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:
- 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.
- 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?
- 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!
