213 Miles From Shea

The Mets are coming off an 8-2 win against the Astros behind a strong start from David Peterson and 12 hits from the bats including five doubles from four different hitters! The Mets offense heads back to West Palm Beach today to take on the other home team, the Washington Nationals.

The Nationals are trying to round their starting rotation. Shinnosuke Ogasawara is locked in a roster battle to break camp with the team and in that starting five. Over four starts and 8 1/3 innings this spring, he has a 7.56 ERA and a 2.52 WHIP. He has every reason to fully bring it on against the Mets this afternoon.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Kodai Senga. Every Kodai start is a must watch, right? Senga dominated in his first start of the season allowing only two hits and nothing else over two innings while striking out two batters. His next major league spring training start was on March 14th where he allowed two runs from seven hits over 3 1/3 innings. Today we are looking for Senga to look more like his first start, keep the hits down and mow through this Nationals lineup.
2. Stolen Bases. The Mets have only swiped 15 bags this spring, which is good for 24th in MLB. For context, the Brewers already have 50 stolen bases, six teams have 30 or more, and 15 teams have 20 or more. Today’s starting lineup has 11 of the Mets 15 stolen bases. Azocar and Acuña have three each, Lindor and Siri have a pair each and Baty rounds out the group with one.
3. José Azocar. Let’s stick with Azocar for a bit. Azocar is having a tremendous spring with the Mets hitting 11-for-35 with a homer, three stolen bases and eight RBI’s. His eight RBI’s are tied for second on the team behind Pete Alonso. He has one more week to make a push up the depth chart. It’s still unlikely he breaks camp with the team, but a week is a long time in spring training.

Let’s Go Mets!

There are only six games left in spring training! The Mets will play the Astros for the seventh and final time this evening as they take a night trip to West Palm Beach. In an interesting scheduling quirk, the Mets and Astros will actually face each other in the Opening Series of the regular season starting on 3/27. Since the Astros are an American League team, the Mets and Astros will not face each other again in 2025 unless both teams make the World Series. It’s mildly interesting that these two organizations due to their spring training proximity get so familiar with each other and then just disappear from each other when the calendar flips to April.

Anyway the Mets have about a week to finalize their 40-man roster and their active roster. There was another round of cuts on Monday with four more players being assigned to minor league camp. The only surprising move was Chris Williams. This leaves the back-up catcher competition to Jakson Reetz or Hayden Senger (unless if the Mets make another move while other teams start to cut players).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Lineup. Tonight’s lineup could be their Opening Day lineup. Jose Siri probably gets the start over Tyrone Taylor in center. The Astros are have Framber Valdez listed as their Opening Day starter, who is a lefty so it’s also possible someone else will DH against him. The big story here is Brett Baty seems to be the Opening Day second basemen! The Mets bats are facing off against Ronel Blanco who catapulted to fame after tossing a no-hitter in 8th career start. He’s battling right now for a spot in the back of the Astros rotation.
2. David Peterson. Over three games and 10 2/3 innings, Peterson has a 0.84 ERA and 0.844 WHIP this spring. He’s scattered five hits and four walks while striking out eight batters. It looks like the Astros are running out their starting lineup (or something close to it), so this is an excellent opportunity for Peterson to test his stuff.
3. Juan Soto. You know who has been having an excellent spring? Juan Soto. In 12 games he has gone 10-for-28 with two doubles, four home runs and seven runs scored. Surprisingly, four homers is good for 8th in the league as four players have already hit six home runs (two of them in significantly more games played) and another three players have already hit five.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Marlins both have some interesting decisions to make today. After this game, both teams will meet again on Sunday, March 23rd. The Mets will then head to Miami for their second series of the year starting on March 31st. Then, the Marlins come to to Queens on April 7th for another series. The Mets and Marlins had a similar situation in 2023 where they ended spring training against each other and then faced off in two series over the first two weeks of the regular season.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is competing for the last spot in the rotation. After Sunday’s games Mike Puma reported the Mets are leaning towards keeping Blackburn in the bullpen. Blackburn still needs to be stretched out combing back from injury. So we’ll be watching today to see if the Mets continue to stretch him out and if the Mets decide to keep anything hidden from Marlin pitchers.
2. Luisangel Acuña. The injuries to the Mets infield are creating openings to both Brett and Luisangel. Luisangel is 7-for-31 this spring with only one extra-base hit slashing .226/.250/.258. He’s made the most of his his time on the base paths with three stolen bases already.
3. Alexander Canario. Canario is one of the major roster question marks heading into the last week of spring training. If the Mets do not put him on the active roster they are going to need to sneak him through waivers. So far this spring he has gone 3-for-25 at the plate with a double and three walks (.120/.214/.160)

