Four hours after The New York Post learned the Mets aren’t guaranteeing a rotation spot to Michael Wacha, the lanky right-hander helped his case with a successful spring training outing.
Wacha pitched two scoreless frames to open up the game for the Amazin’s. In the first inning, he retired Cameron Maybin and Jonathan Schoop before getting into trouble. Miguel Cabrera laced a single to right field and C.J. Cron walked to put two batters on with two outs. However, Wacha was able to induce a harmless infield pop-up from Jeimer Candelario.
In the second inning, Wacha walked the leadoff man, Christin Stewart, before retiring the next three hitters. Overall, Wacha struggled with his command, but was able to exit the game without any runs on his ledger. He reportingly hit 96 mph on the radar gun.
Wacha was signed to a one-year, three million dollar deal in December to give skipper Luis Rojas another option to fill out the backend of the staff. The pact includes incentives that increase the value of the contract to 10 million dollars, should he reach a certain number of starts or relief appearances.
Wacha had his mind on starting after his first outing in a Mets uniform, “They told me I’m a starter, so that’s what I’m here for.”
The 28-year-old pitched to a 4.76 ERA/5.61 FIP and was worth -0.2 fWAR in 29 games with the Cardinals last year.
Although the Mets have not officially said anything, it’s expected that Wacha and Steven Matz are battling for the fifth starter’s spot this spring with the other hurler expected to land in the bullpen. That being said, he said in an interview earlier today that the Mets have told him that they expect him to start this season.
