Context: The Mets scored 718 runs in 2011, the most in their division and 50 more than the National League average. The team has lost Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, its two best offensive performers last season, but will benefit from the return of Ike Davis, the health of David Wright and a full season of Lucas Duda. Also, they moved the fences in.

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Just pretend I have some great excuse for not being able to put together a more cohesive post. In truth I’m not quite in the flow of things yet, and I’m a bit overwhelmed by the glut of baseball stuff going on.

So here are some quick observations from my first day here:

– Much has been made of the offseason facial-hair developments of Tim Byrdak and Dillon Gee, but there are a lot of great, less-heralded beards in camp. A group of four players walked past me on the way out to the field this morning and every one of them had a full beard: R.A. Dickey, Andres Torres, Ike Davis and Adam Loewen. Ramon Ramirez has a very neatly manicured chinstrap beard. Most guys seem to have something going. This could become a quietly great facial-hair team.

– It’s early yet and there’s plenty of time for the unexpected, but it looks like there are really only a couple of battles for roster spots in camp. They’re for the very fringes of the roster, too: Figuring Mike Nickeas, Ronny Cedeno, Justin Turner and Scott Hairston are set for the bench, Terry Collins will probably want a left-handed bat for that last spot. Mike Baxter’s the quasi-incumbent, but Adam Loewen’s beard is really sweet. Ben Berkon wondered yesterday if Loewen could be the Mets’ Jeremy Lin.

That’s unlikely, of course (since all Jeremy Lin stories inherently are), but I’ll add that Loewen has been steadily getting better since becoming a full-time position player in 2009. Part of the reason sudden, unexpected stardom seems especially unlikely in baseball is that baseball is so discretely measurable and individual compared to basketball. But maybe a converted pitcher like Loewen has the best chance for it. Still not something I’d bet on, but the beard plays.

– The other open battles, presumably, are for the last two spots in the bullpen after Frank Francisco, Ramirez, Jon Rauch, Tim Byrdak and Manny Acosta. Terry Collins said today that both D.J. Carrasco and Bobby Parnell have to make the team, so neither is assured a spot. Presumably the same goes for Pedro Beato. I’d bet lefty and snakebite badass Chuck James winds up making a run at a job. James also has a strong beard right now.

– Toby Hyde sent me the following photograph of Frank Francisco. I don’t know where he got it so I’m just going to assume it’s something he shot himself at his home studio. Also, get used to this photo because I’m probably going to use it every time I post about Frank Francisco this year:

I feel like Frank Francisco might have a very strong Kenny Powers thing going on.

– The Mets did a drill to work on communications on pop-ups. They were all very firm, but polite and deferential. When David Wright had to catch one near the mound, Tim Byrdak was all, “Watch out for Ike! Don’t run over Ike!”

– Something about Andres Torres looks like or otherwise reminds me of my old next-door neighbor, who is responsible for all of the most hilarious and dangerous things I have ever seen a 10-year-old do (or let a 10-year-old talk me into doing when I was 9). They include: Free-climbing the side of his house, dousing a dead basketball in kerosene then playing flaming soccer, making all sorts of flaming obstacles to jump over with our skateboards, and soaking the tips of Nerf arrows in lighter fluid and firing them up to play “Robin Hood.” Please do not try any of that at home.

– Reese Havens is hurt again, nursing a stiff back. LOLMets and everything, but seriously, that poor dude.

– I overheard a part of Jon Rauch’s conversation with Manny Acosta on their way out to the field. “So you’ve got to be one of the Top 5 most famous people in Panama, huh?” Rauch said. Acosta nodded.

Context: Seven Mets recorded saves in 2011. Five did in 2010, four did in 2009, and six did (tragically) in 2008. Frank Francisco appears likely to close games for the Mets in 2012.

[poll id=”71″]

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.

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″]

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:

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