Stretched Out Clay

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Beehiiv informed me Gmail doesn’t allow gifs that are more than 1MB. The problem is pretty much all gifs are over 1MB? If the gifs don’t show up, click the “read online” option. 

Clay Holmes threw four good innings while Tyrone Taylor and Chris Suero hit solo home runs as the Mets walked off the Houston Astros 4-3. 

Holmes’ start to the day was inauspicious, as Jose Altuve singled to center on a ball that just went over a leaping Marcus Semien. Holmes shrugged it off and fanned Isaac Paredes looking at a sweeper. After Altuve swiped second base, Zach Cole grounded out to second, and Yainer Diaz did the same to end the top of the first.

In the second, Joey Loperfido led off with an infield hit. Jack Winkler reached and Loperfido ended up at third on a throwing error by shortstop Vidal Bruján (Mauricio would never.) With nobody out and runners on the corners, Holmes went to work. Joseph Sullivan struck out looking at a curveball. This surprised Steve Gelbs in the SNY booth, noting that Holmes said he wouldn’t use his new curve to get strike outs, just to get ahead of hitters. Well, he lied to you Steve. Then, Riley Unroe hit a first pitch sinker right to Bruján, who stepped on second and fired to first for an inning-ending double play.

The Astros broke through in the third. Nick Allen dumped a ball over Semien’s head in very shallow right to start. Holmes walked Altuve, and then Allen stole third. This set up a classic sacrifice fly situation. Paredes attempted to oblige, but Carson Benge in right had other plans.

Benge was a pitcher you know.

You know. Zach Cole came up next and hit a ball 392 feet to get Allen home to make it 1-0 Astros. Yainer Diaz grounded out to the second baseman Semien, who made a nifty half-slide on the play that is routine for him.

Holmes’ fourth and final inning found him at his best. Loperfido lined out to Tyrone Taylor in left, and Jack Winkler and Sullivan both struck out, the latter swinging at a sinker. Holmes allowed one earned run on three hits in four innings, walking one and striking out four. He recorded seven swings and misses. 43 percent of his 63 pitches were sinkers. He threw his new curveball just three times. Holmes’ average velo on his pitches were slightly higher than they were in 2025, which goes to show you how ahead he is of most other pitchers in camp. Clay is off to represent team USA in the WBC.

With one out in the fourth, Taylor hit his second homer of the spring, this one a laser beam to left off the righty Kai-Wei Teng. TT’s flyout in his other at-bat had an exit velocity of 104 mph, so it’s safe to write that Taylor is hitting the ball really well so far. Imagine a Tyrone Taylor that can hit?! 

RHP Alimber Santa came in for Houston, and he gave the Mets the gift of walks. With two out he gave free passes to both Christian Arroyo and Bruján. This set up Cristian Pache’s RBI double up the middle scoring Arroyo and giving the Mets a 2-1 advantage. Pache is hitting .727. 

Jack Wenninger came in to replace Holmes for the Metsies. He struck out two in a 1-2-3 fifth, but completely lost control in the sixth. First he walked Paredes. Then Paredes’ pinch runner was caught stealing. Zach Cole and Yainer Diaz walked, then both advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. Then Loperfido walked to load the bases. Carlos Mendoza brought in RHP Bryce Conley to mop up. Conley of course walked Winkler, tying the ballgame. Fortunately, Sullivan struck out looking and didn’t challenge the close call for some reason, and Unroe on the very first pitch he saw flied out to the left fielder Chris Suero in foul territory. 

In some spring training shenanigans, Wenninger was allowed to start the seventh. He got Tommy Sacco Jr. to fly out, but then he walked Jax Biggers. Will Bush doubled to left center on a play A.J. Ewing almost made a great catch on. 

That was it for Wenninger, again. Time for Bryce Conley, again. Conley uncorked a wild pitch that brought in Biggers to give the Astros a 3-2 lead. 

The Mets tied it up in the bottom half of the frame. Chris Suero hit a ball 381 feet to left center that either hit the top of the Clover Park outfield wall or went off the left fielder’s glove. Either way, it tied the fake game at three. 

In the top of the ninth, the lefty Matt Turner struck out all three batters he faced in an impressive half-inning. His reward was to be reassigned to minor league camp.

Against RHP Amos Willingham in the bottom of the ninth, Austin Barnes doubled to center. Suero walked. Jackson Cluff hit a weak tapper to Willingham, moving Barnes’ pinch runner John Bay over to third and Suero to second. Against RHP Alex Santos, Yonny Hernández hit a weak fly to left for the second out. Yonatan Hernandez was the hero instead, stroking an RBI single to give the Mets the fake win.

Carson Benge didn’t have the best day at the plate. He went 0 for 3 and lost a challenge on a strike call. He’s still hitting .308 this spring.

The Mets optioned RHP Alex Carrillo to Triple-A and reassigned LHP Anderson Severino and LHP Matt Turner to minor league camp.

Kodai Senga will "likely" pitch for the Mets on Saturday against the Cardinals, per Carlos Mendoza. The Ghost Fork practitioner struck out a couple of batters in live BP yesterday.

Carlos Mendoza said that if all of his starting pitchers are healthy there will be a six-man rotation, saying “We have six starters”, with the caveat that Freddy Peralta would probably not be asked to take an extra day of rest. Ron Darling suggested the other day that the Mets should go to a five-man rotation because Senga had been with the team “long enough.”

Poor INF Grae Kessinger suffered "a pretty significant injury" to his hamstring. He’ll be out at least 8-12 weeks and might need surgery. He hurt himself running to first the other day.

Some Mets were asked what is one thing that everyone pretends to like but actually doesn’t. Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong argued over black coffee and candy corn. 

Ron Darling told a wild story about the time he worked the offseason bar mitzvah circuit. He and Phil Simms worked one in Woodstock featuring exotic animals.

Let’s take a look at the Mets ABS challenge scoreboard:

Holmes and McLean are looking forward to being teammates with Clayton Kershaw the next two weeks.

The Mets signed the delightfully named RHP Dan Hammer to a two-year minor league deal, according to Anthony DiComo. He hasn’t gotten past the Double-A level, but he has 303 strikeouts in 249.2 minor league innings. 

Nine years ago today, Luis Guillorme saved some of his teammates’ lives by catching Adeiny Hechavarria’s bat as it flew towards the dugout.

On this day in 1988, the Mets named Gary Carter co-captain. Wait, you can do that?

No game today. The Mets will be back in action tomorrow. RHP Jonah Tong will get the start against Mark Vientos and Team Nicaragua.