We have spring training night games!
The Mets will play their first of seven night games tonight. Night games in spring used to happen only a handful of times, but last year the number spiked for Mets. This year the Mets are playing around the same amount as 2025.
The Mets are slowly working in their regular stars into spring training action this week. Yesterday Brett Baty got time in right field and Jorge Polanco made his debut at first. Today Sean Manaea will make his spring debut with Kodai Senga following tomorrow. After injury plagued seasons in 2025, the Mets success in 2026 depends on both Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Sean Manaea. Mid-way through 2024, Sean Manaea dropped his arm angle and it was a revelation. He finished the season going 12-6 over 32 starts and 181 2/3 innings with a 3.47 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.084 WHIP, 114 ERA+ and a 3.0 bWAR. Last season Manaea battled injuries which held him to 60 2/3 innings over 15 games (12 starts) posting a 5.64 ERA, 4.39 FIP, 1.220 WHIP, 72 ERA+ and a -0.4 bWAR. We are hoping to see a healthy and effective Manaea tonight!
- Carson Benge. Benge has been getting on base at a healthy .357 clip this spring with a .308 BA. But if you look only at his official spring stats, you’ll see a “disappointing” .308 SLG (.665 OPS) because in official spring games it has been all singles. In his last game against Israel though he hit his first homer of spring. Flash some power tonight Carson!
- The future is bright! AJ Ewing is one of the fastest rising prospects in the Mets system, landing on the Baseball Prospectus (#38), MLB Pipeline (#97) and Baseball America (#83) top 100 lists this season. He’s off to a terrific start this spring going 3-for-8 with three runs scored, a double, a home run, a walk and a stolen base (1.239 OPS).
Let’s Go Mets!
