Dominic Smith will get the start at first base tomorrow night according to manager Mickey Callaway, per Tim Britton of The Athletic.
Pete Alonso has started all four of the Mets’ games so far, and has thrived in his small body of work so far. This comes right after he hit his first career home run, a three-run blast in the ninth inning of tonight’s game to give the Mets a 7-3 cushion.
Smith pinch-hit to start that inning, and recorded a single which led to the rally. While this will be his first start of the season, he’s played at some point in all four games, going 2-4 with two singles and a walk. After a strong spring, he will get a good opportunity to prove that the Mets shouldn’t write him off yet.
The plan is certainly still for Alonso to get the majority of the playing time at first, but the Mets still want to reward Smith for his efforts and improvements. It would not be at all surprising to see Alonso come into the game late as a pinch-hitter, as the Mets try to maximize playing time for both of them.
At some point, it will have to come down to one or the other, but for now, the Mets are just going to need to get a large body of work from each of them to see what they have.
