Morning Briefing: DeGrom, Greinke Face Off After Mets' Late Heroics

Good morning Mets fans!

In a back and forth game between the Mets and Diamondbacks, the Mets took game one of the three-game series in Arizona with a little help from unexpected heroes. Todd Frazier and Adeiny Hechavarria both went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in combined. Pinch hitters J.D. Davis and Carlos Gomez got two clutch hits with two outs scoring the final two runs to tie the game at four and take the lead in the eighth inning.

Jacob deGrom (3-5, 3.71 ERA) and Zack Greinke (6-2, 2.78 ERA) go head-to-head in a battle of Cy Young award winners. In this second game of this three-game series, the two righties have done well against their opposition in the past and look to continue that in today’s game. The game starts at 10:10 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on SNY and can be heard on WCBS 880AM and ESPN 1050.

Latest Mets News

Seth Lugo was activated from the injured list Friday. Daniel Zamora was optioned to Triple-A.

Veteran outfielder Matt Kemp was sent to the Triple-A Syracuse team.

The Brooklyn Cyclones announce they will host their “Seinfeld Night” on July 13th and plan to give out “Fusili Jerry” bobbleheads to all fans in attendance.

Former Mets Mookie Wilson, Jesse Barfield, and John Flaherty will play for the Legends Team in the Cam-Am League/Frontier League’s All-Star Game and Home Run Derby.

Latest MLB News

According to Jon Heyman of MLBNetwork, at 12:01 am on Monday, June 3 the draft pick that is usually forfeited during a free agent signing will be taken away. It is expected that free agents Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel will be signed very soon after that. Strong candidates for Dallas Keuchel include the Yankees and Braves (other suitable candidates include the Twins, Brewers, Cardinals, Rays among others), while Craig Kimbrel may be sought after by the Braves, Phillies, Twins, Rays and many others.

The Rockies have optioned LHP Kyle Freeland to Triple-A along with outfielder Yonathan Daza. Freeland has been struggling a lot this year and has posted a 7.13 ERA in 59.1 innings pitched with a 6.37 FIP and 1.57 WHIP. Rookie Daza hasn’t had a productive call-up, with his batting numbers at .056/.105/.056 his option was not shocking.

Cardinals have placed Yadier Molina on the 10-Day Injured List with a tendon strain in his left thumb. The corresponding move to the active roster goes to catcher and first baseman, Andrew Knizner. Knizner is a former seventh-round pick who’s been doing well offensively in the Cardinals minor league system. In 155 plate appearances in the minors, the young catcher is batting .286/.355/.450.

The Tampa Bay Rays have designated catcher Erik Kratz for assignment and have re-activated backstop Mike Zunino from the Injured List. Kratz, 39, has struggled mightily this year with only five hits and two walks in 53 plate appearances this season.

Mike Petriello of MLB.com, wrote an interesting article on how the Cincinnati Reds have overcome a lot of pitching woes and have become one of the better pitching staff’s in the least in two short years.

Latest NL East News

The Philadelphia Phillies have a placed RHP Zach Eflin on the 10-day Injured List due to mid-back tightness. His placement has been backdated to May 28 making Eflin eligible to return as soon as June 7.

Phillies reliever Victor Arano will be out for 10-to-12 weeks due to elbow surgery. It is questionable as to whether he will return for the end of the season or not.

Miami Marlins place Neil Walker on the 10-day Injured List with a right quad strain. He sustained the injury while running out a ground ball.

Lates on MMO

John Sheridan continues his “3 UP, 3 Down” series with a recap of the positive and negative highlights from the Mets vs Dodgers series.

Michael Mayer summarizes Jayson Stark of the Athletic’s article regarding the Blue Jays’ possible desire to trade away some valuable pitchers.

John Sheridan looks at the previous picks from Sandy Alderson’s first draft as General Manager in preparation for Brodie Van Wagenen’s first upcoming on Monday.

Dilip Sridhar wrote about the newly updated mock draft picks.