Mark Vientos' struggles continue, Jeff McNeil set for vital spring stretch
Plus, the bullpen shines as the Mets beat the Astros in latest spring training outing...
What’s up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets beat the Astros 6-1 at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on Saturday night (box)
Mets pitching was excellent, allowing just one run and combining for 14 strikeouts
RHP Michael Tonkin started for the Mets in what was a bullpen game, going two scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts
LHP Jake Diekman loaded the bases and allowed the only Astros run of the game, but was able to escape the fifth inning without any further damage
OF Tyrone Taylor got the Mets on the board with a solo home run in the top of the first. He finished the day 1-for-3 with two RBIs
INF Yolmer Sánchez hit a bases-clearing double and SS José Iglesias went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and a walk
OF Brandon Nimmo went 0-for-3 with a walk and DH Mark Vientos finished 0-for-4 with four strikeouts
Injury Updates 🏥
2B Jeff McNeil (left biceps discomfort) will play five innings in a minor league game on Sunday, before making his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-Up: Mets (10-9) @ Nationals (12-9)
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, FL
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (1-2, 1.50 ERA) vs. LHP MacKenzie Gore (0-0, 1.69 ERA)
When: 1:05 PM EDT
Where To Watch: MLB.tv
Notes: Senga worries, Vientos running out of rope and expectations for McNeil ✍️
We have reached the point of spring training where things are getting a little bit tedious, in all honesty. There is, after all, only so much talking to be done about bullpen competition and whether or not the Mets should add another big bat to the lineup. Although, we all know that they should.
Anyway, there are a couple of noteworthy nuggets from camp that I want to dedicate some time to today as we enter the real homestretch of Grapefruit League action…
Senga concern
Am I the only one getting a little bit disturbed by the recent developments concerning Kodai Senga?
President of baseball operations David Stearns announced on Friday that Senga will be shutdown from throwing for another week to 10 days, meaning he won’t return to May at the earliest. If everything runs smoothly over the next 10 days, then the right-hander will undergo another MRI to ensure everything is still tracking the right way.
Call me stupid, but I am on edge when it comes to injuries and New York athletes right now. We’ve seen how long Julius Randle and OG Anunoby were sidelined for the Knicks, although the latter is now back on the court. Aaron Judge’s big right toe was only supposed to be minor last year, yet it kept him out of the lineup for over two months.
You see where I’m going with this.
I just get PTSD when a player’s return is pushed back and back, and I think there should be even more concern when we’re talking about pitchers. And, look at it this way; Senga will require a six-week buildup so he won’t be able to return until early May in any case. That’s without any further setbacks, however. If Senga experiences another bump in the road over the next 10 days, then I think we’ll be approaching really dangerous territory.
At this point, I don’t think I’ll be able to fully relax until Senga is back on a major league mound. And, while I’m hoping I’m wrong, I’m fully braced for some more bad news before that actually happens.
Vientos in trouble
Things are not exactly going to plan for Mark Vientos so far this spring. Heck, that would be an understatement. This was meant to be the camp where Vientos wowed everybody and proved that he can be a productive everyday player for the Mets.
Instead, the 24-year-old has mostly whiffed at the plate, except for the odd flash of power.
Granted, we have all talked ad nauseam about how you can’t put any stock in spring training stats. And that’s true. However, what we’ve seen from Vientos so far is very much an extension of what we saw last year. There is just too much inconsistency in his game and you wonder when it is all going to click for the righty bat, if at all.
Vientos has blasted three homers this spring but he’s currently hitting around .170, and that’s not exactly what you want. He went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Saturday and just looked lost at the plate. All you can do is hope that he figures this out in time for Opening Day and gets off to a hot start. If he doesn’t, I wonder how much patience he’ll continue to be shown by the front office.
We’ll see.
I’ve been banging the J.D. Martinez drum all offseason and I stand by my belief that the Mets will be stupid not to sign the All-Star slugger. If they really are serious about competing for the playoffs in 2024, then it would be foolish at this point to not to go out and add another big bat like that to the lineup, especially with Vientos struggling.
And I fear it is a decision the front office could really live to regret if Vientos doesn’t start raking at a consistent clip.
Stakes are high for McNeil
If the Mets are to have even a remotely competitive year, then a plethora of things will need to break right. That includes a bounce-back season from Jeff McNeil.
Well, things aren’t exactly getting off to a good start in that department. The two-time All-Star hasn’t even been able to get on the field yet, with his comeback from left biceps discomfort eliciting more false starts than an F1 race. As things stand, McNeil is scheduled to play five innings in a minor league game on Sunday before finally making his spring training debut on Tuesday.
Whether that happens or not, time will soon tell.
But it better because if McNeil wants to get off to a hot start in 2024 and avoid the car crash that was his 2023 season, then he’s going to need the home stretch of spring training in order to knock off any rust and get into a real rhythm at the plate.
As if you need reminding, the winner of the Batting Title in 2022 hit just .270/.333/.378/.711 with 10 homers and 55 RBIs last year. His batting average fell off a cliff - dropping a whopping 56 points between 2022 and 2023 - and that simply can’t happen again. It just can’t.
However, if McNeil is unable to settle into a groove during the last week or so of spring training, then I fear a slow start to the regular season could snowball into another hot mess of a season offensively.
Another red flag to watch out for is McNeil’s elbow. The second baseman suffered a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow at the tail end of 2023 and, although he avoided surgery and throws right-handed, you have to think that could be a scary wildcard moving forward. A tear in the elbow is bound to cause other issues elsewhere in the arm, and we’ll see if any other arm-related ailments pop up throughout the course of the year.
This is just my opinion, but there’s just too much bad stuff at play that really makes me nervous and I don’t think you can be sure right now that McNeil is going to be fully healthy or at the full peak of his powers in 2024. At least not to begin the year, anyway.
And, if that proves to be the case and McNeil is unable to get back to anywhere close to the player he was in 2022, then the Mets are going to be in a really bad spot in more ways than one in 2024.
Around The League 🚩
OF Spencer Jones continued to impress for the Yankees after hitting a pair of homers in their Spring Breakout win over the Blue Jays
Cubs OF Seiya Suzuki hit two home runs on Saturday to continue a monster spring. He’s currently hitting .440/.481/.920 with three homers and three doubles
The Marlins announced that RHP Eury Perez experienced elbow soreness. He will visit noted surgeon Keith Meister in Texas over the coming days (MLB.com)
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is “more optimistic” that both SS Corey Seager and 3B Josh Jung will crack the Opening Day roster (Dallas Morning News)