Saturday, March 16, 2024 • 6:05 PM
CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches • West Palm Beach, FL
RHP Michael Tonkin (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP J.P. France (0-0, -.–)
WCBS 880

The Mets had two games yesterday! First, the Mets prospects beat the Nationals prospects in both franchises’ first-ever Spring Breakout Game. The veteran Mets then dropped the nightcap to the Nationals 7-3. Adrian Houser and Shintaro Fujinami allowed all seven runs on the night. It wasn’t all bad for the Mets as the offense finally got going, collecting 10 hits. Harrison Bader and Francisco Lindor both went 2-for at the plate, and DJ Stewart hit his first home run of spring.

Today the Mets are sending out a lineup like they played an afternoon/evening doubleheader. Almost all of the regular position players except for Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, and Mark Vientos are getting the afternoon off and the rest of the lineup is rounded out with bench players and players trying to break on the roster.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Mets Lineup

  1. Brandon Nimmo CF
  2. Tyrone Taylor LF
  3. Pete Alonso 1B
  4. DJ Stewart RF
  5. Mark Vientos DH
  6. Omar Narváez C
  7. José Iglesias 3B
  8. Zack Short SS
  9. Yolmer Sánchez 2B

Opposing Lineup

  1. Jose Altuve 2B
  2. Kyle Tucker DH
  3. Chas McCormick LF
  4. Jake Meyers CF
  5. Corey Julks RF
  6. Jon Singleton 1B
  7. Victor Caratini C
  8. Will Wagner 3B
  9. Shay Whitcomb SS

Game Notes

  • Yesterday, the Mets announced the following roster moves: RHP Reed Garrett and LHP Joey Lucchesi have been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, and C Austin Allen and INF Rylan Bannon have been reassigned to minor league camp.
  • Yesterday, the top prospects from the Mets defeated the top prospects from the Nationals, 4-2, in the first-ever edition of MLB Spring Breakout. RHP Dominic Hamel started and allowed one run over 2.0 innings. INF Ryan Clifford put the Mets on the board with an RBI double in the first. C Kevin Parada hit a game-tying single in the fourth, INF Jeremy Rodríguez gave the Mets the lead with an RBI single in the fifth, and INF Vincent Perozo added an RBI single in the fifth. RHPs Tyler Stuart, Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Calvin Ziegler each threw 1.0 scoreless in relief.
  • The Mets dropped yesterday’s Grapefruit League game against the Nationals, 7-3, at Clover Park. RHP Adrian Houser made his fourth start of the spring and allowed four runs over 5.0 innings. The right-hander fanned six batters and did not issue a walk. OF DJ Stewart put the Mets on the board with a lead-off homer in the first

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Michael Tonkin: Tonkin completed a long journey back to the majors last season. The long-time Twins’ pitcher last pitched in a major league game back in 2017 where he had a 5.14 ERA over 21 innings over 16 games. He then played in Japan, Mexico, and Long Island. Last season he got into 45 games for the Braves, pitching 80 innings with a 4.28 ERA and 104 ERA+. He’s had a good spring this year, allowing two hits and a walk while holding opponents scoreless over 3 1/3 innings. At this point, he has pitched himself into the conversation to break camp with the major league club.
  2. DJ Stewart: Stewart came onto the scene in a huge way last year, hitting 11 homers over 58 games for the Mets. This spring has been the complete opposite. Before last night’s game, he was 4-for-22 this spring with no extra-base hits. Last night went 1-for-3 hitting his first homer of the spring. Is this the start of a Stewart hot streak?
  3. The King of Cold Springs. Brandon Nimmo likes to take things slow in spring. Over seven games this year spring he has gone 5-for-21 at the plate hitting .238/.273/.286, which is not very Nimmo-regular-season-like. It is very similar to his previous springs. Last year he played in only six official spring training games and hit .143/.294/.286. The year before he played in eight games and hit .192/.323/.308.

Let’s go Mets!