Mets Start Spring Training with a Pair of Losses

The Mets are off to an inauspicious start this spring, dropping both ends of split-squad action against the Miami Marlins (by a score of 5-3) and St. Louis Cardinals (by a score of 2-0) on Saturday to start the preseason at 0-2.

Yes, it is preseason; there is only so much one can pull from these games where the likes of Stephen Gonsalves and Quinn Brodey are getting extended looks by the big league club, but let’s give it a shot. Here is what we learned from the pre-season opener for the Metropolitans.

Starting Pitching struggled: It’s only day one, but it was a fairly tough day on the mound today for both Marcus Stroman and Rick Porcello.

Of the two, Stroman probably pitched the best down in Jupiter against the Cardinals. He worked around a Matt Carpenter single to left by striking out both Paul Goldschmidt and Yadier Molina on sliders to get through the bottom of the first.

The Mets tried to push Stroman into the second inning, but the righty surrendered a solo shot to 24-year old Tyler O’Neill to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.  Later in the inning, Stroman walked Rangel Rovelo before being removed. His final line of the day, 1.2 innings pitched, two hits, a run, walk and two strikeouts.

Not bad, but, certainly not what neither he nor the Mets hoped when they pushed Stroman into the second inning in his first start of the spring.

Up I-95 in Port St. Luice, Porcello had a difficult time against the Marlins. He gave up two singles in the top of the first, including an RBI base hit by Garrett Cooper that put Miami on top 1-0. Porcello would not return after the first inning, although he did strikeout a batter.

Bats Were Alive in Port St. Luice: Offensively the Mets were flexing their muscle against the Marlins. The Mets scratched out three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-1 lead. It would be the only inning by which the Mets scored on Saturday in either game.

Jeff McNeil led off the inning singled to left, and Pete Alonso reached on an error. After Michael Conforto singled to load the bases, Wilson Ramos slapped a pitch down the right field line for a two-run-ground-rule double to give the Mets lead.

Conforto would score the final run of the day offensively for the Mets on a sac fly by former Nationals first baseman Matt Adams.

Bullpen issues? There wasn’t much to write home about with regards to the Mets bullpen on Saturday. Corey Oswalt and Daniel Zamora both pitched well on Saturday. The one reliever who is expected to be on the Opening Day roster that did not pitch well at all was Chasen Shreve.

Shreve served up a solo homer to Hanley Ramirez and a run-scoring sac fly to Chad Wallach that tied the game against Miami at three a piece.

The Mets play the Cardinals again on Sunday, this time from Port St. Lucie. The Mets have only one more split-squad double-header left this spring on March 1 against Miami and Washington.