MET NOTES
It will be Brian Bannister on the mound Wednesday for the Mets.
With Victor Zambrano battling a left hamstring strain, Willie Randolph said yesterday that Bannister will move up from his scheduled start on Sunday and make his major league debut instead on Wednesday against the Nationals.
Randolph said Zambrano is “definitely” pitching Sunday against the Marlins.
Bannister, the 25-year-old right-hander, went a combined 13-5 with a 2.74 ERA in Double-A and Triple-A last year. He posted a 0.95 ERA in 19 spring training innings.
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Pedro Feliciano has not made the Mets as a lefty reliever after all. Randolph said yesterday veteran southpaw Darren Oliver is on the club, with Feliciano heading to the minors.
Randolph explained, “I think that after we thought about it a little bit closer, we felt like with Victor, even though he’s going to be fine, we feel that we can cover ourselves and (Oliver can) give us some more innings, just in case something happens to (Zambrano).”
The 35-year-old Oliver, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2004 with Florida and Houston, had a 1.46 ERA this spring. On Friday, Randolph said, “Feliciano probably is a little bit more effective against lefties.” The only other lefty in the bullpen is Billy Wagner, though Aaron Heilman was excellent against lefties last season.
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The Mets’ Opening Day lineup is set, with a two-through-six of Paul Lo Duca, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Cliff Floyd. Randolph told Floyd he’ll hit sixth for the most part to start the year.
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The Mets are 27-17 all-time on Opening Day, though they have lost two of their last three . . . After wearing No. 61 in spring training, Bannister has switched to No. 40. . . . Pitching matchups for the Nationals series: today, Tom Glavine (13-13, 3.53 ERA last year) vs. RHP Livan Hernandez (15-10, 3.98); Wednesday, Bannister (major league debut) vs. RHP John Patterson (9-7, 3.13); Thursday, Pedro Martinez (15-8, 2.82) vs. RHP Ramon Ortiz (9-11, 5.36).