St. Louis Cardinals (2-2) vs. New York Mets (3-3)
Tuesday, March 9, 2020 • 1:10 p.m.
Clover Park • Port St. Lucie, FL
RHP Carlos Martinez (0-1, 34.20) vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (0-0, -.–)

The Mets dropped to a meaningless .500 record after losing 9-5 to the Nationals on the road on Monday afternoon. The result in spring doesn’t matter, but individual performances (sort-of?) matter and it was the first time the Mets had multiple players record at least two hits in a game.

Francisco Lindor got two hits, which were also his first two hits as a Met. Mark Vientos, a top prospect, smoked two doubles. And fan favorite Luis Guillorme, who should see more playing time this year, recorded two hits raising his batting average to .455 this spring.

A good chunk of the Mets runs came from a pinch-hit three-run bomb by Jake Hager (the second player in as many days to hit a three-run homer).

On the, “oh boy, we need to work that out side” was the defense. The Mets recorded three errors on the day and is reflected in Yamamoto allowing two runs over three innings, but none earned. Matt Allan made his Mets debut and allowed four hits and three runs, but only one of the runs was earned.

Overall, just a sloppy day for fielding.

Mets Lineup

  1. Kevin Pillar – CF
  2. Jeff McNeil – 2B
  3. Pete Alonso – 1B
  4. Dominic Smith – DH
  5. James McCann – C
  6. Jonathan Villar – SS
  7. Brandon Drury – 3B
  8. Albert Almora Jr – RF
  9. Johneshwy Fargas – LF

Cardinals Lineup

  1. Matt Carpenter – 2B
  2. Nolan Gorman – 3B
  3. Yadier Molina – C
  4. Austin Dean – LF
  5. Justin Williams – RF
  6. Andrew Knizner – DH
  7. Edmundo Sosa – SS
  8. Evan Mendoza – 1B
  9. Scott Hurst – CF

Taijuan Walker makes his Mets debut this afternoon! The Mets newest pitcher worked in eleven games last year totaling 53.1 innings with a 2.70 ERA, 1.163 WHIP, 4.56 FIP and 161 ERA+.

Walker rounds out a good off-season for the Mets forcing an open competition for the last rotation spot that includes David Peterson. Walker will be followed by Edwin Diaz who had a super easy outing a few days ago where he threw only seven pitches.

Other key bullpen arms are on deck in Trevor May, Jeurys Familia, Miguel Castro, and Drew Smith. Two of the more interesting pitchers in camp, Sam McWilliams and Ryley Gilliam will make their second and third appearances respectively, and one of the more intriguing NRI’s, Tommy Hunter is slated to go to.

Unsure if everyone will get in the game today but there’s a lot to look for as far as pitching is concerned.

Game Notes

It has been fascinating to watch McCann behind the plate this spring as he builds relationships with the pitchers. He’s also been getting it done at the plate, hitting .427 with a 1.071 OPS over three games.

We’ll get our first look at Drury over at third base, he appeared in yesterday’s game against the Nationals and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.

If you were tuning in to watch the Mets starting outfield today you’ll be disappointed in Pillar flanked by Almora Jr. and Fargas.

Check out 213 Miles From Shea! Let’s Go Mets!