00:00All right, there are a lot of reports coming out of Mets spring training camp that I feel as though
00:04it's getting a little bit blown out of proportion.
00:07Soto moving to left field and then the Lindor handmaid bone injury.
00:11That's just to name too.
00:13So my guy Tyler Ward, your favorite Mets content creator, is going to hop in and talk all things amazons.
00:19And hopefully he can talk some of the fans off the ledge right now because the season hasn't even started
00:24yet, folks.
00:26Wardy, appreciate you hopping on with me, man.
00:29I know you're heading down to Port St. Lucie in a little bit.
00:32So it was good to get you while you're not so busy down there in the Florida sun.
00:36Let's start with the news that just broke that Lindor has opted for surgery and he'll potentially be out for
00:42six weeks because of the stress reaction in his handmaid bone.
00:47Do you feel like the panic that was created when David Stearns kind of announced this is being blown out
00:55of proportion?
00:58Yeah, I think like any other injury, it depends on what part of the fan base you talk to, right?
01:02Because this has a lot more to do on prior issues as a Mets fan than anything else.
01:07Because when you look at this injury for Lindor on the forefront, you're not overly concerned.
01:11You see someone that obviously needs to get that broken handmaid bone fixed in the middle of their hand.
01:16And then he'll have that six weeks to at worst eight week recovery window.
01:20So should bring him right to round opening day.
01:22If not at worst, maybe you won't have them for the first couple of weeks.
01:25I mean, the Mets didn't have Francisco Alvarez until right around April 24th or so of last year when he
01:31went down with his handmaid bone injury right around mid-March.
01:34If not just entering the second week of March.
01:36So naturally, what Mets fans think about is not just that injury for Alvarez, which really derailed the start of
01:43his 2025 season.
01:44Because the one problem that you have with this handmaid bone injury is that while you're going to get power
01:48back in your swing naturally, it's not necessarily that's going to happen overnight.
01:53And because of that reason, and knowing that you have so many games that you have to play, naturally, you
01:58don't love the idea of someone like Lindor having even slower start to the regular season than maybe Wade typically
02:03does.
02:03Because he's been notorious for a guy who normally doesn't step up until we reach mid to late, late May
02:08as is.
02:09But knowing that every single year, Brandon, at least since I've been covering the club and really have been a
02:14fan over the past, you know, 10, 15 plus years.
02:17It feels like every year the Mets have a top player that goes down with injury right in the beginning
02:21of spring training.
02:23That is where more of the fan outcry comes from.
02:25But is it valid? Is it justified in the case of Lindor's injury?
02:29Not nearly to the same degree as all these pitchers are seeing go down with injury left and right across
02:33the league.
02:34And Lindor's is one of multiple players.
02:36Top players are going down with the same injury.
02:38Jackson Holiday is going under the knife for the same injury for the Orioles today.
02:42And the same was announced with Corbin Carroll, who is supposed to be one of the main faces offensively for
02:47Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
02:49So it's quite unfortunate.
02:50All right. So not that big of a deal.
02:52It's not like it's Tommy John's surgery where he's going to miss, you know, up to 18 months or anything
02:57like that.
02:57Just you may be you may start off the season a little slow.
03:01But I'm one of those guys, you know, I got to bring this back to football.
03:04I'm one of those guys where if one of the stars is going down and is going to miss some
03:08time in training camp or spring training,
03:10that presents me with an opportunity to showcase what I can do.
03:15So what options does Carlos Mendoza have to fill that void where while Lindor is out, you know, the six
03:22to eight weeks?
03:23And who now has been presented with an opportunity to put some good things on tape?
03:30Yeah, no, it's a great question, because if you ask this, say, like two months ago, your answer would have
03:35been right away.
03:35Oh, it's Luis Angel Acuna.
03:37Like he's the Mets main backup option at shortstop.
03:40He's the guy that's going to get more of the continue reps there.
03:42Well, he's a Chicago White Sox now.
03:45Well, at least Robert is a New York Met.
03:46And now the Mets infield configuration consists of players like veterans Vidal Brujan, Christian Arroyo,
03:52two guys who are both picked up this past offseason that have levels of shortstop experience.
03:56Then you, of course, have the youngster headline by Rodney Mauricio, for example.
04:00The Mets, according to Carlos Mendoza, are not going to give Bo Bichette any shortstop reps as of now,
04:04because they really want him to smoothly transition to third base there.
04:07So you're going to just see a rotation of youngsters, including some veterans that are fringe MLB players.
04:13Like I mentioned in Brujan and Christian Arroyo, you may see a Gray Kessinger and that mix as well, among
04:19some others.
04:20But all in all, the goal here is that Lindor doesn't miss much of any time,
04:25because unfortunately, as currently constructed, the Mets don't have a clear backup shortstop option
04:31the way that they most certainly did just a couple months ago.
04:34Talk about the second Avenger on this team.
04:38Juan Soto, the news broke that he was moving from right to left field this season.
04:43Is that being blown out of proportion?
04:48No, I don't think so at all.
