Dirty & the rest of the staff..

All eyes were on Duaner Sanchez yesterday as he took the mound for the first time since 2006. At that time he was one of the more dominant set-up men in the league. The Mets thrived in the first half of '06' despite having a revolving door rotation ( 13 starters in all) on a powerful offense and an incredible pen. It was simple the team scored early and if the starter turned the game over in the sixth with a lead the game was over. Sanchez was a key component of that pen and after he went down the team cont. to win but the formula was clearly not the same. In spring training of 2007 the team hoped they could rely on Sanchez returning but after several pitches his season was over and the pen struggled all year. So it was understandable that all eyes were on Sanchez as he took the mound yesterday. While it wasn't a storybook ending with him striking out three in a row looking, he was successful. The two major league hitters he faced ( Castro, Schneider) got weak hits, he walked one and without allowing a run got three minor leaguers out. What makes it even more of a success was that Duaner pitched through the pressure of the situation which had to have taxed his nerves as a real game situation would.

"It was a relief in a big way," said Sanchez, who is trying to come back from two surgeries on his right shoulder. "It had been so long since I last pitched that I didn't even know how to step on the freakin' mound." source NY Post

Other pitchers did well yesterday in during the intra-squad game. Juan Padilla also made a successful return to the mound, Padilla has also lost two years do to injuries. Padilla an off -speed pitcher through approx. 10 pitches that ranged between 76-85 mph. Padilla is competing with Jorge Sosa and Matt Wise for the last spots in the pen, Padilla is on the outside looking in since he's on a minor league deal. Rule five selection Steve Register also threw around 10 pitches and was hitting 90mph regularly. I don't see a spot for Register, his best chance is if the team negotiates a trade with the Rockies for him. Finally Jose Diaz ( yes, that Jose Diaz the second pitcher sent in the Kazmir trade) impressed the radar gun hitting 92/93 consistently with a ten mph drop off on his off speed stuff. Diaz has bounced around the minors for a few years as a really hard thrower with control problems....

Joselo Diaz was impressive oppoing 92/93 consistently on the gun and showing a 10mph differential with his offspeed pitch. Source NYFS