TAMPA — It wasn’t exactly a game that counted Monday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, but it felt like it for the first few innings. By the sixth inning, the minor leaguers with wide receiver numbers had taken over, reminding everyone that while Opening Day is still yet to come but it’s nearly here.
In a Subway Series matchup south of New York City, the Yankees beat the Mets 3-0 in the final spring training exhibition for both teams. The Mets departed Tampa as soon as the game concluded, heading to New York to prep for their opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Left-hander Sean Manaea tossed five innings, maintaining his velocity throughout the entire outing and throwing a good amount of strikes.
Manaea took the loss, allowing two earned runs on five hits, but it mattered little in an exhibition. His seven strikeouts, velocity and pitch mix mattered more and he executed how he wanted.
It was a solid end to Manaea’s first spring training with the Mets.
“All my pitches felt great, Manaea said. “I felt like I held my velocity a lot better in this game than in previous games. There were no walks, the control was there, and I was able to throw strikes in different counts. Overall, it was a great spring.”
Manaea’s sweeper was especially effective, with the left getting eight swings and six misses on the pitch he added last season. He struck out Aaron Judge twice on a sweeper — the second time on a full count — and Juan Soto on a full-count sweeper as well.
There was a well-executed pickoff in the bottom of the third.
Roderick Arias hit a leadoff single and advanced on a balk. After a lengthy conversation between Manaea, catcher Francisco Alvarez, manager Carlos Mendoza and the umpiring crew, it was determined that Manaea didn’t come to a full stop before starting his delivery.
But it’s a move Manaea used in college and started working with again this spring. The Mets let the umpires know that it’s part of his delivery. They plan to continue working with the umpires to determine how to best utilize a move that looks unorthodox.
“We just wanted some clarification,” Mendoza said. “At the end of the day, they’re going to take a look at him. As long as he makes a stop down at the bottom [he’s fine], but that’s part of his move. They came up to me a couple of minutes later, and they said, ‘You know what? That’s part of his move.’ So they’ve got to take a look at him.
But it’s something that we will have to let people know that it’s part of his delivery. And he should be alright.”
So, with Arias on second, Alvarez motioned for him to throw to second. He spun around and threw to Jeff McNeil, who laid a tag down on Arias for the out.
“He was really good,” Mendoza said. “The fastball had life and movement when he wanted to. You could tell by the swings they were taking, but you could tell as the game went on, he got stronger.”
EXTRA BAGS
Starling Marte was hit in the helmet with a pitch in the sixth inning by Clay Holmes. Luckily, it wasn’t a fastball. It was an 86 MPH sweeper. Mendoza said he was fine.
The Mets brought 26 players to New York, with Adrian Houser staying in Port St. Lucie to make a scheduled start in a minor league game Tuesday. The right-hander is lined up to pitch the fifth game of the season April 2, so the Mets wanted to keep him on schedule.
The final roster will be decided by Wednesday. Mendoza, president of baseball operations David Stearns and the rest of the decision-making group will meet at Citi Field on Tuesday while the team takes the day off.
HONORING HARRELSON
The Mets will wear a patch on the sleeve of their uniforms all season to pay tribute to Bud Harrelson, who passed away in January after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The patch features his number, three, and the name Buddy. His six grandkids will also be part of the first pitch festivities on Opening Day.
A member of the Mets Hall of Fame, Harrelson was a member of the 1969 Miracle Mets and a coach on the 1986 World Series team, as well as a former manager.
“It will be an emotional day,” said Kim Battaglia, Harrelson’s ex-wife and caretaker, in a statement. “We just want to thank Steve and Alex [Cohen] for honoring him. For us, it was just confirmation for the kind of person Buddy was. I don’t think there was a kinder or more generous man than Buddy. He had a heart of gold.”
