Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

In what could be a pitching matchup we see at Citi Field or Truist Park in the future, both the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves threw one of their top pitching propects against each at CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida. In the end, the two teams played to a 2-2 tie in a game that took two hours and seven minutes to complete.

Mike Vasil, the #11 prospect in the Mets system according to MLB Pipeline, threw the ball well against a Braves lineup that featured many of the regulars. He went three innings, allowed two runs on six hits, and struck out three in his spring debut.

Vasil showed some good stuff in the first couple of innings as he recorded strikeouts against Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Eddie Rosario. He even featured the split changeup in the strikeout he got against Olson in the bottom of the first:

Mike Vasil struck out one of the hottest hitters on the planet on 3 pitches.

The Mets right-hander finished the 2022 season in High-A Brooklyn.

Last pitch is a split-change he's been working on.

pic.twitter.com/Rvi2UAPbIK

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) March 23, 2023

Vasil’s lone mistake came in the bottom of the third. With the Mets already up 2-0, Orlando Arcia led off the inning with an infield single. Two batters later, Vasil left a pitch up to Olson that was crushed to deep right for a game-tying home run (Olson’s seventh of the spring). The 23-year-old settled in and after allowing a single to Marcell Ozuna, he got Michael Harris II to hit into an inning-ending double play.

As for the Mets lineup, Pete Alonso was back after playing for Team USA in the WBC and he was 0-for-4 with a strikeout. They were going up against the top prospect in the Braves system in left-hander Jared Shuster. Shuster kept the Mets mostly in check except in the top of the third.

Danny Mendick began the inning with a walk and Tomas Nido hit his third double of the spring to right. Both runners would come around to score on sacrifice flies by Eduardo Escobar and Starling Marte. Outside of that inning, Shuster was solid as he went six innings, allowed two runs on two hits, walked two, and struck out two.

Out of the three hits that the Mets had, two of them were doubles (Nido and Darin Ruf). The team as a whole only struck out six times, but there were a lot of quick at-bats in this game from both teams.

After Vasil’s day was done, Elieser Hernandez came in and threw a 1-2-3 fourth inning. Nathan Lavender ran into trouble in the fifth with two walks and a disengagement violation. However, he was able to escape unscathed and he has yet to allow a run this spring.

Denyi Reyes came in to pitch the sixth and seventh inning and allowed one hit over two scoreless innings. Grant Hartwig pitched the eighth and struck out a batter in a 1-2-3 inning.

Justin Courtney ended up getting the ball in the ninth to help preserve the tie and he delivered as the 26-year-old right-hander threw a 1-2-3 inning.

On the back fields, Brandon Nimmo had a two-run triple in five plate appearances and Jeff McNeil took nine plate appearances in his return from the WBC.

Elieser Hernandez, Photo by Ed Delany Metsmerized

Player(s) Of The Game

The Mets bullpen gets the nod in this one for keeping the team in the game after Vasil’s outing was over. Hernandez had his shortest outing of the spring, but it was the first one in which he did not allow a run. As for Lavender, it was his first outing this spring in which he did not record a strikeout, but the Austin Riley lineout into a double play was able to bail him out.

Reyes appeared in his first game in almost three weeks and it was his second outing against the Braves. Even though he didn’t record a strikeout for the first time this spring, he got some key groundball outs after an Ozuna double that led off the sixth.

Hartwig had a quick eighth inning, but he did get Geraldo Quintero to strike out looking and the other outs came via a ground. Courtney made his fifth appearance of the spring and ended up getting a strikeout of his own in the ninth.

On Deck

The Mets will be at Tropicana Field on Friday when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays (14-11). You can catch the game at 1:05 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Sun (MLB TV) or listen to it on MLB.com. Max Scherzer will make his final start of the spring for the Mets against Luis Patiño (1-1, 6.43) for the Rays.

The post Mike Vasil, Bullpen Keep Braves Regulars Quiet In 2-2 Tie appeared first on Metsmerized.

Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

Triple-A Recap

Syracuse Mets (6-11) 4, Worcester Red Sox (10-8) 2  Box Score

• Nick Plummer CF: 2-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, K, .300/.400/.600
• Mark Vientos 3B: 1-for-4, 3B, 2 K, .160/.232/.320
• Travis Blankenhorn 2B: 1-for-4, R, 2B, 2 K, .191/.220/.426

The Mets didn’t have a ton going on offense in Sunday’s game, but they got the big hit when they needed it. Plummer was the one who came through for them with his go-ahead three-run homer to right field in the eighth inning. He hasn’t played much yet this season with the time he’s spent on the major league taxi squad, but Plummer has looked very strong through his first six games with Syracuse. Used at all three outfield positions a year ago, it is interesting to note that he has only played center field this season.

Vientos had a .978 OPS during his cup of coffee with Syracuse last year, so it is a bit of a surprise to see him struggle so mightily through the first couple of weeks of 2022. Four of his eight hits have gone for extra bases, so the power is still there, but his 34% K% is very high. The other top-hitting prospects in Syracuse – Khalil Lee and Carlos Cortes – have experienced similar struggles this season.

