00:00Joel Sherman back with three things. I'm spending my first day in Tampa. I just did about 10 days
00:07in Port St. Lucie. Why don't we do three things today? Wrapping up some stuff I believe about
00:14the Mets after leaving their camp and being with them for a week and a half to open it.
00:19You always want to be careful at this time of year. You could be fooled. Guys come in. Everyone
00:25has great optimism throughout the landscape. Even the teams that are going to lose 90, 100
00:30games right now, things feel great. You always want to have that grain or three of salt on
00:37everything. I left Mets camp thinking relatively well of them. I came in thinking that they'd
00:46be a good team. I certainly left. Why don't we break it down in some phases? Let's start
00:51here for three things with number one, their pitching. I can tell you that the two things
00:56that stood out the most as far as starting pitching is the Mets are just, as they should
01:02be, just wild about Nolan McClain. They're not screaming it from the rooftops because ultimately
01:09he's still going to qualify as a rookie this year. And I would think he's going to be one
01:13of the favorites to be rookie of the year in the National League. He's leaving in the next
01:18few days to join Team USA for the World Baseball Classic, him and Clay Holmes. But the Mets just
01:25think he's the real deal in every way from stuff to the right stuff, to the things he's
01:32made of, to his mentality, to how he approaches things. They think they have a top of the rotation
01:39guy that the eight start cameo last year where he was really, really good when things were really,
01:47really bad for the Mets, was not some flimsy fly-by-night thing. They think he's the real
01:54deal. And the other thing that excites them this spring training is Kodai Senga looking so good so
02:02early. Again, grains of salt. Until he was hurt June 12th last year, even though he came in and
02:09kind of had a laconic spring training last year. In mid-June, he would have been in the race for
02:16Cy Young if it was held then. And then, you know, he takes the high throw from Pete Alonso,
02:21hurts his hamstring. And neither him or the Mets are ever the same. They feel great. He's throwing
02:28hard, going about things hard. And you know what the difference is here. Obviously, they traded for
02:35Freddie Peralta to pitch towards the top of their rotation. But Kodai Senga has had long periods
02:41where he has pitched like a top of the rotation starter for the Mets. What if he can do that?
02:47And if Nolan McClain could do that? The Mets can have a very, very strong top of the rotation at
02:52a
02:52time where the Braves have taken a couple of injuries already to their rotation. Schwellenbach and
02:57Waldrip, they came in knowing Smith-Schwaver wasn't going to probably pitch this year after Tommy
03:02John surgery. There's age on Chris Sale. There's concerns about how much Ronaldo Lopez could give
03:09them after a shoulder injury. They have pitching stuff. Zach Wheeler will not begin the season for
03:14the Phillies after thoracic outlook syndrome surgery. They think he'll be back right away. But
03:20that's a question. Ranger Suarez isn't there anymore, who is a very, very good starting pitcher.
03:27Aaron Nola had a bad year last year. Will he bounce back in his mid-30s? And who's Andrew Painter?
03:32The Mets might have, among the contenders, the best rotation, especially if the two things they
03:38believe early in this camp about Senga and McClain play out. As far as the lineup and the offense,
03:47the Mets feel like they have a very, very, and they should have a very, very strong top four in
03:52the
03:52lineup. You know, Lindor when he gets healthy after his ham-8 bone surgery, Soto, Bichette, and Polanco
04:01should give them a strong four. And they know there's a lot of floater ceiling stuff the rest of
04:07the way in the lineup. And right now they feel good about all of it. I think if the season
04:12started
04:13today, we haven't even played a spring game. Carson Bench would end up being the right fielder.
04:17Obviously a lot of variables there. I wrote about Luis Robert Jr., the center fielder. They're slow
04:25playing him. I talked to his manager from 2023, Pedro Grafal, and Charlie Montoyo, who was the
04:30bench coach that year. That was the year he finished 12th for the AL MVP. They thought that health,
04:37which he hasn't had the last two years, and being surrounded by better lineup guys with the Mets,
04:43he was the man in Chicago. And I think ultimately the weight might have been too much for him.
04:48You might notice some people have left the White Sox in recent years. The Yanks built somewhat of a
04:54bullpen out of it. Guys like Ian Hamilton and Jay Cousins, and especially Tim Hill, all played better
04:59for the Yankees than for the White Sox, much better. Gavin Sheets did in San Diego last year,
05:06became a good hitter. And Andrew Vaughn became a really good hitter with the Brewers in a way he never
05:12had with the White Sox. So maybe getting out at age 28 is the right time. They spoke glowingly
05:20about the guy. Francisco Alvarez is obviously a variable guy, if he could stay healthy or not.
05:27But the one name I wanted to highlight with the lineups, because he's a little bit
05:30kind of fallen under the radar, I think, is Mark Vientos. The Mets have not given up on Mark Vientos.
05:36They think the 27 homer impact guy from a couple of years ago is still there, and that there's a
05:42bad to DH in first base. Maybe he'll throw in a third base every once in a while. I wouldn't
05:47expect
05:47it that much. But they still think that Vientos is a top flight hitter. And think about how that
05:54changes the lineup. If suddenly he's the 27 homer guy again, and maybe hitting fifth behind Polanco,
06:01and then you push down Robert a little more. You push down Alvarez a little more. You push down
06:07Benj a little more into the lineup. It's a chance for a long lineup. And I do think Vientos is
06:13a swing
06:13guy if he could recapture 2024 when he broke out and was so good. The last of three things, let's
06:21talk
06:21about the defense. Because it is going to be a change, especially Polanco has never played
06:30first base for a full inning in the major leagues before. Bo Bichette has not played third base for
06:39an inning in his life. And I know that the Mets' theory is they're going to be better at those
06:45positions than they were last year. They really thought we're not very high on Alonso at first base,
06:55like either with their eyes or their metrics, and they thought it would get worse. I think they
07:00think Polanco will be able to handle it. I know he'll put in the work. I could see him already
07:05doing
07:06it. Bo Bichette third, I think this is going to be a little rougher than the Mets are anticipating.
07:12The same with moving Brett Beatty to new positions, though he handled second base okay last year. He's
07:17going to take on some right field and perhaps some first base. You know, for a team that did talk
07:23a lot
07:24prevention, David Stearns going into the offseason, I think that, you know, these are going to be
07:30works in progress. Do I think that these players could get to major league average? Probably. But,
07:39you know, Polanco has had some lower body injuries along the way here. He went for surgery, repaired it
07:47before last season and had a really good year and stayed mainly healthy last year. But it's a new
07:52position. I do think first base is more important and harder than it's made out. We'll see how he
08:01handles that. I watched a lot of Bichette over the last two or three days on the field. You know,
08:08he is not a natural looking third baseman. Then again, he's done it for about three or four days
08:14in camp and maybe a few weeks before that. And so he has time over the next six weeks to
08:21adjust and
08:22grow more comfortable and look like a third baseman. But as I left that camp, I did feel better about
08:29the rotation. I felt better about the potential length of the lineup. I am still, my question mark
08:37is about the defense, though. I think they'll be better up the middle with Robert and Simeon
08:43in center at second. I do wonder about those infield corners and I do wonder about Beatty's
08:49adaptability. But that's some of my early thoughts from Met Camp.
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