While speaking with the media on Tuesday morning, New York Mets manger Luis Rojas provided some brief updates on some of the battered Mets, the competition for roster spots, and one of the standout relievers in camp amongst other topics.
Most important of note, Rojas said that veteran starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco threw an 18-pitch bullpen on Tuesday morning and “felt great.” He added that the team expects the next step for the right-hander is to face live-hitters on Thursday.
Staying on the topic of starting pitching, Rojas was also asked about the competition for the final spot in the starting rotation, which he called “tight” right now. He said, “we’re seeing just good, healthy, team competition.”
Rojas feels that David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi, and Jordan Yamamoto have all thrown the ball well to this point. He added that Jerad Eickhoff has also looked good, and he was really impressed with Corey Oswalt’s outing in Sunday afternoon’s win over the Cardinals.
Rojas mentioned that the team is still undecided on if they will carry 13 or 14 pitchers to begin the season. When asked about one of the roster bubble pitchers, Sam McWilliams, Rojas said the team is looking to use him in a multi-inning role and they have been amazed by his stuff.
“McWilliams has had his on and off, we want to build him into a multi-inning guy,” he said. “The stuff has been great. He’s gotten into trouble, and then he gets himself out of trouble with pure stuff.. We love the stuff, he’s working on some things, but stuff-wise we are amazed.”
Rojas also said that he expects Mets pitchers will hit in games for the first time this spring starting with Jacob deGrom on Sunday against the Washington Nationals.
The second-year skipper added that he’s excited about having fans in the stands on Opening Day at Nationals Park. He said, “It’s exciting, it’s going to be good for the guys to have fans again. It’s going to be special, we expect that to be a fun day.”
