213 Miles From Shea

Yolmer Sánchez was signed to a minor league contract with the Mets to help round out their up the middle depth for the regular season. Over the last several years the Mets have seen how injuries to the infield can quickly pile up and they’ve had to reach down the depth chart often.

Sánchez signed with the White Sox in 2009 and would have his best seasons with the organization. He made his debut in 2014 and started to see regular playing time in 2015. He was never much of a hitter, and more of a defender with his OPS+ never breaking 100 in any of this full seasons of play. There is a floor for offense from a defense-first player and he hit that between 2017 and 2019, putting up an OPS of .732, .678 and .638 during those three seasons. He also led the league in triples with 10 back in 2018. In 2019 his defense was recognized with a Gold Glove Award.

During the 2020 season is where he went from being a White Sox mainstay to Immaculate Grid super answer. He was selected off waivers by the Orioles only to be released at the end of spring training the following year. The Braves then signed him the next day. The follow year he signed witht he Red Sox who put him on waivers in August 2022. The Mets then selected him.

Sánchez was a Met before! He literally played in three games for the Mets in 2022 but didn’t get a single plate appearance. He did play in 22 games for Syracuse getting 93 PA’s hitting .244/.355/.333. After his brief stint with the Mets he signed with the Braves again last season. Now he’s back in the Mets organization.

Sánchez is effectively competing with José Iglesias for depth. Both players are known for their defense on the field and both are proven veteran relievers who have spent a lot of time in bench/depth positions over the last couple of years. As of writing (2/28), Sánchez has played in three games for the Mets this spring going for 1-for-7 with a run scored and three strikeouts.

The Mets bring their winning record back to Clover Park today to take on the Marlins for the first time this spring. Yesterday the Mets won their second consecutive spring game as they beat the Nationals 6-3 at West Palm Beach. Trayce Thompson stole the show going 2-for-3 at the plate including a grand slam. Additionally Pete Alonso had a great day at the plate going 2-for-2 with two doubles and walk.

The focus today though is not on the bats – it’s on the pitching. The Mets have several big names making their spring debuts in Houser and López. Nate Lavender, who impressed on Saturday, is scheduled to get his second outing of the year.

The biggest knock on the Mets game on Sunday was their defense. The team committed two errors and had a balk. Yesterday Luke Ritter had an error and Senger allowed a passed ball. It is difficult to have a full read on yesterday’s defense for the Mets because the game wasn’t televised or broadcasted on the radio (and sometimes defensive miscues don’t show up in the box score).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Adrian Houser: Houser is making his first Mets start this afternoon and that’s biggest story of the day. Houser was acquired in a trade with the Brewers to round out the Mets rotation for this season. Last year he made 21 starts and pitched in 23 games tossing 111 1/3 innings with a 4.12 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.392 WHIP and a 105 ERA+. He has a low-to-mid-90’s fastball that he used 71% of the time last year mixing in a slider, curve and changeup. The Mets wild card chances this year are pinned on how solid the back of the rotation can be, Houser is a major factor for that.
2. Nate Lavender’s second outing: Lavender was fantastic on Saturday in his spring debut. The Mets prospect struck out the side and turned a lot of heads. After the game he said “If you throw 92 with a little doubt in there, it’s probably gonna get hit pretty hard. If you throw 92 with some grit and some intention behind it, you’re gonna be alright.” Lavender is currently in camp as a non-roster invitee and has a lot to over come to break camp with the team and we are very excited to see his second outing of the year.
3. Jorge López: Rebuilding the Mets bullpen was a key part to the Mets off-season. Stearns brought in a ton of pitchers with different throwing styles to give the Mets bullpen something it lacked last year – different looks. López is a key part to making the bullpen a strength for the Mets. Last year wasn’t great for the former All-Star as he posted a 5.95 ERA, 73 ERA+ over multiple organizations. His 2022 stint with the Orioles shows his potential. Over 48 1/3 innings he had a 196 ERA+.

