Eat and Run

I mentioned last week that Spring Training tends to proffer up very little in the way of newsworthy items in the early going. Mostly, what you get are stories of reclamation and/or human interest, with the occasional tale of internal strife that gets blown out of proportion because it's generally much ado about stuffing.

The Mets had one such story come out of camp this afternoon when, during an intrasquad game, an incident occurred when Noah Syndergaard was admonished by David Wright for taking a lunch break while the remainder of the team was in the dugout watching and/or playing in the game.

If this is the most excitement the Mets have going on, I have to say that's fine with me. For one, it means that David Wright has really taken this whole Team Captain thing to heart, and while he still may be mostly unexciting and speak in cliches, he's not just leading by example, he's actually getting on his teammate's cases in order to keep everyone focused and in line. It's a fairly minor offense; the sort of thing that would get a player hung up in Kangaroo Court were it someone of veteran status, but for a younger player who hasn't established himself on a team that's relying on a youth movement to return them to prominence, it's important to set an example of discipline and professionalism, and Wright more than anyone else understands that. Syndergaard wasn't scheduled to pitch and I assume just had a case of the munchies, but if nobody else is chowing down during the game (and I'm not sure why a ballplayer would want to eat during a game), perhaps Noah should have just popped some sunflower seeds and waited it out.

This probably wouldn't have been much of a story had it not happened in front of several members of the 4th estate, who watched and immediately pounced on the story, ready to make it into something more than it actually was. Wright spoke to Syndergaard, and apparently while the two were conversing, Wright was abetted by Bobby Parnell, who took it upon himself to clear Syndergaard's dishes right then and there, immediately ending the youngster's impromptu lunch hour. Later in the day, the press tried to blow the story up as they are wont to do, but Wright was mum on the topic, Syndergaard was contrite and admitted he was in the wrong, and pretty much all the veterans, and Terry Collins, praised Wright for vocally showing who the leader on this team is.

So, that was today's Mets news. Quite honestly, if the Mets drama needs to be artificially pumped up by the media, that's probably a good thing as far as team chemistry is concerned. By tomorrow, there will probably be plenty of jokes about it and we'll all move on.