Mets to play at Annapolis; Lugo throws

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Mets will play a March 24 exhibition against the Orioles at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the team announced Thursday.

The Mets had been scheduled to end their exhibition season on March 23, followed by a pair of off-days. Instead, they will stop in Maryland for one last game, spending the morning touring the Naval Academy and visiting with representatives from it. The game itself will take place at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.

Tickets will not be available to the public. The Naval Academy will distribute complimentary tickets to Midshipmen, as well as select Navy sailors.

Three years ago, the Mets scheduled a post-Spring Training exhibition at West Point, but they had to postpone it because of inclement weather. They did not play an off-site exhibition the following spring. In 2019, they traveled to Syracuse, N.Y., for an indoor workout at the Carrier Dome.

This will be the Mets’ first exhibition game against a Major League team outside the Grapefruit League since they played the Cubs in Las Vegas in 2016.

Note from live BP
The Mets’ hyper-competitive live batting-practice sessions continued Thursday, when Yoenis Céspedes violently swung through a high Jacob deGrom fastball on a back field. deGrom spent several moments grinning at the swing-and-miss, before the at-bat ended and he embraced Céspedes in a hug.

“Field 7 got a little bit competitive there for a minute,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said, laughing. “It got ramped up almost to like regular-season mode right there. That was good old fun, both smiling knowing that they’re two competitive players.”

On another field, Jeurys Familia generated multiple swings and misses from a hitting group including Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith and Jeff McNeil. The session was so impressive that upon its completion, catcher René Rivera ran over to Rojas to tell him about it.

“I heard really good things about how the ball was coming out of his hand,” said Rojas, who planned to watch video of Familia’s session later in the day.

Lugo progressing
Seth Lugo continued throwing off flat ground Thursday despite his fractured left pinkie toe. Lugo will refrain from throwing off a mound for at least one more day due to the injury, but he and the Mets both continue to call it a non-issue.

“It doesn’t really bother him much to throw,” Rojas said. “There are no big concerns on what he’s doing on a daily basis right now. [He’s] just not off the mound yet.”

Final preparations
The Mets plan to run a simulated game late Friday morning in their final day of practice before Grapefruit League games begin. Pitchers will not throw in the game, but position players will use the format to work on hitting (off pitching machines), defense, baserunning and coaching signs. Rojas plans to “make it competitive.”

“It will be kind of like getting into a game before we start playing games on Saturday,” the manager said, “so the guys get their feet wet.”