During the top of the fourth inning of today’s game against the Cardinals, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt caught up with RHP Brad Holt on the back fields of the Mets’ Port St. Lucie complex.

On what secondary pitches he’s been focusing on this spring:

“Pretty much the same as last summer. Still working on the breaking ball. I’ve been working on the change up a lot more so I can get a feel for it. It’s coming along great. It’s just like a breaking ball, the more you throw it the better feel you have for it and the better chance you have throwing it for strikes.”

On whether he could see himself as a reliever:

“Honestly, as long as I’m throwing and as long I’m on the mound playing in the game it doesn’t really matter what role I’m in. It’s all the same, you’re throwing to hitters, you’re in the game, and your pitching so as long as I’m throwing it’s good.”

What he’s looking to get out of this spring:

“Just getting the off speed down pat. Being able to throw everything for strikes and being able to locate all three pitches.”

there’s no question that Brad has an electric fastball with very good movement, but like he mentioned he needs to continue developing his change and throw it more often as he begins to move up to the higher levels… there’s been rumblings that he could begin the season in Binghamton, but the FSL seems more likely…

toby recently ranked him as the third best prospect in the organization… to read his report, click here...

The Mets defeated the Florida Marlins this afternoon 9-0 inside Tradition Field at Port St. Lucie. Oliver Perez started, tossing two shutout innings and striking out three.

RHP Dillon Gee took over in the third and was impressive, allowing just an infield hit to Cameron Maybin while fanning two over his two innings of work. Maybin wasn’t on base for long, as Gee promptly picked him off a few pitches later.

The right-hander had a good 2008 at St. Lucie and an even better debut in Binghamton, allowing just four runs over 27 innings. He followed that up with a solid performance in the Puerto Rican Winter League, going 4-0 while allowing just 12 runs and 13 walks in 48.2 innings (10 starts) for a 2.22 ERA.  It earned him the league’s Pitcher of the Year honor.

Gee doesn’t get the attention that other pitchers within the organization get because he isn’t a power guy and doesn’t get a lot of K’s… he’s got great control and consistently throws strikes and will certainly be an interesting guy to keep your eye on as we enter the season…

In their first game of the Grapefruit League season this afternoon, the Mets defeated the Orioles 9-3 in Fort Lauderdale.

Nick Evans played first and went 3-for-4 in the victory. In his blog for the New York Post, Bart Hubbuch writes that Mets manager Jerry Manuel was happy with Evans’ lone out, a groundout to second in the fifth inning that allowed Alex Cora to move over to third.

It was one those “little” fudamental plays that the Mets’ skipper has been preaching constantly throughout the opening days of camp. “That’s how we have to play,” Manuel was quoted as saying.

Evans hit .257 for the Mets last season (28-for-109) with 2 homers and 9 RBIs in 50 games. MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone did an interview with Nick last week. To view it, click here.

This morning in the Daily News, Jon Harper takes a close look at OF Fernando Martinez and what the organization expects from him in the coming months.

Harper reiterates several times throughout the article that we must remember that Fernando is just 20 years old and doesn’t turn 21 until October. The Mets signed him in June of 2005 at age 16 and he has been young at every level he’s been on and, as Mets management stated, his main challenge in 2009 will be to stay healthy and stay on the field. He’ll begin the year with Triple-A Buffalo.

Injuries have been a problem for the young outfielder over the last several seasons. He battled a bone bruise in his hand in 2006, a broken hamate bone in his right hand in 2007, and dealt with a hamstring issue last season. He suffered an elbow injury on a throw in the Dominican Winter League a few weeks ago and it has limited him to DH duties so far this spring.

Martinez hit the ball hard in an intra squad game yesterday, drilling a single up the middle and lining out hard to left field. Mets’ hitting coach Howard Johnson likes what he sees:

When he does what he did [yesterday] you see the potential. When you have a guy who can let the ball get deep in the zone and hit the ball that hard the other way, plus still get to the inside pitch because he’s so quick, that’s a tremendous tool. Just natural ability. When I see that, I think he’s close. I really do.

Both general manager and Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel believe Fernando could very well play an important role for the major league team as the season progresses. Minaya stated:

I felt all along that Fernando is going to possibly be in the picture for us this year at some point. He really was hitting the ball well in winter ball before he got hurt.

The Mets kick off their Grapefruit League season this afternoon at 1:10 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles. Martinez is in the lineup hitting ninth and DHing. Nick Evans will hit seventh and play first.

According to Adam Rubin:

Phil Regan will be named the pitching coach of Single-A St. Lucie. Regan, 71, had a career 96-81 record with a 3.84 ERA from 1960-72 with the Tigers, Dodgers, Cubs and White Sox. He also managed the Orioles in 1995 and has served as a pitching coach for the Cubs and Indians. Regan is a longtime winter-ball manager in Venezuela, and was the skipper of Francisco Rodriguez‘s team this past season.

Robert Ellis, who spent 2008 as the GCL Mets pitching coach had initially been named as the pitching coach for St. Lucie.