The First Spring Training Post of the Year
I’m somewhat disgusted with myself for taking so long to write about baseball, considering players have been down in Florida and Arizona for quite a while now. My sleeping schedule has been such a goddamn disaster that I’ve missed a lot of Grapefruit League games, and I haven’t bothered to watch many of the replays at night. See, the WBC was kinda cool — maybe Bud Selig isn’t a total moron.
I find myself getting a bit too excited about this season. This shouldn’t be happening, considering the medical problems and accompanying confusion is seemingly already at full throttle. While Carlos Beltran recovers from surgery, Jose Reyes has an overactive thyroid — maybe. At least Francisco Rodriguez is out of pink-eye containment.
But the reasons I’m excited are the young players. That’s what gets any baseball fan looking to the future excited (you know, since this season is pretty much a lost cause). Ike Davis is crushing home runs and hitting over .500. Fernando Martinez is tearing the cover off the ball as well. And Jenrry Mejia looks ready to blow away big league hitters right now. Yet I shouldn’t be getting excited for this season due to any of that. One, it’s spring training, and barely over a week into it. Two, I’m pretty sure none of these guys will break camp with the major league team. And the one guy that seems to have the best shot — Mejia — I don’t want to start the season in the Mets’ bullpen. He needs to continue to develop as a starting pitcher, not only because that makes sense in any situation, but particularly because the Mets’ rotation doesn’t look like world-beaters going forward. The Dominican kid has ace potential, as evidenced by the stuff on display here. Please don’t fuck him up. Please don’t.
Meanwhile, David Wright seems capable of hitting home runs again, Johan Santana is not quite back in the pitching groove yet, and Oliver Perez still sucks. That’s all I’ve got at the moment. I just needed to check in.
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