Here is tonight’s Mets lineup facing Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Tonight’s Mets lineup against Phillies pitcher Vance Worley:

Jose Reyes – SS
Daniel Murphy – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Carlos Beltran – RF
Jason Bay – LF
Ike Davis – 1B
Josh Thole – C
Jason Pridie – CF
Mike Pelfrey – RHP

Worley pitched very well in two starts for Philly last year, and he posted a 2.78 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with 25 Ks in 22 IP through 4 starts in AAA this year. His name sounds like it could be a brand of vacuum cleaners, no?

According to the Mets PR Department, Ronny Paulino has been promoted from AAA Buffalo and activated from the disabled list. Paulino is available to play in tonight’s ballgame against the Phillies. He will wear uniform #9.

To make room on the roster for Paulino, catcher Mike Nickeas has been demoted to Buffalo.

I’m kind of sad to see Nickeas go down. I know Joe didn’t love his form behind the plate but he seemed to do a great job of working with the pitchers and calling games. One has to wonder, for example, if Chris Capuano might have pitched better last night if Nickeas was catching instead of Josh Thole.

Toward that same end, it’s going to take Paulino a while to build a rapport with the Mets pitching staff. I’m sure Joe will comment on that in more detail in a future post. Otherwise, I’m anxious to see what Paulino can do with the bat against lefties.

Not sure that this will affect his start tonight, but Livan Hernandez has been mentioned in a case against a drug dealer in Puerto Rico.

From the Miami Herald:

Vázquez Ayala was arrested after a seven-year investigation and was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute drugs in Puerto Rico. According to the source, Hernández’s name came up on various occasions when reviewing the properties linked to the drug trafficker.

Funny, I still have a subconscious urge to type “Expos” when I need to type “Nationals”. Go figure.

Here is tonight’s Mets lineup against Expos Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez.

Jose Reyes – SS
Daniel Murphy – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Carlos Beltran – RF
Jason Bay – LF
Ike Davis – 1B
Josh Thole – C
Willie Harris – CF
Chris Capuano – P

Looks like the matchup game, with Willie Harris in center. Can’t really argue with that choice, since Harris hasn’t been getting many at-bats lately and you need to keep the bench guys fresh. I might prefer Nickeas behind the plate since he and Capuano worked so well together five days ago, but I guess it’s more important to get Thole’s LH bat in the lineup.

With all the ballyhoo about Jose Reyes’ headfirst slide into third last night and the ensuing discussion about whether it’s safer / smarter / faster to slide head- or feet-first, here are some interesting points.

First, a mechanical engineer came to the conclusion that sliding head-first was faster.

Though, other researchers — including a physicist — saw no significant difference between the two methods.

But what about the opinion of someone who has actually been on a baseball field and done some sliding? Here is what Davey Lopes — one of the all-time great basestealers — had to say in an article published on MLB.com a few weeks back:

Former Met reliever Roger McDowell is under investigation by MLB for allegedly threatening fans in San Francisco with a baseball bat and verbally assaulting them with homophobic slurs

You can read all the gory details

For the second straight year, both Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo chose not to take part in the Mets’ annual visit to Walter Reed Hospital. This time, everyone is very pleased that Perez and Castillo stayed home. What a difference a year makes.

In other irrelevant news about former Mets, Brad Emaus is listed at 2B on the All-Star ballot. Were the Mets