I panicked when I first saw the box score because Santana only pitched 3.2 innings, and allowed two solo homeruns. Luckily Matt Cerrone at Metsblog has the details that it is normal for a pitcher in their last start of the spring to leave early and finish off in the pen, which is what Johan did. The pen then took over and they did a great job and are really looking good for the season. The bench players got most of the playing time today, and a lot of them are still impressing. Anyway here are some of the box scores from tonight:
The Good:
Cora 2-3, R, BB
Rivera 1-1, R HR, 2 RBI
Reed 2-4, R
Santos 2-3, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Parnell 1.0 IP, BB, H, K
O'day 1.0 IP, BB, K
Stokes 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB
The Bad:
Tatis 0-4
Murphy 0-3
Anderson 0-4
The Catching depth chart has really taken an interesting turn this spring. Going into the season the back up was Castro followed by Cancel, but now you have to think that Rivera and Santos would have to be after Castro. Rivera has seen a lot of time this Spring and every time that Santos sees time, something amazing happens. Like today he hit two homers, bringing his spring total to 4, and he is leading the team.. When he starts off in the minors, and he continues those numbers, I don't know if they can be ignored. (This is going to prompt me to at least profile him so we all can learn more about him).
How about that pen today? Everyone had a good day (even Dessens, 2.0 no runs) and more importantly this was some key time for Parnell, O'day and Stokes to show they are ready to go this season. This is very exciting and I am starting to get very confident in these guys. In the preview series, the next part, part 7 will be about the playoffs and then part 8 will be all about the Mets.
