Luis Castillo made it a week into his four-year contract with the Mets without getting hurt. The second baseman sat out last night’s game with right knee soreness.
Castillo left Tuesday’s home opener after the fourth inning when the knee flared up as he chased a foul ball. Castillo had offseason surgery on both knees. Mets manager Willie Randolph said they would evaluate Castillo day-to-day. The second baseman said he does not think he’ll need to go to the disabled list, just a few days off.
“My knee’s swollen a little bit, but I’m fine,” Castillo said before last night’s 8-2 win over Philadelphia.
No MRI exam was performed on the knee, and Castillo said the pain is not like what he felt last year. He believes the cold weather may have caused the stiffness.
Damion Easley played second last night in his place and Angel Pagan batted in the second spot in the lineup.
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Jose Reyes’ last stolen base came Sept. 15 against the Phillies. But the shortstop says relax, the steals will come and there’s no carryover from his dismal September last year.
“I don’t worry about last year. I worry about this year,” said Reyes, who has led the National League in steals the last three years. “I don’t get many [stolen base] chances. When I start to get on base more then there will be stolen bases.”
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Injured RHP Duaner Sanchez threw two scoreless innings Tuesday night for Single-A St. Lucie. He gave up two hits, hit a batter and had three strikeouts. GM Omar Minaya said Sanchez will pitch for Triple-A New Orleans this weekend. They would like to see him go back-to-back tomorrow and Saturday to test where he is in his recovery from his shoulder injury.
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LHP Pedro Feliciano pitched an inning of relief last night, a day after showing up late for the home opener. Randolph said the organization was not angry with him for his late arrival from Puerto Rico on Tuesday. . . . Closer Billy Wagner has not pitched since April 2 in Florida.