The Mets emerge from their off day with final stretch of spring training games until Opening Day! On Tuesday the Mets moved both Christian Scott and MJ Melendez to Syracuse, which clears up their path forward a bit.
Scott is recovering from a 2024 Tommy John surgery and finally returned to the mound this spring. Over two starts and six innings he allowed three runs from six hits and four walks while striking out eight. MJ Melendez was trying to break camp as the Mets right fielder and he had a fairly solid spring going 4-for-11 at the plate with two home runs and a double. He’s just facing really strong competition from Carson Benge and Mike Tauchman.
As we head into the final few games of spring training, the Mets will need to finalize their rotation. Do they start with a six-man (Peralta, McLean, Peterson, Manaea, Senga and Holmes), or does one starter get dropped to the pen or Syracuse? Does Carson Benge make the team out of camp or does Mike Tauchman find his way onto the 40-man roster? Who gets the final bullpen spot? We only have a few more games to find out!
Three Things To Watch For:
- Kodai Senga. Senga is coming off of a fantastic spring start where he struck out five of the nine batters he faced in three shutout innings. He did it with a fastball that averaged 96.5 mph and some slow curveballs. If this is the version of Senga the Mets get in 2026, they will have a formidable top-three of the rotation.
- Opening Day lineup? Today’s lineup could be the lineup if Carson Benge doesn’t make the Opening Day Roster. Lindor, Soto and Bichette at the top of the lineup puts Bichette in the position that he loves to be in – batting with runners on base. They were always going to be the top three, everyone else is debatable and we’ll probably see them slide around as the year goes on.
- Juan Soto. This is Juan Soto’s first game since returning from the WBC. Soto was 2-for-12 at the plate with a double and a strikeout before leaving camp in early March. He turned it on in the WBC going 6-for-23 with five runs scored, two home runs and five walks (.393 OBP).
Let’s Go Mets!
