Edgy MD

Yonny Hernandez flew out. It was the next batter, Yonatan Henriquez, who had the game-winning hit. Yonny Hernandez and Yonatan Henriquez may seem similar but you can tell them apart because only Yonatan is an AMERICAN HERO.

This is something like half an A-list starting lineup from Houston. It is interesting to see, as the Mets start to let their starting pitchers go three and now four innings (yay, Clay Holmes!), that these are longer outings than the Mets allowed their starting pitchers to throw last September. Jack Wenninger, meanwhile, walked four guys in an inning and a third, and while only one run was charged to him, that's not the way to get noticed. Not the good way, anyhow. And that run ties the game.

Mike Sarbaugh, Mets third base coach the last two seasons — covering the entirety of the Carlos Mendoza era — was hired a week ago to join the San Francisco Giants organization as their minor-league infield coordinator. Sarbaugh's new calling card leaves Eric Chavez as the last of the Mets coaches shed at the end of 2025 to be without an employer for 2026, which I guess is a pretty good argument for keeping your trap shut. [FIMG=500]https://www.trentonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AP24124849105601.jpg?w=525[/FIMG] Hey, here's a memory — Sarbaugh appeared in Major League II, which is something that Wesley Snipes couldn't even be bothered to do.

The rout was actually 3-2 in favor of Washington, or possibly 2-3 in favor of the Mets. Of the seven pitchers appearing for the Mets, only starter Tobias Myers is expected to crack the Opening Day Roster. The weightiest news is that Craig Kimbrel had a rough go of it, giving up a run on two walks and a hit in his lone inning.

He and Curtis Granderson were kind of two of a kind in my head. Both came to the Mets in offseasons where the team publicly insisted they had put aside money to sign a "top" player. Both kind of initially triggered in the fan base a sort of grudging well, yeah, I guess you can call him a "top" player as he's had a few all-star years but that wasn't really — no offense — the sort of "top" we were hoping for attitude. Both had given their prior teams their peak years, but both had one star year left. Marte's was sadly cut short in 2023, but Curtis totally could have been an All-Star in 2015. Both became team leaders — Marte more behind the scenes, but Granderson overtly. The Mets were the third leg of the career for both. Both were former star centerfielders consigned to right as Mets. Both wore infielders' numbers (Backman's and Harrelson's, respectively) while playing the outfield. Both mentored younger stars. Both completed their last years as Mets at 36 and both left town with some more baseball to play and some more millions to make ahead of them.

Stayed in great shape despite copious injuries that he had to bear through. Really impressive in 2023 how he was having a terrible season and seemingly knew that his body wasn't going to let him do much better, but he kept stealing bases just so he could bring some value to the table, even though it was probably breaking him down all the faster.

Transactions, 2/18/2026 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed as Undrafted Amateur Free Agent out of Alabama A&M, Projected for St. Lucie[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th] Outfielders[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://metsinpeace.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/rutledge-trey-2026.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Trey Rutledge [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/usa_m.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]2000-09-12[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90] Division I (2025)[/td90][/tr][/table] Trey Rutledge, while listed above as coming out of D-I, only just qualifies, as he spent the first two of his NCAA seasons laboring for Division II Miles College, and finished up at Alabama A&M which is a Division I school but in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a low-on-the-totem-pole conference populated by HBCU state schools. He nonetheless tore the field apart in his college career, hitting .346 / .519 / .518 // 1.037 over 573 plate appearances (something like a full MLB season), while stealing 83 bases in 91 attempts. If he somehow makes it the majors, he will be only the second player out of Alabama A&U to ever pull off the feat, but the first was a guy named Cleon Jones, so ... .

