Spring training recap: Mets beats Marlins 6-4

Jacob deGrom cruised through five shutout innings and Johnny Monell crushed a go-ahead homer in the eighth to cap a five-run rally as the Mets made Irish eyes smile with a St. Patty’s Day 6-4 comeback victory over the split-squad Marlins.

• deGrom needed merely 49 pitches (36 strikes) to get through five innings, allowing only a leadoff single to Jordany Valdespin, while striking out six.
• The only well-hit balls off deGrom were by Adeiny Hechavarria, who came to Miami in the trade that sent Jose Reyes to Toronto. Both balls were hit to right field; one took a nice play by Curtis Granderson in the gap to track it down. Maybe that’s why Terry Collins wants the Grandyman over there?
• On the other side of the outfield, there was a near collision in left-center between Cuddyer and Lagares on a routine fly ball. It did not appear that Lagares called for it vocally as he battled the sun.
• Terry Collins did not miss a chance to overmanage a full two weeks before the regular season. Scott Rice only faced one hitter – Jordany Valdespin beat out a chopper to second base to lead off the seventh – before getting the hook. Erik Goeddel was brought in to see how he would fare with runners on. 1950s sideshow Eddie Gaedel may have been a better option. A double and a meatball homerun later, and the Mets were behind 3-1.
• The luck of the Irish was not with Daniel Murphy today. In addition to backing up on Valdespin’s chopper when he should have charged, he also ran himself out of a scoring opportunity by trying to go to third on a ball hit right at the shortstop.
• Wilmer Flores looked fluid in the field, showing good footwork going to his left on a couple of plays, while taking an 0-for-3 at the plate.
• Jennry Mejia proved he is just as effective (and hair-raising) post-haircut, as he got the save with a tumultuous inning of work while showing off a still-dope mini-fro. After retiring the first two hitters, the tying runs got on base with singles. A diving play by Danny Muno and a nice scoop at first by Brandon Allen nailed down the last out.
• Steven Matz pitched one uneventful inning of relief.  With a shortage of lefties in the Mets' pen, might his fastest route to the majors be as a reliever?

KOST update: It should be no surprise that the top candidates for King Of Spring Training had their fingerprints all over the game-changing rally. Just look at the video game numbers below.

• Johnny Monell (.440, 3 HR, team-high 8 RBI in 25 ABs) has the name of a 1950s crooner, and if his voice is as sweet as his swing, he would be what is known in show business as a triple threat -- since he can also catch.
• John Mayberry Jr. (.480, 2 HR, 6 RBI) yanked a couple of would-be homers foul while pinch-hitting against lefty Mike Dunn, eventually settling for a walk to start the rally in eighth.
• Kirk Niewehuis (.483, team-leading 14 hits) was also in the middle of the eighth inning rally, whacking a ground-rule double and scoring in his only plate appearance.

GameThread Roll Call

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