Spring Training Game Chat: Mets vs. Cardinals, 1:05 PM
Friday, February 27, 2026 • 1:05 PM
Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium • Jupiter, FL
RHP Freddy Peralta (0-0, -.–) vs. LHP Quinn Matthews (0-0, 10.80)
It’s been a busy week for the Mets. We had Jonah Tong and Nolan McLean’s first starts of spring. We’ve seen the first spring training home runs from Marcus Semien and Ronny Mauricio. There has been a lot to be excited about.
That all continues today as two critical players for the 2026 Mets make their spring training debuts. The Mets entered the offseason needing a frontline starter and a star closer. Devin Williams, while not the first choice for the latter, looks to bounce back and return to his former self as the Mets’ new closer. Freddy Peralta was the playoff-contending move the Mets desperately needed to make. It’s a great day!
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Mets Lineup
- Carson Benge – RF
- Juan Soto – LF
- Christian Arroyo – 3B
- Jose Rojas – 1B
- Hayden Senger – C
- MJ Melendez – DH
- Vidal Bruján – 2B
- Jackson Cluff – SS
- Nick Morabito – CF
Starting Pitcher: Freddy Peralta
Opposing Lineup
- JJ Wetherholt – DH
- José Fermín – SS
- Nolan Gorman – 3B
- Nelson Velázquez – LF
- Ramón Urías – 2B
- Thomas Saggese – CF
- Pedro Pagés – C
- Nathan Church – RF
- Blaze Jordan – 1B
Starting Pitcher: Quinn Matthews
Game Notes
- Justin Hagenman, Huascar Brazoban, Williams and Alex Carrillo are the Mets’ scheduled pitchers after Peralta’s outing is finished.
- Craig Kimbrel, who signed a minor league deal with the Mets in January, is set to make his spring debut for the club on Saturday against the Washington Nationals at Clover Park.
Three Things To Watch For
- Freddy Peralta. The Mets have been searching for an established, major league ace to anchor the rotation for the last couple of seasons, and they finally got one in Peralta. He is coming off of his best season in the majors, as he had a 5.5 bWAR with a 2.70 ERA, 3.64 FIP, 1.075 WHIP and a 154 ERA+ over 176 2/3 innings for the Milwaukee Brewers. Today he finally makes his Grapefruit League Mets debut!
- Devin Williams. Williams’ Mets journey starts today! The Mets were hoping to have Williams and Edwin Díaz in the back of the bullpen this year, but that wasn’t meant to be. Williams is coming off of a down year with the Yankees where he posted a -0.3 bWAR over 62 innings with a 4.79 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 1.129 WHIP and an 85 ERA+ over 62 innings. It was a major departure from his six years with the Brewers, where he had an 1.83 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 1.023 WHIP and 231 ERA+. The Mets are hoping that is the version of Williams that shows up when closing out games in the ninth inning this season.
- Home runs. Save some home runs for the regular season! The Mets enter play today tied with the Royals for fifth in MLB with nine home runs this spring. The Yankees are running away at the top of the leaderboard with 15 homers, followed by the Diamondbacks and Rockies, who each have 12. The power on the Mets has come from regular, major league players and minor league players. Yesterday Semien and Tyrone Taylor hit homers off of Tatsuya Imai. The day before that, Mike Tauchman and Mauricio hit home runs in the first inning. All nine home runs have come from nine different players too!
Let’s go Mets!
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