Reese Kaplan -- New Faces to See in Port St. Lucie

One of the things people are anxious to see this time of the year is the performance of rookies and newcomers to the team. No one is sure if the gaudy numbers posted in various minor leagues and winter assignments are translatable into major league production.

Similarly, when a person arrives and dons the Mets uniform for the first time, no one knows exactly what to expect. Why did the last organization sour on him? What will a change of scenery do for scoring runs or retiring batters? What odds do these folks have of coming north to Queens from Port St. Lucie?

Plenty of words have already been written about the major rookie prospects (in alphabetical order, not in any particular ranking) -- Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos.

On the pitching side of the ledger the minor league accolades aren't quite as effusive as have been declared about the young hitters. Still, no one is sure what to make of Jose Butto, Bryce Montes de Oca nor Zach Greene. There are others out there, of course, but their minor league pedigrees are not in the same class.

The last category are newcomer major leaguers who everyone wants to see in game action. Everyone pretty much knows what to expect from Justin Verlander. They are less certain about veteran starter Jose Quintana. No one knows if the change in ball size and workload is going to play havoc on Kodai Senga's introduction to American baseball. 

 David Robertson has a stellar performance resume, but for Brooks Raley he turned in his first good year in 2022 and everyone wants to know if it was luck or a change in approach that he can repeat.

On the hitting side, there are fewer fresh faces to consider. Yes, Omar Narvaez is new and likely to get the lion's share of catching duties since he bats left handed. Tommy Pham is a known commodity who could fulfill the spare outfielder or right handed DH role if Darin Ruf doesn't wow folks in Florida. The others are fringe players at best.

There is a group of unknown outfielders vying for a prospective 5th outfielder slot. Assume that the now outrighted Khalil Lee is merely a roster placeholder at best. Then there are singularly talented people like Tim Locastro who can steal bases with the best of them if only he could get on base. Abraham Almonte has slaughtered minor league pitching for average and power but never has managed to carry over that output to the majors. 

 D.J. Stewart has acceptable power and the ability to play the corner outfield slots but is not much of a hitter for average. Ditto Jaylin Davis who once hit 35 HRs in a minor league season but last year hit only .204. Finally there's diminutive center fielder Lorenzo Cedrola whose best claim to baseball life is speed. At 5'8" and 152 pounds he'd have to run like Rickey Henderson to have a hope for the majors but he doesn't.

With the World Baseball Classic pulling a lot of regulars and higher level prospects away to participate you will wind up seeing more of the many spare parts than you otherwise might have expected. That's not a bad thing when you consider that you know what the starters can do. Some suspect arms or balsa wood bats may surprise folks and get a short term trip to Citifield.