The Metropolitan: Spring back... or falling behind?
Analyzing spring training performances & all the day’s news
Good Morning,
Today we’ll look at the stars and scrubs of this Mets’ Spring Training — and discuss how much stock to put in these performances. But we start with the news.
⏰ Catch me up in 60(ish) seconds…
☀️ deGrom Day: It’s still only Spring Training, but Mets fans can finally watch Jacob deGrom take the hill against the Astros at 1:10 EST on SNY. The two-time Cy Young winner will make his first televised start after allowing only two baserunners (1 walk + 1 hit) while racking up 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings so far this spring.
🏟 FANS: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Monday that the Nationals can host 5,000 fans for the season opener against the Mets. As of February, the Mets are allowed to host approximately 4,200 fans for the opener at Citi Field on April 8.
🤯 THANKFUL: While Mets fans have $13 billion reasons to be thankful that Steve Cohen is the owner of the team, with the report over the weekend that Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez are breaking up, fans are feeling extra thankful the duo who finished runner-up to Cohen didn’t win the bid.
As Ken Davidoff sums up in his latest column: “A J-Rod ownership would’ve been a blast, if exhausting, for those of us in the press box. Their most recent statement that, “We are working through some things” would be getting dissected like the British royal family’s thoughts on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. We’d be tracking them down at their myriad homes, at airports, at high-end gyms. For the Mets, though, this current chapter of J-Rod would’ve been as welcome as queries about Bernie Madoff.”
🤦♂️ OVERLOOKED: Yesterday, in celebration of Luis Guillorme’s 22-pitch walk, we ranked the Mets’ greatest marathon plate appearances on record. But since Stathead doesn’t have full pitch count data from the 1999 postseason, we overlooked Shawon Dunston’s remarkable 9-minute at-bat in the 15th inning in Game 5 of the NLCS.
While the game is most remembered for Robin Ventura’s grand slam single to end the game (and perhaps why our memories failed us yesterday), it was Dunston who led off the inning with a 12-pitch at-bat in which he fouled off six full-count pitches before hitting a single up the middle.
Special thanks to eagle-eyed readers Mark Simon and Tim Britton for reminding us about the Dunston AB!
📚 March 16, 1961: The state of New York approves construction of a 55,000-seat stadium on the site of the World's Fair in Queens/Flushing Meadow area. The ballpark will be named Shea Stadium to honor William Shea.
Taking Spring Training with a grain of salt
🧓 by Jeffrey Bellone
We are about halfway through Spring Training, with 12 Grapefruit League games remaining on the schedule and a little more than two weeks until the start of the regular season. As the starting pitchers continue to ramp up their workloads, we should also see them take a few hacks at the plate this week. It’s almost time for real baseball, so I thought it would be a good time to take note of some of the best and worst spring performances so far.
As the cliché goes, you have to take everything that happens in Spring Training with a grain of salt. So in spirit of that, I will rate each performance with salt shaker emojis, as explained in this handy legend:
🧂= believe the results
🧂🧂 = hard to say
🧂🧂🧂 = ignore the results
Let’s start with two players who have been impressive so far…
Edwin Díaz
Perhaps the most important player to prove he is ready to be a dominant performer this season is Edwin Díaz. And the 27-year-old has done his part so far, striking out five of the nine batters he has faced this spring. While he isn’t matching up against the middle of competitive lineups yet (Baseball Reference rates his opponent quality to be around Double-A level), he can’t produce much better results.
His four-seamer is already reaching toward 100 MPH, with manager Luis Rojas noting, “There's something different in him right now.”
GRAIN OF SALT SCORE: 🧂
Brandon Nimmo
After an offseason filled with rumors about who the Mets might get to play in centerfield everyday, the guy who will actually play in centerfield everyday is batting .450 this spring. While Nimmo has proven he can hit, he is working to improve his defense. You can read our in-depth breakdown of how he can benefit from playing deeper in the outfield, or you can watch him make this spectacular play while coming in on a ball last week.
