The Mets rode tremendous pitching from a pair of prospects and a seven-run inning to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday afternoon.
After the game, manager Carlos Mendoza spoke to the media to give updates on his players and the organization's thoughts about their pitching prospects and some of their new additions.
Here's what was said...
Update on Luisangel Acuña
Acuña was struck in the elbow by a fastball from Rays starter Shane McClanahan in the top of the second inning. Despite his obvious pain, Acuña remained in the game and stole second base, but was pulled in the top of the third.
When asked for an update on the young infielder, Mendoza seemed positive that Acuña was ok.
"Talking to the trainers, they’re not too concerned," Mendoza said. "Got him in the elbow. Got him pretty good, obviously. Got the pad there in the left elbow and it got him good. We’ll check him again tomorrow, but as of right now, the trainers are telling me he should be fine."
Mendoza said that Acuña did not take an X-ray and wouldn't be needing any imaging "as of right now."
Dom Hamel looked at as a starter
Saturday's win was highlighted by what Blade Tidwell did, but you can't overlook how Hamel pitched.
The 25-year-old right-hander allowed just one walk in two no-hit innings while striking out three. Last season, Hamel made 27 starts in Triple-A, where he pitched to a 5-9 record and a 6.79 ERA. He made just one spring training start last season in two appearances, and has yet to make a start this spring. Despite that, the Mets see Hamel as a starter and are starting to treat him as such.
"We’re going to continue to stretch him out and build him up as a starter," Mendoza said.
In his first appearance this spring, Hamel threw 13 pitches. On Saturday, Hamel was pushed, slightly, to 16 pitches, but he pitched two innings instead of one like he did in his first appearance.
"We were challenging a lot of our guys coming to have a real clear plan of what to do on that day," Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. "We need to have clear direction on what we're trying to do. And I think that was encapsulated by Blade and Dom today. It was a clear view of what they wanted to do, and they executed really well."