A lineup with two major leaguers was not enough to generate a run tonight as the St. Lucie Mets fell to the Bradenton Marauders 1-0 on Opening Night at First Data Field.

The home team managed only three hits on the evening, with the first recorded hit of the 2019 St. Lucie Mets season going to 2018 third round draft pick Carlos Cortes. The second baseman lined a single into right field in the bottom of the second to cap off the new season for St. Lucie in the Florida State League. The only other hits were recorded by outfield prospect Quinn Brodey in the bottom of the eighth and rehabbing major leaguer Travis d’Arnaud in the sixth. The night was dominated by pitching, with the St. Lucie Mets showing signs of a possible strength for them during the season in the rotation and bullpen.

The honor of opening day starter for St. Lucie went to 21-year-old lefty Kevin Smith. The former 2018 seventh round draft pick made the jump from short season ball with the Brooklyn Cyclones to the Class A-Advanced St. Lucie Mets team.  His fastball, per stadium radar, was sitting 89-90 MPH and topping out at 91 MPH on the night. For the first four innings Smith kept the Marauders off balance mixing in his fastball with off-speed pitches sitting 80-82 MPH. Smith showed control of all his pitches throughout the night, utilizing a high rising fastball at times and mixing in his off-speed to record a total of six strikeouts including this one shown below.

Smith was able to record strikeouts on both his fastball and breaking pitch equally, throwing 48 of his 73 total pitches on the night for strikes. There was a lot of soft contact from the Marauders most of the outing, with Smith perhaps losing some steam in the 5th inning. The inning saw a slight drop in velocity to certain batters early on, starting with back to back singles and a sacrifice fly that ultimately brought home the first and only run of the night for either side. Overall I came away impressed with the southpaw, who showed poise, limited the damage early on and finished with a final line of 4 2/3 innings, 4 hits allowed, 1 walk, 1 earned run, and 6 strikeouts.

The St. Lucie Mets lineup did not produce a run but it did provide an outlet for two major leaguers to work their way back  into the fold. Using Opening Night as a rehab game to start they way back to Citi Field, both Travis d’Arnaud and Todd Frazier played all nine innings. Travis played all nine innings behind home plate. Frazier started the game at third base and switched over to play first at the start of the sixth inning. Frazier finished 0-for-4 with a strikeout on the night. D’Arnaud went 1-for-3 with a walk, including this single recorded on a live twitter feed below.

TDA rehab AB bottom 6 #mets https://t.co/V3pqiXBfO9

— Ernest Dove (@ernestdove) April 4, 2019

As a whole, the offense was limited, but the same approach to hitting has appeared to trickle down into the minors as far as base running and bunting as shown throughout spring and the start of the major league season as well with the Mets attempting bunts. St. Lucie attempting bunts throughout the night, including a nice sacrifice bunt by versatile fielder Hansel Moreno in the 8th. Both Moreno and shortstop Cody Bohanek recording stolen bases during the game as well.

Going back to the pitching, it appears the St. Lucie Mets, like last year, could be filled on the roster with a solid relief corps of prospects who may not spend the entire season at this level. With starter Kevin Smith leaving the game after 4 and 2/3 with two runners on base, it was 24-year-old reliever Carlos Hernandez who quickly ended the inning by inducing a fly out to left field on a 92 MPH fastball, per stadium radar. through a total of 2 and 1/3 innings Carlos stayed in, sitting mostly 93 and topping 94 MPH with a mix of breaking pitches at 80 and 85 MPH respectively in his arsenal. Hernandez finished giving up only one hit and recording one strikeout in the outing.

St. Lucie may have then saved their best for last as Hernandez was relieved in the eighth by 2018 fifth round draft pick Ryley Gilliam. Gilliam was throwing strikes early and often, recording 21 of his 28 pitches for strikes. He sat around 94 MPH and topped 95 multiple times on the night while mixing in a curveball with a pronounced break to the naked eye. The pitch was recorded as low as 78 MPH on stadium radar and confused Marauder batters outside of back-to-back singles in the eighth against him. It was then in the ninth inning when Gilliam let loose and struck out the side, his night ending with a state line of 2 innings, 2 hits allowed, no runs, no walks and 5 strikeouts, including this one in the video below.

Game two of the short two-game home stand continues Friday night at First Data Field, before St. Lucie then heads to Bradenton to have another two-game set with these same Marauders on their home field.