213 Miles From Shea

For most of the last week the Mets offense was just missing. Before last night in their last three games the Mets had a combined three runs scored from 12 hits. The wins / losses don’t matter in spring but you want to see the Mets regulars getting hits, starting rallies, flashing power, making smart plays on the base paths.

This all returned last night as the Mets beat the Astros 6-5 in a game capped off with a walk-off hit by Joe Suozzi, son of House of US Representatives Tom Suozzi. Joe saved us all from “there’s no tying in baseball” posts as both the Mets and Astros agreed that the game would end after the ninth inning if the score is tied. The key inning last night, in my opinion, was the 5th where the Mets scored four runs. It was the first time in a while the Mets regulars participated in a long rally with singles, walks and capitalizing on Astros miscues.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. José Buttó looks to continue his dominant spring. Buttó will make his fourth start of the spring today as he continues to compete for the last spot of the rotation. In three games this spring he has a 1.50 ERA over six innings while striking out six batters. In his last start he pitched three innings so if all goes well he’s probably aiming for at least four innings today. In between his outings, Tylor Megill had another good start who is Buttó’s main competition at this point.
2. Austin Adams continues to fight for a rotation spot. Adams has had an excellent start to spring. In four games and 3 2/3 innings he has allowed only two hits and no runs while striking out seven batters. In March, he struck out four of the five outs he recorded. Another good outing today and he will start to force the Mets to figure out a way to get him rostered.
3. Ice Cold Hitters: A few hitters who have been ice cold this spring are getting the start and hopefully can start to break out of their funk this afternoon. Harrison Bader is 1-for-10 this spring with one strikeout over five games this spring. Luke Voit is 2-for-20 with seven strikeouts. The Mets are banking on Harrison Bader as their everyday centerfielder. Luke Voit is fighting to get on a roster.

Let’s Go Mets!

If patterns hold true, the Mets should lose today’s game.

After winning the first game of spring, the Mets lost four games in a row, then won four in a row, then lost four in a row, then won four games in a row. Currently they have lost three in a row. Is tonight the night they finally break this streaking trend?

Quintana had the best game of any Met last night, going four innings allowing two hits and no runs. He had basically zero offense behind him with the Mets mustering up two singles (Nimmo, Short) and only two walks on their way to losing 4-1.

The Mets have an opportunity to get some cuts in today against some of the best pitchers in the league. Cristian Javier is scheduled to start for the Astros. Later in the game both Josh Hader and Ryan Pressly should both pitch an inning.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. How deep does Luis Severino go today? This will be Severino’s third start of spring and the Mets are about two weeks away from Opening Day. In his first outing Severino allowed no hits and no runs over two innings of work. In his second outing he allowed three hits and no runs over three innings of work (while striking out four batters). From a workload perspective, the extra inning of work only cost Severino nine additional pitches (30 pitches start one, 39 pitches start two).
2. Fujinami Bounceback! In his last outing Fujinami allowed two runs, one earned, from three hits in one inning of work. According to MLB.com’s Gameday, his fastest pitch in that outing was 97.4 mph. In his first outing he didn’t throw any fastballs at all. Is today the day we see the triple digit heat?
3. Bats please. The Mets slogan this year, “Baseball hits different here” may have been misinterpreted by the players. The Mets offense has just been absent for the better part of a week. In their last five games the Mets have scored three runs or less and they’ve scored a total of three runs during their current three game losing streak. The Mets have also collected only 12 hits in the last three games, an average of four a game. Winning and losing doesn’t matter in spring, but players consistently making solid contact and connecting for hits does. Here’s hoping the pendulum starts to swing the other way tonight.

Let’s Go Mets!

The results of yesterday’s game do not matter. They never matter for spring training games but they especially didn’t matter last night. Edwin Díaz  made his return to the mound for the first time in about a year and was electric. He struck out the side using his mix of pitches and looked great. You can just feel the vibes rebuilding around this Mets club with Edwin back on the mound.

