Quinton Fesq
The New York Mets took the field at Clover Park on Wednesday afternoon, dropping a 6-0 spring training contest to the St. Louis Cardinals. The scoreboard did not look pretty today, but there were plenty of individual numbers and metrics worth looking at from this matchup.
Carson Benge Shines at the Plate
The brightest spot for the offense today was absolutely Carson Benge. He started in right field and went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Benge ripped a single to third base in the first inning, lined another single to left in the third, and found a hole on the right side in the fifth. He is currently sporting a .375 batting average and a .750 on-base plus slugging percentage. The Mets have to love what they are seeing from him early in camp. He looked totally comfortable in the box and did not try to do too much with his swings. He simply took what the pitchers gave him and kept finding ways to get on base.
As for the regular starters, it was a pretty quiet afternoon overall. Juan Soto went 0-for-2 in the two-hole before being replaced by A.J. Ewing in the fifth inning. Soto grounded out twice, and his spring average sits at .143 right now. Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos also went hitless in their two respective at-bats. But here is the thing, these guys are just working on their timing. They are tracking pitches and getting a feel for the batter’s box again.
Further down the lineup, Vidal Bruján had a really nice day. He went 2-for-2 with two solid singles. A.J. Ewing also made some noise late in the game by ripping a sharp double to center field in the eighth inning. The offense left eight men on base today, and they went a tough 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They just could not get that timely hit when they needed it.
Jonah Tong and the Pitching Staff
Jonah Tong got the start on the mound for New York. He tossed 2.2 innings and gave up three earned runs on three hits. Tong looked solid early on, retiring the side in the first inning on three groundouts. He ran into a bit of trouble in the third inning. After a walk to JJ Wetherholt and a single by Chase Davis, he left a pitch over the plate to Nolan Gorman. Gorman crushed a three-run homer to left-center field.
Tong finished the day with two strikeouts and one walk. His spring earned run average jumped up to 10.13, but the underlying stuff is still there. He was generating ground balls early, and that is exactly what the Mets want to see from him. He just made one big mistake to a dangerous hitter.
The bullpen was a mixed bag the rest of the way. Douglas Orellana came in to get the final out of the third inning. Luis García and Adbert Alzolay both pitched a scoreless inning. Alzolay gave up one hit but looked sharp overall. Nick Burdi struggled in his inning of work. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in the sixth inning. A passed ball by catcher Chris Suero certainly did not help matters during that frame, moving a runner to second base who eventually scored. Joe Jacques also gave up a run in the seventh inning on three hits.
On the positive side, Matt Turner came out firing in the eighth inning. He struck out two batters and did not allow a single hit. Aaron Rozek also threw a clean ninth inning to finish things up for the pitching staff.
Shaking Off the Rust
It was great to see young guys like Carson Benge having a day like this against big league pitching. The regular veterans like Juan Soto and Francisco Alvarez will find their rhythm soon enough. The Cardinals had a good day at the plate, and switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje gave the Mets trouble late in the game from both sides of the mound.
But the Mets will be back tomorrow to face off against Houston again, as there is still plenty of baseball left to be played in Florida before the games actually count.
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