Let’s go Mets!

Non-roster invitations generally fall into one of two larger buckets: prospects and veteran players. José Iglesias falls into the veteran bucket and is a great name to remember if you do the Immaculate Grid daily.

Iglesias was signed by the Red Sox in 2009 and would make his major league debut for the Red Sox at just 21-years old in 2011. In 2013 he was part of a three-team trade that sent him to the Tigers. During his time as a Tiger he lined up against Francisco Lindor and Cleveland a lot which led to the story SNY shared during the first broadcast of the year of Iglesias and Lindor admiring each other’s defense.

At the end of 2018 Iglesias became a free agent and that’s when his traveling journey started. He signed as a free agent with the Reds, then with the Orioles. The Orioles then traded him to the Angels who released him. He then signed with the Red Sox, the Rockies, the Marlins, the Padres (twice in the same season) and now he’s with the Mets.

The one-time All-Star is known for his defense but hasn’t been terrible as a hitter. 2022 was the last time he played in the majors and hit .292/.328/.380 over 118 games for the Rockies with a 91 OPS+. During the 2022 season he was in the 98th percentile for whiff% and 79th for xBA (but only in the 12th percentile for xwOBA). Even though he is defense-first player, his defense wasn’t tremendously noteworthy according to Baseball Savant in 2022. He was in the 46th percentile for range (outs above average) and 35th for arm strength.

Iglesias has had some seriously good seasons in the past. In 2020 he was in the 90th percentile for outs above average and the 91st percentile for xwOBA. He provides the Mets the depth they need in the middle infield. Compared to the other non-roster invitees, Iglesias has a good chance to play himself onto the 40-man roster and into a bench position with a strong spring.

The Mets look to make it two wins in a row this afternoon as they take on the Nationals for the Mets first road game of the season. The big story from yesterday’s game was Francisco Álvarez hitting his first home run of the spring. So far it’s been the Mets catchers this spring showing off the power with the other Mets homer coming from Hayden Senger in the first game of the season.

José Buttó had a solid outing, scattering three hits over two innings. On Saturday Megill had a rough first inning, but a much calmer second inning and allowed only one run over two innings. Buttó and Megill are both competing with Lucchesi for the Mets final spot in the rotation. There is one additional pitcher competing for that spot – today’s starter Max Kranick. The Mets claimed Kranick from the Pirates in mid-January. Max Kranick had Tommy John surgery in 2022, which caused him to miss most of that season and almost all of 2023.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Max Kranick: Kranick made nine starts in 2021 for the Pirates pitching a total of 38 2/3 innings with a 6.28 ERA, 4.64 FIP, 1.707 WHIP and a 68 ERA+. He made nine starts across the minor leagues last year with a 4.35 ERA over 20 2/3 innings rehabbing from Tommy John. Before his surgery in 2021, he used four different pitches in major league games. He has a mid-90’s fastball (thrown 48% of the time), high-80’s slider (32%), low-80’s curve (12%) and a high-80’s change (7%).
2. Sean Reid-Foley: Sean is fully competing for one of the last bullpen spots on the roster this spring. Similar to Kranick, Sean missed a large chunk of 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery. In the majors last season he allowed only three runs from four hits and six walks over 7 2/3 innings while striking out 16 batters. In the minors he pitched 22 innings with a 4.09 ERA.
3. Top prospects get the start! The Mets are starting Drew Gilbert and Luisangel Acuña this afternoon. Both Gilbert and Acuña have already seen some playing time early this spring, but neither have started. As of right now neither player is expected to start the season with the Mets but there is a chance for one of both players to come up at some point this season. Hopefully they get to see major league pitching today!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets signed Ji-Man Choi on 2/16 to compete for the back up first base / DH role. Choi gained a lot of popularity and attention back in 2022 when he got off to a hot start. In April 2022 he went 15-for-42 hitting .357/.491/.595. He collected a total of six extra-base hits while walking a total of 11 times. He’s been a fairly reliable hitter throughout his career, posting an OPS+ above 100 every year between 2017 through 2022.