The Mets look to keep the vibes going tonight as they travel to West Palm Beach to play another spring training night game. As always with road games, it’s a coin flip if there will be televised coverage. Tonight there is no televised coverage, but the game will have a radio broadcast via the local Nationals radio station. So if you access to MLB Gameday Audio, or live in the greater DC area, you can tune into tonight’s game! The Nationals alternate between an FM and AM signal, tonight they are going FM, so even though the game is at night, the signal won’t travel that far.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. José Quintana’s third start of spring. In the third start we see pitchers aiming to go for 60+ pitches, generally around four innings of work if everything goes alright. Quintana’s first start of spring was rocky, allowing two runs from two hits and three walks over 1 2/3 innings. His last start was crisp, allowing one run from four hits and no walks while striking out six batters of over three innings. If Quintana can go more than four innings tonight, he’ll double his total work for the spring. It’s possible because his last time out he went 54 pitches so maybe his maximum is a bit different than others. Quintana right now could be the Mets Opening Day Starter.
2. Joey Lucchesi’s spring debut. Joey was supposed to make his spring debut last week against the Astros but the game got rained out. With pitchers on tight schedules, his debut got pushed all the way to today. Joey had a pretty good year for the Mets last season making nine starts and pitching 46 2/3 innings with a 2.89 ERA, 4.22 FIP, 1.307 WHIP and a 147 ERA+. At the end of the season he became part of the Mets six-man rotation where he had a 1.93 ERA, 3.63 FIP over three starts and 18 2/3 innings. He’s competing for the last rotation spot against two pitchers who have had dominant springs (Tylor Megill and José Buttó)
3. Ji-Man Choi looks to continue his hot start to spring. Choi has collected 5 hits in 14 AB’s this spring including two doubles and a homer. He has also worked four walks in his eight games this spring leading to a .500 OBP. If Choi keeps getting on base at the rate he is, he’s going to force a conversation about how the Mets can find a roster spot for him.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have two outfielders left in camp competing for the final outfield spot on the roster – Ben Gamel and Trayce Thompson. The disadvantage that both outfielders have is that they are not on the 40-man roster yet.

Ben Gamel has been in the game for a while. He was drafted by the Yankees in 2010 and made his major league debut back in 2016. He was traded at the end of August in 2016 to the Mariners who traded him to the Brewers in 2018. This is where you probably know him from. After that he spent time with Cleveland, Pittsburg and most recently the Padres.

Gamel saw consistent playing time from 2017 to 2022 with his OPS+ ranging from 85 to 106. He had an OPS+ of 100 or slightly more three times over those five years. He’s a solid, average level player, which is what a lot of baseball teams need.

Last year he just couldn’t latch on to a team, despite hitting in the minors. Across the Rays and Padres system he hit .286/.402/.498 in AAA. In his cup of coffee with the Padres he had only three hits in 15 trips to the plate. He’s not exactly lighting it up this year in Mets camp either going 3-for-15 with a double and a walk while striking out six times.

It is difficult right now to see how Gamel fits with the Mets major league squad. Similar to what we said yesterday about Taylor Kohlwey, the Mets tend to dip into their reserves a lot and some how found time for Rafael Ortega to play 47 games last season. If Gamel stays with the Mets organization after camp breaks, he will probably, eventually find his way for at least a few at bats with the Mets this year.

The Mets four game winning streak was snapped yesterday, continuing a pattern for the Mets of losing four in a row, then winning four, then losing four, then winning four. Can they buck the trend and win tonight?

Have you noticed that the Mets are playing more night spring training games this year? Tonight starts the first of three night games in a row this week and five of their next six games are at night. It’s not just a Mets thing too as two of the five games are on the road. This is an interesting development this spring and definitely makes spring training games, that are televised, easier to watch.

Tonight’s scheduled pitchers feels like a normal game for the Mets as we head deeper into spring training. Tylor Megill, Edwin Díaz, Brooks Raley and Drew Smith are all scheduled to pitch tonight. Díaz obviously headlines the group of pitchers, making his first appearance since his injury last year.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Edwin Díaz: Díaz makes his long awaited return to the mound tonight, and we couldn’t be more excited. Díaz became the best reliever in baseball in 2022 and was a huge reason why the Mets won 101 games. He tore his petellar tendon celebrating after a massive win for Puerto Rico in last year’s World Baseball Classic. He worked incredibly hard throughout the 2023 season and while there was a small chance the Mets could have brought him back for an outing or two at the end of September last year, the Mets correctly played it safe not rushing Díaz. His energy is the soul of this team and we are so excited to see him on the mound again.
2. The critical spring start for Tylor Megill? Megill has looked fantastic so far this spring, allowing only one run over eight innings and three outings while striking out 13 batters. So far his only rough inning was his first inning this spring. Last season in his first three starts Megill allowed only one run over 8 1/3 innings. In his last two spring starts he allowed nine runs. Also, do we even see Megill’s new pitch today or does Megill start to hide it as he faces another NL East team?
3. Mark Vientos: After March 7th’s game, Vientos was hitting .143/.182/.286. In the two games since he has gone 3-for-7 with a double and a homer. If he can do this one more game in a row, Vientos will officially be on a hot streak.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets had three outfielders in camp this year competing for a roster spot: Ben Gamel, Taylor Kohlwey and Trayce Thompson. So far this spring Trayce Thompson has been the most impressive.

