Spring Training Game Chat: Astros vs Mets

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 • 6:10 PM
Clover Field • Port St Lucie, FL
RHP Cristian Javier (2-0, 3.00) vs. LHP Luis Severino (1-0, 0.00)
SNY

If the current pattern holds true, the Mets should lose today’s game.

After winning the first game of spring, the Mets lost four games in a row, then won four in a row, then lost four in a row, then won four games in a row. Currently, they have lost three in a row. Is tonight the night they finally break this streaking trend?

Quintana had the best game of any Met last night, going four innings, allowing two hits and no runs. He had basically zero offense behind him, with the Mets mustering up two singles (Nimmo, Short) and only two walks on their way to losing 4-1.

Earlier on Wednesday, Quintana was named the Opening Day starter for the Mets.

The Mets have an opportunity to get some cuts in today against some of the best pitchers in the league. Cristian Javier is scheduled to start for the Astros. Later in the game, both Josh Hader and Ryan Pressly should pitch an inning.

Mets Lineup

1. DJ Stewart LF
2. Francisco Lindor SS
3. Francisco Álvarez DH
4. Brett Baty 3B
5. Starling Marte RF
6. Omar Narváez C
7. Mark Vientos 1B
8. Joey Wendle 2B
9. Tyrone Taylor

Opposing Lineup

1. Trey Cabbage LF
2. Yainer Diaz C
3. Corey Julks RF
4. Jon Singleton 1B
5. Jake Meyers LF
6. Joey Loperfido DH
7. David Hensley 3B
8. Grae Kessinger 2B
9. Shay Whitcomb SS

Game Notes

Quintana will be the Mets Opening Day starter on March 28 at Citi Field.

The Mets have decided to wait another week past the original target date of March 15 for Kodai Senga to resume throwing.

Jake Diekman, Shintaro Fujinami, and Drew Smith are also scheduled to pitch today.

Three Things To Watch For

1. How deep does Luis Severino go today? This will be Severino’s third start of spring, and the Mets are about two weeks away from Opening Day. In his first outing, Severino allowed no hits and no runs over two innings of work. In his second outing, he allowed three hits and no runs over three innings of work (while striking out four batters). From a workload perspective, the extra inning of work only cost Severino nine additional pitches (30 pitches start one, 39 pitches start two).
2. Fujinami Bounce back! In his last outing, Fujinami allowed two runs, one earned, from three hits in one inning of work. According to MLB.com’s Gameday, his fastest pitch in that outing was 97.4 mph. In his first outing he didn’t throw any fastballs at all. Is today the day we see the triple-digit heat?
3. Bats please. The Mets slogan this year, “Baseball hits different here” may have been misinterpreted by the players. The Mets offense has just been absent for the better part of a week. In their last five games, the Mets have scored three runs or less, and they’ve scored a total of three runs during their current three-game losing streak. The Mets have also collected only 12 hits in the last three games, an average of four a game. Winning and losing doesn’t matter in spring, but players consistently making solid contact and connecting for hits does. Here’s hoping the pendulum starts to swing the other way tonight.

Let’s go Mets!

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