Choi was signed by the Mariners as a free agent in 2009. He never played in a major league game for the Mariners and was granted free agency in 2015 when the Orioles picked him up. The Angels then selected Choi from the Orioles in the December 2015 Rule V draft and he would go on to make his major league debut with the Angels. He was a Yankee for a year and then the Brewers signed him and later traded him to Tampa Bay. The Rays would later trade him to the Pirates and the Pirates would then trade him to the Padres. Ji-Man Choi is a name to remember for Immaculate Grid games.

Last year was a bit of a disappointment for Choi. First, the Pirates would not allow him to play in the World Baseball Classic for Korea. He dealt with Achilles strain that sidelined him for months and then when he got back to the field he was traded to the Padres. He then suffered a ribcage strain and got injured a third time while rehabbing. Ultimately he hit .163/.239/.385 last year over 39 games with a 68 OPS+.

The Mets are hoping to get the 2022 version of Choi. That year he was in the 93rd percentile for average exit velocity, 96th for chase%, 96th for walk% and 88th for hard-hit%. His running has always been a rough spot in his game. In 2022 he was in the 8th percentile for sprint speed and 3rd for baserunning run value.

This spring is a chance for Choi to establish himself, either for the Mets or for someone else. He’s been a solid hitter in his career. The Mets should be focusing on using Mark Vientos as their primary DH and Choi has quite a bit of competition to even make the 40-man roster. A strong spring from Choi though could force the Mets to think about their plans.

The Mets play their first of seven games against the Astros this afternoon at Clover Park! There are only a few teams left on the east coast of Florida, so the Mets play the same few teams a lot over spring training. At least the American League Astros are a club the Mets do not play often during the regular season.

Yesterday’s game for the Mets was a bit of a mess, but so are the Mets sometimes. The Cardinals won 10-5. On the positive side the Mets were able to get 11 hits throughout the game. The Mets also recorded two errors and recorded a balk. Alas, this is the purpose of spring training.

There were several standout performances for the Mets that are worth remembering as we head into game two. Nate Lavender, who is a non-roster invitee prospect, had a tremendous inning of relief where he struck out the side. Hayden Senger, a defense-first catcher who is probably 5th on the Mets depth chart, went 2-2 at the plate with two runs and a homer (the first of Mets spring training). Alex Ramírez, the forgotten Mets prospect, went 2-3 at the plate. First impressions are important!

Three Things To Watch For:

1. José Buttó: With Kodai Senga’s injury, a spot has opened up in the Mets starting rotation. Buttó is competing with Megill, Lucchesi, and Kranick for that spot (barring any surprise performances by prospects or non-roster invitees). Buttó started seven games and pitched 42 total innings for the Mets last season with a 3.64 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.332 WHIP and a 117 ERA+. This was way better than his Syracuse numbers last year where he had a 5.93 ERA over 91 innings. Buttó became part of the Mets rotation in September last year where he had 3.29 ERA over 27 ⅓ innings, and this includes one bad start where he allowed four runs over four innings. While Megill and Lucchesi have more major league experience, Buttó can make it an open competition with a strong spring.
2. Non-Roster Pitchers: If you like watching non-roster invitee pitching, today is your day! After Butto pitches Cole Sulser, Danny Young and Austin Adams are all scheduled to pitch. Adams was signed to a split contract at the end of November and was outrighted to make room for Jake Diekman. Before fracturing his ankle last year he had a 5.71 ERA and 3.72 FIP over 17 ⅓ innings. Danny Young is a former member of the Braves trying to break it through with the Mets this year. In eight games (8 ⅓ innings) he allowed one run from seven hits while striking out 11. Cole Sulser is an ivy league pitcher who had a great 2021 where he had a 2.70 ERA, 2.98 FIP over 63 ⅓ innings. All three pitchers are competing to get on the 40-man roster and one of the last bullpen spots the Mets have.
3. Ji-Man Choi: Choi is one of the more interesting players in Mets came on a non-roster deal. He signed with the Mets only nine days ago to compete for the back-up first basemen / DH spot on the Mets roster. Last season was his first season since 2017 with an OPS+ below 100 (68). He’s always been a player with some pop and more recently a player with patience to work out a walk. Even though went 2-31 at the plate with the Padres last year he still walked eight times!