• LHP Mike Montgomery (0-2, 2.65 ERA) 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, ER, 4 K
• RHP Rob Zastryzny (0-1, 2.45 ERA) 2.0 IP, BB, 4 K
• LHP Alex Claudio (W, 1-0, 1.13 ERA) 2.0 IP, BB, K

Syracuse has had significant pitching woes early in the 2022 season, but these three pitchers have not been responsible for those struggles. Montgomery has been consistently good through his first four starts, giving up no more than two earned runs in any single start. His 16:1 K: BB ratio over 17.0 innings pitched is also outstanding. Claudio has only given up one earned run over his first eight innings this season.

Double-A Recap

Portland Sea Dogs (9-6) 13, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (4-10) 5  Box Score

• Ronny Mauricio SS: 2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, K, .320/.358/.580
• Brett Baty LF: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB, K, .354/.415/.542
• Francisco Álvarez C: 0-for-4, 2 K, .289/.378/.711

It’s a rare sight to look at a Binghamton box score and see that both Baty and Álvarez were hitless, but Sunday was one of those unusual days. Mauricio, however, picked up the slack for his fellow top prospects with a multi-hit game of his own. Through the first 14 games of the season, the three top prospects are among the top 13 hitters in the Eastern League in terms of OPS. MMO’s Josh Finkelstein noted Ronny Mauricio’s debut on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list.

It almost seems hypercritical to say anything negative about a player with an OPS over 1.000 and the youngest player in the league. Still, Álvarez has been uncharacteristically strikeout-prone over the past few games. He has a 31.1 K% for the season, well above his 22.3% from last year. Both Àlvarez and Mauricio were removed for pinch hitters in the eighth inning; the Rumble Ponies gave no reason for their removal, but it does not appear injury-related.

• RHP Mitch Ragan (L, 0-1, 12.96 ERA) 0.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, BB, K
• RHP Justin Lasko (0-0, 10.13 ERA) 4.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB, 5 K
• RHP Michel Otanez (0-1, 0.00 ERA) 1.0 IP, H

It was a start to forget for Ragan, against whom more at bats ended in home runs (3) than outs (2). He hadn’t been dominant early in the season, but this start ballooned his ERA from a sour 5.87 to an abysmal 12.96. Lasko wasn’t much better in relief (although he did make it from the second through the fourth inning unscathed), and the score was out of hand by the fifth inning. However, one positive from this pitching performance is that Otanez continues to look strong and displays much better control in relief than last year. It has only been five appearances, but a 1.93 BB/9 was a dramatic improvement from his 9.15 BB/9 a year ago.

High-A Recap

Hudson Valley Renegades (8-7) 3, Brooklyn Cyclones (8-7) 0  Box Score

• Nic Gaddis 3B: 1-for-3, BB, E, .152/.293/.212
• Jaylen Palmer DH: 0-for-2, K, HBP, .161/.297/.226
• Tanner Murphy LF: 1-for-2, 2B, BB, K, .273/.308/.545

There was nothing positive about the Cyclones’ offensive performance on Sunday. They recorded just two hits on the day and were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Palmer improved his strikeout numbers a bit last season, especially during his time with St. Lucie, but a 48.6% K% through his first ten games is certainly not conducive to success for the high-upside prospect. However, offensive struggles early this season are not limited to just Palmer. Instead, the Cyclones rank dead last in the South Atlantic League with a .580 team OPS.

• RHP Daison Acosta (L, 0-2, 12.00 ERA) 1.0 IP, H, ER, BB, K
• RHP Garrison Bryant (1-0, 2.79 ERA) 4.0 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 3 K
• RHP Justin Courtney (1-0, 2.70 ERA) 1.1 IP, H, 2 K

Acosta lasted just one inning in his third start of the season. He is coming back from Tommy John surgery and threw 56 pitches in his last outing, so seeing him leaving this start after throwing just 16 pitches is a bit concerning. Following Acosta’s outing, Bryant pitched well in relief. Courtney has looked excellent in his first full season in the Mets organization. He has given up just two earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched and has a 13.5 K/9.

Low-A Recap

Jupiter Hammerheads (8-7) 2, St. Lucie Mets (9-6) 1  Box Score

• Stanley Consuegra CF: 2-for-4, 2B, K, .264/.316/.340
• Raul Beracierta DH: 2-for-4, K, .259/.286/.296
• Shervyen Newton SS: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, K, 2 E, .283/.358/.457

The Mets couldn’t get anything going offensively in Sunday’s game. They had just seven hits and couldn’t take advantage of their limited chances, with Newton’s RBI double in the eighth inning being their lone hit with runners in scoring position out of seven at bats. Consuegra is one of the more exciting prospects on this St. Lucie team, but he has struggled a bit with strikeouts: he has recorded a 35.1% K% through the first 13 games of the season. Alex Ramirez was not in the lineup for Sunday’s game.

• RHP Dominic Hamel (0-0, 4.66 ERA) 1.0 IP, H, 2 K
• RHP Carson Seymour (1-0, 0.00 ERA) 4.0 IP, 3 H, BB, 2 K
• RHP Joshua Cornielly (L, 0-1, 5.06 ERA) 1.0 IP, H, 3 BB, K

Hamel made his third start of the season but was removed after one scoreless, 14-pitch inning. It is unclear if this was because he was being used as an opener for Seymour or if the removal was injury-related. He had gone at least four innings in his first two starts of the season. Seymour has thrown nine scoreless innings and has held opponents to a .335 OPS this season.

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