Transactions, 2/23/2026 [table][tr][th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Signed awy from Union Laguna (Mexican League) to Minor-League Contract, Projected for Brooklyn[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Position Group [/th][th]Relief Pitcher[/th][/tr] [tr][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:67:current.png/w_426,q_auto:best/v1/people/672550/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]Name [/th][td90]Danis Correa [fimg=50]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/flag-of-colombia.png[/fimg][/td90][/tr] [tr][th]DoB[/th][td90]1999-08-26[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]B/T[/th][td90]R/R[/td90][/tr] [tr][th]High Level[/th][td90] AAA (2024)[/td90][/tr][/table] Like Gabriel Rodriguez above Danis Correa owes his second chance at affiliated ball to an offseason in winter ball. Unlike Gabe, his season isn't that much of an utter departure from his track record. Danis also parlayed his winter ball season into an invitation to represent his country (Colombia, not Korea) in the WBC, an assignment that happened shortly before the Mets signed him. They might have done well to wait until after the tournament to make sure he is healthy, but hey maybe more than one team was stiffing around his door. At 5'11"/155, he is kinda slight for a righthanded reliever, but the proof, as always, is in the punch. Mets Roster Central currently places him 27th overall on the team's relief pitcher depth chart, between Joe Jacques and Douglas Orellana.

Lambert is definitely a guy to look at, but there are currently a ton of dudes ahead of him. If he stays healthy while others do not, there is probably a window to open later in the season.

Just want to throw some writerly love out to David Margolick, writing Maz' obituary in The New York Times, which I finally got around to reading. He does the whole thing backwards from the home run, but takes his sweet time lingering in the moment, telling the story from the Yankee point of view, the Pirates' point of view, Mazeroski's, Bill Terry's, etc., before finally starting the broader story of Mazeroski's life at what seems like 12 paragraphs in, but still find time later to circle around to the story of the boy who recovered the ball. He also had the good sense to pull a quote from a local Pirates' reporter on the scene that day who somehow lived up to the moment when he filed his game story. Un-noted in the obit is that son Darren played a single season in the Expos' system. He was low-average/low-power hitter, but hey, in the only 13 games they have fielding records for him, he turned seven double-plays.

This Freddy Patek guy may turn out to be alright! The golden ratio here is out-walking the Cards, 9-1. That's difference right there between avocado toast and toast-toast.

I went and checked on the Mark Clark answer, at which point I accidentally on purpose spied the last guy, so I am morally eliminated. Totally guessable, though!

Well, I've tried to give folks a bunch of links through which they can check Brock out.

Mark Clark. Just throwing that out there. OE: Wait! Duh! Clay Holmes 2025!

The title probably wouldn't have the name "Forum" in it, but you have the right idea. The irony is that the title was meant to be deliberately obscure/ambiguous. Before there was a science to search engine optimization, we were practicing search engine evasion.

I didn't even know if he had a hangnail. I checked a couple of injury reports, and found nothing, so I sought the advice of the Hive!

This guy hasn't cracked a lineup yet, has he? What gives?

