MMO Game Thread: Marlins vs. Mets, 6:10 PM

Saturday, February 25, 2023 • 6:10 P.M.
Clover Park • Port St. Lucie, Florida
LHP Braxton Garrett vs. RHP José Butto
SNY

The New York Mets and Miami Marlins square off tonight for an evening spring training game in Port St. Lucie! This is the first of six games the Mets will play against the Marlins this spring before they go to Miami to open up the regular season on March 30th.

The Mets dropped their Grapefruit League opener 4-2 to the Houston Astros earlier on Saturday. Brett Baty was the headline act in that one – getting on base all three times in his first three plate appearances, including a first inning home run.

Mets Lineup

1. Jeff McNeil – 2B
2. Tommy Pham – CF
3. Francisco Lindor – SS
4. Pete Alonso – 1B
5. Eduardo Escobar – 3B
6. Mark Canha – LF
7. Daniel Vogelbach – DH
8. Abraham Almonte – RF
9. Tomás Nido – C

SP – José Butto

Miami Marlins

1. Jon Berti – 3B
2. Bryan De La Cruz – LF
3. Nick Fortes – C
4. Jesús Sánchez – RF
5. Garrett Hampson – SS
6. Peyton Burdick – CF
7. Jordan Groshans – DH
8. Joe Rizzo – 1B
9. Xavier Edwards – 2B

SP – Braxton Garrett

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Starting Lineup: Only Starling Marte and Brandon Nimmo are missing from this lineup. Mets manager Buck Showalter said he was going to prioritize players heading to the World Baseball Classic – which is a solid chunk of the Mets regulars. The amount of regular starting players in the lineup will make the first broadcast game of the year a lot more fun.
2. Eduardo Escobar: Brett Baty already put the pressure on Escobar this afternoon. Baty hit a homer in his first at bat, then walked during his second and got a single his third time around. Eduardo is one of the most positive players on the Mets roster. Twitter feeds are already filled with videos of Escobar greeting coaches and having fun on picture day. At the end of last season Escobar went on a tear – can he repeat that with a strong spring?
3. José Butto: The Mets top prospects are position player heavy, with José Butto being probably the highest ranked pitcher who could see time in the majors this season. Butto had one start in the majors last season and it was a doozy. He allowed seven runs from nine hits and two walks over four innings of work. Over 28 games and 129 innings in the minors he had a 3.56 ERA and 1.209 WHIP. We are hoping to see him have a strong outing against major league quality hitters.
4. Bonus – Pitch Clocks: We said this earlier today but it is worth mentioning again since more of the Mets regulars are playing tonight. Both spring training games on Friday were right around two hours and thirty minutes. If the Mets are going to have any problems adjusting to the clock it will probably happen during the first two weeks of spring.

Let’s Go Mets!

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