Niese, Feliciano and Mejia all throwing well.

This was my first look at Mejia, and from what I saw, everything they say about him is true.  His fastball has tons of life, and was making Marlin hitters chase the ball out of the zone consistently.  He also threw a few dirty sliders that the Marlins had absolutely no chance on.

Mejia came on after Niese, who is starting to look like a major league pitcher to me.  He was in control, and did a fantastic job throwing mostly cutters today.  Niese said during an in-game interview with the booth, that the cutter was apparently was just something he messed around with until Rickey Bones (former Brewers pitcher, amongst other teams, and current Binghamton Mets pitching coach) told him to try it out.  Well, that was a great decision because that pitch looks great, and it makes Niese all the more difficult to face.

Overall, it was a nice day on the hill for the Mets on both fronts.  Now after yesterdays hitting display, it'd be nice to see them start putting them both together on the same day.  But, hey, it's still early yet... 

Things I've Learned From the First Spring Training Game

Here are some things I learned watching today's game...

- The Mets are taking last year's freak rash of injuries a little too close to heart, after pulling all their everyday players out of the line-up because of a "wet field".  I know it's only spring training, but if they are going to be like this all year, then the fanbase will, and should, be pissed.  It smells like a year of low pitch counts, DL stints happening quicker and less risks on the field.

- Jason Heyward is a beast.  He's built like a house and looks extremely fast, this doesn't bode well for the NL East in the future.  Oh yeah, and Tommy Hanson looked pretty good, too.  This is going to be annoying...

- Bobby Livingston might prove to be a useful lefty out of the 'pen for the Mets.  He had some good stuff today, and was able to strike out some legitimate major leaguers.  I'm not saying give him the last spot in the bullpen just yet, but he's definitely worth a look after today's performance.

- Pedro Feliciano is a good pitcher.  He can bring it.  He threw three straight balls to start his outting and then just looked awesome.  If the Mets can find another lefty to be their "specialist", I would really like to see Pedro take over that set-up role.

- Ike Davis can hit and looks pretty mobile at first base.  He roped a double into the gap, which I originally thought was a benefit of a poor route in right field, but after a second look I realized the right fielder had NO CHANCE.  Also, Davis was able to go with a good pitch against a lefty an drive the ball to the opposite field for a single.  Impressive stuff...

- Ryota Igarashi looks pretty decent.  He had some nice movement on his splitter, but did walk a guy.  It wasn't really enough of a showing to get a good feel from the guy, but that's expected.  He didn't come in and show electric stuff but I don't think he was supposed to.  Ironically enough that wording was exactly the description Gary Cohen used on Jenrry Mejia.  Just sayin'...

- Kevin Burkhardt turned 36 today.  Happy Birthday Kevin, who according to Keith is "36 and never been kissed".  I love it when the crew gets loopy, especially Keith, and especially in the Spring.  It's almost like they feel they can get away with a bunch more, so they try it.