Here we go

OK, I’m coming at you live from the media room at Digital Domain Park in lovely Port St. Lucie, Fla.

This morning I’ll be out watching baseball players do some baseball stuff and hopefully banking some material for later posts, but there’ll be more here by the afternoon. Also, thanks for all the Spring Training suggestions. Many were useful, many overlapped with what I was already hoping and planning to do, and many were Josh Satin.

Mets over-under

Context: Justin Turner hit .260 last year with a .334 on-base percentage in 487 plate appearances. This year, he appears destined for a reserve role. Though the samples are small, the righty-hitting Turner actually hit right-handers better than he did lefties in 2011. Terry Collins, we have seen, tends to favor platoon matchups, but the Mets do not seem likely to have more than one left-handed hitter on their bench.

[poll id=”70″]

Baseball!

As I may have mentioned, I’m heading to Port St. Lucie tomorrow afternoon and I’ll be up and running from Mets camp on Wednesday. Which is awesome. BASEBALL!

OK. Things will slow down here between now and then as I deal with all the stuff I need to deal with before I leave, though there’ll still be a few posts so please do check back constantly and refresh and refresh and refresh and refresh.

I’ve got a few ideas lined up and some video responsibilities, but figuring that no one knows better than you what you want to read, here’s the ol’ Spring Training suggestion box again. Have at it:

[contact-form-7 id=”15378″ title=”Untitled”]

Mets over-under

Context: Ike Davis has 26 home runs in 750 Major League plate appearances. He got off to a hot start in 2011 and was on pace to hit over 30 home runs for the season when he hurt his ankle in May and finished the year on the DL. Davis seems to be healthy now. He will be 25 by Opening Day, and, of course, the dimensions at Citi Field will be altered in 2012.

[poll id=”69″]

Johan Santana still doing stuff

You guys!

Johan Santana is doing stuff! Look at him. He’s pitching off a mound. He’s smiling. Johan Santana is pitching and smiling.

Look at that beard. You can mention Kelvim Escobar and Mark Prior and Chien-Ming Wang to me, but who among them has the type of singular focus it takes to maintain such elegantly groomed facial hair? Look at it! Its edges are so sharp you can shave your own face on it.

And which recipient of shoulder surgery has stood on a Major League mound gripping a baseball, staring down his manager, shouting, “I’m a man! I’m a man!”?

Santana.

Can we just ignore all the evidence to the contrary and dream on Johan Santana’s full recovery right now? Please?

Because how awesome would…

Mets over-under

Context: Matt Harvey is considered by some to be the Mets’ top prospect. He finished the 2011 season in Double-A, where his 4.53 ERA belied strong peripherals. Harvey’s got 59 2/3 innings above A-ball on his resume and the Mets would likely want him to get a bunch more before they advance him. The back of the Mets’ Major League rotation should feature Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee, and behind them Chris Schwinden and Miguel Batista.

[poll id=”67″]

You at 22

In case you’ve somehow missed the news, Ruben Tejada is not yet in Mets camp. He is being delayed by visa issues reportedly stemming from a failed attempt to pick up his documents on a holiday. Tejada is still expected to arrive by Saturday, the mandatory report day for position players, but his inability to be at camp early has miffed Terry Collins and fired up some in the Mets’ fanbase.

Here’s the main thing: If Tejada plays anything like as well as he did in 2011, no one’s going to remember this happened by March 15. It’s likely being discussed now only for lack of other things to discuss.

Collins called himself “selfish” for being annoyed with his young shortstop, and admitted that he never told Tejada to arrive early — only suggested it. Plus, though Tejada will be paid handsomely to play for the Mets in 2012 and that implies some responsibility to the team, he’s obligated to show up Saturday, not before.

Also, here’s the other thing: Ruben Tejada is 22. Granted, I realize there are plenty of super-important, powerful and eminently responsible 22-year-olds, and we rely on people even younger than 22 to elect leaders and fight wars. But though I can’t speak for Tejada or any other 22-year-old, I can say that at that age, I:

– Nearly set my house on fire three different times.
– Tricked my roommate into eating dog food, filmed it and broadcast it.
– Racked up double-digit campus parking tickets that are, to date, unpaid.
– Tackled some dude at a party.
– Blew up tons of stuff in my backyard.
– Engaged a bandmate in some mild, unreciprocated knifeplay.
– Drove several months on a donut tire with a duct-taped back window.
– Destroyed much of the leftover furniture in my house with a baseball bat to spite the next tenants who were unwilling to pay us for it.
– Launched water balloons into the outdoor patio of a local bar, occasionally from an elevated train trestle.
– Countless other things I’m not willing to publicly admit.

If you are currently castigating Tejada for his failure to show up early to Port St. Lucie, I urge you to at least consider some of the dumb things you probably did at 22, and how innocuous a missed appointment seems in comparison. Yes, Tejada signed up for this scrutiny when he inked his contract, but 22-year-olds be 22-year-olds.

Also worth noting: When I first spoke to Tejada (through a translator) in Binghamton in 2009, I asked him what he found to be the biggest adjustment he needed to make in Double-A — expecting he’d say that the pitchers are better, like most players say. He said he was still getting used to being away from his family.