Home Cookin'
Mets set to finally open Citi for the 2023 season
Good Morning,
I can’t remember a season when more has happened before the Mets have even played their home opener than this one. Every day there’s a new injury, prospect announcement, or something.
Yesterday, after I tried to start an innocuous thread about the home opening series, we learned Omar Narváez could be sidelined for 8–9 weeks. And people wonder why Mets fans get into a tizzy about injuries.
“Just a little tightness as soon as I swung,” Narvaez said in describing the injury after the game on Wednesday. “I’d rather call it a day and be safe for the next days.”
He was then sent for dreaded imaging, and suddenly he’s out for two months. An unfortunate outcome for a veteran catcher who I think had a chance to prove to Mets fans he was a prudent addition in the offseason. Although, fans weren’t ready to shed too many tears knowing this injury opened the door for top prospect Francisco Álvarez to find his way onto the roster.
After a rollercoaster start on the road, a slew of injuries and a postponed home opener on a unseasonably warm, sunny day, excitement was back in the air to see one of baseball’s top young players help get the Mets back on track at Citi.
If only he was starting... The Mets will reportedly let Tomás Nido handle the catching duties on Friday. We’re off to a flying start.
🍎 Nevertheless, it’s still the home opener. The Amazins will take the field at Citi wearing patches the size of their new scoreboard in centerfield. We will get you ready for all of the action, catch you up on a few news & notes, before diving into a discussion about Francisco Álvarez. So let’s get into it!
🗽 LET’S GO METS: Paint the city orange & blue, the Mets are back in town and ready to put their dreadful trip to Milwaukee behind them.
⚾️ PLAY BALL: Tylor Megill will take the mound in place of the injured Justin Verlander. I wrote in depth about Megill’s new slider earlier this week. He’s throwing it with more depth and less sweep, like a slurve. It will be interesting to see if he continues with this shape as the season progresses.
“It’s gonna be exciting,’’ Megill told reporters in anticipation of the start. “I experienced the home opener last year and it was crazy. I’m hoping it’s the same thing this year.”
Edward Cabrera will make his second start of the season for the Marlins after receiving a no-decision in four innings of work against the Mets last Saturday. He struggled with his command, walking six batters, failing to locate any of his preferred pitches.
🔹 LINEUPS: The Marlins enter the series with the same 3–4 record as the Mets after taking two of three from the Twins. You should know their lineup fairly well after seeing it four times last week. But you can reference the lineup chart below to think about platoon splits and match-ups. The Mets will surely try to position Brooks Raley to face Jazz Chisholm Jr. at some point in the series.
💤 BULLPEN CHART: The Marlins come into the weekend with a well-rested bullpen after the off day on Thursday and thanks to Sandy Alcantara’s complete game on Tuesday.
A few more notes before a discussion on Francisco Álvarez…
🛄 CLAIMED: The Mets claimed right-hander Edwin Uceta off waivers from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A. To make room on the 40-man roster, they moved Sam Coonrod to the 60-day IL.
Uceta gives the Mets added optionable pitching depth that they desperately need on their 40-man roster. A former Dodgers prospect, he has been claimed by the Tigers, Pirates and Mets over the past two months. Everyone hoping to unlock his potential. The 25-year-old pitched to a 4.91 ERA over eight games in spring training for the Tigers. He appeared in 10 games for Arizona last season to underwhelming results.
🎯 TARGET: Meanwhile, the Mets have “stayed in touch” with Zack Britton but there’s a “gap in talks,” according to Jon Heyman.
🚜 DOWN ON THE FARM: As Álvarez acclimates himself in the Big Apple, two of his former teammates continue to thrive in the minors. Both Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio went deep for Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday. It was Mauricio’s third home run in the past two games and sixth straight game he has recorded a hit, as in a hit in every game they’ve played this season.
Vientos is absolutely smoking the ball. He had three hits last night, including the long ball. He has been making solid contact, with a hard-hit rate (> 95 mph) edging toward 50%.
⏰ SLOW ADJUSTMENT: Something we have wondered in the chat, a National League scout thinks veteran pitchers may be impacted most by the pitch clock. “Since their pitching is old, the pitch clock will affect them greatly,” one NL scout told the NY Post. “Not only do they have to pitch quickly, but between-inning breaks are shorter, and when the offense is not producing, they get even shorter times to rest.”
