213 Miles From Shea

Recapping Yesterday:
Yesterday was another great day for the Mets as they beat the Nationals 9-7. Jacob deGrom allowed 3 hits and walked 2 batters in 4.2 innings of work while striking out 5. For a third time this spring, he didn’t allow any runs and he lowered his Spring ERA to 0.66. He’s just having a tremendous spring.

He was followed by more good news. Miguel Castro finished off his 5th inning and struck out his only batter, keeping his 0.00 ERA. Diaz had another perfect spring training inning, keeping his 0.00 ERA. Betances finally had a perfect inning! Lowering his ERA to 10.80.

The action at the plate ended up stealing the show from deGrom. Dominic Smith hit a double in his return to the lineup. Conforto went 1-5, but his one hit was a homer. Lindor went 1-5, but his one hit was a homer – he’s just been scorching the ball as of late.

What We’re Watching For Today:
The Mets are continuing to look at back end rotation candidates and today’s starter has an easier path to the rotation right now. Joey Lucchesi will make his 3rd appearance this spring. In 5.0 innings this year he has allowed no runs, no hits an has struck out 7 – pretty great.

A couple of long shots for the rotation are scheduled to pitch too: Jared Eickhoff, Mike Montgomery and Tommy Hunter. Eickhoff’s spring line hasn’t been tremendously pretty – in his one outing he allowed 4 runs from 4 hits (including a homer) over 2.0 innings. This will be Mike’s third outing and so far he has allowed 1 unearned run over 2.2 innings from 2 hits and a walk while striking out 5. He’s had the best spring out of the three pitchers in this paragraph. Tommy Hunter has seen the most action in Spring, but only for one inning each time. In 4 games and 4.0 innings he has allowed 2 runs from 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3.

Let’s Go Mets!

Recapping Friday’s Game:
The Mets had the rare Saturday day off – a Spring Training exclusive – after a terrific game on Friday that saw Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam for his second homer of the season. Lindor got off to a slow start this spring but this past week he’s been killing it, his batting average has gone up to .310 and his OPS has gone up to .892. Tomas Nido also showed off a bit a of power hitting his first spring homer on a day where he went 3-3 at the plate. Alonso continued his terrific spring with his 5th double of spring, raising his OPS to 1.367.

But the big story of the day was the pitching. Friday Morning we were talking about Carrasco’s injury and how the Mets would need Walker to step up. He pitched 4.0 innings allowing one hit and a walk while striking out 3 with no runs. Blevins came in after pitched a perfect inning. Oswalt – who was in competition for the fifth starting spot, but very far down the depth chart – pitched his way out of the competition allowing 5 runs over 2.2 innings. Finally, Zamora continued his very good spring with another scoreless inning of work, keeping his ERA at 0.

What We Are Watching Today:
It’s another Jacob deGrom start on a weekend, on the road. You know that means? No television coverage! After facing Grienke twice on the road, deGrom faces Scherzer today. You would think the MLB would want to do everything they could to promote a start like this today, especially with the basketball tournaments happening at the same time. But no. No cameras.

Anyway, today will be deGrom’s first start against an NL East team this spring. In his first three starts (two against the Astros, one against the Cardinals) he has allowed 1 run on a solo homer, 3 hits total in 9.0 innings while striking out an absurd 16 batters.

In another important turn of events, Dominic Smith returns to the line up today after being sidelined for the better part of a week with a wrist injury. Anyway today’s lineup is pretty close to an Opening Day lineup, including no DH and deGrom getting some AB’s too.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

It’s finally the end of this series! Today we look at Mallex Smith who signed a minor league contract with the Mets way back on November 4th, part of an early wave of depth signings for the Mets. Smith was drafted in 2011 by the Brewers but didn’t sign. He was then drafted the following year by the Padres in the 5th round. In December 2014 he was traded with Max Fried and others to the Braves for Justin Upton (he’s the second player the Mets have in camp who was involved in a Justin Upton trade) and he made his major league debut with the Braves. In January 2017 he was traded to the Mariners and then that same day he was traded to the Rays. At the end of 2018 he was traded back to the Mariners (because who hasn’t been involved in multiple Seattle trades) and signed as a free agent with the Mets.

Statistically, Mallex Smith is an interesting player because he’s not too far removed from a good amount of success at the plate. He’s a career .255/.325/.361 hitter and is coming off a 2020 campaign where he got only 47 PA’s and hit .133/.170/.178 but in 2018 and 2019 he was different.

For the 2018 Rays he led the league in triples with 10 (and caught stealings with 12, but he did swipe 40 bags that year) which lead to a .296/.367/.406/.773 line over 141 Games and 544 PA’s. The following year in 566 PA’s his slash line dropped a lot, .227/.300/.335/.635 but he did lead the league in steals at 46. Except for 2020, he has always had at least a .635 OPS.

So he’s an interesting player. The outfield picture for the Mets is crowded, assisted by no true centerfielder and several infielders that can also play in the outfield. I’m interested to see the speed that Smith brings to camp. If anything, Syracuse could be very interesting with Fargas/Smith/Ferguson all playing in the outfield.

