Interview With Tim Byrdak

Tim Byrdak 

Here is part of our conversation with reliever Tim Byrdak from the Blogger Event.


Talk about this team from last year to this year. Is there a different atmosphere?

Terry's done a great job, last year, even this year. I think the biggest thing about this year, with this team, is Johan Santana. He sets our rotation up where everyone kind of falls into place. You can use R.A. as your number two and Niese, it sets everybody up in a rotation so nicely. Without him last year, we had a couple of injuries, trying to keep guys in the rotation and fill spots. It's a little tough, but the atmosphere he brings around the clubhouse keeps things loose and we go from there.

Losing Pelfrey and having Jason Bay out to the 15-Day disabled list, does somebody say just pick up the slack and go from there?  

There's nothing you can do during the course of the year. Guys are going to go down. It's a shame that it happened so quickly, and again, two or three guys sitting out at the same time, but again it's going to give the young kids an opportunity to come up here and compete, and show them what they can do. I think you've seen in in Nieuwenhuis. The role that he's played out there and stuff like that. It's make or break. Can you play up here or not? He's showing right now that he deserves to stay.

Mets Morning News 2-29-12

Lucas Duda continues to impress just about everyone at Mets camp.

Duda is sometimes compared to a young Jason Giambi. The similarities are obvious to Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, who drafted Giambi in Oakland.

"I think they will end up having a similar profile: Power guys with an excellent eye at the plate," Alderson said. “If you have that combination, you can be a superstar.

"Especially for a left-handed hitter, if you’ve got power, the high on-base percentage, the approach and you can hit left-handed pitching, that’s [Reds first baseman] Joey Votto. It’s a handful of guys, and [Duda] has already demonstrated that he has that potential."

According to Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger, Dan Warthen has been working with Jon Niese on maintaining his focus on the mound.

A rudimentary scan of his disastrous appearances in 2011 provides some insight. Niese allowed at least five runs in nine starts last season. In each of those games, Niese allowed at least three runs or more in one inning. He exhibited a tendency to implode quickly, rather than melt down over time.

To curb that, Warthen has spent the early part of camp counseling Niese not to let his mind drift. Catcher Josh Thole, a year older, now has more freedom to control Niese if he notices a series of sloppy deliveries. And Niese will be on the lookout, striving for day-to-day vigilance.

Finally, for a little light-hearted entertainment, here's video from Metsblog of Tim Byrdak dressed as Hulk Hogan.

Spring Training, Day One: Niese Gets A Nose Job

Photo: Adam Rubin's Twitter Account (@AdamRubinESPN 

Day one of Spring Training is now out of the way, and what was the biggest story of the day?

Jon Niese got a nose job. Yup, the schnoz is no more...sort of, and it's all thanks to Carlos Beltran.

Before being traded to the San Francisco Giants last summer, Beltran offered a lovely parting gift to Niese.

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Niese said:

"He wanted me to have a new nose," Niese said about Beltran. "So he offered to pay for it. I was just like, 'All right.' Then it turned into seeing doctors and to getting it fixed."

The rhinoplasty did have an unintended side effect. Niese can now breathe easier.

Will his new nose help him on the mound? Who knows. If not, you know who to blame.

Side note: Did Niese offer to pay for the removal of that hideous mole on the side of Beltran's head?

Mets Kids Holiday Party

The Mets hosted 100 kids from public schools all across Queens at Citi Field on Tuesday for their annual Kids Holiday Party. Daniel Murphy played the role of Santa this year, and with the help of his "elves," Jon Niese and Justin Turner, he delivered toys to all in attendance.

Santa and his elves.

While all of the kids finished their lunch and participated in performances, all of the beat writers and bloggers were hidden behind a curtain. All was relatively calm until the screaming started. That was our cue that Santa had arrived.

Between the kids and the Christmas music blasting, I couldn't hear a thing. Luckily, my recorder was able to pick up audio. Here's a little summary from interviews with Niese and general manager Sandy Alderson.

Jon Niese

• His goal is to get over 200 innings this year.

• The new additions to bullpen are good. They filled holes where they needed to be filled.

• Facing Jose Reyes: "It's gonna be fun...I can't wait. Watching him hit for a while, hopefully I picked up something to get him out."

• The changes at Citi Field are good. It will give hitters peace of mind and pitchers more confidence. The changes will not cause him to change his approach on the mound.

Sandy Alderson

• Changes to the field: "More scoring makes more sense...it's more entertaining. Even a purist wouldn't want 1-0 games every night."

• Losing Jose Reyes: "Criticism that we never made an offer... what's interesting about that is that from the very outset we didn't want to make an offer that would be shot...and I don't think it's a coincidence that the price went way up from the time on Friday that I described a conceptual puzzle to Saturday to Sunday morning when the apparent offer from Miami went from point a to point z...I don't think we had a shot at signing Jose if we had made the first offer."

• Bullpen: "All three additions are an upgrade...better shot at more consistency in 7th, 8th, and 9th innings...What was once a weakness is now a modest strength for us."

• Catchers: "We don't have a lot of depth in the system...for the time being our catching situation is going to be a year to year proposition" The team looked at some free agents decided none worth additional expense. "Given the resources we have available, we'd rather spend the money some place else on more significant upgrades...We're aware of catching situation within organization."

• Angel Pagan trade: The Giants were interested in Pagan. He believes Andres Torres was going to be a possible non-tender candidate and the Mets were in a similar position with Pagan.

I would have added video of the Alderson interview, but after watching it, it was a  little too Blair Witch Project for me. I took a peak at the outfield walls while I was there and to be honest, I didn't notice anything worth reporting as of yet. Stay tuned.

Mets and Nationals Begin Two-Game Series Tonight

May 18, 2011

7:10 PM ET

Citi Field

TV: SNY

RADIO: WFAN 660

NEW YORK METS

Starting Pitcher: Jon Niese (2-4, 5.03 ERA)

After getting rained out of last night's game, Niese heads to the mound to take on the Nationals. In his last start, he went 6.1 innings, and allowed five runs on seven hits. Lifetime against the Nationals, he is 1-0 with a 5.56 ERA.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Starting Pitcher: Tom Gorzelanny (2-2, 3.40 ERA)

Gorzelanny struggled in his last outing, in which he allowed four runs in 4.2 innings against the Marlins. Lifetime against the Mets, he is 2-4 with a 4.95 ERA.

METS LINEUP

Reyes-SS, Turner-3B, Beltran-RF, Bay-LF, Murphy-1B, Paulino-C, Hairston-CF, Tejada-2B, Niese-LHP

Mets And Marlins: Round Two

May 17, 2011

7:10 PM ET

Citi Field

TV: SNY

RADIO: WFAN 660

NEW YORK METS

Starting Pitcher: Jon Niese (2-4, 5.03 ERA)

After hitting a pinch-hit triple in last night's game, Niese heads to the mound to take on the Marlins. In his last start, he went 6.1 innings, and allowed five runs on seven hits. Lifetime against the Marlins, he is 1-4 with a 5.67 ERA.

FLORIDA MARLINS

Starting Pitcher: Ricky Nolasco (3-0, 3.02 ERA)

In his last outing, Nolasco went 6.1 innings and struck out six, but got a no-decision. Nolasco has a 36-19 record on the road with a 4.17 ERA. Against the Mets, he is 5-6 with a 5.26 ERA.

METS LINEUP

Reyes-SS, Thole-C, Beltran-RF, Bay-LF, Murphy-1B, Turner-3B, Pridie-CF, Tejada-2B, Niese-LHP