213 Miles From Shea

For the last several days we’ve been at an awkward phase with our NRI Preview series – players were are previewing have already been sent to minor league camp. This happens every year when we space out on preview a day and we had a feeling that it would happen sooner this year with the delayed start to camp leading to regulars getting more reps in games, no split-squad games early in spring, and the lockout leading to a late announcement of players invited to camp.

Carlos Cortes was drafted by the Mets, twice! The Mets drafted him out of high school in round 20 back in 2016 and he opted to go to college instead. Two years later the Mets drafted him in the third round. Carlos Cortes is also ambidextrous. In this profile from the NY Post, he talks about growing up lefty, but having righty motor schools – even to the point that he thought being an ambidextrous pitcher in high school.

MLB.com currently has Carlos listed as the Mets #15 overall prospect. He’s a power first prospect hat has shown power at various points in his life, like slugging .528 through college, despite his size at 5-foot-7 (and being 5’4″ myself, I’m all for shorter baseball players with some pop). The Mets didn’t put him on the 40-man this past year, which made him vulnerable to a Rule V draft that never happened.

Before the pandemic, he hit .256/.336/.397 in St. Lucie over 526 PA’s. He started to stand out more the following year. During the Covid shut down of the minors, he went to Australia and hit .392/.429/.706 over 56 PA’s. When he returned to minor league baseball in the states, he hit .257/.332/.487 in Binghamton. That was an 80 point OPS gain compared to his time in St. Lucie.

MLB.com suggests that he may be eventually destined for a platoon rule in the majors. His age (24 right now, will be 25 during the season) suggests that he could be ready for a taste of the majors this upcoming season. The Mets have several different platoon style players and after everything that happened to the roster last year with injuries, it’s not impossible seeing a way that Cortes is called up at some point this year.

The Mets broke a 3-game win streak last night with a 5-3 loss against the Houston Astros in extra innings. Tonight, they look to return to the (meaningless) win column against the Washington Nationals.

The Nationals, 1-10 this Spring, are coming off of a bizarre day at the ballpark where they lost to the Cardinals 29-8. Anibal Sanchez started the game and allowed 8 runs in the first two innings, stayed in the game, and ended the day allowing 10 runs over 4.0 innings of work. Cade Cavalli, who pitched 2.1 innings, was left on the hook for 11 runs, 10 earned. Just a strange, notable box score – even for Spring Training.

Things were more normal in Mets camp. Carrasco pitched 4.0 innings allowing three runs and all three runs came from two homers – the exact thing that Carrasco struggled with last season. But this is also a spring training game and we are going to try to not read too much into it. Nogosek allowed 2 runs in the 10th, which ended up being the difference maker. Besides that the bullpen was fantastic with scoreless innings from Ottavino, Drew Smith, Miguel Castro, Claudio and Holderman, all of whom have an ERA of 0.00 this Spring. Claudio and Holderman are both competing to get a bullpen spot out of camp.

Mets Lineup:

1. Brandon Nimmo CF
2. Francisco Lindor SS
3. Robinson Canó 1B
4. Eduardo Escobar 3B
5. Jeff McNeil 2B
6. Mark Cahna LF
7. Dominic Smith DH
8. Tomas Nido C
9. Travis Jankowski RF

Starting Pitcher: Taijuan Walker

What We’re Watching For:

Taijuan Walker makes his second Spring start tonight. Last time out he pitched 2.0 innings, allowed a hit and nothing else – a great introduction to Spring. For Walker last year it was a tale of two seasons. In his first 17 starts he had a 2.66 ERA and in his next 13 starts he had a 7.13 ERA – this also probably matches your memory of watching him pitch last year.

Brandon Nimmo had a big game a couple of days ago where he had two hits, including a homer. He needed that this spring. Over 22 AB’s he has a total of 4 hits and a walk leading to a .182/.217/.318 – very unlike Brandon Nimmo. The games don’t count yet and there is still a week left before Opening Day. Hopefully Nimmo is able to build off that big night from a few days ago and get momentum going through this week.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have had a couple of top prospects in camp this year including Brett Baty, the third basemen who’s been making noise for a new seasons now.

