On Friday afternoon at 1:10 P.M. EST, New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, also sometimes known as “Thor,” threw his first pitch of the day to Miami Marlins leadoff hitter, center fielder Lewis Brinson. It was a 77º partly cloudy day in First Data Field for the Spring Training contest, punctuated by Jeremy Vasquez swinging and coming up empty for strike three against Marlins reliever Jose Quijada on 4:08 P.M.
Between those two events, the two clubs played nine innings of “not important” baseball. But really, is any baseball so “important,” or do the “meaningless” games actually mean something?