The Mets play their first night game at home tonight in St. Lucie! The Mets (and their opponents) have radically increased the amount of night games played in spring training over the last two years. What used to be a rare phenomenon will happen a total of seven times this spring.
Brandon Waddell was supposed to start tonight but has been sidelined with a shoulder issue. He pitched 31 1/3 innings for the Mets in 2025 spread over 11 games with a 118 ERA+. Zach Thornton, the Mets 5th round pick in 2023, will get the start instead!
Three Things To Watch For:
- Zach Thornton. Thornton is coming off of a strong 2025 campaign where he made 14 starts totaling 72 2/3 innings between Binghamton and Brooklyn. he had a 1.98 ERA and 0.812 WHIP. His tremendous season was stopped y an oblique injury. MLB Pipeline has Thornton listed as the Mets #15 prospect with a 2027 ERA. The Mets are hoping for another healthy season of development for Thornton in 2026.
- Still searching for his first spring hit. Ryan Clifford is still searching for his first 2026 spring training hit. Over eight eight games Clifford has gone 0-for-13 with a run off of three walks (.235 OBP) while striking out six times. It’s still way too early to panic, the Mets top prospect is coming off of a season where he had an .826 OPS over 579 plate appearances across Binghamton and Syracuse.
- Three Potential Opening Day Right Fielders. You could make a case for Mike Tauchman, Carson Benge or Tyrone Taylor as the Mets Opening Day right fielder and all three are starting in the outfield today (there are of course other players competing for that spot as well not on the field today). All three are putting up impressive springs. Tauchman is currently 4-for-11 with three doubles, a homer and two walks (1.442 OPS). Benge has gone 7-for-20 with a stolen base and only three strikeouts. Taylor has gone 4-for-15 with a double, two home runs and six RBI’s (1.027 OPS).
Let’s Go Mets!
