213 Miles From Shea

The last several days for the Mets have been absolutely wild and not the fun kind of wild:

• Thursday Night: World learns of a possible Jacob deGrom injury
• Friday Late Morning: deGrom has an MRI – Mets say they will comment later
• Friday Afternoon: Mets lose to the Cardinals
• Friday Afternoon: Mets announce that deGrom will cannot throw for four weeks and then will be evaluated again
• Late Friday Night: Rumors start swirling that the Mets are considering trading Dominic Smith to the Padres for Eric Hosmer/Chris Paddack
• Saturday Morning: A deal is on the table that sends Dominic Smith to San Diego (thankfully the deal is dead a few hours later)
• Saturday Morning: Max Scherzer is scratched from an intrasquad game because of his hamstring
• Saturday Mid-Day: Mets consider using an opener/bullpen game on Opening Day

Just a head spinning last few days. We are down to the final three spring training games before the Mets open the season on the road. At this point of spring the most important thing for any team is to build momentum. After the last few days the Mets need that and some positive energy. I appreciated Buck Showalter’s comments yesterday that the Mets aren’t going to reorganize things around one day, meaning, the Mets aren’t going to force pitchers out of their routine just for Opening Day. A big day today for the Mets can go a long way to resetting the last few days.

What We Are Watching For Today:

Chris Bassitt.

After the deGrom news on Friday, the Bassitt trade becomes much more important. He is now the No. 2 pitcher in the rotation for at least the first two months of the season. His last game was his first official game in Spring Training and he tossed 4 2/3 innings allowing four hits and nothing else while striking out 3 batters. We will gladly take more of that today.

Let’s Go Mets!

Mets Opening Day is only a few days away (and depending on when you read this, it may have already happened!). We are winding down our coverage of Non-Roster Invitees trying to make the team and as expected, we are now previewing players who have already been optioned to the minors / reassigned to the minors – which is the case for today’s prospect Jake Mangum.

You’ll notice something unusual about Jake Mangum on his Baseball Reference page – Jake has been drafted three times! It is common to see baseball players drafted after high school and then at one point in their college career. Jake was drafted in 2017 (30th round) by the Yankees, 2018 (32nd round) by the Mets and 2019 (4th round) by the Mets again. MLB.com‘s prospect page clears up the reason – Jake was chasing the SEC all-time hit record. He reached his goal, collecting 383 hits over his four years at Mississippi State.

Mangum debuted in 2019 with the Cyclones (back when they were a short season team) hitting .247/.337/.297 over 210 PAs. After the pandemic stoppage in 2020, he played from Brooklyn and Binghamton in 2021. Over 368 PA’s he hit .285/.337/.454. In Binghamton he was a little over a year older than the average player in the league.

We’ve been talking a lot about Mangum’s hitting but he’s actually known for his defense. MLB.com notes that he may be “the best defender in the Mets system with enough range and arm strength to play quality center field”. He also has speed.

The issue for the Mets right now is where does he fit? The roster needs another outfielder, but the Mets are having trouble right now squeezing in Travis Jankowski. Khalil Lee, also speedy, and Nick Plummer are prospects who both already have 40-man roster spots.

That being said, considering Jake’s age and how things for the Mets generally go, we’ll probably see him at some point this season with the big league club. His defense and hitting ability have created a following on MetsTwitter. If he can add some pop this year as well then maybe he becomes a sleeper prospect.

Will I finish the Non-Roster Invitation Preview series before the start of the season? Maybe! We’re cutting it close! We have a few more players to look at and today’s – Travis Jankowski – has gotten a long during spring training.

Jankowski was drafted in the first round, 44th overall, back in 2012 by the Padres out of Stony Brook (which if you have watched any games on SNY this year, you probably have heard he’s local about 23,000 times by now). He made his major league debut in 2015 and has played parts of every season since seeing significant playing time in 2016, 2018 and 2021.

In 2021 with the Phillies he played in 76 games and had 176 PA’s hitting .252/.364/.351 which is pretty good compared to his career line of .239/.322/.318.

For the Mets, as of April 2nd, he has played in 10 games with 21 PA’s hitting .235/.381/.235. If he makes the team, he would be 4th/5th outfielder type with speed. Speed is his main tool and it’s a tool that’s lacking a bit on the Mets roster. The Mets have four outfielders on their 40 man roster that look like they’ll make it to the Major League roster (Canha, Marte, Nimmo, Smith). Jeff McNeil can also swing to the outfield if needed. Jankowski is also competing with two minor league players on the roster, Lee and Plummer, who are almost definitely, barring something major, starting the season in the minors. On paper, it looks like Jankowski is a fit, but it’s unclear how without someone coming off of the 40-man roster.

Weird things happen the last week of Spring Training. Let’s see how this all shakes out.

Mets fans got the news last night we didn’t want to hear – a Jacob deGrom scratch. He was experienced right shoulder tightness, announced fairly late last night, and is not expected to make his scheduled start. As you can imagine, the bulk of us handled this news well, without reading too much into and without freaking out.

The Mets also lost their game to the Nationals last night 7-3. But, it’s still spring training and the result isn’t the most important part of the game. Taijuan Walker tossed 3.2 scoreless innings, scattering 3 hits and striking out 2. Trevor May had a clean inning of work with two strikeouts. Edwin Diaz allowed a run over an inning of work and Seth Lugo had a clean inning followed by an inning where he allowed two runs. Overall, a bit of a mixed bag.

What We are Watching For:

In place of deGrom this afternoon, we’ll see Felix Pena. Felix made his major league debut back in 2016 as a member of the Chicago Cubs and has pitched six seasons across the Cubs and Angels. 2020 was the last season where he saw significant time in the majors. He pitched in 25 games and 26.2 innings with a 4.05 ERA, 3.00 FIP, 1.313 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. In one game for the Mets this Spring he has allowed 1 hit and walked 2 batters in 2.0 scoreless innings of work.

We are also hoping that Pete Alonso builds off his last game. The last time Pete played he hit a three run homer, the only runs the Mets got in their 5-3 loss. Overall this Spring he is hitting .217/.357/.435 over 28 PA’s.

Let’s Go Mets!

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.