Just In Time For Turner

Second baseman Brad Emaus has been designated for assignment by the Mets, less than a month after winning the job by default and because Argenis Reyes was no longer available. In his stead, the Mets have recalled Justin Turner from AAA-Buffalo.

Turner was hitting .300 (12-for-40) at Buffalo, with five of his hits going for extra bases (three doubles, two triples). In his minor league career, Turner has hit .309, never finishing a full season below .298. However, his prowess for hitting minor league pitching has yet to translate into major league success, as the 26-year-old second baseman has hit a mere .114 (3-for-35) in three separate short stints in the majors. (Turner was 1-for-8 in four games as a Met last year.)

It's obvious that the Mets need some offense from the second base position. The combined "talents" of Brad Emaus, Daniel Murphy and Chin-Lung Hu have managed to produce as many strikeouts as hits (11 hits in 60 at-bats with 11 Ks).

In addition, the second baseman of the future (Reese Havens) can't stay healthy in the present. Havens has still not played in a game this year, as he is recovering from off-season rib surgery. No timetable has been set for his return, but when he does come of the disabled list, he will most likely play for AA-Binghamton, which is the highest level he has reached in the minor leagues.

As shown below (thanks to the Mets' official Twitter page) Justin Turner will be in the starting lineup for the Mets tonight, batting eighth against Astros' pitcher Wandy Rodriguez.

For now, the right-handed hitting Turner will be in a platoon with the lefty-swinging Daniel Murphy. So far this season, Murphy has been the most productive hitter at second base, if you want to call a .226 batting average and a .294 on-base percentage productive. Murphy has also not shown an understanding of the "fundies" that Keith Hernandez lives by, as he was thrown out trying to steal third base with no outs (well, one out after his failed attempt at a theft) in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader against the Braves.

So now the Mets are giving Justin Turner a shot as Jose Reyes' double play partner. The Mets showed very little patience with Brad Emaus at second base. How much patience are they willing to show for the new kid on the bag? And if he fails to impress Terry Collins, will Daniel Murphy be given the everyday job at the position?

Ike Davis was called up last April 19 and gave the Mets a much-needed spark after a 4-8 start to the season. Can Justin Turner do the same this April 19? One thing's for sure. If he doesn't, someone else will be given the opportunity. It's the way these Mets roll.

If At Second You Don't Succeed...

Second base was a question mark for the Mets going into the 2011 season. After deciding to cut ties with the incumbent Luis Castillo during spring training, the team decided to go with Rule 5 pick Brad Emaus as their starting second baseman, with Daniel Murphy and Chin-Lung Hu serving as his backups.

So how has the second base experiment gone so far? Let's look at the game-by-game performances for Emaus, Murphy and Hu over the first 16 games of the season. (Note: Stats are for players while they were playing second base. Pinch-hitting appearances are not included in individual game stats.)

• April 1 @Fla: Brad Emaus (0-for-2, BB)
• April 2 @Fla: Brad Emaus (1-for-4, K), Chin-Lung Hu (0-for-1, K)
• April 3 @Fla: Daniel Murphy (1-for-3, R, RBI, BB), Chi-Lung Hu (0-for-2, R)
• April 5 @Phi: Brad Emaus (1-for-4, RBI), Chin-Lung Hu (1-for-1)
• April 6 @Phi: Brad Emaus (2-for-3, BB)
• April 7 @Phi: Brad Emaus (0-for-4, K)
• April 8 vs. Was: Brad Emaus (0-for-3, BB, K)
• April 9 vs. Was: Chin-Lung Hu (0-for-2, 2K), Brad Emaus (0-for-o, R)
• April 10 vs. Was: Brad Emaus (0-for-3, 2K), Daniel Murphy (o-for-1)
• April 11 vs. Col: Daniel Murphy (1-for-5, R, K)
• April 13 vs. Col: Daniel Murphy (1-for-4, R, RBI, BB)
• April 14 vs. Col: Daniel Murphy (1-for-4, BB)
• April 14 vs. Col: Brad Emaus (1-for-4, R)
• April 16 @Atl: Brad Emaus (0-for-4, K)
• April 16 @Atl: Daniel Murphy (1-for-3)
• April 17 @Atl: Brad Emaus (0-for-3, BB, K)

Over the first 16 games, the three men who have played second base for the Mets are hitting a combined .183 (11-for-60) with five runs scored, three runs batted in, seven walks and eleven strikeouts. It almost makes you wonder if Sandy Alderson still has Luis Castillo's number on speed dial.

