Brett Baty homered and the Mets pitching prospects made an appearance
The Mets also lost to the Marlins 4-1 in Jupiter
What’s up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets fell to the Marlins 4-1 in Jupiter on Saturday (Box)
Brett Baty homered, but the Met offense notched jut three other singles on a quiet day for their offense
Sean Manaea made his spring debut on the mound and allowed three runs over 2.2 IP
Prospects Christian Scott and Mike Vasil appeared in relief for the Mets - Scott allowed a run on a hit and a walk in one inning, and Vasil allowed a hit in a scoreless frame
José Buttó appeared in relief for the Mets and struck out two in an inning of work
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Astros (5-4) vs. Mets (4-4)
Where: Clover Park - Port St. Lucie, Florida
Starters: RHP Adrián Houser vs. RHP José Urquidy
When: 1:10 PM EST
Where To Watch: SNY
An important day for the Mets pitching prospects ✍️
On the surface, Saturday’s game for the Mets might’ve looked like an ordinary dull March day on the spring training schedule.
But if you look a little deeper, it was perhaps a little more significant than that for the Mets even in an otherwise meaningless game against the Marlins in Jupiter.
No, it wasn’t Sean Manaea’s pedestrian spring debut, nor was it anything significant for the offense, as they didn’t do a whole lot of hitting outside of Brett Baty’s line drive home run to account for the only bit of offense the Mets had on the afternoon.
The significance to me was later in the game. You know, that part of a spring game most people tend to tune out from as all of the regulars are typically gone and to the average fan, the two clubs on the field are just trying to fill innings and get out of there.
Tell that to Christian Scott, Mike Vasil and José Buttó, all of whom appeared in relief for the Mets against the Marlins on Saturday. They were doing more than just getting their work in and avoiding a sun burn under the warm Florida sun.
For Scott and Vasil specifically, they’re in camp on a mission to prove they belong in the big leagues, try to make an impression and capitalize on their long odds (which are always better than none) of making the ball club out of camp.
Scott is now the Mets top pitching prospect although Vasil isn’t too far behind him in the rankings. Scott is a big kid who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 draft and made it to Double-A Binghamton in 2023 after stops in St. Lucie and Brooklyn along the way. He made 19 starts combined in all three levels in 2023 and pitched to a 2.57 ERA with just 12 walks and 107 strikeouts in 87.2 IP.
The strikeouts are the sexiest of the that stat line, but the most impressive part is quite possibly the 12 walks. He’s demonstrating big league command and control early on in his professional career which has unquestionably propelled him to the top of the club’s prospect rankings.
Yesterday he was probably a bit nervous - it was his first big league game in camp so he was a little wild out of the gate. He’s a three-pitch pitcher who has developed a sweeper as his third pitch, and that helped him out of the self-induced mess he created against Miami yesterday. But he did induce five swings-and-misses as he navigated his inning of work.
All-in-all, it was a great first step for Scott and the first opportunity for him to get his name in front of a fanbase waiting for the organization to develop strong pitching prospects again.
That’s not to say Scott will necessarily be in the echelon of the last crop of pitchers the Mets developed. After all, it’s hard for anyone to be the next Jacob deGrom. But for Scott specifically, maybe its a good thing he isn’t coming with all of the pomp and circumstance deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz had when they were coming up through the ranks.
Perhaps all of that worked to their disadvantage collectively in the end.
As for Vasil, he’s not quite as talented as Scott but is probably ahead of Scott on the pecking order considering he spent time at Triple-A in 2023, although he did struggle there upon being promoted to the minor league’s highest level. He’s still just 23 and probably projects as a back-end type starter, which is fine but he’s also demonstrating swing-and-miss stuff - he fanned 138 batters in 124 innings in the minor leagues last year. He isn’t on the 40-man roster yet and the Mets have a number of options that are on the 40-man.
That plus I’d expect the Mets want to see Vasil be successful at Triple-A for a sustained period of time before digging that deep into the depth chart for pitching.
But, as we’ve seen time and time again, things change quickly and Vasil’s name could be called sooner rather than later.
No matter what, it’s nice to finally see the Mets have some young and developing options to consider as soon as this season. Yes, David Peterson and Tylor Megill have shown flashes, but the Mets have gone years without developing any kind of starting pitching front to back. No organization can rely solely on free agency to build pitching staffs, especially these days when the majority of them come on the wrong side of 30 and their best and healthiest days are behind them.
They all don’t have to be Jacob deGrom, either. Even if we want them to be. They just need to do a better job of keeping the line moving from within, rather than Steve Cohen’s wallet.
Around the League 🚩
Elly De La Cruz hit a 470-foot homer, but the Reds lost to the Rockies 10-4
Ronald Acuña Jr. underwent an MRI on his right meniscus, and he will now travel to California for a second opinion, but the Braves are hopeful he will be ready for opening day
The Giants are still interested in signing Blake Snell (SF Chronicle)
Brewers LHP Wade Miley is dealing with a sore shoulder and may not be ready for Opening Day (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)