Spring Training is underway and the Mets are playing baseball again. Two games into the Spring schedule and the Mets are looking like they’ve got a long road towards any semblance of baseball dominance but it’s still early enough that you aren’t actually watching the “true” Mets roster. It typically takes a while for teams to start rolling out lineups with their A-Squad lineup but the Mets are letting Pete Alonso take his shot at making his mark.
In his first game action of 2019 Alonso clubbed a two run home run and added a walk in the early innings of Saturday’s game. Then, in Sunday afternoon’s affair, he batted as the team’s Designated Hitter and knocked a double.
In case anyone forgot, Pete Alonso has power… big power. More than any hit or display of power, he’s also gotten through his first handful of at bats without strikeout. The whiffs will come, they are part of the game for power hitters but a quick start might be exactly what the Mets didn’t want to see.
Met management knows that, financially, they are better off keeping Alonso in AAA for a while in 2019 to keep his arbitration clock from starting early. Unfortunately for those dollar and cents guys, the fans are watching and they have to like what they are seeing early.
Meanwhile, Jed Lowrie, one of the Mets off season acquisitions seems to be looking at an extended DL stint to start the year. This shifts a few players around and might add more fuel to the fire that Alonso’s talent started.
With Lowrie out, Todd Frazier is essentially no longer a candidate for first base. That means that the competition for first rests with Alonso, J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith and (likely) Robinson Cano. It might even throw Jeff McNeil back into the infield discussion and out of his outfield track.
With no high salary veteran (likely) blocking the position anymore it makes it exponentially harder for the Met front office to delay Alonso’s arbitration timetable for the sake of money. Their offense will need his bat that much more.
Spring Training Observations:
The Mets are not hitting enough – Sure the Mets scored four runs against the Braves but you are unlikely to do much if you only notch less than 9 hits per game.
Strange Positions – Pretty sure Jeremy Vasquez (a first baseman) was listed as a shortstop in Sunday’s game. He did not actually do so… this is MLB.com being lazy about score keeping in their apps for Spring Training games.
What About Todd? – With Lowrie out, chances of Todd Frazier being a big part of the Met lineup went up exponentially. Wondering when we will start seeing him get some game time because with Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis on the team, a starting position should not be assumed.
The Mets said countless times that Cano is only playing second base this year.
They also said they would be in on every free agent but apparently things change.
That’s apples and oranges
While free agent acquisitions and player deployment are two different issues, no one can debate that what management says and what they do can be two different things. I expect Cano to play primarily 2B. But I won’t be the least bit surprised if he plays 1B. Or even 3B for that matter. Would rather see him at third than Cecchini
Todd Frazier is now out due to an oblique injury.