It doesn't take long for spring training to ramp up the fan reactions. A couple of great at-bats or a clean inning on the mound can get the conversations started in a hurry. The New York Mets have only just opened camp, yet fans are already handing out awards, debating bench roles, and declaring they were right about a player after only a week of games. This is the time of year when small flashes get treated like full answers. With everyone still building up and easing into game speed, it is easy to turn a handful of moments into something much bigger than they are.
5 Mets overreactions already taking off this spring
1) Bo Bichette's defense at third base is already a disaster… or a revelation
One bad throw was all it took. The ball sailed, and suddenly, timelines were filled with "I knew he couldn't play third" takes like receipts being waved in the air. It was one play in February, but you would have thought the position experiment had officially crashed and burned.
Then a few games later, Bichette charged a slow roller and made a barehand play that shut everyone up for a day. The same feeds that buried him were suddenly posting slow-motion replays. The verdict flipped that fast. In February, one throw makes him unplayable. One clean pickup makes him the answer.
2) Francisco Lindor's hamate surgery means the season is over
The moment the news broke about Lindor's surgery to repair a broken hamate bone, the mood shifted fast. The timing was not ideal, and fans immediately jumped to worst-case scenarios. Diminished power. Two to four quiet months. A lineup already behind before Opening Day. For a few hours, it sounded like the season had been wrapped in bubble wrap and placed on a shelf.
Then everyone took a breath. Reports say he is progressing well, and there is real optimism about how it will affect him long term. Some even pointed out that as a switch-hitter, he can manage the workload smartly early on. The sky did not fall. It just got cloudy for a minute.
3) Nolan McLean is ready to win the NL Cy Young
Four scoreless innings. One hit. One walk. Six strikeouts. A fastball that touched 98. That is how you win over a crowd in February. Mets fans should be excited. A young arm shoving in his first spring outing is exactly what you want to see. The stuff looked real. The poise looked real. The radar gun definitely looked real.
But he has eight big league starts to his name. Declaring him the next Jacob deGrom or penciling him into the NL Cy Young race after one spring start is how expectations get out of control. Enjoy the flashes. Let the season tell the rest of the story.
4) Devin Williams gives up one homerun, and it is déjà vu all over again
It took one pitch. One swing. One ball leaving the yard. Devin Williams made his spring debut, gave up a home run on the first offering, and suddenly the mood shifted. Yankee fans who lived through his roughest season were quick to chime in. Mets fans, still carrying a little Edwin Diaz scar tissue, did not need much help imagining the worst.
It was his first spring outing. He was working on a new pitch. Veterans use these games to sharpen things, not to lock in October form. One pitch in February does not erase what he did in Milwaukee, nor does it predict what he will be in Queens. Let him build.
5) Mark Vientos is already in trouble
An 0 for 10 start is not how you script a follow-up season. After what he showed last year, this is about as cold as it gets out of the gate. The questions showed up right on time. Was 2024 the peak? Is the league adjusting? Is this a sign of things to come?
It is 10 at-bats in spring training. That is not enough to crown him or bury him. He could repeat what he did in 2024. He could look completely different. 10 February at bats are nowhere near enough to swing that conversation either way. Let him get through camp and the WBC before the verdict comes in.