A couple of days ago Taylor Kohlwey was reassigned to minor league camp, which isn’t incredibly surprising. This spring Taylor has gone 2-for-11 over seven games, both hit singles, with a walk and a sacrifice.

Taylor Kohlwey was drafted by the Padres in the 21st round back in 2016. He finally made his major league debut with the Padres last year where he went 2-for-13 in five games, both hits were singles. He was effective in the minors last season hitting .276/.390/.437 over 516 trips to the plate. Overall in the minor leagues he has hit .282/.371/.418 over seven seasons. He has shown that he can hit in the minors, it just didn’t translate in his quick trip to the majors last year, or his spring training this year.

For the Mets Taylor provides outfield depth. Injuries happen and there will be a point in the season where the Mets will need to call someone up to fill in for a couple of days. Taylor provides the depth to not have to push a top prospect up for a short term injury. Remember the 2023 Mets had Rafael Ortega play in 47 games last year.

Mets spring training results so far:

• Lost a game.
• Won four games.
• Lost four games.
• Won four games.

Can the Mets break the pattern this afternoon and have a streak go to five games? Or does another four game losing streak start today? If you’ve been following every Mets spring training game this season you were already aware of how streaky the Mets have been and you are probably tired of seeing the Cardinals, Marlins, Nationals and Astros on the other side of the box score. For only the second time this spring the Mets will play a team that’s not one of those four teams this afternoon. The Tigers are in town!

Scheduled to pitch today for the Tigers is Wilmer Flores, the brother of Mets legend Wilmer Flores. Over three games and 4 2/3 innings this spring, Flores has a 7.71 ERA but has also struck out seven batters. Right now Flores is one of the Tigers top pitching prospects and was added to their 40-man roster last November.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Adrian Houser’s third start of the spring. The Mets and Houser are hoping his third start looks more like his first start this afternoon. IN his first start Houser cruised through two innings allowing one hit and no runs while striking out one batter. His last time on the mound on March 3rd he allowed three runs from four hits and a walk while striking out two batters over 1 2/3 innings. In his first outing he needed only 23 pitches to get through two innings. Last time out he threw 43 before being pulled from the game.
2. Huge bullpen day today! Jake Diekman, Shintaro Fujinami and Jorge López are all scheduled to throw today. The last time this happened was on Thursday and the three pitchers combined for three scoreless innings allowing one hit. Surprisingly, no strikeouts. Diekman and López each lowered their spring ERA’s. For Fujinami it was his first outing of the year where he didn’t really throw his fastball but was still highly effective. Hopefully we see his fastball today!
3. Bullpen Battle: Austin Adams is in camp right now as a non-roster invitee (he was originally signed to a major league deal and was outrighted right before spring training started to make room for Jake Diekman). Adams has had a terrific spring this year pitching three scoreless innings over three games while striking out five. His current contract situation gives him an advantage over Nate Lavender who is also a non-roster invitee who has been electric in his three spring training outings so far.

Let’s Go Mets!

The spring 2024 Mets are streaky! Essentially the spring has been a sustained winning streak, followed by a sustained losing streak and now the Mets are back in a winning a streak as they look to win their fourth win a row this afternoon against the Cardinals. For the Mets it means returning to the same stadium they played in last night as they take on Roger Dean Chevorelt’s other tenants, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Last night was a pretty good game for the Mets. Francisco Álvarez homered for the third time this spring (and on back-to-back days!). Pete Alonso hit his second homer of the spring. Severino looked great over three innings. José Buttó, competing for the last rotation spot, looked good in his first three-inning out of the year.

Today the Mets will get a chance to face off against an old friend, Steven Matz who is making the start for the Cardinals. Matz is coming off of a season where he pitched in 25 games, starting 17 of them, where pitched 105 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 1.333 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. He’s only pitched one inning in an official spring training game so far this season where he struck out two batters and allowed no hits and no runs.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Sean Manaea’s new look. We aren’t talking about a new pitch or throwing style, we are literally talking about his look. After his first start Sean cut his hair for the first time in four years. He said it was an impulsive decision. Many Mets fans across twitter immediately made a connection to Jacob deGrom, who shocked the Mets fan base when he cut his hair. We’ll look for Manaea to be deGrom-like today as he makes his second start of spring.
2. Nate Lavender’s third outing. Nate turned a lot of heads in his first game of the year where he struck out the side. That strong first impression catapulted him upwards on depth chart lists for pitchers outside of the 40-man roster trying to find a way on the active roster before camp breaks. He added another clean inning with one strikeout in his second outing. Does he continue to build his resume today?
3. Trying to get Brett Bay and Mark Vientos going. Both Baty and Vientos are getting the start today for the Mets. Baty is just 4-for-21 so far this spring but has scored an impressive five times and has a homer. Vientos is has 3 hits in 21 at bats, but one of them was a home run. The Mets would love to see Vientos and Baty both collect some hits today and get the their momentum going.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to make it three wins in a row tonight as they take on the Marlins on the road in Jupiter. It is the first time this spring that the Mets will play night games in back-to-back nights.

