There are so many firsts when it comes to the start of the baseball season. There’s the first day players arrive to camp, the official first day of pitchers and catchers, the first address from the manager, the first whole team workout, the first live batting practice, etc. Today we finally reach the first spring training game of the year!
The Mets kept their mini-tradition alive of having a frontline starter announce an injury at the start of camp. Earlier this week we heard Kodai Senga was dealing with arm fatigue and then a few days later we learned that it was a bit more serious than that. This opens up a spot in the rotation that will probably come down to Tylor Megill, José Butto and Joey Lucchesi.
Today is also the first time we’ll see Carlos Mendoza managing a game. It’s always interesting to watch what a manager does during a spring training game. Who is he talking to throughout the game? Which players come up to him? What’s his overall presence like?
Three Things To Watch For:
- Tylor Megill and the American Spork: Tylor was scheduled to start this game before the news about Kodai Senga broke. Tylor is coming off of a year where he made 25 starts totaling 126 1/3 innings, the first time in his career he pitched over 100 innings at the major league level. He had a 4.70 ERA, 4.96 FIP, 1.575 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. Throughout last he worked with Senga to develop a new pitch, holding the ball the same way that Senga’s ghost forkball. Tylor refers to this pitch as the “American spork” and he tossed it six times in his last start of the season. Do we see the “American spork” today?
- DJ Stewart Leading Off? Stewart was one positive surprises for the Mets last season, bursting on the scene hitting .244/.333/.506 with a 128 OPS+ over 58 games and 185 plate appearances. He has some serious pop, hitting 11 homers. Stewart leading off is a bit of surprise, but why not? He worked 11 walks last year and leading off means a higher chance that he’ll get more PA’s in today’s game.
- Brett at Third, Mark DH’ing: The most likely scenario for the Mets this season is to roll with Brett Baty at third base and Mark Vientos at DH. Mark Vientos could push into Brett Baty’s playing time. DJ Stewart and others could push into Mark Vientos DH playing time. After the Ronny Mauricio injury the Mets did not go out to sign a 3B/DH type player, so these jobs really are Brett’s and Mark’s to lose. One of the larger complaints about the Mets last season was they did not give consistent playing time to their young players. We’re excited to see what Brett and Mark can do with consistent playing time this year, starting today!
Let’s Go Mets!
