DUNEDIN, Fla. – Tobias Myers gave the Mets reason to be hopeful about the right-hander Monday as he was impressive in his first appearance with the team.
Since being acquired from Milwaukee in the offseason, the Mets made sure Myers wasn’t just a throw-in with starter Freddy Peralta.
They wanted someone to replace Brandon Sproat, a top prospect who was part of the package sent to the Brewers.
Myers pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-3 win over Toronto at TD Ballpark, with no walks and three strikeouts.
More importantly, it was a chance for Myers — who is expected to pitch in a multi-inning role this season — to work on some of the new pitches he’s added to his repertoire over the past year.
There was the splitter he added in the second half of last season and is still refining, as well as a slider he and pitching coach Justin Willard added over a week ago.
“I threw the slider a lot today,” Myers said. “They probably think it’s a curveball that’s pretty big and I want to get it [velocity] about that.”
According to Myers, the splitter is more effective than the change he previously implemented.
While he’s making sure the pitch looks nothing like teammate Kodai Senga’s famous ghost fork, Myers did say that having experienced pitchers like Senga and Clay Holmes around — pitchers who are also adept at moving the ball through the zone — will help his development.
The Mets have said that Myers will open the season on the Major League roster, whether in the rotation or in the bullpen, and that he could get a start in the spring, especially when Holmes and Nolan McLean head to the World Baseball Classic.
In the meantime, manager Carlos Mendoza has liked what he’s seen, especially the “life” on Myers’ fastball.
Nick Morabito made his presence felt in all facets of the game on Monday.
The outfielder, who played all of last season at Double-A Binghamton, hit an RBI single off José Berríos to steal second.
He also made a great running catch down the left field line on a fly ball by Daulton Varsho.
Afterwards, Mendoza called Morabito “a baseball player.”
“He’s a guy who’s a pretty good defender, he has good at-bats, puts the ball in play and runs the bases,” Mendoza said. “He can win games.”
The Mets haven’t been shy about trying to steal bases this spring and Mendoza said he expects more of that.
“We will always be aggressive, especially when the situation arises,” Mendoza said. “We have the staff.”
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