Reese Kaplan -- A Few In-House Options for Opening Day

While all of us are waiting with bated breath for David Stearns to take action to enhance the depleted roster, let’s today analyze not the cream of the crop of available free agents or blockbuster trades but instead spend some time pondering what to do with folks who may or may not be here on Opening Day.

Pitcher Christian Scott was one of the young arms that caught a lot of attention in 2024 when he arrived for a brief trial before losing the rest of that year and all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery.  As a minor leaguer his numbers were certainly impressing.  Over 49 games (37 as a starter) he has a winning record of 11-7 over a total of 191 innings pitched with a 3.19 ERA and an impressive WHIP of 1.059. 

Upon arriving to the majors things did not proceed quite as well.  Over 9 games in the starting rotation he went 0-3 with a 4.56 ERA along with a WHIP of 1.204.  How much was due to the adjustment of facing stronger hitters and how much was a result of his arm woes is not known, but it suggests the club has not seen the type of pitcher they expected him to be based upon his minor league metrics.  There, for example, he struck out 240 in 191+ innings pitched whereas as a big leaguer he struck out 39 in 47+ innings pitched.

While most attention is paid to the lackluster results from last Septembers less than dynamic duo of Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong, the fact is that Scott preceded both of them on the depth charts and is allegedly healthy enough to return.  Rather than handing him a starting rotation position right out of the gate and putting him through a 5-7 inning workload on a still healing arm, could the Mets instead look to him as a multi inning reliever to allow him to ease back into a regular workload until his arm strength is confirmed to be what it once was?

Another interesting player having a very nice Winter League performance is Luisangel Acuna.  He’s shown in the minors he’s capable of hitting at a notable batting average but it has not yet translated at the major league level.  He’s doing more time in center field to help theoretically address one of the club’s immediate needs where he could bring his glove and legs to help be a table setter in the lineup when he plays.

Similarly the Mets have chosen to have Ronny Mauricio concentrate on playing third base with Marcus Semien holding down second and Francisco Lindor owning shortstop.  While this new role he’s asked to play is interesting given his strong arm and previously impressive offensive abilities it also is a bit puzzling if we believe as many do that Brett Baty is the starting third baseman.  It is possible the club views Baty that way but no longer feels confident as Mark Vientos being a backup there, hence the need to find someone capable of taking over against a tough southpaw when it might make sense to bench Baty for a day. 

There’s not much else going on in the outfield.  Some are advocating rushing Carson Benge to the majors to play one of the vacant outfield positions, but he’s only had 90 AAA at bats.  His overall numbers working his way up as an offensive player are impressive.  His minor league career batting average is .280 with 17 HRs, 81 RBIs and 25 SBs.  Right now the Mets are tipping a bit on the left side where it comes to offense and Benge is another hitter who is a lefty.  While it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see Benge advance mid year or even as late as September, he likely needs more time to face minor league pitching and to play a single outfield position to demonstrate defensive mastery of it. 

Other interesting in-house options like Nick Morabito, A.J. Ewing and others are eventually either going to work their way onto the Mets or be used to help secure other players in trade, but it’s not realistic to expect them at Citifield in April.