Nimmo isn’t going to hit .400 this season, but he could push his on-base percentage to a mark close to that, which is all the Mets need from him while batting at the top of the order. That said, it’s hard to say whether his spring results could translate into a breakout season with both the bat and the glove; so, for now, let’s call it too early to tell.
GRAIN OF SALT SCORE: 🧂🧂
And now a few players who haven’t started off so hot…
Jeff McNeil
The biggest issue facing the Mets this spring has been their defense at third base. It seems whomever they place there turns an error, or two. Jeff McNeil had a rough time manning the hot corner last season, and those struggles carried over into camp when he made three errors in one game.
He has also struggled at the plate. After hitting a long ball in his spring debut, he is hitless in his last 17 at-bats, with four strikeouts. He did hit a home run off teammate Taijuan Walker in a simulated game over the weekend, so perhaps he is ready to break out of his funk.
While he has traditionally been a very good spring hitter, if there’s one thing Mets fans shouldn’t worry about, it’s Jeff McNeil forgetting how to hit.
GRAIN OF SALT SCORE: 🧂🧂🧂
Dellin Betances
The Mets pitcher with the highest ERA this spring (min. 3 IP) is Dellin Betances. And while the defense has failed him in two of his outings, he has still given up too many hard hit balls. In games with Statcast data available, hitters have averaged nearly 100 MPH exit velocity on balls put in play off Betances.
We recently wrote how Betances is trying to gain back rise on his fastball, and there have been some promising signs that he is locating the pitch better with a higher spin rate. But his velocity is still around 91-92 MPH and it’s hard to believe we will ever see the vertical movement he once displayed with the Yankees, making it difficult for him to generate whiffs with the pitch.
GRAIN OF SALT SCORE: 🧂
⚾️ Former Met Matt Harvey was effective in four innings of work for the Orioles yesterday, striking out 4 and walking none, while allowing two earned runs.
⚾️ Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (who may serve as a comp to Francisco Lindor in contract negotiations) hit his fifth home run of the spring.
⚾️ Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani hit two opposite field home runs, as he is hitting a scorching-hot 9-13 at the plate.
⚾️ While Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun isn’t ready to retire quite yet, he indicated he is “strongly leaning in that direction.”
🔗 Would it make sense to trade Dom Smith? by Andy Martino, SNY: “The plan this year was for Smith to play first and Pete Alonso to be designated hitter. That didn’t work out, but with the universal DH widely expected in 2022, that can probably happen in another twelve months (and there are actually still people in the game who see an outside shot of the DH happening after all in 2021).”
🔗 This Week in Mets: Prospects impress through camp, Carlos Carrasco expects to be ready, by Tim Britton, The Athletic: “The late innings of early spring baseball are usually a yawner, the innings eaten up by organization guys who are unlikely to make the big-league club this year or a significant impact in the future. For the Mets this year, though, those late innings have provided some of the most intriguing looks of the spring, as New York has handed playing time to many of its top prospects, even as they’re years away from making a major-league impact.”
🔗 Eggs, bacon and a blockbuster: How the Mariners unloaded Robinson Canó, by Corey Brock, The Athletic: “Dipoto pulled up a chair and sat down with Van Wagenen. They made small talk before Dipoto — maybe half-serious, maybe half-jokingly — asked a question. ‘I sort of casually said, ‘Do you have any interest in an All-Star second baseman?’’ Dipoto said. ‘He said, ‘Maybe.’ That’s where the discussion started.’” [Caution: This one could be painful for Mets fans!]
🎧 LISTEN: Former Met Al Leiter joined Jake Brown and Nelson Figueroa on the Amazin’ But True podcast to discuss Luis Guillorme’s wild 22-pitch walk, the fifth starter competition, and much more.
And we leave you with former Mets GM Omar Minaya revealing whom he almost hired as manager in late 2004, instead of Willie Randolph…
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I wonder how many people would name Shawon Dunston if asked to recall players from that '99 team.
Disagree on Diaz - first pressure game no one will be saying anyting good about him. He cant pictch in NY well established