Back with a little more from the Grapefruit League. Starting in Port St. Lucie, where Noah Syndergaard and Jay Bruce wore Nike Alpha Huarache cleats.
Bruce is more of the surprise because he’s a Swingman guy, and usually gets custom gear from Swingman. From other Swingman athletes, we’ve heard that there won’t be any Swingman gear this year. This opens up some new possibilities for Bruce, Adam Jones, Andrew McCutchen, and Jayson Heyward.
Along with the Alpha Huarache cleats, Jay Bruce wore the Huarache batting gloves that you can get at this link (they’re the $60 pair).
Dominic Smith worked out in the Lebron 15 in grey/gold, available at this link. The Marucci KP26 is named for Kevin Plawecki, and has a profile similar to the C243. The closest Marucci alternative is the CB15, available here.
No Mets report would be complete without a closer look at what Tim Tebow is chasing his dream with. Tebow hit the only ball of the day that drew a reaction from the crowd, as it slammed off a maintenance building across a road in right center.
Tebow wore the adidas Dame 4 in Mets colors… one of our favorites from Spring Training.
Here’s where things took a turn for the worst. We have a strict “no bullsh*t” policy here at WPW. Additionally, your editor (me) has played the outfield position for longer than Tim Tebow. It doesn’t matter what level you’re at, this is not cool, Tim. We do not fold in the web of our outfield glove… EVER. Somebody on the Mets needs to intervene here. If it was my team, I can’t even lie, I’d be more likely to cut a guy if I saw this. Its a tell. Folding in your outfield glove is like saying, “I don’t really know what I’m doing out here.” Just being real.
Juan Lagares, who would never press in the web of his outfield glove, showed off the hose a few times in practice, wearing New Balance’s brand new COMPv1 cleats. For more on those, check out this article.
Lots of good feedback from the players we spoke to about these. Shop them here.
Two guys that never have any fun, Todd Frazier and Jose Reyes. Frazier wearing the Under Armour Igniter 2.0 sunglasses and Jose Reyes in the Rival style. They’ve got custom colors, fyi.
Amed Rosario holding his Mizuno Pro Limited close, and the Oakley Radar EV sunglasses look sick.
Jose Reyes wearing the tiniest little Rawlings custom you ever did see. This is a training glove. The Stance Diamond Pro “Bridge” socks are probably a must for Mets fans.
Over in Dunedin, WPW caught the Jays vs Phillies game. Russell Martin wore Nike Zoom Rev 2017 converted by Custom Cleats, Inc.
Russ was swinging a new bat company called Mark Lumber, a Montreal company founded by former minor league player Mark Bourgeois. Martin’s model was an ML-17, 33.5 inch/31.5 oz Maple. That model isn’t available on Mark’s site, but you can check them out here.
Joe Biagini’s orange and blue Rawlings piece looked great.
The color is orange and the web is called “Basket Connector,” available on the Rawlings custom builder.
New acquisition Yangervis Solarte, who might have the most underrated swag in baseball, wore the Nike PG 1 converted by Custom Cleats, Inc. There are plenty of PG 1 (Paul George) colorways available here.
MLB’s first African-born player in over 100 years, Gift Ngoepe, wore the New Balance COMPv1s.
As did Tommy Joseph:
Two-bagger Scott Kingery of the Phillies is making a nice introduction to rookie manager Gabe Kapler, to the tune of a 1.266 spring training OPS thru March 12. Beating down the door with a Chandler S318 Maple bat and a Lizard Skin grip. You can get a Chandler S318 via Chandler’s custom order form. Lizard Skins available here.
Roberto Osuna rocking Adidas PowerAlley 4s. I wonder why not the PowerAlley 5s?
The same situation for Aaron Altherr.
Curtis Granderson making people happy because that’s just what Curtis Granderson does.
Odubel Herrera’s Franklin full color chrome batting gloves just plain pro. Solid color with subtle flair, hard to beat.
You can actually pick up the same style at this link.