After today's 3-2 victory against the Braves, the Mets have now played approximately 10% of their schedule. If they plan on having winning streaks that are longer than one game, they're going to need their second basemen to stop playing at 10% of their capabilities and contribute positively to the team's success.

Even former Mets' second baseman Kaz Matsui, who knows a thing or two about being booed in New York, could do better than the team's current second sackers.

Somewhere out there, Matsui is looking at this team and laughing. If the trio of Emaus, Murphy and Hu can't break free of their early season doldrums, Kaz won't be the only one laughing. The rest of the National League will be joining him.

Joey's Small Bites: Things I Noticed On Opening Day

Greetings, Mets fans! This is your fav'rit roving reporter/culinary expert Joey Beartran. Welcome to the first semi-regular installment of "Joey's Small Bites", where I present my opinions on anything Mets-related. However, unlike my "Joey's Soapbox" series, these will be abbreviated opinions, or "small bites" if you will. There's also a chance I may be having a snack while sharing my thoughts with you, but I will probably be taking bigger bites out of those.

In today's first installment, I will discuss my thoughts on last night's season opening loss against the Marlins, which looked as if it should have been Game No. 163 of the 2010 season.

Last year, Mike Pelfrey gave up two earned runs in the entire month of April. Last night, he gave up four runs on one swing of John Buck's bat. This is the same John Buck who had a .243 career average in seven seasons entering last night's game. I see Pelfrey is already in mid-season form, and by mid-season form, I mean last year's mid-season, when he finished with a 10.02 ERA in his five July starts.

David Wright said he was going to embrace being the team leader this year. He led the team all right; led them in strikeouts, that is. Wright struck out in each of his first two at-bats against Josh Johnson en route to an 0-for-4 evening at the plate.

The two Rule 5 picks (Brad Emaus and Pedro Beato) made their major league debuts last night, and both performed reasonably well.

Emaus reached base once in three plate appearances and did not follow David Wright's lead (Emaus didn't strike out). It was Emaus' walk on the seventh pitch of his at-bat that ended Josh Johnson's night, after Johnson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He also made a fine defensive play in the sixth inning, sliding to his left to prevent the runner on third from scoring.

Beato pitched two scoreless innings, allowing a long double to the first batter he faced (John Buck, who apparently wants to win the batting title this year) before retiring the next three batters he faced, then giving up two singles in his second inning of work, sandwiched around a timely double play. Oh, did we mention that Beato was also born on the same day the Mets last won the World Series (October 27, 1986, just like teammate Jonathon Niese) and lived most of his life in Queens, growing up in Woodside, home of Donovan's Pub, which serves the best burger in New York? No, seriously. Take a look at the photos below and see for yourself.



On a positive note, Carlos Beltran made his first start in right field and showed no signs of pain or discomfort. He went 1-for-4 at the plate, driving in the first run for the Mets on a seventh-inning double down the right field line and scoring the second run on a groundout by Ike Davis. He also played flawless defense and prevented a run from scoring by charging a ball in right field and throwing a bullet to Josh Thole at the plate to hold Omar Infante at third base.

Also welcome to this bear's eyes was Mookie Wilson wearing his familiar No. 1 as he made his return to first base coaching duties. When Mookie wore No. 51 in his first stint as first base coach in the mid-90s, it was because Lance Johnson was wearing No. 1. Of course, Johnson produced one of the best seasons in franchise history in 1996 (.333 batting average, 50 stolen bases and a franchise-record 227 hits and 21 triples), so he earned the right to wear No. 1 temporarily. But the last wearer of the number didn't earn a thing. Because Luis Castillo wouldn't give up his No. 1 to Mookie when the Mets legend was re-hired to coach first base, the Mookster had to wear the ungodly No. 53.


