The Mets' youngsters are making their mark in camp
Plus, Nolan McLean made his WBC appearance, and Francisco Lindor is progressing towards Opening Day
What’s Up with the Mets? 🌴
The Mets won their fourth Grapefruit League contest in a row, toppling the Cardinals 6-1 (box)
LHP David Peterson delivered another overall solid outing, allowing just two hits and nothing three punch outs in his four innings of work. His lone earned run came on a solo homer in the first
Brett Baty made his debut in right field and had another two-hit day, driving in two runs and scoring one of his own. He’s hitting .462 with a 1.269 OPS in 13 at-bats of action thus far
1B Jorge Polanco turned in a perfect day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a homer, a walk, and two total runs scored
CF A.J. Ewing continued his strong spring, turning in another complete performance with a double, a walk, and a steal
RHP Christian Scott allowed some traffic in his three relief innings, but he struck out four batters and didn’t allow a run
Lefties Brooks Raley and Bryan Hudson also threw scoreless relief frames
Injury Updates 🏥
SS Francisco Lindor (Hamate bone surgery) played SS in a minor league game on Tuesday and said he is ‘100% optimistic’ he’ll be ready for Opening Day
Roster Moves 📰
RHP Jonah Tong optioned to Triple-A Syracuse
Tuesday, March 10:
Nolan McLean (USA): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R (3 ER), 4 K, 2 BB, 2 HR
Schedule | Standings | Scores
Spring Training Notables 👀
OF A.J. Ewing: 6-for-16, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 3 R, 4 SB, .927 OPS
INF/OF Brett Baty: 6-for-13, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, SB, 1.269 OPS
C Francisco Álvarez: 6-for-11, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1.492 OPS
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Today’s Game 🏝️
The Mets are off today. They will be back in action on Thursday, March 12 at the Cardinals.
The kids are definitely alright ✍️
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from camp, it’s that the Mets have a lot of talent working its way through the farm.
Whether we’re raving about Nolan McLean or Carson Benge or any of the other now-household names for Mets faithful, the future of the franchise has given fans near-daily fodder. The recently optioned Jack Wenninger did plenty to make himself familiar to fans as well, notching 10 strikeouts in just under seven innings across three games to the tune of a 2.70 ERA; Jonah Tong, though his only official start wasn’t so stellar, showed signs of quick adjustment and near-immediate improvement just a week later in his exhibition against Team Nicaragua.
And beyond the prospects, noteworthy new-ish faces have started to blossom right before our very eyes. Brett Baty and Francisco Álvarez are having terrific spring training campaigns, and Ronny Mauricio has remained as solid a contributor as ever.
As we begin our approach to the closing days of camp, I want to give out some quick acknowledgments where they’re most deserved:
Let’s start with Nolan McLean and the WBC last night. Even considering McLean’s less-than-stellar debut on the world stage, he still flashed plenty of what he has to offer.
Early runs aside, McLean also struggled a bit with his command, but largely we saw a lot of what we’ve come to expect from one of his starts — strikeouts on his breaking stuff.
Looking at the numbers, I think last night was more an issue of location than anything else. Granted, his fastball has yet to elicit a whiff this spring (37% in 2025), so that’s something that should maybe raise an eyebrow, but he also threw it exclusively belt-high on a line last night, and it was the pitch shape he threw most in the zone. When you throw a recognizable pitch straight to a hitter’s sweet spot, there are only so many positive outcomes. Until we see a larger sample size indicating reduced movement or velocity (which we haven’t), I’m not willing to sound an alarm on this just yet.
Though the fastball wasn’t working at full capacity, McLean was still twirling his offspeed stuff with relative precision. His curveball and sweeper, unsurprisingly, were top performers in the strikeout and ‘Stuff’ department, and he was placing the sweeper in the corners especially well. The curveball, sweeper, and changeup combined for a 40% called-strike-and-whiff rate, which suggests to me that if there is in fact a developing issue with the fastball, it’s one of placement and/or sequencing and not one of diminished stuff.
No matter what happens in the rest of the WBC, McLean will be a vital part of this Mets rotation for quite a while — he’ll prove a formidable backside to the anticipated Peralta-McLean punch.
For all the talent on the mound, there’s plenty behind the plate, too.
