3 overreactions from the first NY Mets spring training game that could become reality

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Big friggin’ deal. The New York Mets lost their first game of 2024. It’s a good thing we won’t even remember the score by tomorrow. It was 10-5 in case you have a photographic memory and want to keep tabs on the run differential.

As unimportant as the results of the game were, it was great to have baseball back. And you know what, the Mets get to do it all over again on Sunday and then a bunch more times until the season opens.

What’s worth overreacting from the first game of spring training? Well, there’s these three points. And the more we think about it, they might actually come true.

1) Nate Lavender is one of the best relievers the Mets have

Nate Lavender has more than a catch name. He’s one of the relievers the Mets are likely to have in Syracuse to begin the year. As a lefty, he’ll be a consideration if the team was to lose Brooks Raley or Jake Diekman for any period of time. His spring debut was impressive, mowing down three St. Louis Cardinals batters.

None of the hitters he faced were established major leagues so striking out three of his peers vying for a major league roster spot doesn’t make this a huge story. What’s more, Lavender has continually done nothing but impress as a professional.

Now the owner of a 10-6 record, 2.32 ERA, and 13.7 strikeouts per 9 rate through 108.2 minor league innings since debuting in 2021, this left-handed hurler looks bound to contribute sooner rather than later. He wrapped up last season with Syracuse for 44 frames with the one obvious issue being his control. Issuing walks at a rate of 4.7 per 9, it’s the obvious improvement Lavender will need to make.

Lavender is someone to watch closely this spring. The Mets will have several roster cuts to make. He’s a great candidate to get added to the 40-man roster. A strong first impression by striking out the side should have us pumped up to see if he truly can become one of their best relievers.

2) The Mets should DFA Josh Walker and Reed Garrett

Things didn’t go so smoothly for all of the Mets pitchers. Two names currently on the 40-man roster who didn’t have a good day were Josh Walker and Reed Garrett.

Walker entered in the fourth after Hunter Parsons already let things get out of hand. It was a messy inning for Walker. Walks, balks, errors, and rusty defense all contributed to an innings where 4 unearned runs crossed the plate.

Garrett wasn’t much better. He, too, got a little wild. A pair of unearned runs would score against him. By this point the game truly felt like spring training. It had become background noise for most fans.

The overreaction here is to simply get rid of the pair. Why are Walker and Garrett even on this team after all? Neither was particularly impressive last year.

The Mets have likely decided to carry this pair along in the offseason because they’re two of the relievers they have with minor league options. Sometimes this can help safeguard a pitch from a DFA. However, if they continue to have such miserable springs, players like Lavender who do get outs should become serious candidates to take their roster spots.

One bad debut in February isn’t going to cost someone their job. But with only a handful of innings available in games and a resume that doesn’t glow, this overreaction has a chance to become true.

3) Who needs Tomas Nido when you have Hayden Senger?

Tomas Nido was a part of the defensive rust on Saturday which begs the question, why is he still here? Nido is supposed to at least handle himself behind the plate. Anything the Mets may get out of him on offense is extra credit.

Nido didn’t catch the whole game, which is expected in the spring. Replaced by Hayden Senger after two at-bats, an overreaction some may be thinking is how the depth chart needs some adjusting.

Senger won someone a stupid Mets sports bet by hitting the first home run of the spring for the team. An eighth-inning dinger was his second hit of the game. This isn’t something the Mets spring training bingo cards even included. Senger is coming off of a season where he hit just .188 in Double-A.

In a lot of ways, Senger is the younger version of Nido. There’s a chance he does become their go-to defensive catcher after the 2024 season. The Mets will have an option to go to arbitration with Nido by then. Keeping him around isn’t too outrageous although his sinking bat should have them considering if Senger may in fact have a little more upside at this stage of his career.

An advantage for Senger in the near future is that having spent time in Double-A since 2021 means he knows all of these pitchers coming up the farm system. He has yet to prove he should move ahead of Nido on the depth chart as a third catcher. Showing any life on offense this year should help this spring training overreaction become a reality.

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