Mets pitching depth will get tested early this season

David Stearns is confident in the depth he built this offseason. Plus, the Mets endured a poorly-pitched, sloppy loss to the Astros in Port St. Lucie on Thursday night

St. Lucie Mets

What’s up with the Mets? 🌴

• The Mets lost to the Astros 5-1 to fall to 4-7 overall this spring (box | Game Highlights)

• RHP Brandon Sproat gave up two runs in 2.0 innings pitched. He struck out two and walked one

• RHP Edwin Díaz made his spring debut and struggled with his command, giving up two runs in 0.1 innings

• SS Francisco Lindor went 1-for-2 with and RBI and a walk, but dropped a routine popup at shortstop

• Japanese artist Yusuke Kamiji has released a new song called “Ghost Fork” in honor of Kodai Senga (SNY)

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Roster Moves 📰

• RHP Sean Reid-Foley sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse

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Injury Updates 🏥

• Brandon Nimmo (sore knee) was sent for an MRI and it came back fine - he is expected back in the Mets lineup in a couple of days

• Starling Marte (sore knee) is expected to make his spring debut within a week

• Dedniel Núñez (recovery from elbow strain) will throw another bullpen before progressing to live batting practice next week

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What David Stearns said on Thursday… 🎙️

NY Post

Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns met with the media on Thursday and discussed the following:

• He would’ve obviously preferred to not have to deal with two injuries to the starting rotation at the beginning of camp, but is confident the team is built to withstand them

• Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas are progressing as expected - Manaea could begin a throwing program as soon as next week

• Both pitchers will need a full spring training throwing progression to be ready for the season (4-6 weeks)

• Spring Training has otherwise been calm for the club so far this spring

• The organization wants their top prospects to play everyday, suggesting that could be a consideration to send both Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña to the minor leagues instead of awarding one of them the big league last roster spot

• They want Brandon Sproat to enjoy success at Triple-A before considering him for a spot in the big league rotation

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Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (4-7) vs. Nationals (7-5)

Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches - West Palm Beach, FL

Starters: RHP Paul Blackburn (0-1, 11.57 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Trevor Williams (1-0, 6.23 ERA)

When: 6:05 PM ET

Where to Watch: N/A

Down on the Farm 🌾

• The Mets released their roster for their Spring Breakout game on March 16 against the Nationals

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Can the Mets withstand the blow to their rotation early in the season? ✍️

NY Post

David Stearns met with the media on Thursday for his mid-camp press conference and was confident that the team has enough pitching depth to withstand the early injuries to both Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea. So far, it seems like the injuries are relatively minor, and the two should return sometime in the coming months, but it is a far from ideal way to start the season.

Unfortunately, this is familiar territory for the team whose depth got tested last year when Kodai Senga went down with injury for most of the season. When that happened, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and David Peterson all stepped up in the absence of their ace.

Senga is now back and looked good in his first start of spring, but he is still a bit of a wild card of what the team will get out of him this season. Peterson will hopefully be able to replicate his success from last season, and they added Clay Holmes, who has been phenomenal so far but is still making the transition to starter.

That leaves Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning, and Tylor Megill to round out the rest of the rotation when the season begins at the end of the month. Stearns did a great job this offseason building in a safety net with true, major league depth, and it is going to be put to the test early. Blackburn was roughed up in his last spring outing, but hopefully, he can rebound quickly and can be a serviceable arm in the rotation. Canning has only made one appearance in Grapefruit League action so far, but he pitched very well. In 1.2 innings, he did not allow any runs and struck out two. He introduced a cutter to his arsenal, so perhaps the Mets have unlocked something in him that the Angels could not.

Then there is Megill, who still has options, whereas the others do not. Megill still has a good chance at making the roster if the Mets choose to use Canning as a long man out of the bullpen, but it could make more sense to inject Canning into the rotation and keep Megill stretched out in the minor leagues until they need him (which we all know they will). Luckily for the team, there are plenty of scheduled off days early in the season until mid-way through April, so their depth won’t really get tested until then, which would make it even more sensible to send Megill to Triple-A to start the year.

When things looked bleak last year, the team’s revamped rotation stepped up when they needed them to. This year, they are in a better position to survive the injuries to the rotation, and hopefully, the new-look rotation will be able to hold the fort until help arrives.

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Around the League 🚩

• José Iglesias has agreed to a minor league contract with the Padres - he will earn $3 million if he is in the majors (NY Post)

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s final asking price from the Blue Jays below $600 million (ESPN)

• The Dodgers are reportedly working on a long-term extension with manager Dave Roberts (NY Post)

• Yankees RHP Luis Gil is expected to miss three months with a high-grade lat strain (MLB.com)

• OF Tyler Naquin signed a minor league deal with the Guardians as a pitcher (MLB.com)

• The Athletics extended OF Lawrence Butler to a seven-year deal worth $65.5 million (ESPN)