Recapping Yesterday:
The Mets dropped yesterday’s game 3-1 against the Nationals, moving both teams to a .500 record this spring. The game was pretty much the same story for the Mets – which is a good thing – that the star of the game was the starting pitching. Marcus Stroman pitched 5.0 innings allowing 2 hits and no walks leading to a run while striking out 6, dropping his ERA to 2.70. Edwin Diaz had another good inning, he allowed 2 hits this time, but no hits and kept his spring ERA at 0. He was followed by Trevor May who had a perfect inning of work and even messed with his timing with a leg pause (like Marcus Stroman).

There wasn’t much to mention at the plate. Kevin Pillar continue his great spring (at the plate), picking up two hits and bumping his OPS to .966. McCann in the cleanup spot hit a double. Villar continue to to struggle, going 0-3 and dropping his OPS to .394.

What to Watch For Today:
The Mets got some bad news with Carlos Carrasco yesterday – he has a hamstring tear and will be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time, but right now it looks like we are talking about months instead of weeks. So now the Mets depth is even more important.

The last big free agent signing for the Mets, Taijuan Walker, was signed to stretch out the rotation. His second spring start today is now even more important as he is effectively the Mets third starter in the rotation. In his first start he allowed 2 runs from 2 hits in 2.0 innings, where he was great in the first inning and ran into some trouble in the second. He also said he would wear the shark tooth necklace in his next spring start, so we are looking to see if that happens too.

Corey Oswalt is also scheduled to pitch. In a normal Mets season, he would now be slotted to be the Mets 5th starter (or an equivalent pitcher). There are still a few people ahead of him on the depth chart this year. That being said, in 2.0 innings of work this spring he has allowed no hits, no walks and struck out 5.

Let’s Go Mets!

Recapping Yesterday:
The Mets lost 3-2 to the Marlins yesterday thanks to a Marlins rally in the bottom of the 9th. The Marlins have now improved to 8-2 this spring, but of course, none of this matters (this year more than any other year since teams can end an inning after a certain amount of pitches, etc).

For the Mets, the story of the day belongs to Joey Lucchesi who pitched 3.0 innings, allowing 2 walks and struck out 4 as he continues to make a strong case to break camp as the team’s 5th starter. Tarpley also continued his strong spring yesterday, he allowed a hit and a walk but struck out 2 and lowered his ERA to 1.50. The Mets didn’t have a tremendous day at the plate but Almore hit a big 2 run double and improved his OPS to .786 and Francisco Lindor continued his hot streak and 2-3 at the plate.

What We’re Watching For Today:
Marcus Stroman will go out for his 4th start this spring as he continues to build his arm strength for the beginning of the season. He was above 50 pitches last time and is seeing slight increases with his velocity as his starts go on. He has allowed 3 runs from 7 hits and 2 walks over 8.1 innings which is a 3.24 ERA with a 1.080 WHIP.

For the second day in a row the Mets not exactly going with the Opening Day Starting lineup. Brandon Nimmo is back from his day off at the top of the order and he’ll be followed by Pillar who continues to get an extended look. McCann is actually in the cleanup sot and we’ll get more of Villar, Guillorme and Almora after him. The Mets are also making sure Nido gets more cuts putting him as the DH today. It is worth noting, this is the second day in a row Dominic Smith is not in the lineup after being scratched with general wrist soreness yesterday.

Let’s Go Mets!

Recapping Yesterday:
Yesterday was a great day for the Mets. Jacob deGrom pitched 4.0 innings allowing 2 hits and striking out 6. He allowed his first run of the spring on a solo homer that the wind got a hold of and just landed right on top of the wall. He looked fantastic. Trevor May struck out the side in his one inning of work and Miguel Castro continued his tremendous spring with 2 K’s in a perfect inning. The Mets bats though stole the show yesterday. Dominic Smith, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor all homered. It was Smith’s second three run bomb of spring, Alonso’s third homer (on a three hit day) and Lindor’s first shot of the season. Mallex Smith, who hasn’t made a ton of noise with his bat, stole his third base of spring.

On the not great side, Familia came in behind him and allowed a hit and 2 walks in a messing inning and Betances allowed 2 hits and 2 runs over an inning.

What We Looking For Today:
Joey Lucchesi will make his second start this year. In his first outing he walked on batter and that was it in 2.0 innings with 3 strikeouts. We’ll also see McNeil in the leadoff spot today with Nimmo getting the day off. McNeil has two hits this spring after going 1-4 yesterday in 25 trips to the plate. There are few starters after McNeil in the lineup (Lindor, Conforto, Alonso and Smith) and then we get to the bench players.

Luis Guillorme gets a start up the middle today, his first start since his 22 pitch AB on Sunday (he did get some playing time yesterday too). Villar and Almora get the start too. Villar is hitting .158/.200/.316 with his big hit being a homer.

Let’s Go Mets!

