Pedro Martinez threw in his first spring game this afternoon, and the results were positive. He made it through three innings and only needed 35 pitches to do it. He gave up only a single hit and one walk and he struck out two.
Equally impressive was Victor Zambrano. He threw the final six innings and completed the shutout. He gave up only four hits and two walks and he struck out four. An effective Victor Zambrano will go a long way towards the Mets having a shot at winning it all this year. As the third starter, he’s going to be relied upon to come up with 14-15 wins, something he’s never done before.
Jose Reyes continues to have a hot spring. He’s 11 for 19 and he’s only struck out twice. And I know it’s hard to pick on such a great average, but he hasn’t drawn a walk, which isn’t encourging.
Brian Bannister has impressed Willie Randolph so much that it looks like he’s going to be the fifth starter and Aaron Heilman is headed for the bullpen. Heilman wanted back in to the rotation and that was supposed to be one of the main reasons behind the Jae Seo trade. And while Heilman has had a great spring, Bannister’s has been even better. He’s struck out 13 in 19 innings and he’s given up only two earned runs. Heilman’s thrown 14 innings and he has 11 strikeouts vs. zero walks and he’s only given up two earned runs as well.
Heilman’s never had a great run as a starter and he was actually quite good last year when he closed at the end of the year. Regardless, he could end up starting games out of the box if Pedro’s out for an extended period of time in April. And even when he is put into the pen, he’ll be around in the event one of the other starters go down.
