For Mets" Early Risers, Bacon, Eggs and a Workout LUCIE, Fla. - The sun began to rise over Digital Domain Park, the Mets" spring training home, at 6:42 Sunday morning. Many players, it turned out, were there to see it. Manager Terry Collins surprised some people last month when he said he had been arriving at the ballpark at 4:30 each morning. He said he liked to work out and be in his office - showered, changed and ready to go - as the very first of his players arrived. Judging from the scene early Sunday, there was good reason. At 6:26 a.m., Robert Carson walked through the clubhouse doors, the sky behind him resembling night, and became the first player to clock in for the day. He shuffled to his locker, rubbing the grogginess from his eyes, and changed into his workout gear. "Man, I've been setting my alarm for 6 o'clock these days," Carson said. I try to get up early, come in, get dressed, wake myself up and just get moving. Carson, a 23-year-old left-hander with an outside chance to earn a spot in the bullpen, said he had been coming in extra early to receive treatment for a strained intercostal muscle. Before entering the trainer's room, he loaded up a plate with eggs and bacon, and washed them down with two types of fruit juice. Afterward, he went through a rigorous cardiovascular regimen: 30 minutes on a stationary bike, 30 minutes on a treadmill and 20 minutes on an elliptical machine. "This will be my sixth year with the Mets organization," Carson said, "and all this just slowly becomes a routine." The clubhouse, usually a hive of activity, with coaches, reporters and clubhouse staff buzzing around a few dozen players, was eerily quiet as Carson pulled on a pair of running shoes and slipped in his iPod ear buds. The room stirred again with the arrival of Pedro Beato, Jenrry Mejia and Armando Rodriguez, three more young relievers, one after another, at 6:33. Soon, they were laughing by Beato's locker. "I'm one of the guys that's usually here the earliest," Beato said. I don't like coming in and cramming everything into a short period of time. I like to take my time and not rush. Beato said it was not a coincidence that many of the early risers Sunday were pitchers, who he said tended to have more regimented schedules with daily conditioning. He said he would get his body loose in the sauna before hopping onto the exercise bike. Mejia and Rodriguez went out for a run along the outer rims of the practice fields. "This is spring training, the time for you to be serious," Beato said. If you're not prepared, you're going to be in big trouble. Beato, a man devoted to sleep, said he took naps when he came home in the late afternoon. Three hours later, he wakes up for dinner. He gets back into bed for the night a few hours after that. In the morning, he rolls out of bed by 6 and chugs a homemade espresso before bolting out the door. Indeed, during spring training, baseball players seem to adhere to bedtimes akin to those of elementary-school children. The Mets have a curfew of midnight - enforced by the honor system because the players are scattered in nearby hotels, apartments and condominiums - but few players seem to test it. "There's no way any of us would make it to curfew anyway," said Chris Schwinden, the fifth player through the door, at 6:40. We're so dang tired. We kill ourselves during the day. By 9 or 10 o'clock, you're so drained, you just pass out. Schwinden, another relief pitcher, said he found it a bit strange coming to work when it was still dark. He said that during the regular season, he was a "night owl" and generally did not sleep before 2 a.m. As he spoke, the clubhouse slowly came to life. Shortstop Ruben Tejada and catcher Lucas May slipped in before 7. Schwinden turned on the television as he sat down with his own plate of eggs. Ricky Bones, the Mets" new bullpen coach, sauntered through the room wearing weight-lifting gloves. Like the other coaches and clubhouse attendants, he had arrived before the first player. Catcher Mike Nickeas and right fielder Lucas Duda strolled in together, each gripping a Starbucks cup, at 7:03. Soon, as the smell of bacon and coffee filled the room, Collins, in full uniform, made his rounds, patting players on their backs. There were still three hours to go before the morning stretch. David Wright, who has been feeling discomfort near his left rib cage, will be held out of spring training games Monday and Tuesday. "I think if this was April, opening day, I'd be playing, 100 percent," Wright said Sunday morning. ... General Manager Sandy Alderson said he was not overly concerned about Ike Davis, who doctors believe has valley fever. ... Single-game tickets will go on sale at 10 Eastern on Monday morning at Mets.com.