The first Mets starting lineup of spring training is out

New York Mets Photo Day
New York Mets Photo Day / Elsa/GettyImages
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The New York Mets open up Grapefruit League action on Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals at 1pm today. The first lineup is out. Who’s ready for some immediate wackiness?

Mets starting lineup vs. the Cardinals

Here’s the lineup card Carlos Mendoza has turned in:

1) DJ Stewart, RF
2) Francisco Lindor, SS
3) Pete Alonso, 1B
4) Brett Baty, 3B
5) Mark Vientos, DH
6) Jose Iglesias, 2B
7) Trayce Thompson, CF
8) Tomas Nido, C
9) Taylor Kohlwey, LF

Taking the mound for the Mets will be Tylor Megill. Since the announcement of his start, Megill has gone from starting pitching depth to a favorite to make the Opening Day roster in place of Kodai Senga. Battling alongside the likes of Joey Lucchesi and Jose Butto with darkhorse candidate Max Kranick in the rear, an inning or two today will do little to end this battle.

The Mets wasted no time in getting some of the regulars into game action with Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso hitting about as close as they will on Opening Day. Surrounding them are the more mysterious players including several minor league additions with some big league experience.

Jose Iglesias and Trayce Thompson are pretty well known in the baseball world. Varied success, each came to the Mets on minor league pacts this offseason.

The ninth place hitter, however, is the far more intriguing of the new names. Taylor Kohlwey has had a successful minor league career in Triple-A for the San Diego Padres. With remaining minor league options, he’s someone we could potentially see make the Mets roster at some point this year far sooner than guys we’re more familiar with. Players like Thompson and Iglesias would be immediate DFA candidates. Kohlwey, with options available, is someone they can experiment with.

While it is only spring training, the choice to begin the lineup with DJ Stewart is the most random of all. It does show some confidence from him early on.

Baseball is back. The game results don’t matter. The performances for some, on the other hand, will.

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