The Mets head out west for the first time in 2025, facing the A's in West Sacramento
Plus, a way too early look at the teams in the National League East
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets were off on Thursday, and they’re set to open a three-game series with the A’s in West Sacramento on Friday night
OF Juan Soto wants to improve his defense in the outfield and he is confident he will be able to (Daily News)
RHP Griffin Canning has pitched well so far this season by relying on his slider more (NY Post)
The rotation as a whole has fared well but they could use some reinforcements (Newsday)
Down on the Farm 🌾
OF Drew Gilbert (No. 11 Prospect, Single-A): 3-for-4, 2B, HR, RBI, BB
RHP Tyler Zuber (Triple-A): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
OF Estarling Mercado (High-A): 3-for-4, R
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG (PPD) | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (8-4) vs. Athletics (5-8)
Where: Sutter Health Park — Sacramento, CA
Starters: RHP Griffin Canning (0-1, 2.79 ERA) vs. LHP JP Sears (1-1, 3.46 ERA)
When: 10:05 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
A way too early look at the National League East ✍️
The Mets are twelve games into the season, and they have faced only one NL East opponent so far, but there have been a few notable storylines that have come out of the first two weeks of the 2025 season.
First and foremost, the Mets schedule has been generally soft out of the gate and will continue to be soft has they head to West Sacramento to face the A’s this weekend followed by a trip to visit the Twins in Minneapolis. They will then entertain the Cardinals for four games at Citi Field, but then the schedule heats up a bit with the Phillies and Diamondbacks towards the end of April and into early May. We will see how the Mets evolve over that period of time, whether or not they can start to get some of their injured players back in Francisco Álvarez and Jeff McNeil, and be able to project them out a little more after a good start to their season in the first two weeks.
Next up are the Phillies look to be a formidable opponent once again. Granted, they started the year playing the Nationals and Rockies, but they also took two out of three against the Dodgers at home. Kyle Schwarber already has six home runs and an OPS of 1.188, while the newly acquired Jesús Luzardo has been fantastic on the mound. He is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.
The rest of the pitching staff hasn’t been as good, but the talent of Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola continues to make this a scary team.
The Marlins enjoyed some time in first place after they took three out of four against the Pirates to start the year, but that quickly ended when they played the Mets. Their starting pitching staff has potential, but in the end the Marlins have torn the whole thing down and are building from the ground up with players, coaches, and new philosophies. The Mets took care of business against them even as they were struggling offensively. Miami is pesky enough where they will probably win a few ballgames, but the expectation is that they will be sellers at the deadline or perhaps before as they showed early in the year in 2024 when they dealt Luis Arraez to the Padres.
Maybe they’ll start shopping Sandy Alcantara early? Hello, Mets!
No matter what, they will most likely end in last place at the end of the season, and the Mets will need to continue to win ballgames against them if they want to be playoff bound this year.
The Nationals got off to a horrific start, losing two out of three to the Phillies and then getting swept by the Blue Jays. They righted the ship against the Diamondbacks, taking the series and then surprisingly winning a series against the Dodgers. MacKenzie Gore has been fantastic on the mound, and the lineup has shown some pop at the plate, led by shortstop CJ Abrams and leftfielder James Wood. This is a young team looking to take some steps forward this season, and it looks like they have the potential to do just that.
And finally, there are the Braves. They started the year 0-7, and absolutely nothing has gone right for Atlanta so far. Their big offseason acquisition, Jurickson Profar, got suspended for banned substances, and the lineup outside of Marcell Ozuna has struggled. Spencer Schwellenbach looks like a legitimate ace, but the rest of the pitching has not been great.
The good news for Atlanta is that Spencer Strider is close to returning, and Ronald Acuña Jr. should return at some point in May or early June. As the Mets are all too well aware, this is a team that is capable of coming back even when it seems like they are dead and buried, and it is still early in the season where they can turn it around.
This, however, is quite the hole they have dug for themselves, and with a tough NL East, it is going to be an uphill battle if they want to get out of it.
Around the League 🚩
The Red Sox signed C Yasmani Grandal to a minor league contract
The Cubs acquired LHP Tom Cosgrove from the Padres in exchange for cash considerations
Mark DeRosa has been named as Team USA’s manager for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (MLB.com)
Braves’ star Ronald Acuña Jr. will travel to Los Angeles to get his knee reevaluated before he ramps up baseball activities
The Athletics are hoping for a June groundbreaking for their new stadium in Las Vegas (ESPN)
Will this be the series our bats wake up?
Go A’s 🤘