Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Friday, March 10, 2023 • 1:10 PM
Clover Park • Port St. Lucie, Florida
RHP Shawn Dubin (0-1, 12.27) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (1-0, 3.00)
SNY

The Mets return to regularly scheduled spring training baseball twice today! First up is an early afternoon game against the Astros at home in St. Lucie.

The Mets in general have had an abnormal spring training week. Usually, spring is a time for routine, workouts in the morning, games around 1 PM, games in the backfields, etc. Instead, the Mets have had an off-day on Monday with their star players traveling to their respective national teams, a night exhibition game on Wednesday, another exhibition game yesterday, and a 1 PM/6 PM split-squad set up today. What a week!

The best way to return to normal spring action is with one of the most exciting additions the Mets made this off-season: Justin Verlander!

Mets Lineup

Astros Lineup

Game Notes

Starling Marte is making his spring debut following offseason groin surgery. Brandon Nimmo is expected to make his spring debut at some point this weekend.

Scheduled pitchers for this game: RHP Justin Verlander, RHP Jeff Brigham, RHP Sam Coonrod, RHP Jimmy Yacabonis, RHP Tommy Hunter

Scheduled pitchers for the 6:05 pm game vs St. Louis: RHP Elieser Hernández, RHP Zach Greene, RHP Connor Grey, RHP Eric Orze, RHP William Woods

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Back to the new rules: On Wednesday the Mets and Nicaragua played for 2:45. Not too bad by last year’s standards except the Mets only recorded one hit. Yesterday the Mets and Venezuela played for three and a half hours. This was definite shift from the games earlier this spring with the pitch clock which are generally under two and half hours with a bunch of hits. Today the Mets return the pitch clock, the new throwing over to first rules and the new regulation size bases.
  2. Justin Verlander: Verlander makes his second start in a Mets uniform today. Last week he pitched three innings allowing two hits and a run while striking out three. He tossed 35 pitches, 28 of them strikes. The Mets are now 20 days from Opening Day. I am curious to see how deep he goes today. Four innings? If he’s economical with his pitches does he push it to five?
  3. 18 Innings: The Mets are playing a lot of baseball today with a depleted roster thanks to the World Baseball Classic. Starters in the afternoon and evening game should get a much longer look today. Who takes the advantage of the long look today?

Let’s Go Mets!