Going into this season, Brett Baty is ranked as the #39 prospect in Baseball America, #13 in Baseball Prospectus, and #27 from MLB dot com. He also played in the 2021 Futures Game last year and is generally regarded as the Mets #2 Prospect in the farm system.

The Mets drafted him as a 19-year old in the 2019 draft. His age is often cited as the reason he fell to the Mets pick (12th overall). His bat is the reason to pay attention him and recently his glove work has started to improve (according to the MLB.com prospect page).

In his first season in the minors, he played across three levels including Gulf Coast (.350/.480/650), Kingsport (.222/.339/.437) and Brooklyn (.200/.529/.300). Last year he hit .309/.397/.514 over 209 PA’s in Brooklyn before getting called up to Binghamton where he hit .272/.364/.424 over 176 PAs. Remember, the minor leagues were reorganized between 2019 and 2021 so starting last year in Brooklyn was a promotion from where he ended 2019.

MLB.com has Baty’s arrival listed as 2022. I personally find that hard to believe unless one of two things happens. First, he could always be traded, although that’s extremely doubtful (but not impossible, the Mets have a couple of big prospects at thirdbase). Second, there could be several long term injuries that we aren’t expecting (remember last season). That doesn’t mean that Baty won’t be ready, and September is an eternity from now.

If only the Mets season had already started.

Last night the Mets fired on all cylinders in their 10-0 victory over the Marlins. Overall, the Mets clobbered 15 hits with Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and Dominic Smith each getting two hits each. Lindor continued his hot stretch hitting both a double and a homer, raising his small sample size, spring OPS to 1.711.

Chris Bassitt made his Mets debut holding the Marlins scoreless over 4.2 innings, scattering 4 hits while striking out 3. Chasen Shreve also continued his strong spring, striking out two batters in an inning of work. He hasn’t allowed a run all spring!

We know the results during spring training don’t count but the Mets have now won three games in a row, the last two in fairly decisive fashion. After last night’s win they have a +22 run differential, which is the best in the Grapefruit league. Overall the Mets are tied with the Angels for second and trail the Rangers (+25).

Mets Linuep:

1. Brandon Nimmo CF
2. Starling Marte RF
3. Francisco Lindor SS
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Robinson Canó DH
6. Eduardo Escobar 2B
7. Mark Cahna LF
8. J.D. Davis 3B
9. James McCann C

Starting Pitcher: Carlos Carrasco

What We Are Watching For Tonight:

Carlos Carrasco is pitching in his first major league spring training game of 2022 tonight! Carrasco came over to the Mets in the Lindor trade and was instantly seen as an x-factor for the Mets. He had several injury setbacks, that delayed the start of his 2021 season. Over 12 games and 53.2 innings last year he posted a 6.04 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 1.435 WHIP and a 67 ERA+. Homeruns were a pain point for him last year, and he allowed them at a rate of 2.0 HR/9, which tied 2019 for worst in his career (except 2009 when he only pitched 5 games). His two off years were 2019 and 2021, both years where he allowed a lot of homers. If he returns to his normal self this year, it will be a huge boon for the Mets rotation.

Tonight’s lineup looks like a typical lineup the Mets might run out on the field if they needed to give Jeff McNeil the day off. (The other option being playing Canó at second, keeping Eduardo at third and having Dominic Smith hit as DH). After last nights run-scoring explosion, we are hoping to see the exact same thing again tonight.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets invited four catchers to major league camp this year and today we look at the last catcher, by alphabetical order, Hayden Senger.

The Mets drafted Hayden Senger in 2018 during the 24th round out of the Miami University of Ohio. He played over two different levels in 2021. In Brooklyn he played 11 games and 47 PA’s with a .302/.362/.605 batting line. That’s a .966 OPS! Then he played for Binghamton where over 50 games and 205 PA’s, he hit .254/.337/.387. The Mets also sent him to the Arizona Fall League last year where over 11 games and 40 PA’s he hit .194/.375/.226.

Hayden Senger is currently listed as the Mets #20 prospect according to MLB dot com. Similar to fellow NRI teammate, Nick Meyer, he’s a defense first catcher. He’s also competing with Meyer to be the Mets back up catcher of the future. They note that while his arm might leave something to be desired, he has good reactions and is a good blocker behind the plate. They also note that he would probably hold his own in the majors right now.

