Every year, Spring Training brings a time of optimism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have, like, a good roster this year. Even [though] we traded away the players [Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz]. I think this is going to be a good year,\u201d Mets fan Daniel Scheffler said.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Mets fans and new team members arrived in Port St. Lucie, Florida, for Spring Training
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Some fans said they feel hopeful with several new players on the roster
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The Mets\u2019 first Spring Training game is Saturday, Feb. 21 against the Miami Marlins<\/p>\n
Those who visit the Mets training ground in Port St. Lucie, Florida, can get intimate access to favorite players.<\/p>\n
Max Chanin said Brett Baty gave him an autograph.<\/p>\n
Spring Training is also a time for fans to get acquainted with new players on the roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cLot of new faces, a lot of new names to get used to,\u201d Amelia Silverman said.<\/p>\n
This year, there are even more new faces than usual.<\/p>\n
Ed Tacchi has been a Mets fan his whole life \u2014 38 years \u2014 and says he\u2019s never seen a shakeup like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cTop to bottom? Not like this. We\u2019ve seen some big players come and go, but this is the biggest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Silverman said she\u2019s still coping with the loss of \u201cPolar Bear\u201d Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz.<\/p>\n
Some fans said it can be hard to get excited about a team they hardly know.<\/p>\n
So, step right up and meet the Mets.<\/p>\n
Veteran Marcus Semien comes to New York from Texas, where he won a Gold Glove with the Rangers last year. He\u2019ll play second base.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was excited to be here. You know, it\u2019s always been a city that I\u2019ve loved to visit. And for it to be my home for 81 games is extremely exciting,\u201d Semien said.<\/p>\n
Two-time All-Star Bo Bichette spent the past seven years with the Blue Jays and adds a big bat to the Mets\u2019 lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that New York is the best city in the world. Right. So, yeah, I\u2019m just excited to, I guess, find my rhythm there, my routines there and, you know, maybe have some nice dinners, but I\u2019m most excited about living there so I can play for the Mets,\u201d Bichette said.<\/p>\n
There are several new pitchers as well, including Freddy Peralta and two new relievers who came from the Yankees: Devin Williams and Luke Weaver.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like going to a new school. You\u2019re trying to make friends and you\u2019re trying not to force anything. So you want to be at other people\u2019s speeds. But sometimes I got to hold back and just not be 100% to fiber and off the get-go,\u201d Weaver said.<\/p>\n
No matter how different the team looks, fans can\u2019t help but feel hopeful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always have faith that we\u2019re going to do well, and then we go through pockets and we get really excited, and one day they\u2019re going to pull it off for us, though. So hopefully this is the season,\u201d Silverman said.<\/p>\n
The Mets\u2019 first Spring Training game is Saturday, Feb. 21 against the Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every year, Spring Training brings a time of optimism. \u201cI think we have, like, a good roster this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[76242,1238,274,76241,76239,14592,12193,115,171,173,172,29645,110,76240,278],"class_list":["post-159077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-albany-capital-region","tag-app-sports","tag-app-top-stories","tag-central-ny","tag-hudson-valley","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-mets","tag-news","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-professional-baseball","tag-sports","tag-stef-manisero","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}