The confetti dropping at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas following Super Bowl LVIII meant one thing: It’s baseball season. And for the Mets, so begins a spring of evaluation with an abundance of fresh faces.
The front office is new, the manager is new, three-fifths of the rotation is new, and, potentially, so is the center fielder.
Expectations are lower. This isn’t a World Series contender, at least on paper, but new president of baseball operations David Stearns remains steadfast that this is a team that should compete for a postseason berth in 2024.
Spring training will help provide a primer on just how legitimate those beliefs are.
What to watch at Mets Spring Training
The new starting rotation: There weren’t blockbuster moves like the previous two winters to bring on marquee arms for the top of the rotation. Kodai Senga enters 2024 as the ace following a second-place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. Jose Quintana is looking to have a full season in Queens after missing half of it after undergoing rib surgery during spring training last year.
Those are the only two holdovers from last season. Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and Adrian Houser have been brought in to round out the rotation with more than a fair share to prove to the baseball world.
Severino is coming off his worst season in which he was derailed by continuing injuries and nagging pitch-tipping issues. Manaea was demoted to the bullpen last year after a horrid start with the San Francisco Giants but got back on track at the end of the season upon reintroduction to the rotation with a new sweeper that provided brilliant early returns.
When it comes to Houser, what you see is what you get. This is a pitcher who will flirt with a low 4.00 ERA as a No. 5 starter. But if Carlos Mendoza is toying with the idea of a six-man rotation to preserve the freshness of some questionable arms, it’s an open competition between the likes of Tylor Megill, David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi, and Jose Butto.
Who’s in center?: Stearns brought Harrison Bader — one of the best defensive center fielders in the game — on a one-year deal this winter, meaning Brandon Nimmo’s future at the spot is murky.
Stearns already said that Bader would be playing “a lot” of center field while Nimmo has approached a looming move to left field without much issue.
“If you feel like going in that direction would make us better, then sure,” Nimmo said. “I know if someone is coming in to play center field, then they have to be pretty dang good at playing center field.”
Hot (topic) corner: Ronny Mauricio’s torn Achilles suddenly eliminated the Mets’ competition for the starting third-base job, meaning it appears to be Brett Baty’s and only Brett Baty’s.
It hasn’t come together yet for Baty — the 24-year-old batted .212 with a .598 OPS, nine home runs, and 34 RBI in 108 games. This was one of the organization’s top prospects less than two years ago and a strong spring will be paramount to get him on the right track to suggest that this should be his spot for the next decade.
Undesignated hitter: There were numerous veteran bats on the market for Stearns to pursue this winter to finally plug the Mets’ designated hitter hole. Instead, he passed on all of them, at least for now.
It looks like Mark Vientos is going to get a first crack at the DH role — another recent top prospect who has struggled to find success at the dish in the majors. In 65 games last year, he had a .610 OPS with nine home runs and 22 RBI.
Perhaps Stearns sees a bat that could potentially flirt with the 20-home-run mark in 2024, but like Baty, Vientos is going to have to show something early on.
