Mets' roster battles go down to final days of spring training
Mets pitchers Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill during spring training. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The dog days of spring training are over. This is the homestretch.
When the Mets return from their Tuesday off day, they will have less than a week left in camp — and plenty to figure out in that time.
They probably won’t know their full season-opening 26-man roster by the time they leave for Houston on Monday evening, manager Carlos Mendoza said. But they should be much closer.
Heading into the waning days of spring training, here is a look at the Mets’ job competitions — which spots are still up for grabs, who is trying to grab them and how things could or should shake out.
THE ROTATION
Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill might all make the team, according to Mendoza. But there are only two rotation openings, so the other guy would become a long reliever for the early going.
Which starter is the odd man out? Megill has dabbled in relief before, but he has the highest ceiling of these three. If the Mets carry him in the majors, it’s worth using him as a starter to see if his strong finish to 2024 might be for real.
Blackburn has been mentioned by Mets officials as a potential swingman/reliever since at least December. They discussed the possibility with Blackburn at the start of camp.
“They’re all getting built up [pitch count-wise], so having a guy like that in the bullpen that can go a few innings and save the bullpen, if you want to call it that way, is important,” Mendoza said.
The Mets’ other arrangement would be to send Megill to the minors. Mendoza said Megill’s ability to be optioned will “not necessarily” work against him.
“We’re going to take what we feel are the best guys [for] the rotation,” Mendoza said.
THE BULLPEN
It has an uncertain number of openings. Aside from whether the Mets stick a starter in the bullpen, the wild cards are lefthander A.J. Minter (hip surgery) and righthander Dedniel Nunez (pronator strain), both of whom are coming off injuries last year and are ripe to open the season on the just-to-be-safe injured list.
Minter has been conservative in his language while discussing his Opening Day readiness, citing a bad experience in 2019 as reason to be careful. The Mets have been similarly slow with Nunez, who appeared in his first Grapefruit League game Monday and tossed a perfect inning on 11 pitches, reaching 98 mph.
“The goal here is we need to have this guy healthy for the whole year,” Mendoza said of Nunez. “With his past injuries and everything that he’s gone through in his career, we gotta take care of him.”
Nunez, predicting he will be ready for Opening Day, said through an interpreter: “I’m very grateful to get back out there. I feel healthy and feel strong.”
The Mets could have as many as three spots to fill after Edwin Diaz, Ryne Stanek, Jose Butto, Reed Garrett and Danny Young.
Candidates include Max Kranick — who has had an especially strong spring training — plus Huascar Brazoban and Tyler Zuber. Genesis Cabrera and Chris Devenski represent veteran non-roster options.
THE BACKUP CATCHER
For this role, defense is most important. With Francisco Alvarez out because of a broken hamate bone in his left hand, Luis Torrens will be the first-string catcher for about a month. So the Mets need to settle on a backup.
They have two options remaining in camp (and could add more as fringe players become available in the next 10 days): Hayden Senger and Jakson Reetz.
Although Mendoza noted that “we’re looking at all of them,” he also mentioned one in particular when highlighting what team decision-makers want for that role.
“When you’re looking at the backup catcher, defensive ability, ability to lead a pitching staff, ability to communicate, game-calling, all of that,” Mendoza said. “Senger is right there.”
Senger is highly regarded as a catcher — the Mets named him the farm system’s best defender at any position in 2018 — and is more familiar with the pitching staff than his competitors are, given his presence in spring training in recent years and in the organization since 2018.
THE INFIELD
Brett Baty looks like a sure thing to win a job. That would leave the Mets with deciding between Luisangel Acuna and Donovan Walton.
Their decision would depend on what they want. Right now, they have two infield openings: starting second baseman and utility guy. Acuna would be in the majors only if he can play reasonably regularly (if not literally every game). With Walton, there’s no such considerations.
If the Mets are comfortable with Baty and Acuna platooning at second while Jeff McNeil (strained right oblique) is out, they should be the winning pair.
But if the Mets want Baty to be the second baseman, they can roll with Walton, a traditional light-hitting, play-every-spot backup infielder.
Notes & quotes: On a split-squad day Monday, the Mets lost to the Rays, 2-0, at home and beat the Marlins, 6-5, in Jupiter . . . Brandon Nimmo’s right knee felt good enough that he played defense for the first time since Feb. 28 (and second time in camp). He manned leftfield for five innings and went 0-for-2 with a walk. “We’ll see how it reacts tomorrow,” he said . . . Canning struck out nine Rays in 4 2/3 innings . . . Butto, recovered from a minor groin issue, tossed a scoreless inning in his first appearance in 10 days . . .Jesse Winker exited after one at-bat because of a calf cramp. Mendoza said he was “fine.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
