Three Mets takeaways at the end of spring training
Brett Baty has handled move to second base “really, really good,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. Credit: Getty Images/Megan Briggs
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Consider the Mets ready for the real thing.
After 43 days of spring training, the Mets escaped the Sunshine State and landed in Houston late Monday. They will have a workout Wednesday ahead of their Opening Day date with the Astros at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Here are three Mets takeaways at the end of camp:
1. They actually came through pretty healthy.
Baseball people will tell you this is all that really matters in spring training, especially for a team like the Mets, comprised largely of established players who had little to prove or figure out in exhibition games.
Yes, they lost 40% of their anticipated starting rotation and two starting position players, but only one of those injuries is expected to cause a lengthy absence. And, most important, all of the Mets’ most important players are good to go.
On the pitching front, Sean Manaea (right oblique strain) is tracking to return by the end of April. Frankie Montas (right lat strain) is facing a more ambiguous timeline.
But Kodai Senga, the Mets’ best and most important pitcher, enjoyed a smooth, uneventful spring training. He is slated to pitch the fifth game of the season. Even with a limited pitch count at the outset (about 75 in his first start), Senga is in far better shape than a year ago when he missed almost the entire season because of a series of injuries.
On the hitting front, the Mets expect Jeff McNeil (right oblique strain) to miss just a couple of weeks. Francisco Alvarez (broken bone in left hand) is due back in late April or early May.
The Mets would rather have them healthy, but both were and are due to bat in the bottom third of the lineup. That their potentially potent top five — Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos — are ready means the Mets can more than survive.
2. Brett Baty had another big March. Do you believe?
A position change to second base and injuries to two infielders — Nick Madrigal, then McNeil — opened up just-about-everyday at-bats for Baty, who should start most days at the keystone.
That is an impressive comeback of sorts after Baty, 25, entered camp with neither a clear role on the team nor a clear future with the organization, having won and lost the starting third-base job each of the past two seasons.
Manager Carlos Mendoza recently described Baty as “really, really good” at second base. The Mets haven’t officially named Baty to the roster, but it’s an obvious call.
“Hopefully a guy gets an opportunity [at second] and runs with it,” Mendoza said.
He finished his Grapefruit League campaign with a .353 average and a majors-leading 1.186 OPS. His four home runs and 11 RBIs were tied for most on the team. Yes, Baty has had strong showings in camp before, but his best numbers previously came in 2023, ahead of his rookie year, when he batted .325 with an .885 OPS in exhibition games.
Now comes the hard part, the part Baty never quite figured out in the past: Doing it in real games.
3. The Mets face a tough task right off the bat.
There shall be no easing into the season. They open with the Astros, who have made the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons (and won the AL West in seven of those seasons). In the offseason, they subtracted Alex Bregman (signed with the Red Sox) and Kyle Tucker (traded to the Cubs) but added Isaac Paredes to the infield and, of course, still have Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve. Keep an eye, too, on Cam Smith, the Cubs’ first-round draft pick last year who was the talk of camp after coming over in the Tucker deal.
“They’re a great team,” said Griffin Canning, a longtime Houston foe with the Angels who will make his Mets debut in a start on Saturday. “It’s going to be different without Tucker and Bregman there, but it’s a tough place to pitch. The fans are loud. But a fun place to play, fun guys to compete against.”
In a quirk of the schedule, the Mets then head back to Florida, where they open a three-game set Monday against the Marlins. Miami probably will be bad this year, but in one of those games, the Mets are due to face ace Sandy Alcantara, who didn’t pitch at all in 2024 because of Tommy John surgery.
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.
