Nickeas discusses call-up, his improvement hitting this season and Jenrry Mejia

Mike Nickeas literally came home when the Mets called him up Thursday. The 27-year-old catcher, who nearly retired as a player after elbow surgery last year, went to Georgia Tech and makes his offseason home in Atlanta. His wife Rebecca, whose family is form Atlanta, picked him up at the airport.

"It's still surreal," Nickeas said. "I got the call this morning from Obie [Buffalo manager Ken Oberkfell]. I literally pinched myself a couple of times just to make sure it was really happening."

Nickeas caught Jenrry Mejia both at Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Buffalo this year and echoed the praise about the development of the right-hander's secondary pitches.

"Compared to last year he's come a long, long way," Nickeas said. "His offspeed stuff for strikes has been tremendous this year. His last four or five outings have been phenomenal. His fastball is where it has been -- only it's more consistent both sides of the plate. ... I really like his curveball. He's getting that over first pitch a lot. I think it's really effective. It's difficult to swing at first pitch for a lot of guys, especially when he's throwing 96 mph, kind of cutting."

As for his own near-retirement from playing, Nickeas said: "I think that thought comes through a lot of guys minds as they're struggling through the minor leagues. You want to think you're tough enough to just keep doing it and keep doing it. Fortunately enough, especially today, it's kind of all coming together. I'm really thankful I decided to stay with it."

Also:

- Jerry Manuel said he's batting Lucas Duda second because he was only going to get a steady diet of breaking balls down in the order.

- Manuel thought about having Angel Pagan (right wrist tendinitis) return to the lineup, but the manager said Pagan "didn't feel exactly right." Manuel hopes Pagan and Jose Reyes (right oblique) will play this weekend at Chicago, although Pagan seems more likely.