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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
