Mike Pelfrey, Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances and Bryce Harper

The plan is to keep it pretty basic here this week, as I have a great amount of work to do before my departure...for Italy. On Saturday. Long-planned family trip.

--Mike Pelfrey pitched terribly for the Mets on Sunday, and his existence with the Mets is starting to smell like A.J. Burnett's life with the Yankees - minus the exorbitant salary. You get the feeling that Pelfrey is simply never going to achieve his full potential, in large part due to the mental part of the game.

Which means just more pain for this year's Mets team, which needs Pelfrey to give them something like his 2010 season in order to have a chance at respectability.

--Fernando Martinez is healthy, for now, with the Astros. He's still only 23, so maybe it isn't too late for him to become a valuable major-league player. Based on his injury history, however, that's an awfully tough bet.

--Good piece by Mark Herrmann on Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances, who - thanks to Andy Pettitte's return - have an even longer climb to the Yankees' starting rotation.

--The Nationals sent Bryce Harper to Triple-A Syracuse, delaying the 19-year-old's rise. When I stoppedy by Washington's camp last month and wrote about Harper, I mentioned to Nationals GM Mike Rizzo that coincidence that his manager Davey Johnson, 28 years ago, pushed for 19-year-old Dwight Gooden to make the Mets' roster. Rizzo responded that it's far easier for a 19-year-old pitcher to make that jump than a position player. And now Harper will have time to work on his game (relatively) out of the public spotlight.

--Have a great day.