Nl East Update: First Saturday of baseball edition
Following the completion of the teams Opening Series against the Marlins, MetsBlog revisits the continuing competition at first base.
Two weeks ago Daniel Murphy was penciled in to be the Mets everyday first baseman, but after injuring himself in one of the last spring training games, Mike Jacobs was called upon to fill the void. Now, just three games into the year, the Mets have been exposed to who the real Mike Jacobs is, a below average fielder who could not hit for average. Starting off 1 for 9 with 4 strikeouts in the first two games gave Fernando Tatis the start in the series finale, in which he promptly went hitless in four at bats.
During spring training I was pushing for Chris Carter to get a spot on the roster only to see Jacobs and Tatis get the call. I believe Jacobs still has a place in the league and could be a productive everyday player, I just don't see that happening in New York. Tatis has been in rapid decline since his "rebirth" in 2008 and now has little value to the team, not to mention he is basically a lock to ground into a double play. Carter has the proper work ethic and right mindset to be a solid player in the bigs, but the question now becomes how long will he have to wait until the organization gives him his chance?
The Marlins minor league development program has always been praised for producing quality homegrown talent, but the Marlin Maniac says otherwise...
Having won 2 World Series in their first ten years of existence is an impressive feat for any team, but it was how Florida did it is what's most impressive. The Marlins followed up their first championship in 1997 with an all out fire sale the very next year, making them drop from first to worst in a matter of months. Six years later in 2003, Florida won their second championship with an entirely different group of players, but failed to continue their success the following years. Now in 2010, many people feel the "six year cycle" is coming full circle yet again. With names like Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Cody Ross on the current roster, Florida is taking a different approach to constructing their roster by acquiring young prospects from other organizations. Due to several financial restrictions making it difficult to lock up promising young players for the long term, the Marlins will always be stuck in this constant cycle.
With all the success Philadelphia has had the past few seasons, it is natural to have high expectations, but the guys over at The Good Phight have brought it to a new level.
One of the funny things about baseball is that the best teams will lose at least sixty games in one season. Unlike college football or basketball where one or two losses could eliminate you from contending for a national title, baseball players have their losses quick because there is always a game the next day for a shot at redemption. It is always entertaining to read statistics like this early on in the season while we all wait for the compelling stories with true significance to emerge.
Talking Chop recaps the Braves opening series against the Cubs, where rookie sensation Jason Heyward may have already established himself as a household name.
Solid first three games for Atlanta taking two of three from Chicago. They can certainly take a lot of positives from this series but there are also a lot of things they need to address. Melky Cabrera and Troy Glaus were disappointing in their debuts with the Braves, but I wouldn't be too worried seeing as though it's only the first week. The main thing to take away from those games is that baseball is back in Atlanta, after going through somewhat of a transition period starting in 2006, the Braves are back on the right track.
