2/24/12

Mets: Chris Schwinden, Ruben Tejada, Ike Davis, New Fences



2-10-12 - http://seedlingstostars.com/2012/02/10/s2s-2012-team-prospect-lists-new-york-mets/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter  - #6.) Chris Schwinden, RHP. Schwinden is similar to Gorski, and has the advantage of already being in the majors, but he’s also a righthander, so if he can’t stick in an MLB rotation, he’ll probably spend a bunch of years as a Triple-A rover. The cutter specialist did have a 3.03 FIP in four MLB starts last year, and his Triple-A season was quite strong, so perhaps he’ll exceed expectations. Grade: C+

Ruben Tejada will have a doghouse awaiting him when he arrives to Mets spring training on Saturday. Though the shortstop isn’t technically be late in reporting to camp, manager Terry Collins views it differently, considering Tejada is a young player starting a new job as he replaces Jose Reyes. “I am a little surprised,” Collins said Wednesday. “A lot of it is just selfishness on my part. I take great pride in the game itself and respecting the game and I wish everybody had the same respect for it where they wanted to get started as early as possible.” http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/metsblog/collins_surprised_tejada_yet_to_acBM8iE9yb4hPgrbd3jqZP#ixzz1n98RkThj

That psychological boost is exactly what the Mets are hoping for by taking batting practice early and often on Field 7. Just as Citi's cavernous dimensions took a mental toll on the team's power hitters during its first three years, Terry Collins believes this downsizing effort will have the exact opposite effect. "It's going to change the way these guys think when they're at home plate," Collins said. "I just think this is going to ease some minds. This past year I saw many guys thinking they have to pull the baseball to hit a homer; therefore we came off some balls, hit some routine fly balls, swung and missed a bad pitch. The same goes for lefthanded hitters. Our guys are going to hit on that field a lot. Hopefully it makes a difference." http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-hitters-happy-about-fences-coming-in-1.3550324

Ike Davis was robbed of a huge season when he went down with an ankle injury in April. On pace for 32 HRs and 112 RBI, Davis was conjuring up memories of Carlos Delgado, but with a gold glove. Just 24, Davis already is averaging 23/85/.271 line for his short big league career. My only question is the impact of the ankle injury that nearly required microfracture surgery. http://nybaseballdigest.com/2012/02/23/young-mets-hitters-could-develop-into-solid-core/

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