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1/14/23

Reese Kaplan -- Spring Training Begins in About a Month...


It's still early January yet the majority of Mets fans who are still suffering from their post-Correa quandary. We've all gone back and forth over the pros and cons of what happened during the negotiation. Now is not the time to beat this well worn set of arguments into a bloody pulp.

Instead, let's think about what will happen a month from now when Spring Training is set to begin and thoughts of baseball start first and foremost in Port St. Lucie where there is no snow, no ice and no multi layers of winter wear to tolerate the weather. Having visited there in February one year it's a break from the harshness of New York, but it's not exactly swimsuit weather either (particularly for night games).


So let's look into the crystal ball (with the current roster as it stands in mid January) and try to think a bit about what will be on the evaluation radar in south Florida.

Starting Pitching

While we all know the projected starting rotation of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Jose Quintana, Kodai Senga and Carlos Carrasco, last season was a rough lesson in not being prepared for injuries rendering your planned rotation unavailable. As I recently pointed out, a full 25% of the games last year were not started by the people intended.


Consequently, the Port St. Lucie period of professional baseball preparation is going to be a great time to see how prepared Tylor Megill and David Peterson are after bouncing between the starting rotation and the bullpen last season. Both seemed a bit more polished as starters, but it's difficult to get in those turns on the mound in the first inning if everyone else is healthy.

Behind them, you have Jose Butto who is a moderate level pitching prospect with a lot of minor league experience. As a career mostly starting pitcher, he's been in 102 games, 89 as a starter. His 3.92 ERA doesn't jump off the page and since he's turning 25 before the season begins, it would appear his future is as a reliever or a trade chip. He shows excellent control and could be a useful piece wherever he winds up.

After that, the Mets do not have very many would be starters worth long looks. Yes, you could throw Joey Lucchesi or Tommy Hunter or John Curtiss into the mix as well, but if you're reaching down for latter stage pitchers to start games for the big club, then something has definitely gone wrong.

Relief Pitching

No one is disputing the pedigrees of Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino or David Robertson. As long as they are healthy, everyone knows what to expect. Drew Smith is close but he's not logged a great many innings in his career.


The biggest unknown here is reliever Brooks Raley, most recently plying his craft in Tampa. He cracked the majors twice for a handful of games in 2013 and 2014, but then was not seen in the big leagues until the COVID-shortened season of 2020. He was good at striking people out and showed decent control, but never really put it together.

Then came his wondrous 33-year-old season in 2022 when everything just clicked for him. He appeared in 60 games, maintained a WHIP under 1.00, an ERA of just 2.68 and struck out four times as many as he walked. The question for the Mets front office is whether he was a classic late bloomer who found whatever it was he had been missing the past, or if it was an outlier season not likely to be repeated.

Beyond the new southpaw, the rest of the Mets bullpen is going to be a battle of folks whose names you do know and ones you don't. Among the contenders will be Steven Nogosek, Zach Greene, Elieser Hernandez, Jeff Brigham, Bryce Montes de Oca, Stephen Ridings and Taylor Saucedo. Yup, they could probably use another proven arm to join the top 5.

Rookie Hitters

Any way you slice it, the fans are going to be salivating to see the at-bats from Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos. Everyone is well aware of their capabilities. Baty and Alvarez have the least AAA experience while Mauricio hasn't even ascended that far yet. Vientos is the one most qualified to come north yet he barely gets mentioned in the same breath as the other three. The Mets need to figure out what they've got, whether they should be promoted or used as parts of trades.

The rest of the younger hitters the Mets will play in Port St. Lucie will likely be in the B games rather than in the primary ones. Yes, a decision point needs to be reached on Khalil Lee, but pretty much anyone else in Spring Training games is a castoff player who is not likely major league material anymore.

Filling Out the Roster


Right now the club is pretty thin both in outfielders and infielders. Everyone expects Luis Guillorme to come north once again, but after the top three outfielders it is a barren cabinet. Darin Ruf can theoretically play the outfield but most folks are banking on a DFA or very minor trade being made to get him out of the dugout once and for all. When Correa was in the conversation it appeared the Mets had a surplus of riches on the infield, but now between Eduardo Escobar, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos the Mets have multiple third basemen but none of whom seems a lock to make anyone forget who they had envisioned playing the hot corner.

The catcher position is another one filled with uncertainty as no one knows if Francisco Alvarez is poised to face the challenge of day-to-day game calling as well as facing the increased caliber of pitching in the majors. For now you know newcomer Omar Narvaez and returning Tomas Nido will be there. If the Mets choose to carry three catchers, then it becomes doubly difficult to figure out the DH position when you have folks like Daniel Vogelbach occupying a seat on the bench but never playing the field nor against left handed pitching.

What are you looking to see when Spring Training begins?

8 comments:

  1. I am expecting this cast of talent to be hardened in resolve after their near-miss in 2022. The Mets won 96 games not won by Jake, so I look forward to what Verlander and Senga and Quintana and the more experienced duo of Megill and Peterson will do (you can almost describe those 2 as veterans now).

    Both of the latter 2 see how the money train rolls in baseball, and will do anything to get on it, so I expect we will be happy with them.

    Butto, I remain skeptical on if he cannot fix his long ball problem.

    Alvarez is the # 1 prospect in all of baseball (out of several thousand minor leaguers) for a reason - he will play a lot this year.

    One cautionary note: it may be hard for Alonso, McNeil, Lindor, Marte, and Nimmo in 2023 to match their tremendous output in 2022. So other hitters will have to pick up the slack.

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  2. I will concentrate my eyes on both Baty and Alvarez. These two have the best chance of making a splash early this season.

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  3. It will be very interesting to see how the Mets fill the outfield positions. They have three very good starters (people underestimate Mark Canha), but are so thin after that unless you consider using McNeil more often in the outfield. I would love to see both Vientos and Mauricio get reps in Left Field - that is what spring training is for.

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  4. The club is going to need to bring in new faces to address the outfield issue. Even if you consider McNeil a 4th outfielder by default, then they are thin on the infield and still need a 5th player who can take the outfield when regulars need a rest or are slumping. It would seem that another addition in the form of Mancini or Duvall would address this need (and possibly the unresolved RH designated hitter question as well).

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  5. In the toughest division in baseball we won 101 games with Jake only winning 5 and EE giving us like 1 month of value along with the worst DH production in baseball and losing Marte for pretty much the last month of the season and WC playoffs. Having said all of that the Braves and Phils look better on paper but I'm sure Uncle Steve won't sit by idly waiting for something to happen and no way Eppy approaches the trade deadline without a serious plan this year. In spring training there's no excuse to not play our 4 top prospects just about everyday because all our positions are pretty much filled and we need to fine out if their real players or not and it should be fun. Also Lets Go Giants!

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  6. All we are saying is give kids a chance.

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  7. Can you put those words to music, Tom? You might have a hit!😅

    Seriously, this will be a unique ST, most likely in a good way. Half out starting lineup and some of our top orospects will be playing in the WBC, leaving lots of AB available to those competing for jobs. Let's see what they do to take advantage.

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  8. Need another lefty reliever,maybe two.

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