The star of the show last night was Francisco Álvarez who threw out three runners trying to steal second base, include two runners who tried to run on Adam Ottavino. Álvarez’s second home run of the spring was the difference maker, putting the Mets up 2-1.

The story going into yesterday’s game was the Mets bullpen. Ottavino, Diekman, López, Fujinami, Walker and Hartwig all made appearances last night. All six pitchers allowed no runs, and they allowed a total of three hits between them. The competition is heating up for the final spots on the roster. The story for today’s game will be the starting rotation. Luis Severino will make his second start of the spring and he’ll be followed by José Buttó who is competing for the final rotation spot.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Severino’s second start. Luis Severino threw 30 pitches over two innings last Friday, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out one batter. So far most starters this season in their second start have stretched out to three innings. We are hoping that he has another smooth outing as he continues to ramp up for the start of the season.
2. José Buttó and the battle for the last rotation spot: So far Buttó and Megill have both impressed in spring as both pitchers compete with Joey Lucchesi for the last spot in the rotation. This will be Buttó’s third game as he has already pitched three innings over two games, scattering four hits and no runs while striking out three batters. Megill has been spectacular over eight innings – can Buttó keep pace tonight?
3. Last Outfield Spot Battle: Trayce Thompson is off to an amazing start this spring going 5-for-10 over six games two homers and a double and 6 RBI. Also battling for the last outfield spot is Tyrone Taylor. Taylor is also off to a strong start this spring going 5-for-14 over five games (all singles). Both are getting the start today!

If you went outside in the tri-state area yesterday you got an idea of what the weather was like in West Palm Beach – rainy. The Mets and Astros had to cancel their game yesterday which was a shame because the Astros were going to have three solid pitchers play against the Mets.

With the cancellation the Mets have made some changes to the pitchers slated to go. Yesterday five pitchers were scheduled to having outings. Today seven pitchers have scheduled outings and Joey Lucchesi has been removed from the list, leaving Quintana as the only starting pitcher on the list today. Ottavino, López, Diekman, Fujinami, Walker and Hartwig are all scheduled follow Quintana today. If you forget about Quintana, it almost feels like the lineup of pitchers you would send out for a bullpen game.

Personally I find Fujinami the most interesting in this group and we’ll focus on him in a bit. Ottavino, López, Diekman, and Fujinami all signed contracts with the Mets this off-season to bolster the bullpen. Walker and Hartwig are competing for a bullpen spot because of these four signings. This should be interesting to watch today!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. José Quintana’s second start: Quintana’s first spring start was rough where he allowed two runs from two hits and three walks over 1 2/3 innings while facing nine batters. It’s difficult to read too much into the first spring start because you don’t exactly know what the pitcher is working on but walking three batters over two innings doesn’t feel great. We are hoping for a smoother start today where he can get his work in stretched over multiple innings.
2. Fujinami’s Mets debut: Fujinami can throw a baseball hard. His fastball averaged last year at 98.4 and would frequently top over 100 mph. He’s 6’6″ which also helps the fastball seem faster. He wasn’t effective as a starter last year and the Athletics moved him to the bullpen. Then something clicked for him in late June. From 28th to the end of the season he pitched in 39 games with a 3.98 ERA, 3.70 FIP with 44 strikeouts over 40 2/3 innings. In his 38 1/3 innings before that he had a 10.57 ERA. We are excited to see his first step today in his Mets journey.
3. A different Joey makes his spring debut today. Joey Lucchesi was supposed to make his debut yesterday before the weather got in the way. Today Joey Wendle will make his spring debut. Wendle was signed this off-season as infield depth, before the Ronny Mauricio injury. The idea was that Joey would be a veteran back up to all of Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos. Last season was Joey’s worst at the plate in his career, registering a 50 OPS+. The Mets would love to get him going over the next couple of weeks before the start of the season.

Let’s Go Mets!