The New York Mets spring training camp is underway and the team’s stars are honing their skills. They have the 2020 season in mind, one in which the team is expected to content.
Here are the New York Mets news, links and rumors of the day:
MLB.com: Anthony DiComo, MLB.com’s beat writer for the New York Mets, provided some team predictions for spring training in 2020.
He wrote, among his predictions, that Puerto Rican reliever Edwin Diaz will regain his closer gig after losing it in last few weeks of the 2019 season. He is talented enough to have a bounceback year and regain his place among the most dominant relievers of the league.
DiComo is also predicting that Michael Wacha, who came to the Mets as a free agent signing this offseason, will head to the bullpen. He also said that Yoenis Cespedes will remain limited.
Anthony DiComo: The Mets are making sure that some specific players can cover multiple positions. Dominic Smith is already making strides in left field, which isn’t his natural position, and word from the team’s camp is that Matt Adams is also keeping himself sharp in the outfield.
DiComo wrote that “veteran Matt Adams says he plans to take lots of reps in left field this spring, given the Pete Alonso-sized logjam at first base. Adams is still keeping sharp at his primary position though, fielding ground balls there Thursday at Mets camp.”
If Adams keeps himself sharp out there, he could secure more playing time given that the Mets’ starting first baseman, Pete Alonso, won’t take a lot of rest days.
New York Daily News: Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News wrote about Luis Rojas’ analytical background, and how he intends to apply his knowledge in his tenure as the Mets manager.
It should be pointed out that Rojas was the Mets’ quality control coach last season. Thosar wrote that the role “was crucial to communicate analytical information to a staff that was late to the party, and now he looks forward to bringing that knowledge into his daily managerial routine.”
“I grew up a lot last year, especially developing the new role,†Rojas said on Thursday. “So as the season went along, it kind of took more shape and we developed new in-house systems that will simplify more of our information.â€