The Mets play another evening game – this time against Nicaragua!
The World Baseball Classic started last night in Taiwan and the state side pools are gearing up for official play this weekend. In order to get ready, a bunch of World Baseball Classic teams are playing in exhibition games today and tomorrow and the Mets are playing hosts both days.
Today the Mets will play against Nicaragua. Mark Vientos was originally going to play for Nicaragua before bowing out of the tournament in early February. The goal for Nicaragua in the World Baseball Classic is to not finish last. Nicaragua is in a tough group with the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Israel. The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela are three of the better squads in the tournament. Israel made a surprising run in the last tournament. The last place team has to go back to the qualifying tournament, which is how Nicaragua earned their spot in this year’s tournament.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Just Another Day in the Office for Max: Today’s WBC exhibition matchup is just another day in the office for Max Scherzer. He’s made two starts totaling 4 2/3 innings this spring with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. A lot happened his last time out though. He got called for a balk. Then he tried to play games with the pitch clock again, and flew a little too close to the Sun. Rather than getting a double play, he got called for a pitch clock violation and then the inning just unraveled. We’re going to talk about the intensity match up a bit later but it’s safe to say no matter how anyone else on the Mets approaches this game, Max will be his normal, super intense self.
- Old Friends: No current Mets are playing for Nicaragua, but several former Mets are. Erasmo Ramírez, Cheslor Cuthbert, and Kevin Gadea are all on the roster. Ramírez pitched for the Mets in 2020 and had a 0.63 ERA, 3.68 FIP over six games and 14 1/3 innings. Since then he has played for the Tigers and the Nationals.
- Will The Game Be Intense? Hold Max Scherzer aside because he’s his own entity – how intense will today’s game be? For the Mets this is still a spring training game with guys trying to get their reps in. For Nicaragua this is a key tune up game as they play meaningful games in a couple of days. Energy is contagious and its possible the younger Mets will feed off of and replicate that energy.
Let’s Go Mets!
