Most of the intrigue around Spring Training for the Mets has revolved around the return of Matt Harvey.
Harvey passed his first test this week with flying colors, and though it’s still early, it looks like he may be ready to return to his dominant self sooner that you’d expect following Tommy John surgery. The Mets are still trying to figure out who will start Opening Day, but barring injuries or a trade, it looks like the team has their starting five set (Harvey, deGrom, Wheeler, Niese, Colon), with Gee shuffling to a long relief/spot start role.
As for the offense, the Mets have their starting eight locked down (unless you believe Terry Collins’ claim that Ruben Tejada is competing for the shortstop job with Wilmer Flores). The only roster spot up for grabs is the fifth outfielder/left-handed bat for the bench. That spot will go to either Kirk Nieuwenhuis or Matt Den Dekker. Going into the Spring, “Captain Kirk” appeared to be the favorite.
Nieuwenhuis is out of options, meaning if the Mets tried to send him to AAA, they would need to put him through waivers and risk losing him for nothing. Den Dekker still has options, so the prevailing thought was that he would have to severely outplay Nieuwenhuis to avoid starting the season in Las Vegas.
We’re only a few games deep into Spring Training games, but Nieuwenhuis seems ready to put any thought of a competition to bed. He has started out on fire, going 9 for 15 (.600) with two doubles through his first four games. After spending the last couple of seasons shuffling between AAA and the bigs, can Nieuwenhuis finally stick with the Mets all year? Nieuwenhuis brings excellent defense, some speed, and pop that could make him more than just a spare part at the end of the bench.
Collins will try to get him some starts in place of Cuddyer and Granderson to keep his bat sharp while giving the older veterans some rest. With Cuddyer’s recent injury history, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kirk get 200+ at bats. It will be interesting to see if Captain Kirk is ready for the challenge.
