Down in West Palm Beach, Florida, the New York Mets (4-2) had lefty José Quintana make his 2024 spring training debut against the Houston Astros (3-4). Overall, Quintana struggled to find his command as the Mets offense was held in check by seven different Houston pitchers as the Astros picked up a 2-1 victory.

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After Quintana erased a leadoff walk to José Altuve with a Yordan Álvarez double play and Alex Bregman groundout in the first, he was unable to have that same luck in the second. After getting the first two batters out, he walked Jeremy Peña (stole second) and Victor Caratini. That would come back to bite him due to RBI singles from Mauricio Dubón and César Salazar. 

Those two singles would end Quintana’s day. He went 1 ⅔ innings pitched, allowed two runs on two hits, walked three batters, and struck out one before right-hander Hunter Parsons got the final out of the second. 

Tylor Megill entered the game in the third inning, and he ended up finding success against much of the projected Astros Opening Day lineup. The right-hander did not allow a single extra-base hit and managed to strike out the likes of Altuve and Álvarez. He threw three scoreless innings, allowed two hits, and struck out four. 

Meanwhile, the Mets struggled to get much out of their offense against righty Ronel Blanco. The only two hits in 2 ⅔ innings that Blanco allowed came via a double from Ji Man Choi in the top of the second and a single from DJ Stewart (who was hitting leadoff) in the third. 

The Mets managed to draw four walks, including two from starting catcher Francisco Álvarez. 

As for the rest of the pitching staff, righty Yohan Ramirez threw a scoreless sixth (one hit, one strikeout), righty Austin Adams struck out two batters in a scoreless seventh, and right-hander Cole Sulser struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth. 

The Mets did manage to rally in the ninth with the help of some of their top prospects. Kevin Parada led off the frame with a single, Jett Williams reached on an error, and Carlos Cortes picked up a single. With the bases loaded, Luisangel Αcuña drove in the Mets only run with a base hit. The rally would be halted due to a game-ending double play by Luke Ritter.

Prospect Performances

  • 1B JT Schwartz went 1-for-2 with a two-out single in the eighth.
  • C Kevin Parada picked up a leadoff single in the top of the ninth.
  • 2B Luisangel Αcuña picked up his first RBI of the spring in the ninth with a base hit.

Player Of The Game

The player of the game has to go to Megill, who continues to make a push for one of the five spots in the rotation to begin the year. In two spring training outings, his new “spork” pitch has looked strong as he has seven strikeouts to one hit batter while surrendering a total of four hits over the course of five innings.

On Deck

The Mets will be on the road on Friday afternoon when they take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. Right-hander Luis Severino will make his spring debut for the Mets against lefty Matthew Liberatore for St. Louis.