WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Tylor Megill was on the hill for Opening Day in 2022 and he started the home opener last year. Jose Quintana may take over that role from Megill this season.
Mets owner Steve Cohen typically likes the big-name starters to line up for the home opener, but there isn’t one this year with Kodai Senga set to start the season on the injured list. So Quintana, a left-hander who missed much of last season after having a tumor removed from his left ribs during spring training, may get the call.
Both pitchers had scheduled outings Thursday night in the Mets’ 2-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Houston Astros at Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches. With the Astros rolling out a lineup with all of their heavy hitters, it was a chance for the pitchers to work on things against top competition.
Quintana came in with a plan to work on his two-seamer, but his results were mixed. Three walks hurt him, with two coming around to score in the second inning.
Quintana reached his pitch count and was removed before he could finish the inning.
“Overall, he was OK,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “It was one of those outings where he goes out there to work on certain pitches, with the two-seam being one of them. He threw a good pitch to [Jose] Abreu and struck him out.
“But Megill threw the ball really well.”
The big righty’s fastball reached 97 MPH and he sat comfortably in the mid-90s. He used all of his pitches and enjoyed the challenge of pitching against top big league hitters, which isn’t always the case this early in Grapefruit League play.
“The majority of the guys were there starting guys and that’s what you want,” Megill said. “That’s their A-team.”
Quintana’s final line read two earned runs on two hits with three walks and a strikeout. Megill threw three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four. One of those strikeouts came on his new splitter. Victor Caratini swung threw the first two pitches and then froze looking at the “spork.”
Luisangel Acuña drove in the Mets’ only run in the ninth inning with a single. He’s now 3-for-7 with a run and an RBI in Grapefruit League games.
SWINGING FOR THE GREENS
The Mets held a team party Wednesday night at PopStroke, a Tiger Woods-designed putting course, restaurant and bar that is popular among players during spring training. It should come as no surprise that infielder Jeff McNeil won, along with his playing partner, left-hander Brooks Raley, though it wasn’t really a sanctioned competition. The more surprising part, teammates remarked, was that McNeil, who holds a record on one of the two courses at the Port St. Lucie PopStroke, didn’t bring his own putter.
Mendoza didn’t play, instead using the night to get to know various family members of his players.
This year’s party was planned by Brandon and Chelsea Nimmo. When Nimmo signed his contract last December, he knew that an eight-year deal would also mean taking on a leadership role. Nimmo saw an opportunity to plan an event for the team during spring training, something veterans have done in years past.
The entire team was invited, as well as their family members and the clubhouse staff.
“Chelsea and I, as last year kind of finished up, we were talking about how we wanted to proceed with being in this leadership role and things that we felt were important,” Nimmo told the Daily News. “So we started talking about hosting an event in spring training, something to try to bring people together. People in the past have done it well, like Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, who was a good mentor to me and showed a lot of leadership skills, David Wright, obviously, and then, [Max] Scherzer and [Justin] Verlander as well. So just taking things from what they did well and trying to implement them.”
FUJINAMI TO RETURN
Right-hander Shintaro Fujinami (personal matter) is expected to return to Port St. Lucie from Japan this weekend. The Mets think he will have enough time to ramp up for game action but they don’t feel comfortable putting a timeline on him until they see him throw.
“He’s been telling us that he’s been throwing bullpens while he’s over there,” Mendoza said. “But we’ve got to put our eyes on him. He’s probably going to have to throw a bullpen or two or live BP before we see in games. Then, we’ll go from there because the biggest thing is that we’ve got to get him here and start his buildup.”
