Who's on first? And other questions for Mets

Opening Day roster coming into focus with a few issues still to resolve

March 22nd, 2019

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Empty lockers are no longer few and far between at Mets camp. A trio of cuts on Friday morning -- relievers Tyler Bashlor, Tim Peterson and Daniel Zamora -- left 36 players on the roster. The Mets will need to shave 11 more off the team over the next six days.

With the club’s Opening Day roster picture coming into focus, here’s a look at the issues still at hand:

Catcher
Mets officials have begun sending strong signals that , who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, could start the season on the injured list. That would open the door for , who exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract but went unclaimed by the other 29 teams, to break camp with the club.

“Missing a year is tough,” manager Mickey Callaway said of d’Arnaud. “We’re trying to get him in a good spot. If we can’t, we have alternatives.”

Because the Mets can now freely send Mesoraco to the Minors, it’s possible they could pass over him in favor of , who is already on their 40-man roster. (Either catcher would serve as Wilson Ramos’ backup.) But Nido is hitting only .150 with a .390 OPS in 13 Grapefruit League games.

First base
It would be a surprise, at this point, if the Mets do not carry both Pete Alonso and on their Opening Day roster. The trick will be finding playing time for both. Callaway has said the situation will not be a strict platoon, and he has hinted that he will not simply name one of those two the starter. Instead, the Mets will rely on matchup data to determine the starter on any given day.

Bench
Like Mesoraco, infielder and outfielder went unclaimed after exercising the upward mobility clauses in their Minor League deals. That means the Mets can send both to the Minors without penalty, as long as the team pays them roster retention bonuses.

Of the two, Hechavarria is far more likely to make the team, though he’ll need to beat out , who has outperformed him at the plate and is already on the 40-man roster. Davis would struggle to find playing time in the Mets’ outfield mix, making him a more likely candidate to head to Triple-A Syracuse.

All told, the Mets’ bench will consist of the aforementioned backup catcher, middle infielder and first baseman, plus outfielder and one other player -- at this point, almost certainly corner infielder , though he’s taking nothing for granted.

“I have a Twitter account but I delete it during the season,” Davis said when asked about drowning out the roster noise. “I don’t pay attention to it. I don’t read stuff about the Mets. … It just helps me to stay locked in, especially at this time of year when it’s crunch time.”

Bullpen
Luis Avilan’s likely addition to the Opening Day bullpen leaves one spot for three hopefuls: Kyle Dowdy, Ryan O’Rourke and Hector Santiago. Of the three, Dowdy -- a Rule 5 Draft pick -- is the only one on the 40-man roster; by carrying him, the Mets could theoretically keep all three in their organization.

“We love the stuff. We love the kid and what he’s about and how he goes about his business,” Callaway said of Dowdy. “We’ll have to see what happens here in the next few days. I hope he’s still in the organization when the time comes, but that’s not always the case in this situation.”

Santiago jumped out to a strong start this spring, but in his last two outings, he has given up 11 runs on 14 hits -- seven of them for extra bases. (After both of those starts, Santiago departed the ballpark without speaking to reporters.) Those performances likely put him behind Dowdy and O’Rourke on the Mets’ preference list.