"Best Shape of His Life."

[Lefty Specialist]

Ah, the shopworn staple of Spring Training stories....'The Best Shape of His Life'. Someone who had a bad year or a bad couple of years came into camp 15 pounds lighter, or with a new pitch or swing, or he just got married and he's going to settle down and THIS IS GOING TO BE THE YEAR. Most of these don't pan out or the optimism is gone by Memorial Day. But it's spring, and everybody has a chance to be the next LA Dodgers or Paul Skenes or Juan Soto.



In this vein, I give you.....



Mets' Pete Alonso dove deep into swing mechanics: ‘Best I've ever seen him'



https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6173058/2025/03/04/pete-alonso-swing-mechanics/?source=freedailyemail&campaign=601983&userId=3308948&source=dailyemailhttps://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6173058/2025/03/04/pete-alonso-swing-mechanics/?source=freedailyemail&campaign=601983&userId=3308948&source=dailyemail

[MFS62]

A companion story is the Mets pitchers saying how much they have improved as a result of attending the team's pitching lab.

Eric Jagers, their vice president of pitching, leads the lab in Port St. Lucie. The behind-the-scenes work sometimes becomes evident with guys like Manaea and Severino and sometimes with prospects such as Christian Scott, who showed promise before requiring elbow surgery. The Mets did not pitch a perfect game last season — bringing in Adrian Houser did not work out — but the more success stories they can boast, the easier it would be to be seen as a destination for pitchers who think there is untapped potential within them. But a growing reputation for becoming a place pitchers want to pitch can be a real recruiting tool. “Combine the in-game experience and what [the Mets are] able to do and just the resources,” Holmes said, “I think their development, even here at the big league level, has kind of spoken for itself.”

https://nypost.com/2025/01/27/sports/mets-are-making-pitchers-take-notice-with-their-transformational-work/https://nypost.com/2025/01/27/sports/mets-are-making-pitchers-take-notice-with-their-transformational-work/



Later