Morning Briefing: A Bullpen Stacked With Starters?

Ed Delany, MMO

Good morning Mets fans!

The Mets will host the Washington Nationals at First Data Field at 1:10 p.m. in the first spring matchup of 2018 between the two division rivals. The game will be televised on SNY. Rafael Montero gets the start for the Mets.

The Mets also travel to West Palm Beach today to play the Houston Astros at 6:05 p.m. with no TV coverage. Robert Gsellman gets the start in the second game.

Latest Mets News

Jason Vargas made his spring debut on Thursday afternoon as the Mets fell to the Miami Marlins 3-2 at First Data Field.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post proposes an idea that the Mets should load their bullpen with a bevy of starting pitchers.

Aaron Gleeman of Baseball Prospectus compared PECOTA’s projected team records and Bovada’s over/under win totals for all 30 MLB teams. The Mets are projected to win 81 games by PECOTA, while Bovada has their over/under win total at 81.5.

Latest MLB News

Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs compares Lucas Duda to Eric Hosmer in terms of contract and production. Hosmer signed an eight-year, $144 million deal with the San Diego Padres, while Duda signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with $1.3 million in incentives. Hosmer owns a career .284/.342/.439 slash line, while Duda owns a .242/.340/.457 slash line.

The cores of baseballs that have been used since 2015 have changed according to Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk.

Latest NL East News

In their first year playing at SunTrust Park, the Atlanta Braves saw their revenue increase by $124 million according to Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes about Jacob Turner‘s second stint with a rebuilding Miami Marlins team.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been in contact with Lance Lynn and Jake Arrieta according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

The Washington Nationals are close to bringing back former Met Alejandro De Aza according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation.

Latest on MMO

Michael Mayer takes a look at the promising signs shown by Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey in their performances on Wednesday against the Braves.

Mayer also writes about Brandon Nimmo‘s aggressiveness at the plate in Wednesday’s game.

Tim Ryder poses the question of whether or not Mets fans should buy into the hype surrounding Noah Syndergaard‘s chances at the Cy Young Award this season.