04:50I think from everything I've seen him on the fan base, I think that everyone's kind of satisfied with this,
04:54just because Juan Soto statistically per baseball savant was the worst right fielder in baseball last year.
05:00Not an easy thing to do.
05:02And I will say he didn't look as bad as what the numbers would tell you.
05:06But handling right field is a little bit of a tricky circumstance versus other positions at Citi Field specifically,
05:12given their dimensions, given the way that the ball can also ricochet and kind of hit off the wall a
05:16bit there at the Cadillac Club.
05:18So shifting Soto to left field, a position that he started his career with that we saw in 2019 or
05:23so with the Nationals,
05:24as well as most recently played a full season in his final year with the Padres in 2023 there,
05:28I'm confident that Soto can handle that position.
05:31And typically, your worst outfielder for your defensive configuration should be someone who plays in left field,
05:37which is why someone like Luis Robert will get mainly playing time in center, may get some reps in right,
05:42or maybe they go off with Carson Bench or someone else, they flip-flop the two.
05:46But Carson Bench, the Mets top outfield prospect, they clearly believe may have his best foot in the door development
05:52-wise
05:52to handle right field instead of, say, center or left.
05:56And I'm all for that, given the Mets outfield configuration,
05:58and given the fact that as things currently constructed, they don't have an immense amount of depth in the corner.
06:04You know, whether it's going to be a Carson Bench or whether it may be someone like a Brett Beatty,
06:08among others,
06:09you know, they're going to toy with some options there,
06:10but they're really making it obvious that Carson Bench, their top outfield prospect,
06:14is going to get the keys and see if he can actually take and ride with it into the sunset,
06:18which is an everyday role in this Mets corner outfield.
06:22February 16th is the date to keep an eye on.
06:25That's when the full squad reports down to Port St. Lucie.
06:29They start their first workout.
06:31All right, so five days from now is what we have.
06:33I know you mentioned some already,
06:35but are there any other holes that still need to be filled or addressed during spring training?
06:43Oh, absolutely.
06:44You know, the fun part about spring training, Brian,
06:46is that you get to see the position player battles in various ways, right?
06:49So you look at, for example, beginning with not just position players, but even the relievers.
06:54You know, I'm always most excited about the bullpen because right now the Mets have about two to three bullpen
06:59spots.
06:59It's wide open.
07:00And in the case of anyone that the Mets have signed throughout the offseason
07:04that is getting a spring training invite as a reliever or youngsters that they currently have on the farm
07:09are going to get a true chance to showcase themselves and their abilities
07:12and really see who's going to be the best of this group here over the next month or so.
07:17So I'm excited to see how the bullpen battle is going to go.
07:19So, including guys, whether that's going to be like a Dylan Ross, a Ryan Lambert,
07:23the youngsters that have a lot of upside of flamethrowing ability,
07:26is it going to be someone picked up this past offseason like a veteran and a Craig Kimbrell
07:29who has so many innings, but how many does he have left?
07:33Not entirely sure.
07:34Are they going to consider Anderson Severino, who's a flamethrowing southpaw
07:38when they don't really have one?
07:39Are they going to lean more in with Mr. Hudson, who they traded for yesterday,
07:42who had levels of success with the Brewers in 2024?
07:45You have options there.
07:46And then beyond that, the only other thing you really need to figure out right now,
07:51transparently, is just the rotation configure.
07:55For the Mets to trade for one more quality starter,
07:57it appears that that ship has sailed to happen at least prior to the regular season beginning.
08:02So when you look at the depth chart of these starters,
08:04now the Mets have a great task to handle, which is okay.
08:07Who's going to crack her top five, top six,
08:09and who's going to be on the outside looking in?
08:11The Mets have an abundance of depth,
08:12so it's really going to be intriguing to see who bests others and their matchup,
08:16and how much does Carlos Mendoza and David Stearns carry that?
08:19How much weight does that truly carry in their decision-making heading into their opening day roster
08:24and lab configuration?
08:25Lastly, real quick, give us a name that's flying under the radar that no one is talking about right now
08:31that we should keep an eye out on.
08:34Honestly, when I look at this entire pitching staff,
08:37let's talk a bit about Tobias Myers.
08:39I mean, seriously, this is a guy that's being stretched out as a starter by the New York Mets,
08:43had a sub-2 ERA this past year as a Milwaukee Brewer,
08:47carved up the Mets in the 2024 wildcard round as a starter,
08:51going five strong innings,
08:52and now he is basically the throw-in along with Freddie Peralta,
08:55the massive blockbuster trade,
08:57has numerous years of club control,
08:59and has everything that the Mets could possibly want in a true swing man
09:03as someone who can start and relief in any form or fashion whenever called upon.
09:07That is the lone pitcher I'm keeping most tabs on this spring training
09:12because there's a lot of upside with him,
09:14and I think he's getting overshadowed quite a bit
09:16because Freddie Peralta was the main piece that came in that deal with the Brewers.
09:20All right, I'm going to set a Google alert for Tobias Myers
09:23because Wardy says so.
09:24Appreciate you having on, my man.
09:29Thanks so much, Brandon.
09:30Always a pleasure.
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