The World Baseball Classic is upon us! Participating countries are playing a couple of exhibition games this week before the tournament kicks off for real. First up for the Mets is Nicaragua, led by Mark Vientos!
For the Mets, today is just business as usual as players are continuing to get their reps in after a day off of Monday. The Mets made their first round of roster moves on Monday, optioning Alex Carrillo to Syracuse and assigning two players (Anderson Severino and Matt Turner) to minor league camp. Believe it or not, there are only 19 more days until the last spring training game!
Three Things To Watch For:
- Jonah Tong. Tong allowed three runs over 2 2/3 innings in his start from three hits while striking out two batters. He also debuted his new cutter. Tong tossed his new cutter 18 times out of 50 pitches. It’s clear he’s trying things out right now, so the results are not as important right now. What percentage of his pitches will be cutters today?
- Mark Vientos. The Nicaragua team is anchored by Mark Vientos! Vientos had a terrific year in 2024 putting up a 3.1 bWAR slashing .266/.322/.516 with a 134 OPS+. Last year he dropped to a 97 ERA+. This season Mark Vientos and Brett Baty face a crowded roster to get playing time. He hasn’t gotten off to the best start this spring, going 1-for-13 with a double. Being one of the more established players on the Nicaraguan team, he should get a lot of playing time over the next couple of weeks.
- Jorge Polanco. Polanco makes his spring debut at DH. Signed to replace Pete Alonso, Polanco is coming off a solid season with a 2.6 bWAR while slashing .265/.326/.495 and a 134 OPS+. He has a career 112 OPS+ and 20+ HR power potential.
Let’s Go Mets!
