The Mets play the Cardinals for the sixth and final time in spring training this afternoon, but it’s not the last time the Mets will play the Cardinals in March! The Mets will open the regular season against the Pirates on March 26th and then head to St. Louis for a three game series. With so few teams playing on the east coast of Florida, and three of those teams being in the NL East, it feels like more often than not the Mets play an early season series against a team they spent the whole spring playing.
The Mets have made a few roster moves before each game this week. Before yesterday’s game they optioned Ronny Mauricio to Syracuse which clarified a few scenarios. Mauricio was slated to be the starting shortstop if Francisco Lindor wasn’t ready. It was also difficult to see how the Mets would carry Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos on the same roster with Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Tobias Myers. Myers was included in the Freddy Peralta trade and is more than just a throw-in pitcher. Myers has the ability to start, spot-start, long-relief, be the bulk guy, etc. In four games this spring he has pitched 9 2/3 innings allowing only two runs while scattering seven hits and four walks. He has 12 strikeouts over this time! Myers could be the x-factor for the Mets this season both in the ways he saves the bullpen’s workload when a starter falls short and his ability to pitch in high leverage situations.
- ABS Challenge Update. The Mets have been so bad this spring at balls and strikes challenges. Teams this spring have had been successful 52% of the time. When the Mets are batting, they have been successful only 28% of the time. They’ve been a bit better when fielding, winning 38% of the time. If you rank every team by raw overturn numbers, the Mets are dead last.
- Catching Depth. The Mets saw their catching depth tested on Thursday with Alvarez leaving the game early for back tightness (precautionary!). Luis Torrens is a great back up catcher, but he can’t catch all 162. On the 40-man roster the Mets have Hayden Senger who struggled offensively in 2025, but knows the Mets pitchers and is fine for a short stint if needed. The Mets brought in Ben Rortvedt this spring. Rortvedt made his major league debut in 2021 with the Twins. In 2024 with the Rays he got into 112 games and had a 0.9 bWAR slashing .228/.317/.303.
Let’s Go Mets!
