Monday, February 23, 2026 • 1:07 PM
TD Ballpark • Dunedin, FL
RHP Clay Holmes (0-0, -.–) vs. RHP José Berríos (0-0, -.–)
WHSQ 880AM

The Mets are on the road again today to take on another AL East team! Today, they’ll face off against the Blue Jays as the Mets look to pick up where they left off yesterday, hitting four home runs on their way to their first spring training win of 2026. Sunday’s game against the Yankees went exactly how you would expect, with home runs from power-hitter household names like Jared Young, Luis Torrens, Hayden Senger and J.T. Schwartz.

We’ll get our first spring looks at Clay Holmes and Tobias Myers today. Holmes is coming off his first year as a starting pitcher and is the first member of the Mets rotation to pitch in a spring training game this season. Myers came over to the Mets with Freddy Peralta in exchange for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat, and was used as a swingman in 2025. They’ll be facing a lineup of regular, starting players from the Blue Jays!

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Mets Lineup

  1. MJ Melendez, RF
  2. Mark Vientos, DH
  3. Ronny Mauricio, 3B
  4. Jared Young, 1B
  5. Hayden Senger, C
  6. Vidal Bruján, SS
  7. Jackson Cluff, 2B
  8. Nick Morabito, LF
  9. Ji Hwan Bae, CF

Starting Pitcher: Clay Holmes

Opposing Lineup

  1. Andrés Giménez, SS
  2. Ernie Clement, 2B
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
  4. Alejandro Kirk, C
  5. Addison Barger, RF
  6. Kazuma Okamoto, 3B
  7. Daulton Varsho, DH
  8. Nathan Lukes, CF
  9. Davis Schneider, LF

Starting Pitcher: José Berríos

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Clay Holmes. The Clay Holmes starting pitcher experiment was a success in 2025, with Holmes pitching 33 games, including 31 starts, totaling 165 2/3 innings. Like many pitchers on the Mets roster, Holmes struggled sometimes to go deep into games, but that made more sense for Holmes as he was adjusting to a new workload. From 2021 through 2024, Holmes topped out at 70 innings per season, so this was a new frontier for him. Holmes had a 3.53 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and a 114 ERA+. He was more effective in the first half of the season (19 starts, 103 1/3 innings, 3.31 ERA, 1.258 WHIP) than in the second half (14 games, 12 starts, 62 1/3 innings, 3.90 ERA, 1.380 WHIP).
  2. Tobias Myers. Myers pitched in 27 games and made 25 starts in his 2024 rookie season, totaling 138 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.174 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. In 2025, he started the season off on the injured list due to an oblique strain. When he returned, he pitched in 22 games, including six starts, with a 3.55 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.362 WHIP and a 117 ERA+. The Mets experimented with throwing two starters together to make a full game in 2025, and now Tobias Myers gives the Mets the flexibility to do that again.
  3. Vidal Bruján. Bruján is on the 40-man roster, competing for a spot on the active roster as the Mets’ backup utility infielder. The Mets are looking for a player who can play shortstop as Lindor recovers from surgery. The Mets are going to want to keep Polanco and Bichette at the positions they are learning, so shortstop will probably fall to Ronny Mauricio or Bruján (or several different players on NRI deals trying to land a spot on the 40-man). Last season, Bruján played for the Cubs, Orioles and Braves, totaling 60 games, slashing .253/.305/.310 with a 77 OPS+.

Let’s go Mets!