Game Thread: Nats vs. Mets in Port St. Lucie
Jake Irvin faces a star-studded New York lineup, and James Wood is back in his familiar spot in left field this afternoon
Fresh off a 4-4 tie (already their second of the spring) with the Astros on Friday night, the Nationals are in Port St. Lucie this afternoon to face the Mets for the first time in 2026. And these aren’t the Syracuse Mets. These are, for the most part, the New York Mets taking the field today, with a 1-through-6 in the lineup of Semien, Soto, Bichette, Baty, Alvarez and Vientos.
So, that’s the test for Jake Irvin, who makes his second start of the spring. Irvin was pleased with the two scoreless innings he threw earlier this week against a less-star-studded Phillies lineup, though he did walk two batters. The right-hander notably threw only 15 fastballs (four-seamers and sinkers) out of his 43 total pitches, something worth watching again today and as we proceed. Is there a concrete plan in place for him and others on the staff who don’t have overpowering fastballs to throw more breaking balls? We shall see.
The Nationals’ position players have mostly been playing every other day to this point, so we’re mostly seeing the guys today who played Thursday in Clearwater. That includes James Wood and Daylen Lile, though they’re back in their previous positions, with Wood in left field and Lile in right field. This is another thing to monitor the rest of camp, whether Blake Butera has them moving around on a regular basis or ultimately settling into one spot in the outfield.
You can watch today’s game on MLB.TV, with the Mets’ SNY crew calling the game. If you’re really a glutton for punishment, you can watch a re-air of the game on MLB Network at 6 a.m. Sunday!
WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Clover Park, Port St. Lucie
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.TV (Mets feed)
Radio: None
Weather: Chance of rain, 80 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right
NATIONALS
SS Nasim Nuñez
LF James Wood
RF Daylen Lile
3B Brady House
CF Robert Hassell III
1B Andrés Chaparro
C Harry Ford
DH Riley Adams
2B Seaver King
RHP Jake Irvin
METS
2B Marcus Semien
LF Juan Soto
3B Bo Bichette
1B Brett Baty
C Francisco Alvarez
DH Mark Vientos
RF Mike Tauchman
CF Tyrone Taylor
SS Ronny Mauricio
RHP Tobias Myers
Three solid scoreless innings for Irvin today on 44 pitches. He wound up throwing more breaking balls in that final inning, but he did maintain his fastball velocity, averaging 92.3 mph for the outing. He also got two of his four strikeouts on what registered as sliders but I believe were his new sweeper. All in all, good stuff from Jake.
Nasim Nuñez continues to show he has the ability to drive the ball for power. He crushed an inside cutter from Tobias Myers to the wall down the right-field line for a double in the top of the third. That's the kind of swing we saw from him last September. And if he keeps that, he's going to force his way into some regular playing time.