Misha77Piazza
03-10-2004, 09:42 AM
We'll see if he's back to his pitching form after having Tommy John surgery. I don't know if his stuff is good enough to sustain through innings. He has to stay healthy in order to stay in bullpen rotation.
03/09/2004 6:07 PM ET
Strickland mentally ready
By Kevin T. Czerwinski
Scott Strickland had a 2.25 ERA in 19 games before getting hurt last season. (AP)
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Field No. 7 at the Tradition Field complex was empty Monday morning, save for a solitary figure crouching on the mound.
On an adjacent field, the Mets minor league Spring Training had begun and the commotion caused by the young players should have been enough to stir Scott Strickland from his trance-like state. But it wasn't.
"I was striking out Barry Bonds yesterday," Strickland said Tuesday morning. "I was trying to visualize what it's like up there. I haven't been up there in a while. But yesterday I faced three or four of the best hitters in the league and struck them all out.
"I do that all the time, though, even when I'm healthy. It's constant before I go to bed. Ask my wife or my parents. They'll ask me a full question and I won't even hear them. They get mad at me but it's baseball season. I'm in a daze. It takes up a majority of my day. Guys like [Tom] Glavine do it. Their mental imagery is so detailed they can smell the smells."
Strickland had Tommy John surgery last June 17 and has just recently begun throwing off the mound. He's targeting a return to the Major Leagues in late May but a more conservative estimate will probably be sometime in June or July. Strickland hit 77 mph on the radar gun the other day but he's still only throwing at 60 percent.
"This [hitting 77] lets me know what I have to do," Strickland said. "No one wants to come back as much as I do. But at the same time I have to take baby steps. It's coming along great, though. My mechanics are unbelievable. I feel like I'm in college again as far as my arm feels. It will definitely be nice to throw without pain. It will open a whole new door for me when I can just let it go."
In Strickland's mind, he's already letting it go. He was a Cy Young Award winner on Field No. 7 earlier this week.
Yates suffers setback: Tyler Yates' pursuit of the fifth starter's spot in the New York rotation hit a minor snag on Tuesday morning when he suffered a mild strain of his right hamstring while stretching. He's expected to miss as many as three days and is hoping to be back on the mound by the weekend. Royce Ring and Jeremy Hill took Yates' spot in the rotation Tuesday against the Marlins.
"This is just precautionary," Yates said. "You never want to be scratched, but this is spring so you don't want to push the limits. I'm hoping it will be two or three days and then I'll be back out there. You never want to miss an appearance but if it does happen, you just keep going out there and do the best you can. If this is something that holds me back I'd be disappointed but I'm not going to worry about it."
"It happened at the end of stretching so I just grabbed the trainer and went in and got treatment. I almost fell over, it hurt so badly. I asked some of the other guys what a hamstring injury felt like cause I never had one before. They said it was a burning feeling but mine was mostly tight.
Manager Art Howe said that Yates could have possibly pitched, but if he had to cover first then "we would have had a real problem on our hands."
Clearing the air: Braden Looper and Jack McKeon talked briefly before Tuesday's 9-3 Marlins victory to clear the air about some comments the Marlins manager made about his former closer last month in a Florida newspaper.
At the time, McKeon said that Armando Benitez was more intimidating than Looper but didn't mean that as a slight against Looper. He was simply pumping up his own closer, adding that that once he is around a little longer, Looper will have that reputation as well.
"He said that whatever he said (in the paper) that he didn't mean anything by it, and I told him I knew that," Looper said. "I said at the time I knew he would never purposely tear me down in any way. I enjoyed Jack when I was there and respect him very much."
Looper then went out and pitched against his former teammates for the first time, throwing a scoreless fourth inning. He faced four batters, allowing a Mike Mordecai double.
"It was a little weird," Looper said. "Especially when Mordy got up there. I'm glad I faced them now, though. At least we got it out of the way. I talked to (Mike) Redmond before the game and that was good. His locker was next to mine for five years so I'm glad to get that out of the way."
Redmond also said it was strange seeing his friend on the mound.
"It was weird for sure," Redmond said. "The hardest part was probably just knowing exactly what he was going to do to get me out -- and he got me out."
Kaz watch: Kaz Matsui got into Tuesday's game as the designated hitter in the eighth inning and drew a walk off Nate Bump. He came around to score on a Karim Garcia single. "We got a little glimpse of that speed," manager Art Howe said. "He's anxious to get his first hit, though, I'm sure." Matsui will be the designated hitter in Wednesday's 'B' game against the Cardinals in Jupiter.
This and that: Garcia's woes, meanwhile, continued during batting practice. Jose Reyes hit a long fly ball foul into the player's parking lot, breaking a window on Garcia's Hummer. Garcia also accidentally hit a fan in the head with a batted ball. The fan was not injured. ... Garcia and Shane Spencer gave voluntary statements to the Port St. Lucie police on Tuesday as part of the ongoing investigation in the matter involving pizza deliveryman Eric Vidal. ... Long-time Mets broadcaster and Hall of Famer Bob Murphy will be in Port St. Lucie Saturday and call three innings of the Mets-Cardinals game on WFAN. ... Jae Weong Seo will make the trip to Kissimmee for Wednesday's game against the Astros. He will get the start and will be followed by Scott Erickson, Orber Moreno and Ricky Bottalico. Seo was hit by Roger Cedeno's foul line drive Friday night. He suffered a bruised right thigh and was forced to miss his start on Saturday. ... James Baldwin, Bob Keppel, Matt Peterson and Dan Wheeler will pitch in Wednesday's 'B' game against the Cardinals in Jupiter. ... Al Leiter threw 43 pitches over three scoreless innings.
Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
03/09/2004 6:07 PM ET
Strickland mentally ready
By Kevin T. Czerwinski
Scott Strickland had a 2.25 ERA in 19 games before getting hurt last season. (AP)
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Field No. 7 at the Tradition Field complex was empty Monday morning, save for a solitary figure crouching on the mound.
On an adjacent field, the Mets minor league Spring Training had begun and the commotion caused by the young players should have been enough to stir Scott Strickland from his trance-like state. But it wasn't.
"I was striking out Barry Bonds yesterday," Strickland said Tuesday morning. "I was trying to visualize what it's like up there. I haven't been up there in a while. But yesterday I faced three or four of the best hitters in the league and struck them all out.
"I do that all the time, though, even when I'm healthy. It's constant before I go to bed. Ask my wife or my parents. They'll ask me a full question and I won't even hear them. They get mad at me but it's baseball season. I'm in a daze. It takes up a majority of my day. Guys like [Tom] Glavine do it. Their mental imagery is so detailed they can smell the smells."
Strickland had Tommy John surgery last June 17 and has just recently begun throwing off the mound. He's targeting a return to the Major Leagues in late May but a more conservative estimate will probably be sometime in June or July. Strickland hit 77 mph on the radar gun the other day but he's still only throwing at 60 percent.
"This [hitting 77] lets me know what I have to do," Strickland said. "No one wants to come back as much as I do. But at the same time I have to take baby steps. It's coming along great, though. My mechanics are unbelievable. I feel like I'm in college again as far as my arm feels. It will definitely be nice to throw without pain. It will open a whole new door for me when I can just let it go."
In Strickland's mind, he's already letting it go. He was a Cy Young Award winner on Field No. 7 earlier this week.
Yates suffers setback: Tyler Yates' pursuit of the fifth starter's spot in the New York rotation hit a minor snag on Tuesday morning when he suffered a mild strain of his right hamstring while stretching. He's expected to miss as many as three days and is hoping to be back on the mound by the weekend. Royce Ring and Jeremy Hill took Yates' spot in the rotation Tuesday against the Marlins.
"This is just precautionary," Yates said. "You never want to be scratched, but this is spring so you don't want to push the limits. I'm hoping it will be two or three days and then I'll be back out there. You never want to miss an appearance but if it does happen, you just keep going out there and do the best you can. If this is something that holds me back I'd be disappointed but I'm not going to worry about it."
"It happened at the end of stretching so I just grabbed the trainer and went in and got treatment. I almost fell over, it hurt so badly. I asked some of the other guys what a hamstring injury felt like cause I never had one before. They said it was a burning feeling but mine was mostly tight.
Manager Art Howe said that Yates could have possibly pitched, but if he had to cover first then "we would have had a real problem on our hands."
Clearing the air: Braden Looper and Jack McKeon talked briefly before Tuesday's 9-3 Marlins victory to clear the air about some comments the Marlins manager made about his former closer last month in a Florida newspaper.
At the time, McKeon said that Armando Benitez was more intimidating than Looper but didn't mean that as a slight against Looper. He was simply pumping up his own closer, adding that that once he is around a little longer, Looper will have that reputation as well.
"He said that whatever he said (in the paper) that he didn't mean anything by it, and I told him I knew that," Looper said. "I said at the time I knew he would never purposely tear me down in any way. I enjoyed Jack when I was there and respect him very much."
Looper then went out and pitched against his former teammates for the first time, throwing a scoreless fourth inning. He faced four batters, allowing a Mike Mordecai double.
"It was a little weird," Looper said. "Especially when Mordy got up there. I'm glad I faced them now, though. At least we got it out of the way. I talked to (Mike) Redmond before the game and that was good. His locker was next to mine for five years so I'm glad to get that out of the way."
Redmond also said it was strange seeing his friend on the mound.
"It was weird for sure," Redmond said. "The hardest part was probably just knowing exactly what he was going to do to get me out -- and he got me out."
Kaz watch: Kaz Matsui got into Tuesday's game as the designated hitter in the eighth inning and drew a walk off Nate Bump. He came around to score on a Karim Garcia single. "We got a little glimpse of that speed," manager Art Howe said. "He's anxious to get his first hit, though, I'm sure." Matsui will be the designated hitter in Wednesday's 'B' game against the Cardinals in Jupiter.
This and that: Garcia's woes, meanwhile, continued during batting practice. Jose Reyes hit a long fly ball foul into the player's parking lot, breaking a window on Garcia's Hummer. Garcia also accidentally hit a fan in the head with a batted ball. The fan was not injured. ... Garcia and Shane Spencer gave voluntary statements to the Port St. Lucie police on Tuesday as part of the ongoing investigation in the matter involving pizza deliveryman Eric Vidal. ... Long-time Mets broadcaster and Hall of Famer Bob Murphy will be in Port St. Lucie Saturday and call three innings of the Mets-Cardinals game on WFAN. ... Jae Weong Seo will make the trip to Kissimmee for Wednesday's game against the Astros. He will get the start and will be followed by Scott Erickson, Orber Moreno and Ricky Bottalico. Seo was hit by Roger Cedeno's foul line drive Friday night. He suffered a bruised right thigh and was forced to miss his start on Saturday. ... James Baldwin, Bob Keppel, Matt Peterson and Dan Wheeler will pitch in Wednesday's 'B' game against the Cardinals in Jupiter. ... Al Leiter threw 43 pitches over three scoreless innings.
Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.