Let’s Go Mets!

How are the Mets going round out their rotation? Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning could all conceivably find themselves in the rotation when the Mets break camp in about a week. Megill had his first rough start of spring on Sunday allowing four runs from six hits over five innings. Blackburn will make a start on the road for the Mets today while Griffin Canning looks to continue his strong spring at home.

The Mets are playing their 4th and 5th game this afternoon in a 48-hour span. Tuesday their off and Wednesday they start their final push for the regular season. Roster battles are about to come down to the wire!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Griffin Canning. Over 5 1/3 innings Canning has allowed three hits, one walk and struck out seven while shutting out opponents this spring. He’s pitched so well that he is starting to pop up on deep sleeper fantasy baseball articles. He also made slightly viral news a few days ago dodging a line drive while being interviewed in the Mets dugout. Is Canning another David Stearns steal?
2. Dedniel Núñez. Núñez makes his 2025 spring debut this afternoon! He had a breakout year for the Mets in 2024 pitching with a 2.31 ERA, 172 ERA+ over 35 innings spread over 25 games. A flexor strain shut him down for the second half the season and he’s been progressing slowly this spring. Today’s outing is a major hurdle to see if he’ll be ready for Opening Day.
3. Mike Vasil. A year ago we would be writing about how we’re excited to see Mike Vasil pitch for the Mets. The Mets left Vasil unprotected in the Rule V draft and he was selected by the Phillies who traded him to Tampa Bay for cash. He has struggled so far this spring allowing seven runs from 12 hits over 7 2/3 innings. The Rays also selected Nate Lavender from the Mets. Both players must stay on the 26-man roster throughout 2025 if the Rays want to keep them.

Let’s Go Mets!

For a second straight season all teams are participating in a Spring Breakout game. It’s like the All-Star Futures Game, but each team roster is made up of one organization. In 2024, the Mets prospects beat the Nationals prospects 4-2 with big days at the plate from Ryan Clifford and Kevin Parada. Brandon Sproat foreshadowed his tremendous 2024 with two strikeouts in one inning. Many of the players from the 2024 game will be back today!

The 2025 roster is loaded prospects that are close to the majors and played in last year’s game (like Jett Williams), 2024 draft picks (Carson Benge, Jonathan Santucci) and players trying reignite their prospect start (Kevin Parada). Should be a fun day at the ballpark!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Jonah Tong. Tong has a fastball with over 20 inches of vertical break. Drafted by the Mets in 2022, Tong is coming off a standout season across three levels of minor league ball where he had a 3.03 ERA, 1.168 WHIP over 113 innings. The big difference for Tong in 2024 was his control. he kept his strikeout rate high (12.7 K/9) but dropped his BB/9 from 9.4 in 2023 to 3.7 in 2024. Barring a major surprise, he probably won’t make his major league debut until 2026.
2. Carson Benge. The Mets first round draft pick in 2024 is a top-100 prospect in baseball (#71 Baseball Prospectus) heading into the 2025 season. Last season he played in 15 games with the St. Lucie Mets hitting .273/.420/.436. The Mets drafted the left-handed pitcher for his power (55) and hit (55) skills. Like another Mets prospect from Oklahoma State, Benge was a two-way prospect. He even was a semi-finalist for the John Olreud award for two-players. Benge has decided to focus on becoming a major league hitter.
3. Jeremy Rodriguez. The Mets traded Tommy Pham to the Diamondbacks during the 2023 trade deadline for a 17-year old Jeremy Rodriguez who has really come into his own as Met. When the Mets got him, he was hitting .246/.363/.377 in the DOSL. Clearly, his walk rate was ridiculous. He finished the season hitting .422/.536/.711 with the Mets DOSL team. Last season he played 50 games with the rookie level Florida Coast League Mets slashing .282/.355/.400. Look for his fielding today, which is another strength in his game.

