SPORTS
sessions. As with ticket sales, check stluciemets.com for
FAQs regarding all aspects of spring training.
Last-minute touches are being completed on the $57M
renovations at the more than 30-year-old ball field, now
named Clover Park. The agreement reached by the Mets,
St. Lucie County and the State of Florida on the renovations
will keep the team in Port St. Lucie until 2042.
Changes include a 360-degree walkway, renovations of
the home and visitors clubhouses, a brand-new full-sized
turf practice field, upgraded batting cages, a new minor
league clubhouse, a new look to the outside of the ballpark
and additional landscaping, among other items.
Fans who enjoy sitting on the grassy hill behind right
field will be happy to know that The Hill remains a part
of the ballpark. There will be cleared ground and the
walkway for youngsters to shag home runs. Ticketed
seats and tables along the first-base-line Party Deck have
been removed, but some shaded seating remains on the
deck. The situation at the Field Level Terrace along the
third-base line is similar in appearance.
Hoping to improve on its fourth place finish in the East
Division of the National League, the team has been busy
signing players to add to the team’s pitching staff and
depth. In an attempt to bolster the pitching staff, the team
signed RHP Jordan Yamamoto from Miami, LHP Joey
Lucchesi from San Diego and another lefty, Aaron Loup,
was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays. The pitching
staff includes two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom,
coming off a hamstring injury that occurred near the end
of last season, and Noah Syndergaard, who will rejoin the
team in April, following Tommy John surgery last year. >>
If the designated hitter is
approved for the National
League, hard-hitting first
baseman Pete Alonso, a
former Florida Gator, is a
possibility to fill the slot.
HELENE HAESSLER
Port St. Lucie Magazine 11
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