Full Mets spring training schedule released

The New York Mets spring training schedule begins next Saturday on March 19. Nine inning games where the score doesn’t matter will finally be underway!

Sure, there will be a couple of guys we don’t really know much about wearing wide receiver numbers. But it’s baseball. And after the grueling MLB lockout, it’s good to have some action again.

Mets spring training games will officially begin on March 19

The schedule includes 15 games with four different opponents. Spring training isn’t the most balanced of schedules. And as you can see from Anthony DiComo’s tweet of the whole National League East’s schedule, the Mets, Miami Marlins, and Washington Nationals will get to know each other well. The three will also get more time off than the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies. I’m guessing the location of the ballparks has something to do with it.

The Mets, Marlins, and Nationals will all play the same opponents with the three on each other’s schedule plus games against the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. As much as winning isn’t a priority in spring training, it’s good to see the Mets will have some top-tier competition aside from what many believe will be the two worst teams in their own division.

Usually by now, we’ve seen enough images of players in shorts (some shirtless in the outfield if Noah Syndergaard is on your team) and we’re dying to get to the regular season. The midway point of March is when most teams have stopped making major transactions and the fans are eager to just get to game 1 of 162.

This year is a little different. With fewer spring training games, maybe they mean a little bit more.

For the handful of players on rosters hoping to make it to Opening Day, their chances to do so are far more limited. An early slump may force them into Triple-A sooner than they had dreamed. In the case of the Mets, the result is lesser odds for one of the young prospects to make the early leap.

As set as the Mets could decidedly be with their 26-man roster, a lot more could still happen between now and when spring training games begin. We should also anticipate the possibility of hug watches during games if they make it far enough without making any major trades.

Spring training might not be anybody’s favorite time of the baseball season. However, we can all agree what it symbolizes. Warmer weather is coming. Soon we’ll have something to entertain us every day.