Lets Go Mets!

Buckle-up everyone! The Mets are about to play four games in the 30-ish hours! This afternoon the Mets have a normal spring training game against the Astros followed the MLB Spring Breakout game – a prospect only showcase that MLB started in 2024. Then tomorrow the Mets have a split-squad doubleheader. If we think of spring training in phases, tomorrow feels like the end of the second phase before camp starts to shrink again.

The Mets essentially play the same four teams during spring training and today is the second-to-last game against the Astros, with the last game happening on Wednesday the 19th. The Mets will then open the regular season in Houston, so a lot of Astros early in the season. This is actually the second time in three seasons where the Mets are opening the regular season against one of the four teams they played against all spring (2023 Marlins). This may change how both teams hide their pitchers from hitters today and on Wednesday.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Tylor Megill. Megill is in a roster battle for the back of the rotation. With injuries to Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea, Megill is competing with Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning for the two spots behind Holmes, Peterson and Senga. This probably means that Megill, if he makes the rotation, would fall out of the first series of the year against the Astros – so hopefully he gets a full start on the mound today rather than splitting time between the game and the back fields. Megill is off to a tremendous start this spring, allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings from four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
2. Brett Baty at second, again! Baty has already logged 27 innings at second this spring for the Mets (37 at 3rd). Today will be his sixth game at the position where he has had 13 chances so far, eight assists, four put outs and one error (no errors at third base for comparison).
3. Hayden Senger. With the Mets playing so many games over the next two days, everyone battling for the back-up catcher spot on the active roster should get another chance. Hayden Senger has struggled at the plate this spring, going 2-for-12 with a run scored and two walks. He has not recorded a hit in March and the last time he walked was on March 2nd (he’s has also only played three games since the 2nd and five games total in March going 0-for-6).

Let’s Go Mets!

There are ten days left in spring training and the Mets have eleven games to go. Over those eleven games they will play the Nationals four more times! If you’re worried about over exposure, the Mets and Nationals won’t meet up in the regular season until April 25th. This is the exact opposite scenario the Mets face with the Astros, who they still have to play twice in the next 10 days before heading to Houston for Opening Day.

Anyway, with no need to hide regulars on the mound, the Mets will send out their 2025 Opening Day starter, Clay Holmes, to take on Nationals in a Saturday evening spring training clash!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Clay Holmes. Over three starts this spring Holmes has pitched 9 2/3 innings allowing no runs and scattering two hits and four walks. More impressively he has already racked up 13 K’s. The deepest he has gone in a game so far is 3 2/3 as he continues to stretch himself out. We’ll be looking at his pitch count today to get a sense of how many more starts or bullpens he’ll need to get ready for Opening Day.
2. Edwin Díaz. The Mets are decreasing the time between Díaz outings as he continues to get ready for the high leverage cadence he’ll need in a couple of weeks. Today’s outing comes only two days after his last (Thursday)! Since his difficult spring debut, Díaz has allowed a hit and two walks, but no runs over two innings. He’s also struck out five batters.
3. A.J. Minter. Today is the day for high leverage relievers! A.J. Minter is scheduled to pitch in his second spring training game. He looked good in his first game striking out a hitter and allowing nothing in one inning. Minter is coming off of a hip surgery late last season and his goal is to be ready for Opening Day. His first outing was a significant step in making that a reality.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets return to our television sets tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals. SNY last carried a Mets game on Monday and coverage of games since then has been sparse – including yesterday’s game where there was no TV, no radio and limited Gameday coverage.

