At Spring Training With the Mets, the Good, the Bad and the Apology

VIERA, Fla. - The first batter Daisuke Matsuzaka faced on Thursday, Denard Span of the Washington Nationals, doubled, stole third base and scored on a groundout. It was the only blemish in an otherwise sharp outing for Matsuzaka, who is trying to win a job in the Mets ' rotation.

This is where Matsuzaka finds himself, at 33, seven years after his breathless arrival from Japan with the Boston Red Sox. Last spring, he competed for a spot in the Cleveland Indians' rotation but never surfaced in the majors until the Mets rescued him from Class AAA in August and gave him seven starts.

Matsuzaka plans to stay in that spot, despite competition from John Lannan and Jenrry Mejia for the fifth starter's job. He allowed one run and three hits in three and two-thirds innings of a 7-5 victory at Space Coast Stadium on Thursday. In three games this spring, Matsuzaka has allowed three runs in seven and two-thirds innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts.

'Until the decision is made, I have no say in it, but I have been preparing and expecting myself to be in that position,' Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. 'So far, I'm pretty satisfied with what I've done.'

The interpreter, Jeff Cutler, who is Asian-American, was recently the target of a racial slur uttered by the pitching coach Dan Warthen, who apologized to Cutler in the clubhouse Monday for using the slur in a joking manner. In doing so, though, Warthen repeated the slur in the presence of a Wall Street Journal reporter, who wrote about the incident Wednesday.

Warthen issued a public apology Wednesday night, and General Manager Sandy Alderson also apologized on behalf of the organization. Neither had much to add Thursday, and Alderson would not say whether Warthen had been disciplined.

'I've already made the apologies to all the appropriate people,' Warthen said. 'I don't think there's any ill feelings by any of the people in this room. I made a mistake. I live up to it. It will not happen again.'

Cutler deferred to the others' statements, and Matsuzaka said he did not expect his relationship with Warthen to change.

'Everyone makes mistakes, and Dan has already commented on it,' Matsuzaka said. 'I don't want to dig deeper into it or try to add to what it is.'

Matsuzaka has said that Warthen was one of the reasons he wanted to return to the Mets, and he seems likely to win the job. Lannan could be the second left-hander in the bullpen - with Josh Edgin having already been shipped to minor league camp - and Mejia seems more likely to start the season in the minors.

Manager Terry Collins would not characterize the competition, but he said he liked what he had seen from Matsuzaka, who was 3-3 with a 4.42 earned run average for the Mets last season.

'He knows how to pitch,' Collins said. 'You don't pitch as long as he has and have the success that he's had with one or two pitches. This guy, he can throw any pitch at any time and keep the hitter off balance. He threw very well.'

Starter Noah Syndergaard, considered a cornerstone of the Mets' future, understands that he will probably start in the minors no matter how well he pitches here. Syndergaard, 21, has never pitched above Class AA but looked dominant for much of his outing Thursday.

The hard-throwing Syndergaard struck out four of his first five hitters and said his two-seam fastball was the best it had been all spring. He allowed three runs in three and two-thirds innings, two of them scoring on a home run off Jacob deGrom, who relieved Syndergaard with two outs in the eighth.

'I'm going to make the most of the opportunity and pitch as best I can,' Syndergaard said. 'The goal in mind is still to make the team, but I know there's a bigger picture involved.'

With Ike Davis and Lucas Duda still injured, Josh Satin started at first base and smashed a run-scoring double off Nationals starter Ross Detwiler. Satin is hitting .304, but the leading shortstop candidate, Ruben Tejada, had another rough game.

Tejada hit a ball hard for a lineout, but he still went 0 for 3, dropping his average to .067 (1 for 15). He also made an error, his third, when he tried to field a grounder to his left with both hands.

'Errors happen; everybody makes them,' Tejada said. 'I have a couple this week. Keep working and keep positive, and keep playing hard.'

Collins said he had spoken with Tejada, who frustrated Alderson with his work habits while hitting .202 last season, and had told him to relax.

'Listen, you're the shortstop here,' Collins said he told Tejada. 'Your name and your number are going to be in the lineup, so you've just got to go be the player you know you can be. Quit worrying about trying to impress everybody. We've seen you in the past, and two years ago you were the talk of the town. You had a bad year; big deal. Forget it. It's over.'

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