The Mets held off making an official announcement, but Mike Pelfrey is expected to skip his start tomorrow afternoon because of forearm tendinitis.
The Mets last night were working on a way to create a roster spot for Pelfrey’s fill-in, which likely will be right-hander Nelson Figueroa from Triple-A Buffalo. The odd man out might be young reliever Darren O’Day, an offseason pickup through the Rule 5 draft who would have to be returned to the Angels for $25,000 if he cleared waivers.
The Mets were going to watch Pelfrey throw one more time off flat ground yesterday, then make their decision. Pelfrey said he was preparing to pitch tomorrow against the Brewers, but Jerry Manuel appeared to dash Pelfrey’s hopes by preaching caution.
“Now that he is free of that thought of something being severely wrong, I’m sure he’s anxious to get back out there,” Manuel said before the Mets’ 5-4 win last night. “But we will be very, very cautious with him anyway.”
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Former Mets manager Willie Randolph got a look at the completed Citi Field for the first time yesterday and admitted feeling somewhat stung that the manager’s seat in the home dugout is reserved for someone other than himself.
“I wish I was still here,” said Randolph, in town for the weekend as the Brewers’ bench coach. “Obviously, it is kind of bittersweet.”
The Mets started 34-35 last season and Randolph was callously fired in the middle of the night after a victory on June 16 in Anaheim, Calif.
If any bad blood existed last year between Randolph and Manuel, who was handed the reins after Randolph’s firing, it wasn’t evident yesterday. Manuel and bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr. were waiting for Randolph in front of the visitor’s dugout and hugged him.
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The Mets put catcher Brian Schneider on the 15-day disabled list with a muscle strain in the middle of his back. They called up Omir Santos from Triple-A Buffalo, and Santos ended up making his Mets debut in place of Ramon Castro in the eighth inning. Santos grounded out in his only plate appearance in the ninth.
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Manuel said Fernando Tatis is expected to make his first start of the season in tomorrow’s finale. Tatis will be used at second base in place of last night’s hero, Luis Castillo.
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Timothy Dolan, the new Archbishop of New York, attended last night’s game as a guest of the Mets and was given a jersey with his name on it by the club. Outgoing archbishop Edward Cardinal Egan accompanied Dolan.