A quick wrap-up from Port St. Lucie after the fifth and final day of full-squad workouts:
1. The Mets continue to move slowly with Orlando Hernandez, who hasn’t looked comfortable at all this spring. El Duque was scheduled to throw his first batting practice today but instead tossed 45 pitches in the bullpen. Hernandez also wasn’t on the list released yesterday by the Mets of pitchers slated to throw in tomorrow’s intrasquad scrimmage or the first four exhibition games. With the way Mike Pelfrey is throwing so far (terrific, by all accounts, with good movement his fastball), don’t be surprised if Pelfrey – not El Duque – comes out of spring training as the Mets’ No. 5 starter.
2. Carlos Beltran came away from batting practice yesterday against Johan Santana with a large welt on his left arm, the result of an inside fastball that got away. The ball was thrown so hard, in fact, that you could see an outline of the baseball’s stitches in Beltran’s skin. That moment appeared to be the only blip in Santana’s second BP outing of the weekend. He has a bullpen session set for Tuesday, then is slated to make his Grapefruit League debut as a Met here Friday against the Cardinals.
3. The Mets will hold their lone intrasquad game here tomorrow before opening their exhibition schedule Tuesday against the University of Michigan, also in Port St. Lucie. Willie Randolph said Beltran, second baseman Luis Castillo, outfielder Endy Chavez and infielder Damion Easley would be held out of the scrimmage as medical precautions. All are coming back from offseason health issues.
4. David Wright is expected to return to the team Monday night after leaving a day early Saturday morning for his grandmother’s funeral in Virginia.
5. The Mets are set to unveil the new logo for Citi Field at a ceremony here tomorrow morning.