💰 CORPORATE SPONSORS: In case you somehow missed it yesterday, you won’t miss it the rest of the season. The Mets will wear giant New York Presbyterian patches on their jerseys as part of a long-term partnership with the hospital.
As part of the deal, New York Presbyterian will issue Mets onesies to newborns. As Wendy noted in our chat, it’s never too early to start indoctrinating the fanbase!
🛎️ OPENING BELL: GM Billy Eppler rang the Opening Bell at the Nasdaq exchange on Thursday, alongside Mr. and Mrs. Met.
With Francisco Álvarez seemingly with the team for the long-run, the Mets are faced with the question of how to handle his playing time. During the offseason they made it clear they preferred him playing everyday and honing his catching skills over splitting time in the majors as a part-time DH. Whether they hold onto that philosophy given the current situation will be interesting to see.
We know Buck’s group could use another bat to lengthen the lineup, especially a right-handed one. There is a clear path for Álvarez to pick up extra at-bats as an offset to Daniel Vogelbach on days when Nido is catching. However, it is also tricky to use one of two catchers in the DH role.
New York faces two lefties this weekend in Trevor Rogers and Braxton Garrett, so while it’s disappointing not to see Álvarez right away, it’s very possible he will be written in the lineup the rest of this series.
It’s clear the catching phenom needs to play, wherever that may be. However, I think it’s important to point out how rare it is for a 21-year-old rookie to flourish as a regular catcher in the major leagues. It’s not that we’ve never seen it; if you go back far enough, you find some iconic names, including a familiar one at the bottom of this list.
But if we focus on modern times, examples are less frequent. In fact, no player has caught at least 80 games as a 21-year-old since Iván Rodríguez in 1993. You can see the list of top rookie catcher seasons for players aged 21 or younger in the table below.
If you’re curious about the Mets’ history of young catchers, the list is short: Alex Trevino played 79 games as a 21-year-old in 1979; Todd Hundley played 36 games at the same age in 1990; and Greg Goossen played 10-30 games from his age-19 to age-21 seasons in 1965 to 1967.
🔻 Again, it’s not often you find someone who regularly catches before they have spent a year legally purchasing alcohol. That doesn’t mean Álvarez can’t break the mold, but hopefully it settles expectations. If he flashes his plus bat and sticks around, even beyond Narváez’ injury timeline, it’s reasonable to believe he will spend some time at DH. As we’ve discussed before, the Mets could receive draft pick compensation if he somehow went on to win or place in the Rookie of the Year voting. Motivation to keep him with the big club and give him ample playing time, at least after today.
◾️ It was a celebration of former Mets in the Giants’ 16–6 win over the White Sox on Thursday. Michael Conforto, Wilmer Flores and J.D. Davis all homered and combined to drive in 10 runs.
◾️ See, injuries don’t just happen to the Mets! The Braves placed right-hander Collin McHugh on the IL with inflammation in his pitching shoulder. And Michael Harris II was forced out of last night’s game with lower back tightness. To replace McHugh on the roster, they recalled top prospect Jared Shuster.
🔗 SNY announcers forced laughter hurting Mets’ broadcasts, by Phil Mushnick, NY Post: “My enduring gripe with the SNY Mets’ crew, Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez and floating story-teller Steve Gelbs. They too often erupt in unnatural phony laughter, often to prove to audiences that they “get it” and too often followed by Cohen’s insistence to get in the last word, even if it deflates mildly amusing exchanges.”
📺 Sorting through uneven feelings after an up and down opening week for the Mets, by Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo, The Mets Pod, SNY: “On an all-new episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo look at the first week of the season, which was quite a week of extremes for the New York Mets. Max Scherzer and most of the starting rotation saw struggles, while the offense scuffled despite some sparks from Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso.”
And we close this one out with Brandon Nimmo and Luis Guillorme taking in the Isles game last night. If you haven’t already, make sure you catch our coverage of the Isles at Isles Fix.
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"Lets go out and win a game today. Don't worry about tomorrow or the next day" Win one today - LETS GO METS !
That NY Post article has big "Old Man Yelling at Clouds" energy.