Jeff McNeil and Brett Baty with important days in Mets win
Jeff McNeil made it through his Grapefruit League debut while Brett Baty had an important day at the plate
What’s up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets defeated the Cardinals 3-1 at Clover Park on Tuesday night (Box)
Sean Manaea started for the Mets and allowed a run on four hits over five innings
Jorge López, Jake Diekman and Yohan Ramirez combined to give the Mets four innings of scoreless relief
Brett Baty homered and Francisco Álvarez doubled to highlight the offense
Jeff McNeil made his long awaited spring debut and went 0-for-2 at the plate out of the cleanup spot
Roster Moves 🗞️
RHP Kyle Crick, OF Ben Gamel, RHP Yacksel Ríos, INF Yolmer Sánchez, RHP Cole Sulser and OF Trayce Thompson have been reassigned to minor league camp
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-Up: Mets (12-10) vs. Marlins (8-11)
Where: Roger Dean Stadium - Jupiter, FL
Starters: RHP Christian Scott (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. LHP Patrick Monteverde (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
When: 1:05 PM EDT
Where To Watch: MLB.tv
An important day for the Mets that came and went… ✍️
This is the time in camp when things get pretty boring as we all await for it to break with opening day just over a week away.
But it was an important day nonetheless for the Mets through the mundane and monotonous, as Jeff McNeil made his much-anticipated spring debut after battling biceps soreness in the same arm he apparently partially tore his UCL in his elbow.
McNeil batted cleanup, went 0-for-2 and came away with no issues following the game. He fouled off six pitches in his first plate appearances before working out a walk against Lance Lynn (of course that bicep would immediately be tested), the first of what he hopes is around 20 plate appearances before opening day.
Carlos Mendoza made the argument that fewer at-bats in camp could actually benefit McNeil. There is certainly credence to that argument, but it’s not as if he’s getting fewer at-bats because everything has been alright. Rehabbing from injuries is a whole lot different than game preparation - we all know how this works. So it should be viewed for what it is, and that is a late start due to injury with a general cloud of concern hanging over McNeil because of that elbow.
Nevertheless, he’s back and that’s important for the Mets. This club keeps talking about the playoff potential in this roster and they’re going to need him to even have a prayer at fulfilling that promise. He will get a day off today and then play again tomorrow.
Then there was Brett Baty who played his part in what has become an increasingly important spring for him. He homered in the Mets win last night, his second of the spring in what has been an up and down camp for the 24-year-old.
At this point, you have to figure Baty will be the opening day third baseman. How long that lasts will be up to him but if he doesn’t last it’s going to be a merry-go-round there until they find a solid answer. Unfortunately for Baty, he plays in New York and everyone is pretty much waiting for him to fail, which isn’t fair. He’s a Met and everyone should be rooting for him to succeed and the Mets to eventually succeed in the development of one of their top prospects.
So for yesterday, it was a good and encouraging day for Baty, one which I personally hope is a stepping stone for him. The Mets haven’t had a mainstay third baseman since David Wright and it was always a black hole for them before they found Wright.
Let’s hope for the best with Baty - that’s what the Mets are hoping for at this point. So should we.
Around The League 🚩
The Dodgers and Padres kicked off the 2024 season in Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday
The Astros are no longer pursuing starting pitching, even after losing out on Blake Snell (USA Today)
The Yankees still are on the hunt for starting pitching (New York Post)
Special shoutout today to Homage, a big fan of Just Mets who was kind enough to send us some cool, vintage-styled Mets swag ahead of Opening Day. Be sure to check out their line of awesome Mets gear as well as gear for all sports teams.