With spring training winding down over the weekend, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza discussed a number of topics with reporters on Friday ahead of their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on SNY…
Latest on Francisco Alvarez
There was a light scare on Thursday as Alvarez exited New York’s spring training game early after his back tightened up on him. Luckily, Mendoza said it was for precautionary reasons and called him day-to-day.
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The manager gave another update Friday, saying Alvarez felt the tightness after Wednesday’s off day and was happy he chose not to push it. If all goes well, the catcher will be back in the lineup on Saturday.
“Better. Saw him earlier this morning, was getting treatment. Definitely feeling better, moving around fine,” Mendoza said. “The plan is for him to go through his workout, he’s going to swing the bat. Everything goes well, he’s back in the lineup tomorrow.”
Alvarez will look to stay healthy and cap off his strong spring, as he’s gone 8-for-22 (.364) at the plate with three doubles, one home run, and four RBI across 10 games.
Regular season pitching plan
Mendoza wasted no time in naming Freddy Peralta the Opening Day starting pitcher after just three spring training games on Feb. 27. Although, he wouldn’t go any further with how the team’s rotation will shake out.
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But with Opening Day less than a week away on March 26, the manager shared a loose plan for how things may look in the second and third games of the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team will have two minor leaguers start on Saturday and Sunday to round out the Grapefruit League, and then play an intrasquad game on Monday that will feature Nolan McLean vs. Sean Manaea.
“And then on Monday, that game that we have here, it’ll be McLean versus Manaea… do the math,” Mendoza said with a laugh.
He added on McLean: “Probably game three.”
When asked if Manaea will start game two of the regular season, Mendoza said, “We’ll see,” with a smirk.
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New York has still not confirmed it will begin the year with a six-man rotation, but Mendoza gave some more insight into how the rotation may look. He noted that Peralta will be pitching on the backfields Friday instead of facing the Cardinals since the Mets play them in the second series of the regular season.
“There’s a chance he could face them,” Mendoza said, indicating that the team could keep Peralta on regular rest even with the six-man rotation.
That would mean one starter (one of David Peterson, Clay Holmes, or Kodai Senga) likely wouldn’t pitch until the seventh game of the season.
Opening Day roster decisions
In addition to figuring out the pitching rotation, Mendoza and the Mets will need to finalize their Opening Day roster in the coming days.
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Many expect Carson Benge to make the team as the starting right fielder, joining Juan Soto and Luis Robert Jr. in the outfield. Tyrone Taylor appears to be a lock for the bench, in addition to Luis Torrens and Mark Vientos, giving the team one more spot if they go with the six-man rotation.
Mike Tauchman could earn that role after a strong spring, but that would mean New York would be carrying five outfielders and no backups that play shortstop.
With Bo Bichette getting the start at short on Friday, his first time playing his old position this year, Mendoza discussed how the roster could look on Opening Day when asked about carrying five outfielders.
“Yeah I think everything is on the table,” Mendoza said. “Again, we still got three or four more days. I’m not anticipating this decision any time soon. I think we are going to go all the way to the last day, not only here in camp, but once we get to New York.
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“We could go in a lot of different ways here. And that’s why Bo is getting that opportunity today at shortstop.”
Mendoza added that it’ll be good for Bichette to get some “familiar” work in at short, knowing that Francisco Lindor will be playing every game possible. The other potential bench spot, if not Tauchman, could go to Vidal Brujan, who can play everywhere on the diamond except catcher.
Tobias Myers’ role
When the Mets acquired Myers in the Peralta trade with Milwaukee, it was unclear if the team planned to use him as a starter or out of the bullpen.
The 27-year-old will start on Friday against St. Louis in Grapefruit League action, but it will look more like a regular season relief appearance.
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“He’s very versatile,” Mendoza said. “We got six starters that are healthy. Knock on wood here, he’s gonna ne pitching out of the bullpen in a multi-inning role. This is a guy that is going to get big outs for us. He’s gonna pitch in a lot of different situations — high leverage, medium leverage low leverage if we need to.
“And if we go that route where there’s a need for starting pitching, he’s in the consideration. That’s why we got him built him up to almost 70 pitches. Now, it’s more like how we’ll potentially be using him in the regular season. Today, he’s only going to go a couple of innings, no more than 35 pitches.”
Mendoza noted the team is being “mindful” how they use Myers in case of an early season injury to one of the six starters. The right-hander has made 31 career starts out of his 49 appearances, but 25 of them came during the 2024 season as he pitched mostly out of the bullpen in 2025.
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