Sunday, March 10, 2024 • 1:10 PM
Clover Field • Port St Lucie, FL
LHP Brant Hunter (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Adrian Houser (0-1, 7.36)
SNY

The New York Mets spring training results so far:

  • Lost a game.
  • Won four games.
  • Lost four games.
  • Won four games.

Can the Mets break the pattern this afternoon and have a streak go to five games? Or does another four-game losing streak start today? If you’ve been following every Mets spring training game this season you were already aware of how streaky the Mets have been and you are probably tired of seeing the St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins, Washing Nationals and Houston Astros on the other side of the box score. For only the second time this spring the Mets will play a team that’s not one of those four teams this afternoon. The Detroit Tigers are in town.

Scheduled to pitch at some point today for the Tigers is Wilmer Flores, the brother of former Mets fan-favorite Wilmer Flores. Over three games and 4 2/3 innings this spring, Flores has a 7.71 ERA, but has also struck out seven batters. Right now, Flores is one of the Tigers top pitching prospects and was added to their 40-man roster last November.

Adrian Houser. Photo Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Mets Lineup

  1. Tyrone Taylor, RF
  2. Francisco Lindor, SS
  3. Pete Alonso, 1B
  4. Francisco Álvarez, C
  5. DJ Stewart, LF
  6. Mark Vientos, 3B
  7. Brett Baty, DH
  8. Zack Short, 2B
  9. Ben Gamel, CF

Tigers Lineup

  1. Parker Meadows, CF
  2. Andy Ibáñez, 2B
  3. Riley Greene, RF
  4. Spencer Torkelson, 1B
  5. Mark Canha, LF
  6. Colt Keith, DH
  7. Jake Rogers, C
  8. Buddy Kennedy, 3B
  9. Ryan Kreidler, SS

Game Notes

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced earlier on Sunday that closer Edwin Díaz is set to make his long-awaited return on Monday against Miami. He will be on a 20-pitch count.

The below are the pitchers expected to appear for the Mets today after Houser:

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Adrian Houser’s third start of the spring. The Mets and Houser are hoping his third start looks more like his first start this afternoon. In his first start, Houser cruised through two innings allowing one hit and no runs while striking out one batter. His last time on the mound on March 3, he allowed three runs from four hits and a walk while striking out two batters over 1 2/3 innings. In his first outing he needed only 23 pitches to get through two innings. Last time out he threw 43 before being pulled from the game.
  2. Huge bullpen day today. Jake Diekman, Shintaro Fujinami and Jorge López are all scheduled to throw today. The last time this happened was on Thursday and the three pitchers combined for three scoreless innings allowing one hit. Surprisingly, no strikeouts. Diekman and López each lowered their spring ERAs. For Fujinami, it was his first outing of the year where he didn’t really throw his fastball but was still highly effective. Hopefully we see his fastball today.
  3. Bullpen Battle: Austin Adams is in camp right now as a non-roster invitee. Interestingly enough, he was originally signed to a major-league deal and was outrighted right before spring training started to make room for Jake Diekman. Adams has had a terrific spring this year pitching three scoreless innings over three games while striking out five. His current contract situation gives him an advantage over Nate Lavender who is also a non-roster invitee who has been electric in his three spring training outings so far.