Mets Spring Training Storylines to Watch

With football season officially over, it’s time for baseball to shine again. Now that pitchers and catchers have begun reporting to their spring training sites, players will soon compete for coveted roster spots. Plenty of these position battles will garner the baseball community’s attention. The Mets especially enter spring with more questions than answers in some positions. Below are a few key storylines to keep track of as the spring progresses.

How Good Will the Bullpen Be?

New president of baseball operations David Stearns rebuilt the Mets’ bullpen from scratch. The only holdovers were Edwin Díaz (who is returning from a patellar injury), Brooks Raley and Drew Smith. Adam Ottavino resigned late after declining his player option in the offseason, and Smith was the only reliever tendered a contract at the deadline. 

Stearns approached the bullpen this offseason similarly to how he ran operations in Milwaukee. He signed players like Shintaro Fujinami, Jorge López and Jake Diekman, pitchers who offer a high ceiling and provide velocity and a variety of pitch deliveries and repertoires. 

The 2023 bullpen ranked 22nd in ERA at 4.45 and 27th in strikeouts with 571. With Díaz returning, there’s hope the bullpen can return to what it was in 2022. However, many of Stearns’ signings, while high reward, offer some risk. Spring training will give everyone an idea of what the bullpen looks like.

Who Will DH?

Possibly the biggest question mark on the roster entering spring training remains how the Mets decide to proceed with the DH role. Reports emerged near the end of January that the Mets weren’t inclined to spend at the position, instead sticking with Mark Vientos and other internal candidates within the organization. However, the Mets and J.D. Martinez‘s camp have been in contact recently.

While the Mets might wait for Martinez’s price to drop to sign him, it leaves a question mark for the time being on the position. Then comes the question of how playing time is divided. Which leads to…

Do the Mets Have Their Next Long-Term Third Baseman?

Since David Wright stepped away due to injury, the Mets haven’t been able to find a suitable, long-term replacement. They thought they found their guy in Brett Baty, but his general success at Triple-A hasn’t translated at the big-league level. If the Mets sign Martinez to take over the DH role, do they put Vientos there? Or do they platoon Joey Wendle and the Baby Mets to see what the franchise has? Stearns noted in his presser Monday there will be some competition, but it feels like Baty’s job to lose.