Let’s Go Mets!

Brett Baty was replaced in the first game of spring training by Rylan Bannon. Bannon went 0-2 at the plate with a sacrifice. Who is Rylan Bannon though?

Bannon was drafted by the Dodgers back in 2017 and was part of the massive 2018 trade for Manny Machado on the Baltimore Orioles. Bannon would then make his major league debut with the Orioles in 2022 and was put on waivers and the Dodgers decided they wanted him back. A week later the Braves claimed him from the Dodgers. At the end of the season the Cubs claimed him from the Braves and then three weeks later the Astros claimed him from the Cubs. Pretty impressive to be claimed by four different organizations between August and December in one year.

Even with all of that movement, Bannon only played in seven major league games between 2022 and 2023 with 21 PA’s where he went 2-20 with eight strikeouts. Bannon had a solid 2023 in AAA for the Astros though, hitting .241/.360/.449 over 95 games. Bannon has some pop, hitting 18 homers last season and hitting at least 10 every season he’s played in the minors. He also added some steals last season, reaching a career high of 12 in one season (building on a career high of 10 in 2022).

Working the count is another big part of Bannon’s game. For five consecutive season he has worked at least 50 walks including 81 walks in 2018 and 63 walks last year.

Rylan Bannon is in Mets camp as third and second base depth (but he is mostly regarded as a third basemen) At the major league level he has Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Joey Wendle ahead of him. Then there is an additional group of players on the 40-man and in camp as non-roster invites that can slide between second and third. This is the group that Bannon needs to stand out in.

We’ll be looking to see how much playing time he gets and where on the field he gets that playing time. At the plate we are looking to see if he brings his pop and eye that he has shown in the minor leagues.

There are so many firsts when it comes to the start of the baseball season. There’s the first day players arrive to camp, the official first day of pitchers and catchers, the first address from the manager, the first whole team workout, the first live batting practice, etc. Today we finally reach the first spring training game of the year!

The Mets kept their mini-tradition alive of having a frontline starter announce an injury at the start of camp. Earlier this week we heard Kodai Senga was dealing with arm fatigue and then a few days later we learned that it was a bit more serious than that. This opens up a spot in the rotation that will probably come down to Tylor Megill, José Butto and Joey Lucchesi.

Today is also the first time we’ll see Carlos Mendoza managing a game. It’s always interesting to watch what a manager does during a spring training game. Who is he talking to throughout the game? Which players come up to him? What’s his overall presence like?

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Tylor Megill and the American Spork: Tylor was scheduled to start this game before the news about Kodai Senga broke. Tylor is coming off of a year where he made 25 starts totaling 126 1/3 innings, the first time in his career he pitched over 100 innings at the major league level. He had a 4.70 ERA, 4.96 FIP, 1.575 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. Throughout last he worked with Senga to develop a new pitch, holding the ball the same way that Senga’s ghost forkball. Tylor refers to this pitch as the “American spork” and he tossed it six times in his last start of the season. Do we see the “American spork” today?
2. DJ Stewart Leading Off? Stewart was one positive surprises for the Mets last season, bursting on the scene hitting .244/.333/.506 with a 128 OPS+ over 58 games and 185 plate appearances. He has some serious pop, hitting 11 homers. Stewart leading off is a bit of surprise, but why not? He worked 11 walks last year and leading off means a higher chance that he’ll get more PA’s in today’s game.
3. Brett at Third, Mark DH’ing: The most likely scenario for the Mets this season is to roll with Brett Baty at third base and Mark Vientos at DH. Mark Vientos could push into Brett Baty’s playing time. DJ Stewart and others could push into Mark Vientos DH playing time. After the Ronny Mauricio injury the Mets did not go out to sign a 3B/DH type player, so these jobs really are Brett’s and Mark’s to lose. One of the larger complaints about the Mets last season was they did not give consistent playing time to their young players. We’re excited to see what Brett and Mark can do with consistent playing time this year, starting today!

