The box score says spring training. The tone of the afternoon said something else. The New York Mets played this one like a club already sick of talking about potential and ready to bank real outs, real swings, real innings. They beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3, with some arms showing their worth.
A starter who actually looked like one
Clay Holmes didn’t dominate in the flashy, radar-gun way that gets fans chirping on Twitter. He did something better. He looked stretched out, calm, and annoyingly efficient, which is exactly what this Mets staff needs behind its headline arms.
Holmes giving them 3.2 innings on 57 pitches matters more than the two-run homer he surrendered to Kazuma Okamoto. Starters in February aren’t judged on perfection. They’re judged on whether they look like they belong in a real rotation, and Holmes absolutely did.
This team doesn’t need miracles from him. It needs innings. Real ones. He looks ready to provide them.
The Tobias Myers subplot is getting interesting
Tobias Myers arrived from Milwaukee in the Freddy Peralta deal with almost no buzz outside stat-head circles. That’s already changing. Two and a third scoreless innings with no walks and three strikeouts isn’t just a tidy line — it’s the profile of a guy who knows how to attack hitters.
And he wasn’t doing it against a beer-league lineup either. This Toronto order featured legit names like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, Andres Gimenez, Addison Barger, and other everyday-caliber bats from the Toronto Blue Jays roster.
Myers is forcing the Mets to think about where he fits, and that’s how spring surprises start.
Pache’s swing and the sneaky depth story
Cristian Pache launching the seventh-inning homer didn’t shake the stadium. Spring crowds don’t really do earthquakes. What it did do was underline something the Mets quietly built this winter: usable depth that isn’t just filler.
Pache isn’t supposed to carry an offense. We don’t even know if he’s making the team. For a day, however, he was ableto shine. At worst, he gives you defense plus the occasional bolt like that.
Ronny Mauricio and MJ Melendez chipping in doubles fits the same theme. Nobody’s screaming superstar production, but the lineup didn’t have that lifeless, split-squad feel Mets fans have seen too many times in past camps.
The weirdest spring stat belongs to Jackson Cluff
Jackson Cluff going 2-for-2 with a walk, run, and steal pushed his spring average to .667, which is the kind of number that makes broadcasters chuckle and front offices quietly check swing data. He’s not making the roster off that number alone. Still, performances like this get you remembered when injuries hit in May.
That matters. The Mets learned last year the hard way that organizational depth isn’t trivia — it’s survival.
What this actually means heading toward real games
The Mets moving to face the Houston Astros at Clover Park next isn’t about the opponent. It’s about momentum, rhythm, and whether these early pitching stretches keep trending upward.
Because here’s the blunt truth: if Holmes is a steady inning-eater, if Myers turns into a legit swingman, and if the bottom of this roster keeps producing competent at-bats, this Mets team suddenly looks a lot less top-heavy than people assumed two weeks ago.
Spring training wins don’t count. Functional pitching depth absolutely does.