PORT ST. LUCIE — Sit down Mets fans. This may come as a bit of a shock. Looks like the Mets got something right.
Consider this comment from one of the better scouts in the game who has watched Chris Young pitch several times this spring.
“If Chris Young stays healthy, he’s one of the best signings of the winter,” the scout told the Post yesterday. “He hides the ball in the way Sid Fernandez did and that makes him so effective.”
The 6-foot-10 Young just happens to be a lot taller than Fernandez, the wide-load lefty.
Young threw against the Mets minor leaguers and Carlos Beltran yesterday because he didn’t want to face the Marlins again and give away any trade secrets. He’s hiding the ball better than ever and he’s ready for the season.
Catcher Mike Nickeas caught Young. He calls it the “Fulcrum Effect” the way Young hides the ball. That’s what makes Young so difficult for hitters; and now he is adding the split-fingered fastball. If it all works the Mets have a solid No. 4 starter.
“His front foot hits the ground and his arm is down behind his body, there’s a fulcrum effect,” Nickeas said. “Chris is bright, a hard worker. He’s a thinker. He’s constantly thinking steps ahead, that’s something that’s a nice feature to have on a pitcher, a guy who can see a couple of batters ahead as opposed to a guy who is just focusing on his pitch.”
That’s how the Mets rotation has changed. Oliver Perez was not the type to think ahead.
Young, 31, was not healthy last year, following 2009 arthroscopic shoulder surgery. That shoulder needed more time to heal. On May 21, 2008, Young was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Albert Pujols. Young suffered a broken nose, a fractured skull and missed two months as his mechanics suffered. Naturally, shoulder problems followed.
“The last three years have been really broken up,” Young said. “It was some tough times, but it’s worth it to be where I am now.”
From 2005-08 Young was 39-26 with a 3.66 ERA. Most of that time was spent with the Padres. He is hoping to have that kind of success with the Mets at Petco Park East, Citi Field.
“I’ll always be prepared. I’ll always have a game plan and it will come down to execution,” said Young, who has made just 36 starts the past three seasons. “If I’m healthy I feel I can compete on a pretty high level.”
In the offseason, Young, a free agent, called ex-Padres boss Sandy Alderson to wish him luck in his new job. The next thing he knew he was a Met.
“I needed a change of scenery,” said Young, who signed a $1.1 million deal with incentives. “My relationship with Sandy, Paul DePodesta, I really trust their leadership.”
In that initial conversation, Young told Alderson, “I really believe the Mets have the talent to win there.”
Now that he has spent a spring with the team he believes it even more.
“There’s no doubt,” Young said. “Outside expectations can be what they are, people can say what they want, I’ve been on teams like that before and it makes it fun to go out and overachieve, but nobody in here has that goal of overachieving, we all have that expectation of winning and being successful.”
As for what he saw in Beltran the hitter, Young said, “He’s a presence. To see him up there and taking good swings, I was excited. He’s going to be a big part of our success.”
It’s been a great spring in every way for Young, the former Princeton baseball and basketball player, who relished in the Tigers’ basketball success this season.
“I’m extremely proud of that team, the effort and the heart they showed,” Young said. “They put the program back on the map.”
It’s up to Young now to help put the Mets on the map for being something other than losers.