Mets Notes: Shintaro Fujinami's impressive spring debut, Jose Quintana bounces back
Here are the latest Mets notes as spring training rolls on...
Fuji has more in the tank
After being away from the team for a few days due to personal issues, right-hander Shintaro Fujinami made his highly-anticipated spring debut on Thursday night against the Washington Nationals.
Fujinami needed just 10 pitches to induce two groundouts and a flyout en route to a scoreless inning of work, but most importantly he was pounding the strike zone often.
The 29-year-old was relieved to finally get his first outing out of the way, and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza liked what he saw.
"He was really good," Mendoza said. "His first outing he came in and threw strikes, that's what we want. We know the arm, we know the stuff, when he's around the zone he's going to help us."
Fujinami, who touched 103 mph often last season, topped out at around 94 mph during this outing but afterward, he said he expects things to start trending up as he progresses.
"I could've thrown harder if I tried, as I throw more it'll get better," he said.
While it was just one inning of work, if Fujinami can pitch the way he did during Thursday's outing he could become a weapon in front of star closer Edwin Diaz in the Mets' bullpen.
Quintana's strong second outing
Mets left-hander Jose Quintana started his spring with a poor outing last week against the Houston Astros in which he allowed two runs and issued three walks across just 1.2 innings of work.
Taking the Clover Park mound on Thursday night against the Washington Nationals, you knew the veteran would be looking to bounce back, and that's exactly what he did.
Quintana faced traffic often but he was able to dance his way out of danger and allowed just one unearned run on four hits while striking out six across three strong innings.
“He was really good,” Mendoza said. “He was able to get his pitch count up. He didn’t get strike one as much as we would’ve liked, but he was able to battle back into counts quickly, which is good to see.”
With ace Kodai Senga sidelined due to a shoulder injury, Quintana is likely slotted to take the ball for New York in three weeks against the Brewers on Opening Day.
If that does end up being the case, the veteran southpaw is ready for the moment.
"It would be an honor," he said. "We don’t know who it’s going to be yet but it’s always special pitching on Opening Day. We’ll see who it’s going to be, but it’s going to be an honor."
Alvarez's big day
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez enjoyed himself a tremendous day both at the plate and in the field.
The youngster showed off his arm right off the bat in the top of the first, as he gunned down Nationals RF Lane Thomas attempting to take second following a leadoff single.
A few innings later, with slow worker Adam Ottavino on the mound, Alvarez gunned down two more runners attempting to steal second within a span of a few pitches.
He then took his prowess to the plate and demolished a 408-foot two-run homer, which ended up being the difference in the ballgame.
"Really good night," Mendoza said. "Controlling the running game has been a big emphasis here in camp, so the fact that he threw some runners out it was good to see. And then you have the swing in the two-run homer, overall a really good game."