This bodes well for the Mets because Senger, Dini and Meyer are the Mets plan right now if something was to happen to either McCann or Nido this season, which is to say we should see one of Senger/Dini/Meyer at some point this season.

The Mets invited four catchers to major league camp and two of them have the first name Nick! Yesterday we looked at Nick Dini, an offense leaning catcher the Mets signed out of the Royals system. Today we’ll look Nick Meyer who the Mets drafted in the 6th round back in 2016.

Nick Meyer played in two levels last season. In Binghamton, where he was almost exactly the average age, he played in 51 games and 209 PA’s hitting .243/.332..316. In Syracuse he was 2.5 years younger than the average player. Over 11 games and 48 PA’s he hit .286/.362/.357, so even better than he did in Binghamton!

Nick Meyer is currently the Mets #27 Mets prospect according to MLB.com. They note that he was defense first pitcher when the Mets first drafted him and that’s what his first couple of seasons of the minors looked like – but things have improved for his bat last year.

Ultimately, it’s going to be Meyer’s defense that keeps pushing him forward. He projects to be a major league back up, and his glovework/platework is what we are looking for as he get reps in Spring Training. We don’t expect to see him in Queens this year (outside of roster expansion periods) but we wouldn’t be surprised if we see him next year.

Sunday was Starling Marte’s Mets Spring debut. Today another former Athletic makes his Mets debut – Chris Bassitt!

The Mets are coming off of an exciting win on Sunday where both Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer pitched. Jacob starting things off tossing 52 pitches over 3.0 innings, allowing one run, scattering 4 hits and no walks while striking out 5. Scherzer pitched 6.0 innings and threw 90 pitches! He allowed 2 runs off 3 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Can you imagine if the Mets had a double header and the two pitchers were deGrom and Scherzer?

The Mets bats couldn’t let the pitching take all the shine. The Mets had 12 hits on the day leading to 7 runs including two homers, one from each side of the plate, from Francisco Lindor. Lindor finished the day with 3 hits, raising his Spring OPS to 1.444. Tomas Nido and Pete Alonso each turned in two hit days at the plate while Marte doubled in his Mets debut.

Mets Lineup:

1. Brandon Nimmo CF
2. Starling Marte RF
3. Francisco Lindor SS
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Jeff McNeil 2B
6. J.D. Davis DH
7. Dominic Smith LF
8. James McCann C
9. Luis Guillorme 3B

Starting Pitcher: Chris Bassitt

What We’re Watching For Tonight:

Chris Bassitt makes his Mets debut! Bassitt was the big final piece to the Mets roster after the lockout. Last season he pitched 27 games and 157.1 innings for Oakland posting a 3.15 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.055 WHIP and a 130 ERA+. Over his 7 seasons he has pitched 555.2 innings with a 3.47 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.213 WHIP and 119 ERA+. To put his ERA+ in perspective, Stroman had a 133 ERA+ last season. Walker, Megill and Peterson were all below 100 and Rich Hill clocked in at 105.

The Mets made a slew of cuts over the last couple of days, sending a lot of players on Non-Roster Invitations back to minor league camp. So we have an away trip lineup filled with a ton of regulars today. The end result is a lineup that looks a lot like a regular season lineup for the Mets. Starling Marte is back in the lineup after his first game on Sunday and James McCann is finally cleared to play again today.

Let’s Go Mets

The Mets invited a total of four non-roster invitee catchers to major league camp this year. Francisco Alvarez is the star prospect in the group. The three other catchers are all competing for positioning on the all important depth chart.

Nick Dini is the local catcher. Born in Monroe, NJ, Dini went to Wagner College in Staten Island. He was drafted by the Royals in 2015 in round 14 and made his major league debut at age 25 in the year 2019. That year he went .196/.270/.357 over 64 PA’s in 20 games. Last year he played for Omaha and hit .303/.357/.494 over 26 games and 98 PA’s.

