Grapefruit League notes on Mets pitching, the outfield alignment and the unusual start for Brandon Nimmo

Its always a good idea to take Spring Training stats with a grain of salt. It might be an even better idea this year, given the late start, the rushed time to begin games against other teams and the lack of diversity in opponents. With those qualifiers out of the way, the Mets’ pitching has been terrific here early in Grapefruit League play.

In seven games against other teams, the Mets have used 25 different pitchers. Only three hurlers have an ERA over 2.25 and it’s possible, if not likely, that none of the three will go north with the club and be on the Opening Day roster. Trey Cobb and his 9.00 ERA certainly won’t be there. And it wouldn’t be a shock if David Peterson (8.10) and Sean Reid-Foley (6.00) were both in Syracuse, either.

Meanwhile, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Taijuan Walker have combined for 9 IP and 1 ER. Neither Carlos Carrasco nor Chris Bassitt have pitched in a Grapefruit League game yet. The two were supposed to piggyback in a game earlier but were used in an intrasquad game, instead, due to concerns about the weather in the night game they were supposed to appear. And it’s not just starters, as seven relievers likely to form the bulk of the bullpen have combined for 11 scoreless innings.

UPDATE ON OUTFIELD ALIGNMENT – When the Mets signed Mark Canha and Starling Marte, most people thought that Brandon Nimmo would move to left field, Marte would take over in center field and Canha would hold down right field. But now that games have been played, it looks like all three outfielders will be in a different spot for Opening Day. Marte came to camp with an oblique injury and has yet to appear in a Grapefruit League game. Nimmo has taken most of the reps in center while Canha has split time in both corners. But in an intrasquad game, Marte played right field, not left. Marte has extensive time in left field during his MLB career, nearly 5,000 innings, but hasn’t played a single game in right field. It’s difficult to look at the decision to play Canha in LF as anything but a way to get playing time for Dominic Smith in left field in games where he’s not the DH. It’s been revealed that Smith played with a torn labrum last year, which might explain his lousy power numbers. This year, Smith has two homers against Max Scherzer in an intrasquad game, and a 2B, 3B and HR in games against other teams.

UNUSUAL START FOR NIMMO – You hear all of the time about guys who are slow starters in Spring Training. Brandon Nimmo is on the opposite end of that spectrum. In 2018, Nimmo had a .984 OPS in 70 PA. In 2019, it was an .871 OPS in 61 PA. Nimmo notched an .872 OPS in 40 PA in 2020. And last year he recorded an .869 OPS in 58 PA. But this year, he has just a .368 OPS. Yesterday, Nimmo had a 2-hit game, so hopefully that’s a return to normalcy for one of the team’s top Grapefruit League hitters in recent history.

ANNOUNCER HYPERBOLE – The greybeards remember when the Mets got Richie Hebner, anything he did was praised to the heavens, as if flattery could make him change his mind about wanting to play for a last-place team. Flash forward to 2022 and insert Robinson Cano for Hebner. But instead of trying to butter him up, it seems the praise is designed to win over fans who might be ready to move on from the 39 year old. We got a fluff piece from alleged “insider” Andy Martino, telling us how smart of a player Cano is because Cano told him about defensive play that we’d expect from any high school player. Also, we heard about how he would be able to hit until he was 50. Next, when he got two hits in an intrasquad game, we heard about how he was such a smart hitter, too. When you bloop a hit to the opposite field and then barely make contact on a grounder that beats the shift, one way to describe those hits would be “smart.” Perhaps a more accurate description would be “weak.”

In the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Cano got off to a great start, with 13 XBH in his first 99 PA, including 7 HR. But in his final 83 PA that year, he had just 6 XBH. Of course, he was suspended the next season. But while he didn’t play in MLB, Cano did log a brief time in winter ball, where he did not record an extra-base hit in 25 PA. This past winter ball season, Cano had 3 XBH in 74 PA. And so far in Grapefruit League play, he has a single in 10 PA.

For those scoring at home, that’s 9 XBH in his last 192 PA for Cano. For context, Tomas Nido came up 161 times last year and had 9 XBH and a .588 OPS. Luis Guillorme, no one’s idea of a power hitter, will provide more punch than that. And Guillorme can play shortstop.

ONE FATAL FLAW – Last year in Triple-A, Khalil Lee had a great year, as he posted a .951 OPS in 388 PA at Triple-A Syracuse. It came with a .402 BABIP, which is high – even for the minors. But even more worrisome is that it came with a 29.6 K%. If minor league pitchers are striking you out 30% of the time, what are major league pitchers going to do to you?

Last year in Spring Training, Lee had 18 PA and 9 Ks. He got a brief promotion to the bigs when everyone was on the IL and he proceeded to fan 13 times in 18 PA. Then this year in Grapefruit League play, he whiffed three times in eight trips to the plate. With MLB players in the dugout, if not the mound, Lee has 25 Ks in 44 PA. It doesn’t take a math major to tell you that a 56.8 K% is not good.