Let’s Go Mets!

For a third spring training in a row, the Mets have invited Hayden Senger to major league camp. The 26-year old was drafted by the Mets round 24 during the 2018 draft out of Miami University of Ohio. Since being drafted he has played in five minor league seasons for the Mets (skipping 2020 of course) from the Kingsport Mets all the way to the Syracuse Mets. 

Senger was a solid hitter in college and hit .272/.359/.409 over three collegiate seasons. Over five seasons in the minors he has hit .236/.328/.359. Last year was a particular tough year for him where he spent the entire season in Binghamton and hit only .188/.307.295 (the previous year he at least got a few games in Syracuse).

Senger’s age and talent’s put him almost in a different depth chart than the other catchers. Senger is a more defensively minded catcher. He’s effectively competing for depth chart space in case of an emergency situation. If the Mets need a catcher to round out the roster for a couple of days, they aren’t going to call up Kevin Parada. So Senger’s main competition this spring is Nido and Austin Allen, which puts Senger fifth on the catching depth chart.

The Mets used five different catchers in the major leagues by the end of May last season. The 2022 Mets used four different catchers throughout the season. Things got so crazy in the covid-shortened 2020 season that the Mets used five catchers over 60 games. It’s not probable that Senger gets called up, but it’s possible! Will be watching this spring to see how much playing time Senger gets and how long he stays in major league camp. How does his performance compare to Austin Allen? Does Austin Allen play so well that he ends spring on another team thus moving Senger up the depth chart?

Kevin Parada was the Mets first round pick in 2022 and immediately made noise in the minor leagues, causing him to sky rocket up prospect lists. Before the start of the season last year Kevin Parada was listed as the third best prospect in the Mets system by Keith Law behind Francisco Álvarez and Brett Baty.

The noise was warranted. In two seasons for Georgia Tech he hit .341/.420/.636 which an amazing 2022 where he hit .361/.453/.709. The Mets had him play in 13 games between their Florida Coast League team and the St. Lucie Mets where he hit .275/.455/.425.

Last season had ups and downs for Parada. He hit well in Brooklyn, playing in 87 games (382 PA’s) hitting .265/.340/.447. For a catcher this was pretty good, but the expectations were so high for Parada. The Mets bumped him up for 14 games to Binghamton and the struggles set in. Over 60 plate appearances his stats dropped to .185/.250/.389. Overall, last year was a step backwards. Going into the season Keith Law has Parada listed at the 7th best prospect in the Mets system.

Kevin Parada is still the Mets best catching prospect in the system, however there are two additional catchers behind him that are drawing attention, that were not in the Mets system during spring training last season. The Mets acquired Ronald Hernandez in the David Robertson trade last year. Hernandez is only two years younger than Parada. The Mets also signed 17-year-old Yovanny Rodriguez, possibly the top catcher in this year’s international free agency pool.

Ahead of Parada on the depth chart Francisco Álvarez. All of this puts Parada in an interesting position this year. There is pressure on the depth chart behind him, but both of those catchers are much farther away from the majors than Parada. Ahead of Parada is Álvarez, who should be the Mets starting catcher for the foreseeable future. This takes the pressure off of the Mets to push Parada quickly through the system.

This spring we’ll be looking for Parada to get back to his 2022 form. That means hitting for power, getting on base at a higher clip, and an improvement to his defense.