Stroman battles windy conditions

PORT ST. LUCIE — Winds gusted near 35 mph Sunday as Marcus Stroman took the mound for his second Grapefruit League outing of the year. Three flags in center field waved uncontrollably. A triangular social-distancing sign skidded across the concourse on its own. A hand-sanitizer station fell on its side and oozed liquid onto the left field deck.

Stroman was forced to adapt to the turbulent weather as he continued his buildup to 52 pitches. The righthander said he saw his sinkers turn into two-seam fastballs due to the wind. In the first inning of the Mets’ 4-4 tie against the Marlins, Stromannearly hit Jorge Alfaro when he buzzed a fastball by his head. A couple of batters later, he plunked Lewis Brinson on the arm. Moments after, Stroman hurled a wild pitch in the dirt that scored Brinson.

“The wind was crazy out there today,” Stroman said. “The wind was pushing the ball everywhere.”

It’s tough to quantify exactly how much the blustery South Florida afternoon impacted Stroman’s rocky outing, but the results — Stroman gave up two runs and three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in three innings — don’t matter much to the pitcher at this stage in exhibition games.

For the remainder of spring training, which equates to four more starts for the ground-ball pitcher, Stroman will be focused on his repetitions. He wants his body and mind to “feel as best as possible” heading into the first week of April, when he will make his first major-league start since Sept. 27, 2019.

McNeil struggles at third: Jeff McNeil made three errors at third base in what ended up being a tough day for the Mets’ super-utility defender. The typically sure-handed McNeil made five errors in only nine games at third base in 2020, and he didn’t commit any fielding errors in the 40-plus games he played elsewhere in the outfield and second base last year.

Syndergaard draws a crowd: Noah Syndergaard, who underwent Tommy John surgery 12 months ago, threw another bullpen session. He paused between pitches to check in with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner before getting back to work.

A large group of nlookers — including Stroman, Taijuan Walker, manager Luis Rojas, GM Zack Scott and farm director Kevin Howard — stood nearby and watched Syndergaard’s progress.

At Mohegan Sun Arena

First-round results — Friday

No. 8 St. John’s 65, No. 9 Xavier 57

No. 7 Providence 63, No. 10 Butler 61

No. 6 Creighton 56, No. 11 Georgetown 42 Quarterfinal results — Saturday

No. 1 UConn 77, No. 8 St. John’s 41

No. 5 Villanova 78, No. 4 DePaul 72 (OT) No. 2 Marquette 68, No. 7 Providence 43 No. 6 Creighton 83, No. 3 Seton Hall 76 Semifinal results — Sunday

UConn 84, Villanova 39

Marquette 64, Creighton 59 Championship — Monday

UConn vs. Marquette, 8 p.m., FS1