Mets' Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer to pitch in same game Sunday
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom throws a pitch at spring training on Thursday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Even in March, the Mets’ pitching plans for Sunday mean must-watch baseball.
Jacob deGrom will start and Max Scherzer will appear in relief against the Cardinals at Clover Park, pitting a pair of aces — winners of a combined five Cy Young Awards — against a lineup that may well be comprised largely of minor-leaguers.
The 1 p.m. exhibition will be broadcast on PIX11.
If both righthanders take a normal spring-training step forward from their previous outing, deGrom will go about three innings/45 pitches and Scherzer will aim for six innings/90 pitches. They might pitch the entire game themselves.
“They’re probably good enough to potentially do that,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner cracked. “When I flashed the idea to Max, he was like, ‘I’m going to close it down.’
“It’ll be fun. It’ll be good for the fans," Hefner continued. "What an afternoon, what an opportunity for a family to come in and go to the yard to watch deGrom and Scherzer throw in the same game. That may never happen again. Pretty cool opportunity for fans and us to get to witness that.”
On Saturday against the Nationals, it’ll be lefthander David Peterson and righthander Taijuan Walker, his spring training debut. He has been behind the other starters because of right knee surgery in January. Chris Bassitt will make his first Grapefruit League appearance Tuesday against the Marlins.
Contract talk
Of the Mets’ 14 arbitration-eligible players, only Bassitt is headed to a hearing to determine his 2022 salary. He is OK with that.
“My entire outlook is, I care about baseball. I don’t give a [expletive] about my contract,” said Bassitt, whom the Mets acquired via trade with the Athletics on March 12 and is scheduled to be a free agent after this season. “That’s why I pay my agent. So my agent gets to fight with the front office and that’s it. I don’t care.”
Extra bases
Drew Smith pitched a scoreless intrasquad inning, seeming fine despite dealing with soreness on the top of his right foot. He said that was brought on by an uncomfortable new cleat, which he has since abandoned . . . Starling Marte (sore left oblique) will play in another minor-league game Friday but again has been instructed not to swing the bat.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
