Mendoza steps into spotlight for first full-squad meeting

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- For days leading up to his inaugural team address as Mets manager, Carlos Mendoza stressed about what he might say. He jotted down notes. He contemplated the topic.

Then the day arrived, and Mendoza simply spoke off the top of his head.

“Once I stood there, it was just nothing that I took notes on,” Mendoza said, laughing. “It came out natural.”

Mendoza’s message was the typical one that managers tend to deliver on the morning of their first full-squad workout. They want players to understand their expectations. They reveal their goals for the season.

“There are certain things that come with playing in New York and certain standards that we hold ourselves accountable to,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “And so we’ll do that throughout the whole season and each and every day.”

In addition to being Mendoza’s first full-squad meeting as Mets manager, it was his first at the helm of any Major League team. President of baseball operations David Stearns also spoke to the group, while owner Steve Cohen watched from inside the room. Cohen, who has been working remotely from Florida for a portion of this month, showed up to camp for the occasion but generally prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

In this and other ways, Cohen wants his first-year manager to lead things.

“A lot of guys after the meeting stopped by and appreciated what was said there -- not only players, but a lot of the coaches and overall in the organization,” Mendoza said. “We felt that it was well-received.”

Outfielder Harrison Bader, who knows Mendoza from their mutual time with the Yankees from 2022-23, said he noticed a tone that was in many ways familiar, in others different.

“We’re all living our dreams out every single day, which we’re so grateful for,” Bader said. “His is to be a manager. He finally has an opportunity to do it.”

Great Scott!
Early live batting practice sessions tend to favor pitchers, given that hitters have yet to hone their timing at the plate. That leads to sideways glances and occasional smirks when a pitcher unleashes something particularly devilish.

So far this spring, prospect Christian Scott may lead the league in eliciting those types of reactions. During a live BP session Monday on a back field at Clover Park, Scott generated lots of soft contact, at least one whiff and a memorable reaction from teammate DJ Stewart.

“I don’t think it was just because it’s Day 1 for us,” Stewart said. “He threw me everything for strikes. Off-speed looked really good, changeup looked really good, ride on the fastball. I like it.”

The organization’s 12th-ranked prospect (but destined to climb higher when MLB Pipeline releases its 2024 edition in early March), Scott is coming off a season that saw him jump two levels to Double-A Binghamton and produce a 2.57 ERA over 19 starts. He and Mike Vasil are the pitching prospects most likely to debut in the first half of this season should a need arise in the big league rotation.

“Ever since I was little, I thought I could get here,” Scott said. “It’s having that confidence in yourself, in your abilities, in your preparation, in your routine, treating every single day to see how you can get better that day.”

Scott’s biggest camp surprise may have come courtesy of Jeff McNeil, a notoriously aggressive hitter who has established a tradition of swinging at the first pitch he sees during his first live BP session of each spring. (On this occasion, McNeil popped up Scott’s pitch.)

What’s in a number?
Minor League signing Luke Voit reported to camp on Monday and was issued uniform No. 99. If he wears it in the Majors, he’ll be just the third Mets player to do so, joining Turk Wendell and Taijuan Walker.

There isn’t an obvious path to playing time for Voit, who signed two days after New York inked another first baseman, Ji Man Choi, to a Minor League contract. But Voit, who owns an .807 career OPS in the Majors, does give the Mets coverage in the event of a Pete Alonso injury. He can also push Mark Vientos for DH reps.

“I’m excited to have him here in camp,” said Mendoza, who coached Voit from 2018-21 in the Bronx. “I’m pretty familiar with him. Obviously, the organization got a little taste when he joined toward the end of last year when he was in Triple-A. He’s going to be in the mix. We’ve been talking a lot about the depth, and he provides that.”