Mets' Schneider catching on quick

BY ANTHONY RIEBER | anthony.rieber@newsday.com

March 28, 2008

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - New Mets catcher Brian Schneider was really on the go in the last 10 days of spring training.

A minor-league game to get some at-bats. A bullpen session to get acquainted with one of his new pitchers. A bus ride across Florida to play in an exhibition game that most starting players were happy to blow off.

This spring, Schneider learned one of the first lessons of life in New York: Sometimes you have to really hustle to avoid getting left behind.

Not hustle in the baseball sense, like running hard on a grounder to second. Not that Schneider could do that anyway, not with the hamstring pull that cost him most of the first six weeks of the exhibition season.

We mean hustle in the "you-better-hurry-up-or-this-train-is-going-to-leave-without-you" sense. The Mets have to start the season Monday in Miami whether Schneider is ready or not. So he did all he could to make sure he's catching Johan Santana against the Marlins.

"With the exception of games, I caught those guys in bullpens," said the 31-year-old native of Jacksonville, Fla. "I've been here during games talking to the guys. Obviously, it feels better to be in the games playing with these guys, but even when I wasn't playing, I felt like I was right there along the way with the guys."

Schneider initially injured his hamstring in late February, played one game and then was sidelined a week. He returned March 8 and played another game two days later, but he wasn't completely healed yet.

Players always want to be careful when coming back from leg injuries, but Schneider had a good reason to push it a little. He's really excited about the upcoming season.

"I feel we can do a lot of great things with this group," he said. "I'm enjoying this -- a lot."

And who can blame him? Last season with the Washington Nationals, Schneider was preparing to catch John Patterson and Matt Chico and Shawn Hill. He had spent his entire eight-year career with the Expos/Nationals.

After the Nov. 30 trade that sent him to the Mets along with Ryan Church for Lastings Milledge, Schneider gets to work with a two-time Cy Young Award winner, a future Hall of Famer and a pair of young 15-game winners.

"We're going to have a chance to win every night with this group, obviously," he said. "There's Pedro and Johan , and then you go down to Johnny Maine, with the way he's been throwing in spring, and Oliver Perez, he had success last year.

"Believe me, I didn't need to go through the roster [when the trade was announced]. I knew the roster already. I obviously knew we had a good staff, and then we got Johan, which just got me that much more excited. A lot of good things are happening on this team, and I'm just so fortunate to be a part of it."

What does the lefthanded-hitting Schneider bring to the table that made the Mets want him as their replacement for Paul Lo Duca after initially acquiring -- and then cutting -- former Brewers backstop Johnny Estrada?

Well, he's thought of as a good defensive catcher, which he'd better be, because he's not much of a stick. Schneider, a career .252 hitter, batted .235 with six home runs and 54 RBIs in 129 games with the Nationals last season.

"He's a guy that's been around a long time, knows the league," Santana said. "It's about getting to know each other, getting to work together. We're still making some adjustments, but he's a smart guy."

Staff writer Jim Baumbach contributed to this story.