Edgy MD

Drew Smith, dean of the Mets staff, looking strong with his high fastball.

I'm hoping on getting Steve Forbert in on a minor-league deal.

It took him until 2022, but he was finally able to kill Queen Elizabeth. https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/Reggie-Jackson-Queen-Elizabeth.jpg>

Joey Wendle's legs come into play again as the Mets get a run back. Reggie looks fantastic as always, but it takes about 30 seconds for him to get to the point when a thought pops into his head. Tyrone Taylor puts the Mets in the lead!

Holla-Famer Reginald Martinez Jackson in the booth!!

And Diekman-Turner Overdrive strikes out the side, stranding the fleet-footed Loperfido at third.

We need a new Dylan.

Joey Loperfido may be a DH, but he just greeted Diekman with a triple and looked lightning fast doing it.

It took a little while for the Mets control truck to find their Lube Rock graphic.

Outfielder Estarling Mercardo, a twenty-year-old who debuted in rookie ball with only 12 plate appearances last year, is your special guest today. I just realized how we get into those two-players-with-one-number mixups. When a player is floated over from minor-league camp, he doesn't get issued any uniform that fits, even if that creates a number conflict. Rather, he doesn't get issued any uniform at all, and instead wears a uniform from minor league camp, where the numbers aren't the concern of the MLB numerical roster. So when there are two guys with the same number, the guy from MLB camp will have a name on his back and the guy from minor-league camp will not.

But Joey Wendell haz wheelz! Just beat out a routine grounder to short.

Houston up 1–0 in the bottom of the third. Mets have yet to get a hit, much less a nine-run homer.

The Mets return home to host the world-famous Houston Astros, who I tend to think should really have begun springing in Arizona at this point. Luis Severino goes for the Mets to as he hopes to continue his shutdown spring. The Mets bring few starters, and I think Francisco Álvarez is making his spring debut at DH, giving Omar Narváez a chance to catch on consecutive days. I'm pretty sure Trey Cabbage used to be a hip-hop star on Veggie Tales. [TABLE][TR][TH][/TH][TH][FIMG=250]https://cdn.freebiesupply.com/images/large/2x/houston-astros-logo-transparent.png[/FIMG][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][FIMG=250]https://cdn.freebiesupply.com/images/large/2x/new-york-mets-logo-transparent.png[/FIMG][/TH][TH][/TH][/TR] [TR][TH]#[/TH][TH]Player[/TH][TH]Pos.[/TH][TH]#[/TH][TH]Player[/TH][TH]Pos.[/TH][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]1[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Trey Cabbage (L)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]lf[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]1[/TD][TD]=#002D72]DJ Stewart (L)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]lf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]2[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Yainer Diaz (R)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]c[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]2[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Francisco Lindor (S)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]ss[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]3[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Corey Julks (R)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]rf[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]3[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Francisco Álvarez (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]dh[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]4[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Jon Singleton (L)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]1b[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]4[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Brett Baty (L)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]3b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]5[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Jake Meyers (R)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]cf[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]5[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Starling Marte (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]rf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]6[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Joey Loperfido (L)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]dh[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]6[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Omar Narváez (L)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]cf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]7[/TD][TD]=#002D62]David Hensley (R)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]3b[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]7[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Mark Vientos (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]1b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]8[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Grae Kessinger (R)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]2b[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]8[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Joey Wendle (L)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]2b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F]9[/TD][TD]=#002D62]Shay Whitcomb (R)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]ss[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]9[/TD][TD]=#002D72]Tyrone Taylor (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]cf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][/TR] [TR][TD]=#EB6E1F][/TD][TD]=#002D62]Cristian Javier (R)[/TD][TD]=#EB6E1F]sp[/TD][TD]=#FF5910][/TD][TD]=#002D72]Luis Severino (R)[/TD][TD]=#FF5910]sp[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Have the Mets had a captain since Wright? No, they haven't. I like captains. On my team, I'd do it like soccerfootball, and there would be a captain on the field at all times.

How about that José Quintana?

I'm Brandon Nimmo, and you can come with me if you feel like happiness is the tooth! Or something! Last season, I gave up contact and on-basiness for power. It paid off ... or did it? Did i get so focused on upping my game in one department that I hurt it in another? How's that going to play out in 2024? And, oh yeah — apparently, I'm not a centerfielder anymore. But happiness remains the tooth. [FIMG=350]https://elitesportsny.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/gettyimages-853056728-new-york-mets-amazin-news-1-17-18-adrian-gonzalezs-impact-and-nimmo-on-the-move.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=350]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/07/brandon_nimmo.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200[/FIMG] [FIMG=350]https://i2.wp.com/nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/bnn.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1[/FIMG] [FIMG=350]https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/09/c4320-16620707589577-1920.jpg[/FIMG]

José Quintana has been named the scheduled Opening Day starting pitcher for the 2024 Mets. Should it go down as scheduled, José will be the 30th player to play that role, but the first Colombian. He'll also be the first lefty to throw the team's first pitch since Jon Niese in 2013. From 1999 to 2013, a lefthander received the honor 13 times in 15 years, so this is kind of returning to a latter-day tradition. [fimg=650]https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5584,h_3141,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/3/01h7z9dntghcn9h72by0.jpg[/fimg]

Indeed, it's not yet clear if they're going to get their opportunities at third or at DH, or perhaps at another position entirely. It's also not clear whether they'll be splitting a role or striving separately. A Boy Named Seo wrote: ... and Lindor/Alonso/Martinez is a terrifying middle of the order. Don't forget that you get to wash that down with a stiff cup of Álvarez.

Mets medical staffers do a lovely job, but the team is always going to err on the side of caution.

The Mets are definitely in the hunt. They're on the make.

PHUN PHACT: J.D. Drew's full name is "David Jonathan Drew," and so, he isn't a J.D. at all, except in the most dyslexic sense.

Having a manager who comes out of Yankee Stadium makes me fear that sort of strategizing even more. The notion that Brandon Nimmo spent a good part of last season openly trading on-base percentage for more power and more strikeouts, and seems to talk about it like it was a success story really chills me.

Perhaps the goofiest part is that Keith wore a number on the front of his uniform as a Cardinal too. AND as an Indian. I guess there's some version of a uniform he wore without a number on the front, but it was more or less a constant throughout his MLB career.

It was Lucchesi's first outing of the spring, so I'm chalking it up to him being behind. He's a relatively soft thrower, so not yet having his feel wouldn't leave him with much. They had the lowest starter ERA in Florida, and that was before Q put up four more goose eggs. The offense is a much bigger concern, and they look more like the feast-or-famine 2023 version of the team rather than the keep-the-line-moving 2022 edition. McNeil took live BP before the game, but there's no prediction on when he'll see game action after he was shut down over the weekend.

The apple weighed 582 pounds.