Spring Training Game Thread. March 2nd, 2019, 12:10 CST. Astros vs. Mets

If there’s a “can’t miss” Spring Training game this is it. Two aces open as we are now less than a month away from the regular season. The top four in today’s lineup could well be what we will see a lot in the regular season: Geroge Springer, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley.

Yesterday the Astros tied the Cardinals 4-4. Looking deeper at the kind of details you should be looking at during Spring Training there were good and bad indications coming from the game.

First, on the good side, Carlos Correa looks as good as he ever has, swinging freely, making monster contact, and pulling the ball, something he could not do last year very often. He had a line shot double down the left field line and missed a 400 foot home run just foul of the left field line.

On the down side, if the battle for fifth starter is between Framber Valdez and Brad Peacock, Valdez’ opening in last night’s game confirmed the worst fears of his critics. The control bug-a-boo has not left, and yesterday, unlike so many games last year, he was not able to pitch around it. In 1.1 innings he allowed 2 walks, both of which scored, three hits, and two earned runs.

Here is today’s lineup.

You can hear the game on KBME, 790 AM.

You can watch the Mets feed on KPIX and MLBN (available in Houston)