Spring Training Game Chat: Mets vs Cardinals, 1:05 PM

Saturday, March 7, 2026 • 1:05 PM
Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium • Jupiter, FL
RHP Kodai Senga (0-0, -.–) vs. RHP Kyle Leahy (1-1, 9/64)
Matrix Midwest • Cardinals.TV

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, you will be able to watch the Mets in the New York metro area without MLB.TV, logging on to a single camera in a ballpark on another team’s website, or hoping that someone in the stands is live-streaming the whole game.

What we are missing today is one of the more important spring debuts – Kodai Senga. Senga pitched 73 2/3 innings over his first 13 games with the Mets in 2025 with a 1.47 ERA and 3.24 FIP. The Mets went 9-4 in those games. He was a different pitcher when he came back from injury, totaling only 39 2/3 innings over nine games with a 5.90 ERA and a 5.76 FIP. The Mets went 5-4 in those games. He accepted a move to the minors to end the season to work on his mechanics. If the Mets get the first half of 2025 version of Senga back, they will have another ace in their rotation. Today is the first step in finding out who Senga will be!

Mets Lineup

1. Mike Tauchman – RF
2. Jorge Polanco – DH
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Brett Baty – 1B
5. Luis Torrens – C
6. Ronny Mauricio – SS
7. Jose Rojas – LF
8. Cristian Pache – CF
9. Jackson Cluff – 2B

Opposing Lineup

1. Masyn Winn – SS
2. Alec Burleson – 1B
3. Iván Herrera – DH
4. Nolan Gorman – 3B
5. JJ Wetherholt – 2B
6. Pedro Pagés – C
7. Joshua Baez – RF
8. Victor Scott II – CF
9. Miguel Ugueto – LF

Game Notes

• Kodai Senga makes his spring debut today against the Cardinals. Carlos Mendoza has labeled him as healthy heading into spring training, with the hopes of getting a full season out of the Japanese native.
• Nolan McLean left the team Friday to join Team USA in the WBC. The righty looked stellar in his only outing this spring, striking out six over four scoreless innings.
• Jorge Polanco is back in the lineup today for the Mets. The switch-hitter recorded a hit and walk in three plate appearances in his first and only appearance with the Mets this spring.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Kodai Senga. Sean Manaea had an effective outing yesterday, but his velocity was quite a bit lower (3-4 mph) than it was last year. Way too early to panic about Manaea, but that’s also a reminder of what we should look at for Senga this afternoon. Senga’s fastball averaged 94.7 mph in 2025, which was down from 95.8 in 2024 (95.7 in 2023 when he had a full season). His cutter was also down a bit in 2025 sitting at 89.6 mph, and it was 90.8 in 2023.
2. Cristian Pache. All Pache does this spring is hit. The former top prospect is trying to break onto the Mets roster as a non-roster invitee. Over six games, he has gone 8-for-13 with two doubles, a home run, a stolen base, and two walks (.615/.667/1.000).
3. Bo Bichette. Is Bichette having a quietly good spring? Or are all the Mets having a quiet spring because they just haven’t been on SNY for a week? Anyway, Bichette has played in five games far this spring going 4-for-12 at the plate with a double (.333/.308/.417). He has been as advertised, meaning he’s getting on base and already has two RBI’s.

Let’s go Mets!

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