Tim Locastro, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Veterans Tim Locastro and Abraham Almonte are off to a hot start this spring.

The two outfielders are having strong camps so far, and showing off the Mets outfield depth for the upcoming season. The three starters are penciled in, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Mark Canha, but there’s certainly opportunity for someone to pick up playing time off the bench.

A large group of Mets potential outfield options join Locastro and Almonte. Tommy Pham signed a one-year deal this offseason, Darin Ruf was not cut by the team, and prospects Brett Baty and Mark Vientos have been asked to play the outfield before.

With the way the Mets spring has started, they’re going to need a bigger bench.

Locastro, 30, is a major base stealing threat. He’s reached base seven times this spring, with four extra-base hits and stolen four bases. No other player on the Mets has more than one.

Locastro is most known for not getting caught stealing in the first four seasons of his career. It’s well-known and proven that if he gets on base he’s going to run. Last season with the Yankees, Locastro reached base 10 times. He attempted 10 steals, swiping eight bags and getting caught twice.

With larger bases and rules limiting pickoffs, Locastro seems to be taking full advantage to show off his wheels this spring and show his value to the Mets this season.

Almonte, 33, has been a career journeyman. He’s never played more than 82 games as a major leaguer in a single season. He’s been with Seattle, San Diego, Cleveland, Kansas City, Arizona, Atlanta, and Boston. So far this spring he’s shown why he’s been able to catch on across the country.

Almonte is 6-for-13 with two doubles and three runs batted in. He maintains a slash line of .538/.667/.692 right now.

Pham has yet to get in a groove this spring. He’s one-for-16 with two walks and five strikeouts. Still he has the most regular season success of any backup Mets option. Pham has been an above average hitter in six of his eight seasons, most recently in 2021.

Every major projection system predicts a bounce back from Pham. In 2022 he had an 89 wRC+. The lowest he’s projected to have this year is a 98 wRC+, a hair below average.

Then the Mets have the rookies. Baty got his first taste of major league action last season in September and with a big spring, he should be back on the roster. Baty is hitting .471/.526/.706 in nine games with a home run and four runs batted in. His plan is to be the Mets third basemen and not an outfielder but the Mets have made him play there just in case in the past.

Vientos is hitting .304/.304/.652. He’s been smashing baseballs with two home runs and two doubles but he’s also struck out eight times to zero walks in nine games. That’s not going to make the Mets give him a bench role over Ruf.

The wild card for the Mets will be Ruf. He was as bad as someone could be for a trade deadline acquisition. He wasn’t even bad for a trade deadline acquisition, he was just flat out horrific. He has yet to make an appearance this spring. Manager Buck Showalter said there was a date he would play in his mind on Feb. 28 but didn’t want to commit to it.

The Mets have the depth to get creative with their outfield alignments. The main question is who do they turn to when it’s needed.