Good Morning everyone. New York Mets captain, David Wright continued his throwing program on Tuesday as he played catch from 60-70 feet, making approximately 30 throws. Wright continues to make his throws away from admiring eyes as he looks to get his arm back to game shape while reportedly doing so on unknown backfields.
Manager, Terry Collins spoke with the media regarding how Wright responded to his second throwing session. “He felt better,” Collins said. “A lot looser, which he will be and he’ll continue to get better. So he’s making strides. If you’re looking at three weeks from today, we’ll have a real good idea of where he’s at. That will give him enough time to lengthen himself out.”
Collins was later questioned by the media as to where the third baseman was working on his throws, something the team is not yet ready to expose. “I can’t answer that right now,” Collins said. “We don’t want him overexposed to where there’s something like, if he makes a bad throw, it’s something like a big story. I just want to make sure that when he starts throwing out there in front of everybody that he’s certainly ready to let loose.”
LATEST METS NEWS
Manager, Terry Collins is said to have three players in mind to bat atop the order in games where Jose Reyes will not be in the lineup. Collins is currently looking at Curtis Granderson, Neil Walker or Asdrubal Cabrera to fill the void. Granderson weighed in on the subject at hand and spoke of the team’s versatility. “The depth and the variety and the randomness of the way things can be mixed up is nice,” Granderson said. “There’s a lot of guys who have the potential to lead off on this team, and just looking across the board you have Lagares, Reyes, myself, Cabrera, Walker. You have got a lot of options you can have depending on the matchup.” Read more from columnist Mike Puma in the NY Post.
Kristie Ackert of the NY Daily News writes of the disservice that Major League Baseball is doing to the Mets and their fans by waiting to announce Jeurys Familia‘s expected suspension. Ackert writes, “It looks like MLB is making sure one of its stars can play in the WBC, which is run with MLB personnel, promoted by MLB media outlets and shown on MLB Network, without controversy. And it looks like MLB has not given the same consideration to the Mets and Mets fans.” It is expected that an announcement of Familia’s suspension will be made prior to opening day.
Tom Gorzelanny hopes to find a spot in the bullpen with the Mets in 2017 and hopes that his funky sidearm delivery will help him. The new drop down that he sports when delivering pitches has helped his effectiveness against left-handed hitters, something manager, Terry Collins is very pleased with. “He’s an experienced guy who changed his pitching mechanics to make him more effective against left-handed hitters,” Collins said. “Now that he’s dropped down at that tough angle for lefties, we’re going to see how he does in spring. But it’s nice to have another veteran in camp who has done both roles, start and relieve. And I think he knows what he’s got to do to get lefties out. We’ll see how it works out this spring.” Read more from columnist Anthony DiComo on MLB.com.
NL EAST RUMBLINGS
The Washington Nationals made some noise on Tuesday as they came to an agreement with free agent catcher, Matt Wieters on a two-year deal worth $21 million. Wieters has the ability to opt-out of the deal after the 2017 season. Nationals manager, Dusty Baker was more than happy to add the veteran backstop to his roster. “It looked like last year, when we played him, he was an offensive force,” Baker said. “It gives us another big bat in the lineup, and to my understanding, he calls a good game, and handles a pitching staff well.” Read more from columnist Jorge Castillo and Chelsea Janes in the Washington Post.
Philadelphia Phillies reliever, Hector Neris will be adding a third pitch to his repertoire in 2017 as he plans to incorporate a seldom used slider this coming season. Neris was one of the better relief pitchers in the game in 2016, pitching to a 2.58 ERA over 80.1 innings and believes the inclusion of a third pitch will make himself that much more dominant. “I think it’s something that can make me better,” Neris said. “I’ve never had the confidence in it that I had in my other pitches, but I’m working hard on it. It will give me a third option for the hitter to think about.” Read more from columnist Jim Salisbury at CSNPhilly.com
Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes of the Marlins outfield depth and Brandon Barnes who looks to find a way onto the team’s opening day roster. Barnes is the only player in Marlins franchise history who has hit for the cycle but knows his probability of making the team out of camp as a non-roster invitee is slim. “I know I’m probably not going to be an everyday player here,” Barnes said. “But that’s the thing about this game. You never know. If you don’t make it, you go compete at Triple A and try to get your butt back up here.”
RECENTLY ON MMO
Joe D gives his thoughts on the ongoing contract negotiations surrounding Neil Walker.
Ed Delany captures David Wright’s busy Tuesday with his camera lens in Port St. Lucie.
Over at MetsMinors.net, Ernest Dove gives us a live look at Mets camp from Tradition Field.
TODAY IN METS HISTORY
On this day in Mets history, the team traded infielders Wayne Graham and Bobby Klaus as well as catcher Jimmie Schaffer to Philadelphia for first baseman Dick Stuart.
Mets players born on this day include, Casey Kotchman (34) and J.J. Putz (40).
TWEET OF THE DAY
https://twitter.com/Smatz88/status/834175589695229953
