3 Up, 3 Down: Let The Real Games Begin

We’ve made it, everybody. Spring training is finally over and Opening Day is now just exactly two sleeps away as the New York Mets prepare to get the 2024 regular season underway.

Spring, as it always is, proved to be a long slog down the home stretch as appetite for games that actually matter grew and grew by the day. After all, there’s only so much  Grapefruit League action a sane person can take.

Luckily, the actual fun stuff begins at Citi Field on Thursday and we’ll get to see if this is a team that can actually compete for a playoff berth in 2024.

Until then, however, we’ve got some downtime to conduct a quick review of the past couple of days or so of Grapefruit League play. It is time for our final 3 Up, 3 Down of spring training…

3 Up

LASTING IMPRESSION

Sean Manaea signed off from spring training in style during his last start of camp on Monday. The left-handed pitcher was pretty much unhittable through the first 4 2/3 innings against the Yankees. Manaea did give up a two-run double, but that was the only black mark against him in the box score.

He finished with just two earned runs, no walks and seven strikeouts over five innings in an outing that will will no doubt fill the veteran with confidence heading into the regular season. More importantly, Manaea had his stuff working for him, including a filthy breaking ball that tormented the Yankees lineup. Manaea ends his spring with a 3.24 ERA, 21 strikeouts, four walks and no homers allowed in 16 2/3 innings. He’ll hope to carry that into his first Mets start against the Tigers on April 1.

COMING THROUGH UNSCATHED

I’m starting to accept the fact I need to look at the bigger picture with Starling Marte as it pertains to his spring. While I’m concerned by the overall performance —.167/.239/.190/.430—I think the fact that the veteran outfielder stayed on the field and looked athletic while playing is the bigger and most substantial takeaway. You can’t read too much into spring training statistics anyway and, hopefully, a pain-free camp will pave the way for a return to form for Marte come Opening Day.

GOODBYE SPRING TRAINING 

Spring training is always fun to begin with because it means baseball is back, but the novelty soon wears off. There are only so many meaningless games you can watch before getting bored. Plus, as already mentioned, you can’t put too much stock into anything spring-related, so the whole exercise just becomes a bit tedious by the end. Thankfully, we can now look forward to games that actually matter and Opening Day is always a joyous occasion worth celebrating. Proper baseball is almost back, and it feels so damn good.

3 Down

DRESS REHEARSAL LETDOWN

José Quintana will get the Opening Day start for the Mets on Thursday, and he will be hoping it goes better than his last start of spring training. The veteran lefty gave up five runs and walked four in three innings against the Astros on Saturday, including a three-run homer to Alex Bregman to open the game. Finishing spring with a 6.19 ERA, Quintana will be hoping that he’s now ironed out any kinks in time for the regular season.

Now, again, stats don’t mean much in spring training, but the Mets will need Quintana to be a lot better right from the jump, especially with Kodai Senga out to begin the year.

GOODBYE FOR NOW

You can make a compelling argument that the bullpen lacks a real swing-and-miss option outside of Edwin Díaz. Shintaro Fujinami could have been that guy. The flame-throwing reliever allowed five earned runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts during spring training, and he was optioned to minor-league camp on Saturday.

The Fujinami experience is truly wild but when he has his best stuff, he could be a potent weapon to bring out of the bullpen. If he can find a way to really harness his control while in the minors, then hopefully that will lead to a return to the big leagues at some point in 2024 for Fujinami, who could be a tantalizing late-inning option behind Díaz.

WORRYING TREND

At the risk of sounding like I’m on repeat, you have to take everything you see in spring training with a massive grain of salt. That’s just fact. However, it isn’t uncommon to see certain trends carry over into the regular season and that’s why I was a little concerned by the no-show from the offense on Monday. The lineup, which will be very similar to the one we’ll see on Opening Day, managed just two hits all game and was shutout by the Yankees. It was the third time this spring that the Mets had been shut out, although I’m less worried about the first two instances. But the fact this lineup could only muster two hits all game did raise some red flags. There are concerns about the bottom of the lineup as is, and I think the sooner J.D. Martinez is ready the better.