Mets Lose Rain Interrupted Spring Game 7-2

On Friday afternoon, the New York Mets (6-6) faced the St. Louis Cardinals (7-5) at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. The game was supposed to be Jacob deGrom’s final spring training tune up as he prepared to start opening day on April 7th. Unfortunately, deGrom experienced right shoulder stiffness on Thursday, and was scratched from his spring training start. He underwent an MRI that revealed a stress reaction, and the Mets announced that deGrom would stop throwing for at least four weeks. Then he would be re-evaluated. This was not the news the Mets nor Mets’ fans were hoping for.

Nonetheless, starting in deGrom’s place was Felix Peña, who signed a minor league deal with the Mets back in February of this year. Peña was aided by the defense in the first inning, including a nice diving catch by center fielder Travis Jankowski. The skies opened up in the second inning and so did the Cardinals’ bats, as they scored three runs. Unlike the Cardinals, the Mets’ bats were quiet to start the afternoon, as they went down 1-2-3 in the first two innings.

The umpires had enough of the rain in the top of the third and called for the tarp. After about an hour, the game resumed with many of the Mets’ starters replaced by minor leaguers. The Cardinals had started minor leaguers and role players in anticipation of the rain, so they made no changes.

The Mets scored their first run of the day in the resumed third inning. Alex Ramirez got his first hit of spring training, a two-out single. He scored on Wyatt Young’s two-out double. The Mets did not score again until the fifth inning, when Wyatt Young was once again responsible for another two-out RBI, this time via a single to left field. The bats stayed quiet through the rest of the game, besides doubles by Warren Saunders and Matt O’Neill in the eighth and ninth inning, respectively.

After the rain delay, Alex Claudio was the first pitcher up for the Mets. He was followed by Adam Ottavino for the fourth inning, Sean Reid-Foley for the fifth and sixth innings, Drew Smith for the seventh inning, and Colin Holderman for the eighth inning. Claudio, Reid-Foley, and Smith pitched well, but Ottavino and Holderman were knocked around a little, each giving up two runs.

The final score was 7-2 Cardinals. The Mets had seven hits, three walks, and left seven men on base. The defense was solid, other than one error by third baseman Jose Peroza.

Player of the Game: Wyatt Young

Wyatt Young has not seen a lot of major league playing time this spring, but the 2021 15^th round draft pick made the most of his chances in Friday’s game. He went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and was responsible for all the Mets’ offense. Certainly a prospect to monitor this season.

On Deck:

The Mets are off on Saturday. The next game is scheduled for Sunday at 1:10 PM ET against the Miami Marlins in Port St. Lucie. That game will be aired live on WPIX.