PORT ST. LUCIE – If the Mets decide to add a second left-handed reliever from within this spring, Valerio de los Santos handed them his calling card yesterday.
The well-traveled lefty had his trademark 95 mph fastball fully on display during a lively session of batting practice. De los Santos, 36, appears to have one of the best arms in camp.
“He’s a power guy, no doubt about it,” GM Omar Minaya said.
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De los Santos is here on a minor league invite after bouncing between five teams in his nine-year big league career. The journeyman tag comes largely from his wildness – he walked 11 in just eight innings with the Rockies last season.
But if de los Santos can show any semblance of control, he would be a candidate for the second lefty bullpen spot the Mets are considering after the offseason trade of Scott Schoeneweis.
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The Mets announced that the first game played at new Citi Field will be a college contest between St. John’s and Georgetown on Sunday, March 29. That game will start at 1:10 p.m., and tickets are $5.
The Mets’ first game in their shiny new digs is an April 3 exhibition against the Red Sox.
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Manager Jerry Manuel continues to applaud the effort of embattled second baseman Luis Castillo, who dropped 17 pounds in the offseason (down to 193) and no longer seems bothered by knee problems.
“I just see a lot more life,” Manuel said when asked why he appeared to watch Castillo’s batting-practice session so closely.
Manuel said he wants Castillo, a switch-hitter, to be more aggressive when batting from the left side this season.
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Livan Hernandez, whose chance of winning the fifth spot in the rotation is being helped by Tim Redding‘s toe surgery, also displayed a healthy fastball during his first live BP yesterday.
Frankie Rodriguez and Mike Pelfrey joined Hernandez in throwing their first live BPs. Pelfrey generated some attention by pitching to Fernando Martinez, the Mets’ top prospect.
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Manuel cut yesterday’s workout in half to allow his team some rest before holding intrasquad scrimmages at Tradition Field today and tomorrow and opening Grapefruit League play Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles. . . . Marlon Anderson, whose bench role could be in danger, is noticeably thinner this spring. The Mets list him at 200 pounds, the same as last season, but he appears at least 10 pounds lighter.