Castillo was eventually released before the end of spring training and Wilson got his familiar number back. On a night when not much else went right for the Mets, seeing Mookie wearing No. 1 was enough to make me smile.

I seemed to notice a lot on Opening Day, despite the fact that I was enjoying the game with one paw on the sliders and the other paw on the waffle fries. Yes, it was a tough loss, one that was reminiscent of many losses in 2010. After all, the Mets gave up 12 grand slams last season without hitting any, and last night, Pelfrey was victimized by the bases-clearing blast and the Mets didn't even come close to homering. But it was only Day 1 of a long season.

CLICHÉ ALERT! CLICHÉ ALERT!

Baseball is not a sprint. It's a marathon. The Mets and their fans have to take it one game at a time. One loss does not make or break the season. They'll be back in Game No. 2, and will do their best to win the ballgame.

END OF CLICHÉ ALERT! END OF CLICHÉ ALERT!

Tonight, Jonathon Niese hopes to build on his fine rookie season. Of course, last year the Marlins were a thorn in his side, as he went 1-4 with a 6.49 ERA in five starts against them.

Although I'm cautiously optimistic that Niese will be able to end his Marlin meltdown in Miami, I will be ordering an extra plate of sliders just in case. Considering all those fat, juicy pitches opposing hitters keep hitting for grand slams, I should have something fat and juicy myself.

The Magic 8-Ball Predicts The 2011 Mets Season

Spring has finally arrived! Can you feel it in the air? This is the time of the year when you can be excited about the better weather (only to find out that a nor'easter is coming), your fantasy baseball rosters (only to stop caring in July when you're in last place because you couldn't find any takers for Luis Castillo. Hey, it's not your fault that you believed he was going to be in the Phillies' lineup every day due to Chase Utley's injury only to find out belatedly that he was released prior to Opening Day.) and Mets baseball!

To prepare you for the upcoming season, we'd like to present our annual Mets predictions. As always, these predictions are conducted scientifically and are guaranteed to be accurate. How do we know that? Because we're using our Magic 8-Ball! So what say we grab this ball, shake it up and see what happens.


Sorry about that. I didn't realize you were so sensitive, especially since people rub you all the time. Anyway, here's our first question to you. What kind of season will Jason Bay have in 2011?


I see. Does that mean he will finish with 23 HR and no concussions or are you predicting something else?


Apparently, our Magic 8-Ball might have a concussion of its own. Let's move on to the next question. How do you see Brad Emaus performing at second base?


That's not bad, considering that Dan Uggla signed a five-year, $62 million contract extension with the Atlanta Braves during the off-season after posting his fourth consecutive 30-homer season in 2010 with the Marlins.


Well, hopefully, Brad Emaus can be a better defensive player than Dan Uggla. Now on to the pitching staff. Johan Santana will miss the first half of the season as he continues his rehabilitation and recovery from shoulder surgery. Which pitcher will become the staff's ace in his absence?


Why do you think Dickey will pitch the best out of all the starters?


Ahem. You do realize that this is a family-friendly blog, right?


Never mind. One more player question. Will Francisco Rodriguez finish 55 games this season, causing his $17.5 million option for 2012 to kick in?


Yes. What does have to do with the question I asked you about the number of times he'll be allowed to finish a ballgame?


Fine. Let me rephrase the question, if it makes you feel better. Will K-Rod get the 55 appearances required for his 2012 option to vest?


Hey, wait a minute! Now you listen to me! How come you get to say that while I was reprimanded for saying something similar?


Forget it. I'll just ask one more question and then I'll leave you alone. I have no idea why I consulted you anyway. I could have done these predictions myself. Anyway, how do you see the Mets finishing in 2011?


One rainout not made up? You're being very precise with that prediction.


On that note, I believe now's as good a time as any to wrap things up here. That concludes this year's Magic 8-Ball predictions for the 2011 Mets. Be sure to join us next year when I take a page out of Sandy Alderson's book and use a more cost-effective way to share our prognostications with you.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming Mets season. You don't need a Magic 8-Ball to tell you that.