New York Mets right fielder Starling Marte (6) leads the bases after hitting a three-run home run in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Mets skipper Buck Showalter met with the media Tuesday morning in Port St. Lucie, Fla. to hear its first official spring 2023 training availability.
While many of the questions he answered were more about the big picture, Showalter was asked about his early interactions with Justin VerlanderHow StarMarte how he is feeling after his core muscle surgery in November and what his expectations are for the club in the new season.
Here are some key takeaways…
An early look at Justin Verlander
“We’ve obviously had some conversations since he signed with us and he has a solid reputation. Over the years everyone is different. Thank god it would be pretty boring if they were all the same. Just like all pitchers, regardless of their background or success, you try to meet their needs and create an atmosphere in which they can be as good as possible. Jeremy and I would like to think that to some extent I got our arms around it. We already had a few things that I know make him more comfortable and I want to make sure we bring them with us. He understands, he understands what’s going on, the expectations and the mantle of what he’s wearing.
To Starling Marte’s health
“So far so good. We didn’t see anything that doesn’t make us believe he won’t start the season. I know that in a perfect world he would love to play for the Dominican [in the World Baseball Classic].”
At the goal of the team coming out of spring training
“The goal of spring training is to win the division. That was last year and we got a tie last year and any tiebreaker didn’t get us there. So that’s the goal. We stood in the anteroom all year last year and we have the five squads in the team room. We’re going to compete against four other teams. We’re trying to find a way to be better than them and it’s going to be tough. They’ve done some really quality things this off-season.”
Is there extra pressure on this team?
“I think everyone understands the job descriptions, whether it’s a coach, pitching coach, manager, batting coach or player. Why shouldn’t we all share the same expectations? Some of it is what you put on yourself. You know what you are responsible for and what you want the team to do, and you take it personally. It’s no different than the expectations we had last year, but you never sneak up on anyone. Everybody knows it, every team . There are no secrets in baseball.”
Have you been on a team with so few competitions?
“There might be some competitions [people] don’t know about it. There is always something. I know from talking to Billy this morning that there are always things out there that we could do that with. We could possibly do that. There are some differences – I know we have real competition in the bullpen and some other places. Depends how you look at it. Some people might not see it that way, but in the back of our minds we know we have a few different things to focus on, so there might be a competition.”
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