Justin touched on the Mets’ catching depth and impending decisions yesterday, so I won’t do more here than give Francisco Álvarez some quick flowers. He’s only played five games so far, but in those games, he’s hitting .545 — he already has more hits this spring than he did last year, and he’s had half as many opportunities at the plate. That’s a noteworthy positive trend, regardless of sample size.
Early signs indicated that Álvarez entered camp ready to work, and it’s shown. He’s gotten rave reviews from some of the new arms (see quotes from Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers) about his energy, his preparation, and his drive to win. Per reports, he came into camp in good shape, trimmed down by about 20 lbs. It also looks like he’s tapping back into swing mechanics that previously brought him success, something he also did upon his return to MLB in 2025 after drastically switching things up in the early part of the year.
Again, it’s a small sample, but even accounting for any expected regression to the mean over the final couple weeks of camp, this is far and away the best Álvarez has ever hit in spring training — and he’s still only 24!
If his missile of a homer yesterday serves as a preview of what’s to come in 2026, maybe his proper breakout is finally upon us.
Moving to the infield (and outfield), Brett Baty has spent each day demonstrating why Mets brass were right not to trade him this winter.
Since making his Grapefruit League debut this season, Baty’s bat has been one of the lineup’s best. In his five games to date, he’s hitting .462 with a double, a homer, a steal, and seven total runs created. Sure, he started off last season just as hot coming out of camp, only to hit .230 in the first half. However, he’s another year older, with a full season of experience under his belt, and he hit .291 in the second half as the season fell apart. There’s every reason to believe he’s a more confident, hardened ballplayer this spring than he was last year, and that’s the sort of foundation he’ll need to carry these numbers into April and May.
Baty’s being asked to do a lot this spring, and all signs appear to be pointing towards success. In addition to hitting well out of the gate, he’s seen game action at each of his new positions, and all reports from both staff and pundits alike indicate that he’s handling the defensive duties with aplomb. Baty himself said he feels comfortable and that he’s “having fun” in the outfield, finding himself thrown back to his days in Double-A.
It’s still early, both in this season and in his career as a whole, and we’ve been fooled before…but I think Baty has finally figured it out. The timing couldn’t be better.
And then, there’s A.J. Ewing.
Easily the fastest riser in the Mets’ minor league system, Ewing is making a very loud case that he might be more ready for the big time than originally thought. I’d even go so far as to argue that he’s had the most complete showing in all of camp.
Yes, Carson Benge has settled in and is currently tied for the team lead in hits with Cristian Pache; yes, Pache is hitting .474 with just as many extra-base hits and strikeouts as Ewing, and he’s also shined in the field.
But Ewing has created more runs.
Both Benge and Ewing have produced eight total runs out of their plate appearances, but they’ve gone about tallying those runs in different ways. Benge has driven in four runs and scored four of his own, mostly powered by singles and an RBI triple this past Monday. Ewing, meanwhile, has delivered more slug and more run creation value on the basepaths — two things I touched on in my brief profile about him last year.
Last fall, I was writing about Ewing for a small prospect preview on the site and needed a succinct way to summarize his value; the chart above is the result of my spreadsheet scouring.
Among MiLB outfielders with at least 500 plate appearances in 2025, no player offered the same combination of run creation value and base stealing value. This chart demonstrates just how good a run creator Ewing is, and how valuable base stealing (and speed in general) is to his formula for success.
Basically, nobody else at his skill level offers the same sort of offensive profile, and it’s one that we’ve already seen on display on all sides of the ball. If he shows up in Queens in August, don’t be shocked.
To distill all of the above into a single-sentence sentiment, the Mets’ future seems secure in the hands of its many multi-talented prospects. Though the debuts of some of the most eagerly-awaited prospects will come a little later than some fans might like (guilty), this spring training has done quite a bit to assure me that many good days await this fanbase.
Enjoyable piece! Fingers crossed. No major injuries. If Baty and Alvarez both hit, this could be quite a team. If Baty continues to adapt well to first and the outfield, Stearns will look like a genius. I feel badly that my boy McNeil is gone as well as Nimmo but it's looking like it was wise to part ways. I believe both Holmes and Peterson can be FA after this year so it'll be interesting to see if they're extended.
The young bats have been very encouraging so far. Ewing looks way better than I was expecting. We could see him this season at some point.