First of all- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MR. NO HITTER HIMSELF, JOHAN SANTANA!

Now onto the real issue at hand, with all the negative press going around concerning   Santana, it’s hard to really know what’s going on from a baseball perspective. Right now, I don’t care about who said what and if Santana really is upset with Sandy because of his comments about Santana’s less-than-ready arm condition coming into Spring Training. That’s not my concern. My concern is who will get the start if Santana ends up on the DL to start the season? 

I doubt Marcum or Gee will be our go-to guy so that leaves Jon Niese and Matt Harvey. Both have been doing pretty well in the Grapefruit League. Both have shown they can get players out and win games, so it comes down to an experienced pitcher in the Big Leagues who pitched like a champ last year or a young pitcher who has been on the fast track of domination since he came up last season. I’m comfortable handing off the the ball to either one of those guys to be perfectly honest.

I wonder whether Niese can handle the pressure of being our number one starter once the season starts. But you don’t want to give Harvey that much responsibility all at once. I want to see Harvey slowly make his way to the #1 spot and stay there. It’s hard enough pitching in the bright lights of New York baseball when you’re pitching well, but to be a young pitcher leading off the rotation and you begin to struggle, it will be a test to say the least. So I guess it depends on how long Johan will be out. If it’s for more than one or two starts, I would go with Niese, but if Santana is coming back sooner than we think, why not give Harvey a chance and see how he handles it. I’d say having to choose between these two strong pitchers is the least of our worries this season. 

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WRIGHT BASEBALL CLASSIC!– The World Baseball Classic has become the Wright Baseball Classic with our very own captain showing that he is a one-man wrecking machine well-worth the money he gets paid. While all Met fans knew that already, now the world gets to see what David Wright can do. David knocked in 5 RBIs last night in Team USA’s 7-1 win over Puerto Rico, including a 3 run double just missing Angel Pagan’s glove. That makes 10 RBIs in total during this WBC!! Wright’s play has garnered so much attention that he’s being hailed as Captain America now! That’s right! David Wright knows how to represent the Mets and this country the right way! Keep it up David and don’t forget to bring that hot bat and glove back for April 1st!!