Mets Morning News: Reaching .500, Warthen, Tejada, & Injury Updates

The Mets just can't seem to get to the .500 mark this week. Three times this week, the Mets have tried to reach .500, but have failed.

"Since April 9, the Mets (32-34) have spent all of 24 hours at .500. They have not been at .500 since May 20, when they were 22-22, and five times this year, they have attempted to reach that mark from a game behind, only to go 1-4."

Pitching coach Dan Warthen will celebrate his third anniversary with the Mets later this week. His gift? Just the best starting pitching in the league for the past few weeks. Warthen made a couple of changes with the rotation after they got off to a slow start.

"I was not pleased early on about the catching and a lot of the game-calling that was going on. I certainly don't blame it on the catchers. I blame it on the pitchers for not shaking their heads to the pitches they should have been throwing." 

"These past three weeks we've added a couple of pitches," Warthen said. "[Chris] Capuano is throwing a cutter now. We weren't using [Jon] Niese's curveball enough. . . . [Now] he throws it 70 percent of the time for strikes, and that's an incredible number. Getting him to utilize that pitch is important."

Ruben Tejada has done everything he's been asked at the plate since being called up, and now Terry Collins and hitting coach Dave Hudgens are starting to take notice.

"Hitting coach Dave Hudgens praised that moment [Moving Reyes to third], saying he thinks Tejada has the potential to be a 'Polanco type of player,' a reference to the Phillies' Placido Polanco, who has made his name by being a great situational hitter."

Injury Updates:

Johan Santana stopped throwing off a mound on June 3, after experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired left shoulder.

"Though Santana did not see a doctor in the wake of the discomfort, he was limited to mostly just long-tossing at the team's facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Santana is scheduled to return to the mound later this week, throwing with the same level of intensity that sidelined him earlier this month. From there, if his soreness does not return, Santana will continue the tentative process of trying to pitch during the 2011 season."

Ike Davis and David Wright will both be re-evaluated next week.