Fernando Tatis and Mike Jacobs haven’t distinguished themselves at first base and Daniel Murphy isn’t close to returning, but manager Jerry Manuel cautions anyone against thinking that prospect Ike Davis will be on his way to Citi Field anytime soon.
“As an organization, you have somewhat of a plan with what you feel is the right baseball decision, for not only the team, but also the individual,” Manuel said. “Sometimes, those individuals can change your mind in the decisions that you make. . . . When you put a plan together, you’ve gotta kind of ride it out a little bit.”
According to the manager, Murphy still is only running straight and could begin baseball-related activities this week. And he doesn’t expect Davis, who went 0-for-3 for Triple A Buffalo yesterday but is hitting .400, to get to the majors before Murphy returns.
That means that the platoon of Tatis (1-for-3 yesterday) and Jacobs will continue while they both try to get themselves going.
“You’d like to see someone do well and make it a difficult decision at some point,” Manuel said. “As of right now, I think Jacobs is just off a little bit. . . . Right now, his timing and flow just happen to be off a little bit, but I think he’ll eventually start to show the power we know he has.”
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Luis Castillo, who is nursing a sore right calf, pinch-hit to lead off the eighth and singled on a grounder to right.
Manuel had said that he wanted to give Castillo an extra day off, but used him when Pedro Feliciano‘s spot came up. Castillo ended up being stranded at second. He may get today off instead. Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman left the game in the sixth inning with a tight hamstring.
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Fernando Nieve pitched in the first four games of the season, the first Met to do that. Manuel said he was able to go yesterday, but that he wanted to avoid using him.
He’s been impressed with the pen so far.
“Am I to the point now where I can say this is this and this is that?” Manuel said. “Probably not. It’s very early, but as long as they are having success, they determine those roles not me.”
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Johan Santana makes his second start of the year today against Washington’s Livan Hernandez, who had a 7-8 record with a 5.47 ERA last season with the Mets.