What a game for television coverage to come back for! Kodai Senga will make his second start looking to build on his first start where he allowed two hits and nothing else over two innings while striking out two batters.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brett Baty at Second. Jeff McNeil has an oblique injury that will cause him to miss the start of the season. There’s now an opening for Brett Baty to not only make the team but be the team’s starting second basemen on Opening Day. So far this spring Baty has gone 10-for-27 with two doubles, two homers, three walks and seven runs scored. He has a 1.100 OPS over 30 plate appearances.
2. Joey Meneses. Meneses has a long path to the Mets roster. As a non-roster invitee, he has to pierce through both the active roster’s depth, players that are out of options and all of the players on the Mets 40-man who can play first base if needed. Meneses has been solid so far this spring going 4-for-13 with a double, home run, walk and three runs scored in only 13 plate appearances. There is still an eternity (13 days) until Opening Day for Meneses to keep pushing through.
3. Tyrone Taylor. I don’t have any stats to back this up, but it felt like Tyrone always came through in the clutch for the Mets in 2024. Last season he had a .701 OPS and 99 OPS+, pretty much exactly what you want from your 4th/5th outfielder type player. He is not off to a strong start this spring though, going 2-for-23 at the plate with a .174/.269/.261. It would be great to get Tyrone on a hot streak tonight!

Let’s Go Mets!

Every Mets home spring training game in 2025 has been against the Cardinals, Nationals, Marlins or Astros – until today! The Red Sox make the trip across Florida to face the Mets. For the Mets, it is the first of three home games (Rays on 3/17, Yankees on 3/24) against “new” opponents. Finally!

We are the part of spring training now where roster players and players in serious roster battles are seeing a significant portion of playing time in games. The results of the game still don’t mean anything, but they are becoming a better reflection as to how the team is doing. The Mets have won four of their last five and the Mets allowed all seven runs in their one loss late in the game.

It feels like the Mets are starting to click and players are building off of each other’s performances. In their last three games Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn have made back-to-back-to-back amazing starts. David Peterson looks to keep that going this afternoon!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. David Peterson. Peterson has allowed two hits, two walks and nothing else over seven innings spread over two starts this spring. He has also struck out seven batters. We are watching today to see if he can just keep up with numbers he has already put up this month.
2. Edwin Díaz: Díaz is scheduled to pitch in his third game today. His spring debut was rough – he allowed allowed two runs on two hits and a walk. He was missing the zone and generally looked off. A few days later he looked better-ish. On the positive side he struck out the side. But, Díaz also walked two batters. Today we are watching for Díaz to have a clean, stress-free inning.
3. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo returns to the lineup as the DH today! Nimmo is coming back from a knee injury. He received a gel injection about a week ago and was shut down from baseball activities for a few days after. Playing today is a significant step in getting ready for Opening Day!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have three major battles in camp right now: back of the rotation, backup catcher, and super-utility. All three battles have been exasperated by injuries so far this spring. In Tuesday’s game Hayden Senger and Chris Williams both got opportunities to move up the depth chart for back up catcher. They combined to hit 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Tylor Megill continued to make his case for the rotation with four scoreless innings of work. Acuña got a solid amount of playing time, going 2-for-3 with his first extra base hit of spring.

These roster battles will continue today. Acuña will get his second straight start at second base. Paul Blackburn will look to rebound from his last tough spring outing. Spring Training ends in two weeks and there are some big questions left!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Paul Blackburn. Time is running out for Paul Blackburn to make his case. Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning have both had tremendous springs. Blackburn has allowed seven runs, six earned, off of eight hits including two homers and four walks over 4 2/3 innings spread over three games. He needs a strong, clean start today.
2. Luisangel Acuña. What do the Mets do at second base? Luisangel is fighting to be the bench second basemen who could possibly overtake McNeil at some point this season. Acuña had productive, season defining week when he filled in for Lindor for a couple of weeks in September in 2024. So far this spring he has gone 6-for-23 at the plate with a double and two stolen bases. What does he do with his second consecutive start?
3. Starling Marte. Marte gets his second start of the season today for the Mets. He doubled in first at bat in his first game this spring, eventually scoring a run. Marte will be in a platoon DH position most games this season, splitting time with Jesse Winker on days when Soto, Siri and Nimmo start in the outfield.

Let’s Go Mets!