The Mets continue their spring training schedule today with another game against the St. Louis Cardinals! At this point in spring, it feels like we are scouting the Cardinals, Marlins, Astros and Nationals with how often we see these four teams.
Anyway, the Mets got what they needed yesterday – a great outing from David Peterson. He pitched four innings walking one batter and allowing no hits while striking out five. Either Peterson or Megill will be getting a lengthy time slot in the Mets rotation this year and both have looked pretty good this spring.
Today we turn to our new favorite day of the week! Justin Verlander Day!
Three Things To Watch For:
- Will Verlander Go Four Innings? Over his first two starts this spring Verlander has tossed 3 innings and 3 1/3 innings. In that stretch he has allowed two runs from five hits and no walks while striking out eight (great ratio!). So how far will Verlander go in today’s game?
- Catchers Who Rake: A lot of the attention this spring has been on Francisco Álvarez. Tomás Nido has quietly been having a tremendous spring. In 24 trips to the plate he has nine hits including a pair of doubles and a pair of homers leading to a .375/.375/.708 line. Last season Nido had an OPS+ of 72, quite a bit better career mark of 60. He’s also had a 0.7 WAR the last two season combined, which is not exactly noteworthy except his previous four seasons he was at a -1.1 WAR. We’re not saying it’s Tomás Nido breakout season, but Tomás Nido better than average season could be the bump the Mets need.
- Marte Playing Back to Back Games: Usually when there is a lineup change at last minute, it’s bad news. Yesterday the opposite happened as Marte got added into the lineup after it was originally posted. Marte had a scary moment in Sunday’s game where he was hit in head with a pitch. Starting back to back games is a positive sign that he’s doing alright.
Let’s Go Mets!