Exciting updates! Well some more exciting than others. 1. Carlos Mendoza's behavior early this spring has suggested he is positioning Marcus Semien as his opening day leadoff hitter (unless Francisco Lindor makes an unexpectedly rapid recovery from surgery). This is, as has been noted above, sub-ideal considering Semien's OBP is not a stat he puts at the top of his resume, but one might guess that Mendoza sees this as least disruptive to the rest of the lineup. The manager's second-most frequent leadoff choice this spring has been, interestingly enough, Carson Benge. I am tempted to conclude that this is not an alternative plan, but just a way to maximize Benge's plate appearances. Lastly, Luis Robert, Jr. is thus far an unfired weapon. He might be enter the mix for leadoff later this spring. 2. Ronny Mauricio has gotten three of the six starts at shortstop thus far. Two have gone to Vidal Brujan, and the last to Grae Kessinger. Mauricio is not only seeing the lion's share of the time there, but also has started on each of the three days that have featured projected starter Marcus Semien at second, we have to conclude that Mauricio is indeed targeted as the opening day shortstop. 3. The Pirates, like the Mets, seem be tipping their hand with regard to moving a middle-of-the-order hitter up to the leadoff spot. In this case, Oneil Cruz — who started this thread not being in the projected lineup at all. So good for him! And good for Freddy Peralta who now has a big strike zone to aim for with his first hitter as a Met. 4. Also like the Mets, the Buccos seem to be swapping their leftfielder and rightfielder. All the cool kids are doin' it! [TABLE][TR][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][FIMG=250]https://cdn.freebiesupply.com/images/large/2x/pittsburgh-pirates-logo-transparent.png[/FIMG][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][FIMG=100]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/johnson-patch-1.png[/FIMG] [FIMG=250]https://cdn.freebiesupply.com/images/large/2x/new-york-mets-logo-transparent.png[/FIMG][/TH][TH][/TH][/TR] [TR][TH]#[/TH][TH][/TH][TH]Player [/TH][TH]Pos.[/TH][TH]#[/TH][TH][/TH][TH]Player [/TH][TH]Pos.[/TH][/TR] [TR][TH]1[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/665833/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Oneill Cruz (L)[/TD][TD][fimg=31]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cf-sil.png[/fimg] cf[/TD][TH]1[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/543760/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Marcus Semien (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2b-sil.png[/FIMG]2b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]2[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/664040/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Brandon Lowe (L)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2b-sil.png[/fimg] 2b[/TD][TH]2[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/665742/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Juan Soto (L)[/TD][TD][fimg=17]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/rf-sil.png[/FIMG]rf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]3[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/668804/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Bryan Reynolds (S)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lf-sil.png[/fimg] lf[/TD][TH]3[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/666182/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Bo Bichette (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/3b-sil.png[/FIMG]3b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]4[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/656811/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Ryan O'Hearn (L)[/TD][TD][fimg=17]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/rf-sil.png[/fimg] rf[/TD][TH]4[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/593871/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Jorge Polanco (S)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1b-sil.png[/FIMG]1b[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]5[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/542303/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Marcell Ozuna (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/dh-sil.png[/fimg] dh[/TD][TH]5[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/683146/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Brett Baty (L)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/lf-sil.png[/FIMG]lf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]6[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/687462/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Spencer Horwitz (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1b-sil.png[/fimg] 1b[/TD][TH]6[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/682626/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Francisco Álvarez (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/c-sil.png[/FIMG]c[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]7[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/693304/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Nick Gonzales (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ss-sil.png[/fimg] ss[/TD][TH]7[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/668901/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Mark Vientos (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/dh-sil.png[/FIMG]dh[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]8[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/669707/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Jared Triolo (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/3b-sil.png[/fimg] 3b[/TD][TH]8[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/677595/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Ronny Mauricio (S)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ss-sil.png[/FIMG]ss[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH]9[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/663698/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Joey Bart (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/c-sil.png[/fimg] c[/TD][TH]9[/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/673357/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Luis Robert, Jr. (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=31]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cf-sil.png[/FIMG]cf[/TD][/TR] [TR][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH]Pitcher[/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH][/TH][TH]Pitcher[/TH][TH][/TH][/TR] [TR][TH][/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/694973/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Paul Skenes (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sp-sil.png[/fimg] sp[/TD][TH][/TH][TD][FIMG=35]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/d_people:generic:headshot:silo:current.png/r_max/w_180,q_auto:best/v1/people/642547/headshot/silo/current[/FIMG][/TD][TD]Freddy Peralta (R)[/TD][TD][fimg=25]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/sp-sil.png[/FIMG]sp[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

So, McLean is already in beast mode. A lot of positives to take away from this game, but that may be the positivest. The Mets will probably see Imai again this spring, as they play the Astros frequently enough.

Gabe is in there.

Ronny Mauricio is the brainy answer.

It'll never not be weird how you need political action to get a baseball team going.

Only three walks today. The Cards, sadly, outwalked the Mets, 2-to-1. Carson Benge with three singles in three trips.

Three runs against Jonah Tong is like a month's worth. based on his 2025 pace. Bryce Conley, who was signed like two minutes ago, is one of the non-roster guys rosterfied for this game.

Walks for and against are definitely something to watch for.