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Are You Ready For Some Grapefruit?
By Jeff Zachowski on February 27th, 2008 12:43 PM |
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Today marks the “official” beginning of Grapefruit League play for the Mets, however the team has been busy on the baseball diamond since the start of the week.
On Monday, the team played an intrasquad game down in Port St. Lucie on a minor league field dubbed Field 7, which incidentally has been reconfigured to mimic the dimensions of Citi Field (Tradition Field is unlikely undergo a similar makeover due to various logistical problems, including the elimination of a popular lawn area in right field).
The highlight of the game was Duaner Sanchez, who took the mound and faced live hitters in a game situation for the first time in nearly two years, prompting pitching coach Rick Peterson to remark, “It was like walking across the desert step-by-step and today he finally got to the oasis.”
Said Sanchez: “It’s been so long I don’t even know how to step on the freakin’ mound.”
Sanchez is a story that everyone will be monitoring as camp progresses since everyone agrees his health and effectiveness is critical to the success of the bullpen, but no one knows what is reasonable to expect from his twice surgically repaired right shoulder.
Meanwhile yesterday the team played an exhibition game against the Michigan Wolverines. The outcome of the game – a 4-4 tie – is of little consequence (most of the regulars who participated came out in the early innings), however, of more interest to fans is the way the Mets led off the bottom of the 1st inning. Jose Reyes legged out an easy double before advancing to third on an out. David Wright, hitting third, followed with a two-run homer. Nothing like getting the season off to a running start, eh?
If you’re really salivating for some Mets baseball, head on over to Newsday, where they’ve got video of Reyes and Wright in action (you’ll need to select it from the menu unless you want to watch the Democrats battle in Ohio…).
Last but not least, while the team is likely to only bring a skeleton crew to Lakeland today to face the Tigers, you can listen to the action live, right here. First pitch at 1pm.
Play ball!
