Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Monday, March 20, 2023 • 6:05 PM
The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches • West Palm Beach, Florida
RHP Justin Verlander (2-0, 1.59) vs. LHP Patrick Corbin (0-2, 5.63)
Radio: WJFK 106.7 (Nationals)

Yesterday’s spring training game featured David Peterson and Tylor Megill trying out, in the same game, to be the Mets fifth starter. Going into the game both Peterson and Megill had been dominant this spring. Peterson allowed no runs over eight innings. Megill allowed one run in just about the same amount of time. Peterson dominated in the game, allowing one hit and no run, despite walking four batters over four innings. Megill struggled, allowing six runs, three earned, from six hits and five walks. Peterson probably has the upper hand right now, but there is still at least one more turn through the rotation before a decision needs to be made.

Today the Mets will pivot from looking at the battle for fifth starting position to players just getting their work in. Justin Verlander makes a start today and the Mets are welcoming back their players from team Puerto Rico and Venezuela from the World Baseball Classic.

Mets Lineup

Opposing Lineup

Game Notes

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: We expect Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer to have a friendly rivalry throughout the season. Max Scherzer over the weekend casually tossed a seven inning outing allowing four hits and no runs. What will Verlander do today? So far in spring he has allowed two runs from six hits over 11 1/3 innings while striking out an absurd 16 batters.
  2. Welcome Back! The Mets welcome back a lot of familiar faces today. Francisco Lindor was on fire during the WBC, collecting 9 hits in 20 AB’s, hitting .450/.500/.550. Eduardo Escobar went 1-10, but his one hit was a homer. Omar Narváez didn’t get too much playing time, going 1-4 over two games. We expect all three to start seeing a significant ramp up in playing time.
  3. Tommy’s Turn In Center: We’ve been expecting Tommy Pham to get a turn to play in center since Nimmo’s injury and today’s the day! Pham has played in 13 games this spring with 39 plate appearances and is hitting .152/.282/.182. Baseball Reference uses an opponent quality stat, quantifying the level of play Pham is hitting against based on that pitcher’s previous season. Pham’s opponents are at a 7.3, which is some where between a double and triple A. That being said, we’ll be focusing more on his time in the field. Last season he had -6 outs above average, his second straight year with that mark. He has only recorded a positive outs above average back in 2017.

Let’s go Mets!