Recapping Sunday:
The most important thing you need to know about the last game the Mets played is Luis Guillorme continues to be a Spring Training legend. He had an epic 22 pitch at bat where he started 0-2 and worked out a walk with a cheering Mets dugout behind him. Truly amazing to watch. The next thing to know is David Peterson had a rougher start, 3 runs over 4.0 innings but still had 2 clean innings of work. Corey Oswalt also reminded us all he was on the Mets roster with 2 perfect innings of work with 5 strikeouts.

What To Watch For Today:
Jacob deGrom. That’s what you can watch for today. Finally the Mets ace pitcher will make his spring television debut as the Mets are finally home on one of his starts. Interestingly, this will be his third start this spring against the Astros which is fine because he’s not playing them in the regular season like the Marlins or the Nationals. In his first two starts this spring he has pitched 5.0 innings allowing a hit and a walk and nothing else. He’s also recorded 10 strikeouts – which is just tremendous in spring training in that time frame. (The Mets as a whole recorded 17 Astro strikeouts during deGrom’s last spring start).

Behind deGrom the Mets will send a fairly standard DH lineup with Conforto at DH and Pillar in Right Field. Dominic Smith will continue to get outfield reps as he bats third in the lineup. He’s still looking to fully get it going this spring with 3 hits in 19 trips to the plate, but one of the hits was a big homer. McNeil is also looking to get it going this spring with one hit in 21 trips to the plate. But in the good news department – Brandon Nimmo still has a 1.242 OPS over 24 trips and Pete Alonso has a 1.223 OPS over 26 trips.

Let’s Go Mets!

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Following a continuing trend this off-season, today’s NRI article features another player who is trying to make it the majors with the Mets, after not debuting with their original organization. Today we look at Drew Ferguson who was with the Astros since he was drafted in the 19th round in 2015.

Drew has had success at the plate in the minors, hitting .293/.394/.452 and success in Triple A ball at that level as well, hitting .280/.397/.420/.817. He also fills a need for the Mets – center field (he played all outfield positions in 2019 but spent most of his time in Center, 60 games).

He’s essentially directly competing with Fargas for centerfield depth. I’m assuming both players will split time in center in Syracuse for the Mets if there’s no path for either of them to get (first) on the 40-man roster and (second) on the Active roster.

This article was also written a while ago (2/20) and I can’t predict what has already happened in Spring Training but I’m assuming both Fargas and Ferguson are getting an extended look so far and will probably be in camp for a while near the final cuts. Because the success of the Mets in 2021 isn’t tied directly to either player, it takes the stakes for everyone else out of this competition.

Recapping Yesterday:
The Mets lost to the Nationals yesterday when the Nationals scored two run runs in the bottom of the ninth against Ryley Gilliam – but the games here don’t mean anything in the win/loss column and what we really care about is individual performances, and there was a lot to be happy about.

Jordan Yamamoto made the start for the Mets and pitched 3.2 innings allowing 2 hits and a run while striking out 2 – his ERA this spring is at 1.08. Daniel Zamora came into relieve Jordan and Daniel continued his terrific spring with recording two outs, keeping his spring ERA to 0.00. Even more exciting were the relievers that came in after. Edwin Diaz pitched another perfect inning this spring and so did Miguel Castro.

What We’re Watching For Today:
The Mets 5th starter contenders (Jordan Yamamoto, Joey Lucchesi, Mike Montgomery) all had good outings yesterday and today is David Peterson‘s turn to keep on pushing forward. In his first outing this spring he allowed 1 hit and that was it over 2.0 innings of work. (David Peterson has also gotten work in B-games as well)

The Mets are coming into today’s game with lineup that is fairly close to a starting lineup if there was a DH and Jeff McNeil wasn’t playing. Nimmo/Lindor/Conforto top the lineup followed by Alonso/Dominic Smith/ JD Davis. A pretty great starting 6. Nimmo has been crushing it this spring hitting.444/.500/.722 and Alonso has hit .333/.478/.833. Both have already surpassed the point where you hope they leave some hits for the season they’re doing so good.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Oh hey! For a second year in a row we are writing about Johneshwy Fargas, and that’s not a bad thing! Last year we wrote about how Fargas was one of the few center fielders in camp on an NRI, a position the Mets are thin on (article written on 2/20, so this obviously pending any trade the Mets might make for a center fielder). Fargas was originally drafted by the Giants and has made it up to AA ball and plays in Puerto Rico basically every winter.

In the minors in his career he has hit .255/.311/.342/.673 and in international leagues he has hit .229/.300/.321/.621. That being said, he’s coming off his best winter ever. In 89 PA’s he hit .307/.393/.560. One of the few players we have covered with an OPS over 900 (let alone above .950) in winter ball this year.

There are still a lot of players in front of Fargas right now and honestly the most likely scenario is something has to go wrong with injuries for Fargas to break camp with the team. It looks like he took a step forward this winter with his bat, even though the main asset he brings is his glove. It will be interesting to watch his bat this year in Triple A as he fights his way up the depth chart for when the Mets will inevitably need to dip into the minors at some point this year.