Tom Brennan: Yesterday’s Opener; and My Thoughts on the Long-Term Injured

BASEBALL EXCITEMENT IS PALPABLE

YESTERDAY’S OPENER

3-1 loss, so the Mets will have to settle for 161-1.

Soto was the go-ahead run at the plate against Josh Hader, but Soto could not launch a 3 run shot. 

13 Mets baserunners, 1 measly run.  “Seven scoreless Framber” sent out an amber alert for the despondent Mets and their missing RBIs.

Lindor continued his spring non-hitting doldrums.

So much for “palpable excitement.”

Next up…

THE LONG-TERM INJURED

The major league Mets have their share of injuries (Manaea, Montas, McNeil, Madrigal, and Mama Mia - and of course Francisco “Hamate” Alvarez), but this recap is about the prospects who in 2024 were both significant in ranking and earned the title of the walking wounded.

Ronny Mauricio - I saw a film clip of a gentleman who was discussing various players, both Met and non-Met. He got into Ronny Mauricio, and believes that Mauricio will force his way into the Mets lineup by mid season. With the Mets’ already power-laden lineup that’ll be something to behold. The individual suggested that Mauricio and Vientos could end up splitting the DH in third base roles, and wanted us to imagine adding a big power bat like Mauricio‘s to what looks like a very formidable lineup when everyone’s healthy.

Drew Gilbert  – there’s not much to go on with him. He did have that severe hamstring pull that eliminated more than half of the season last year and messed up the caliber of his performance in the games he played in and which has now seemingly has kept him out of spring training appearances. One of our readers, Texas Gus, indicated in a comment that Gilbert was smashing the ball on the back fields. Great. 

I wish that they would start Gilbert in St. Lucie games for a bit and let him stay in the warm hamstring-affirming hot weather, but the assignment call is up to them as to where he goes, and when he starts to play. My guess is chilly Syracuse. Wear thermals, Drew. Double up on thermals. And no steal attempt under 65 degrees.

Jacob Reimer – he’s got a lot of ground to make up after essentially missing a very large chunk of last year with a severe hamstring injury. He does have a good tendency to walk a lot, which is good for the OBP. It’ll be interesting to see where he gets assigned and how quickly he rises through the system. I’m hoping he gets assigned to AA to keep him out of windy Brooklyn.

Jett Williams – his surgically repaired wrist cost him a lot of time last year. Apparently he’s starting at AA. Starting that low is something that absolutely no one would have pondered as being a possibility at this time last year. I think most prognosticators at that time would’ve expected him to be in the majors by now. His walks tend to be high, but his strikeouts also tend to be high, which may be the reason for his assignment to AA. But he’s very young, so a little patience i.e. starting in AA makes sense.

Matt Allen – throwing 99 in camp after last pitching in a pro game in 2019? Now that’s remarkable! It’ll be interesting to see how many innings he throws this year and how fast he accelerates. He’s almost 24. I’m gonna take a leap here and say that he becomes a major leader before he turns 26. After all, Jacob deGrom debuted at 25 years, 330 days, why not Matt, too? That would mean an MLB debut before mid-April 2027. Why do I think that’s possible? I could give you 99 reasons.

There always seems to be injuries with prospects. But that’s a pretty high concentration of ranked individuals that have experienced significant losses of time due to injuries. I earnestly hope that each one of these guys has a fantastic 2025 that is, first and foremost, a healthy one.