Doubleheader at Clover Park! The Mets top prospects took the afternoon this afternoon in the Spring Breakout game and now the veteran players take the field for the night cap.
The Mets veterans are coming off of a tie in Jupiter, where the Mets and Cardinals each had three hits last night, but didn’t score any runs. For the Mets only Brett Baty and Zack Short collected hits. Luke Voit had the toughest night in the lineup going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
If the bats on both teams had a bad night, then the pitchers were feasting. José Buttó, competing with Tylor Megill for the last rotation spot, had a great outing pitching four scoreless innings while striking out three batters. Austin Adams, who is fighting for a roster spot, struck out the side in his clean inning of work. Two of the pitchers he is competing against are scheduled to pitch in tonight’s game – Sean Reid-Foley and Phil Bickford.
The Mets will also get to face an old friend tonight – Trevor Williams. Williams found his way to the Mets in the Báez during the 2021 season. He had a solid year-and-a-half with the Mets and is starting his second season with the Nationals. Last season he had a 5.55 ERA over 144 1/3 innings spread over 30 starts.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Adrian Houser’s fourth outing of spring. After two solid outings to start spring, Houser hit a speed bump on March 3rd where he allowed three runs from four hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. His last time out was completely different, he didn’t allow any runs, hits or walks in 3 1/3 innings while striking out five batters. Here’s hoping tonight is more of the same.
- Fringe bullpen competition. Phil Bickford and Sean Reid-Foley are on the outside looking in right now. Bickford’s first outing was rough – he allowed three runs from four hits in one inning of work. Last time out he was asked to get two outs and recorded two strikeouts. Sean Reid-Foley is having a terrific spring right now. In four innings spread across four games he has allowed no runs, no hits and one walk while striking out seven batters. The problem for Sean is a lot of pitchers are having a strong spring.
- Mark Vientos, power hitter. The Mets have been connected to JD Davis over the last week – Mark Vientos would like to remind you that he exists. After a slow start to spring, he’s been heating up as of late. In his last four games he has gone 4-for-13 with two homers, a double and a walk. Further he has only struck out two times in that stretch.
Let’s Go Mets!