Nick Dini’s calling card in the minors has been his offense. He has a .921 OPS in Omaha in his career! That clearly didn’t translate to the majors when he had an opportunity in 2019. But that was a couple of years ago. The Mets are hoping that if they need to call on him this year, he can show that promise that he has shown in AAA ball, especially as the Mets wait for Francisco Alvarez to be ready.

We have seen plenty of deGrom vs Scherzer matchups in our lifetime – today is the first time we see a deGrom and Scherzer pitch on the same day, for the same team! Mets fans have been anticipating this game since it was announced earlier in the week that deGrom and Scherzer’s next spring outing would fall on the same day.

The Mets head into deGrom/Scherzer day coming off of a win against the Nationals. Spring Training results generally don’t matter, but sometimes when the results start looking extreme, they can tell a story. We knew things was going to be rough for Washington this year and they already are 1-7 over their first 8 games this year.

Anyway, the Mets offense had 9 hits on the day including two hit performances by Brandon Nimmo (raising his spring OPS to .368) and Jeff McNeil (Spring OPS .885). Eduardo Escobar continued his strong spring hitting his first homer, and some how lowered his batting average to an absurd .556. Dominic Smith hit a double and maintained his 1.286 OPS. All around good day with the bats.

Taijuan Walker made his spring debut and he looked good, holding the Nationals to one hit over 2.0 innings. Peterson came in behind him and allowed 2 runs from 2 hits over 3.2 innings (but still struck out 5). The rest of the bullpen (Nogosek, Shreve, Reid-Foley) combined for 3.1 innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 3.

What We are Watching For Today:

The pitching. The only thing that matters today is the pitching.

Jacob deGrom pitched 2.0 innings in his first spring training game of the year and allowed 1 hit while striking out 5 batters. It was the first time we saw deGrom since his season ending surgery last year. He looked like himself, with his easy flowing fastball and he even mixed in a rare-for-him curveball as a first pitch to a batter. He looks like he’s having fun out there.

Max Scherzer had a dominating first spring training game as a New York Met. He allowed one run off three hits over 5.0 innings while striking out 5 batters. He needed only 72 pitches to get through the five innings. I know spring is skewed more than normal this year due to the lockout and the late start, but it’s remarkable when a pitcher goes 5.0 innings in the middle of March, it’s remarkable when their first start of the spring is 5.0 innings. Only taking 72 pitches to get through 5.0 innings is impressive. Great first impressions made by Scherzer.

At the time of writing this (before 8 AM), it has not been announced yet if another major Mets debut will happen today. At the end of yesterday’s game, Buck Showalter mentioned that Starling Marte would either play today, making his Mets debut, or he will take live batting practice. Obviously we have enough to be excited about today with deGrom and Scherzer and a Marte debut on top of it all will make this a beautiful Sunday Fun Day.

Let’s Go Mets!

The top of the Mets farm system right now is position player heavy and today is our first Non-Roster Invitee preview this season featuring a key member of this crew: Francisco Alvarez.

Francisco Alvarez, who played in the 2021 Future’s Game, is currently Baseball America’s #13 prospect, MLB.com’s #10 prospect and Baseball Prospectus’ #10 prospect. Expectations are high and Mets fans are ready for Alvarez to arrive in Queens. He was the #9 prospect in the 2018 International Free Agent class when the Mets signed him at just 16-years old. For Alvarez it has always been the potential of his raw power that has drawn attention.

All it takes is a quick look at his stats from last year to understand why. He started off the season in St. Lucie, at 19-years old, 2.4 years younger than the average player in the league. Over 15 games and 67 PA’s he hit .417/.567/.646. He was then sent to Brooklyn where he was 3.9 years younger than the average player in the league and hit .247/.351/.538 over 84 games and 333 PA’s. Overall, he has played 141 games in the minor leagues with 582 PA’s and hit 31 homers (.539 career minor league slugging percentage).

Back in the 2019 Prospects Handbook, Baseball America was already noting Francisco’s ability to hit for above-average power, citing his short, explosive swing. They also talked about how his barrel control and bat path projects him to have a solid batting average in the future.

Right now Alvarez leads the pack in exciting position players traveling upwards in the Farm System. We’ve already seen him homer in Spring Training this year and we are looking forward to his eventual Queens arrival (which is not expected next this year, but soon)