The Mets were firing on all cylinders in Saturday’s win against the Rays – the Mets third win in a row! Now the Mets look to get a winning record for the first time this spring since the first day of spring.
This weekend the Mets traveled to the west coast of Florida, playing against a pair of teams they normally don’t get to face in March. After today’s game the Mets will play their next nine games against the Marlins, Cardinals, Astros and Nationals.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Paul Blackburn’s second start. The Mets have an opening or two in the rotation due to the injuries to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas. Paul Blackburn is one of a few pitchers competing for those two spots. Over the last couple of days we’ve seen the younger pitchers in camp (Brandon Sproat and Blade Tidwell) dominate in their starts. Blackburn pitched a clean inning in his first game, striking out one batter and allowing no hits and no walks. How far does he go into this game?
- Rico Garcia. According to Saturday’s game notes, Garcia is scheduled to make his third appearance in spring this afternoon for the Mets. Garcia is in camp on an NRI deal. In his first two games he allowed two hits and struck out three batters while not allowing any runs to score. Garcia had a successful 2024 for the Nationals in Rochester, posting a 3.94 ERA over 61 2/3 innings. If he puts up similar numbers for Syracuse this season, we’ll see him in Queens at some point.
- A New Face in Town. Walker Buehler held the Mets scoreless over four innings in the NLCS. It was not fun (assuming you, like me, are a Mets fan, reading a spring training game chat article about the Mets). He was a major signing for the Boston Red Sox this year who are looking to challenge the Yankees and the Orioles for the AL East. For the Mets bats, this presents a second straight day to get some reps in against a serious starting pitcher.
Let’s Go Mets!
