TOE-ING THE RUBBER

Pedro Martinez* made his first spring start on Sunday, and the results were more than encouraging. Pedro* went three scoreless innings against the Orioles, striking out 2, and Victor Zambrano finished the shutout with six scoreless innings. Hence, the Mets-Fan-O-Meter is in good shape. I realize the Fan-O-Meter did not look good at all in the upper right corner of the page, so the Fan-O-Meter will probably appear next to the daily posting, and I will work on something else for the upper right, where the Mets logo is now. One last note on Pedro* - it looks now like he will be the starting pitcher in the third game of the season, with Zambrano going in game 2.


HEILMAN/BANNISTER: There are reports that the Mets have made up their mind to have Brian Bannister be the fifth starter, and Aaron Heilman resume his out-of-the-bullpen role from last year. That's fine with me, because I think Heilman was great in relief, and will continue to be great in relief, and it's probably best for the team. I just hope Heilman doesn't get mad and let it affect his performance, because he has pitched well enough this spring (as has Bannister) to earn a starting spot.

2ND BASE: With the second base job appearing to be Anderson Hernandez's now that Kaz Matsui is not available in the early part of the season, I just hope the Mets don't go after Tony Graffanino. Graffanino was put on waivers by the Red Sox. The Mets don't need to muddy up that second base position hunt any further with an outsider - they have plenty to choose from between Hernandez and Jeff Keppinger.

WAGNER: Billy Wagner is back to throwing a baseball, and the stiffness in his finger is going away, as expected. He should be OK by the start of the season.

One week until Opening Day. This is going to be a very busy week for me, but I'll try to give a season preview when the roster decisions are all made.