The Mets look to make it two wins in a row this afternoon as they take on the Nationals for the Mets first road game of the season. The big story from yesterday’s game was Francisco Álvarez hitting his first home run of the spring. So far it’s been the Mets catchers this spring showing off the power with the other Mets homer coming from Hayden Senger in the first game of the season.
José Buttó had a solid outing, scattering three hits over two innings. On Saturday Megill had a rough first inning, but a much calmer second inning and allowed only one run over two innings. Buttó and Megill are both competing with Lucchesi for the Mets final spot in the rotation. There is one additional pitcher competing for that spot – today’s starter Max Kranick. The Mets claimed Kranick from the Pirates in mid-January. Max Kranick had Tommy John surgery in 2022, which caused him to miss most of that season and almost all of 2023.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Max Kranick: Kranick made nine starts in 2021 for the Pirates pitching a total of 38 2/3 innings with a 6.28 ERA, 4.64 FIP, 1.707 WHIP and a 68 ERA+. He made nine starts across the minor leagues last year with a 4.35 ERA over 20 2/3 innings rehabbing from Tommy John. Before his surgery in 2021, he used four different pitches in major league games. He has a mid-90’s fastball (thrown 48% of the time), high-80’s slider (32%), low-80’s curve (12%) and a high-80’s change (7%).
- Sean Reid-Foley: Sean is fully competing for one of the last bullpen spots on the roster this spring. Similar to Kranick, Sean missed a large chunk of 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery. In the majors last season he allowed only three runs from four hits and six walks over 7 2/3 innings while striking out 16 batters. In the minors he pitched 22 innings with a 4.09 ERA.
- Top prospects get the start! The Mets are starting Drew Gilbert and Luisangel Acuña this afternoon. Both Gilbert and Acuña have already seen some playing time early this spring, but neither have started. As of right now neither player is expected to start the season with the Mets but there is a chance for one of both players to come up at some point this season. Hopefully they get to see major league pitching today!
Let’s Go Mets!
