MMO from Port St. Lucie: Clay Holmes Looks Competition Ready

The baseball continues to roll on!

After the first full team workout on Monday, the Mets continued to build toward their first spring training game of the season on Saturday. (Carlos Mendoza said Brandon Waddell will start the first spring game.) Pitchers continued to ramp up to a real workload, hitters looked to keep getting comfortable, and everyone (yes, everyone) worked on their fielding/fundamentals.

And like Monday, the stars were out for the media and fans to see all over the field on Tuesday. Here were some key takeaways from the day with St. Lucie.

A Moment for Batting Practice

After plenty of conditioning and fielding work, the Mets dove into on-field batting practice.

Today, I focused on watching Juan Soto, Francisco Alvarez, and Mark Vientos. All three players started off in a similar fashion, focusing on hitting balls up the middle and the opposite way.

In the following rounds, though, the trio of hitters lets it fly. All three of Soto, Vientos, and Alvarez lasered the ball all over the field, showcasing their ability to do damage as hitters.

BP rounds from Mark Vientos, Juan Soto, and Francisco Alvarez. #Mets pic.twitter.com/tUK2Hyk5jR

— Brandyn Pokrass (@BPok24) February 17, 2026

This extended into the post-batting practice period as well. Francisco Alvarez spoke with and worked with Mets legend Carlos Beltrán on swing adjustments, specifically regarding his hand placement on his “load.”

After he was done batting practice session, Francisco Alvarez was working and talking with Carlos Beltrán about hitting adjustments. #Mets

— Brandyn Pokrass (@brandyn-pokrass.bsky.social) 2026-02-17T16:21:51.318Z

Holmes Headlines Live BP

In the live period today, plenty of players had their moments, but none were better than pitcher Clay Holmes.

The former reliever looked competition-ready today, striking out multiple batters across multiple “innings” of work. (This makes sense, as Holmes is due to pitch in the World Baseball Classic in two weeks.) The fastball was not only located well, but generated whiffs from some of the best batters on the roster. Holmes also displayed the lethal capability of his off-speed pitches, namely his slider. Located well and having sharp break, hitters struggled to square it up consistently, if at all.

Clay Holmes looking ready for the WBC today. Notched two strikeouts against Polanco and Bichette, while also forcing some ground balls. Really liked how the slider worked off the fastball today, too. #Mets pic.twitter.com/z4Q8YatDaT

— Brandyn Pokrass (@BPok24) February 17, 2026

Freddy Peralta also pitched again for New York, and I enjoyed what I saw. Despite allowing a few hits, Perlata did a nice job limiting hard contact throughout his outing on Tuesday. His fastball had life all day, never truly allowing hitters to square it up consistently. And while his offspeed was not “elite” today, it did a nice job keeping hitters off balance and did have some sharp break to it. He also notched a strikeout against Mark Vientos.

More from Freddy Peralta. He did a nice job battling back against Juan Soto to force a fly ball to RF, while he also notched a strikeout against Mark Vientos. #Mets pic.twitter.com/haFrQIlrqw

— Brandyn Pokrass (@BPok24) February 17, 2026

On the hitting side of things, here are some other notes from live pitcher and hitter reps today:

• Hayden Senger had a great swing off of Freddy Perlata, lacing the ball deep into left field.
• Marcus Semien had two hits in batting practice, which were both smoked. One was up the middle, and one was to LF down the line. It is very good to see one of the newest Mets get some great live swings under his belt. 
• Mark Vientos put some very nice swings on the ball today, even if they weren’t all hits. Very good to see from him in a very, very important spring for him. 

Progression Plans for the Spring Ahead

In his Tuesday press conference, manager Carlos Mendoza announced that Brandon Waddell will start the first game against the Marlins and that he will see who will follow him in the game.

When asked about outfielder Luis Robert Jr., Mendoza said that the “elite tools” are there for him to succeed and noted that he will be on a “progression.”

“We are going to be proactive. He will not be playing in games right out of the gate,” Mendoza said. “This is something that when we traded for him, our trainers identified some of the things that need to be strengthened, specifically the lower half [of his body]. He is going through full workouts and will be getting live at-bats, but in terms of putting him in a game, we do not want to put him there out of the gate.”

Additionally, Mendoza said that Francisco Alvarez, Jorge Polanco, and Brett Baty are on progressions, too. No early spring training games for them. Regarding Baty, Mendoza said that Baty felt something in his hamstring a few weeks ago, so they are slow-playing it. He added that it is nothing serious, but there will be no outfield work for him as of now.

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