Morning Briefing: DeGrom's Final Tuneup Before Opening Day

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Today, Jacob deGrom will make his final tune-up before taking the ball against Max Scherzer and the Nationals on Opening Day. deGrom will face off against the newest Brave Josh Tomlin, who was just inked to a minor-league deal. The game can be listened to on WCBS 880.

Yesterday, the Mets went 0-for-2 in their two games. The 1:10 p.m. matchup against the Cardinals started off promising, but the Mets bullpen collapsed, allowing six runs in the last final two frames. The standout star was 17-year-old Ronny Mauricio who went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Jeff McNeil tallied three hits, one of them being a first-inning homer that left First Data Field.

Meanwhile, at the FITTEAM BallPark of the Palm Beaches, Jason Vargas had his second consecutive ineffective outing, permitting four runs in 5.2 innings. Edwin Diaz struggled yet again; he’s posted an 8.53 ERA this spring with diminished velocity. The Astros capitalized on a five-run sixth, defeating the Amazin’s by a score of 7-3.

Latest Mets News

David Wright was named the Honorary Ambassador of the 2019 PGA Championship.

The Mets optioned Daniel Zamora, Tyler Bashlor, and Tim Peterson to minor-league camp. This leaves Kyle Dowdy, Hector Santiago, and Ryan O’Rourke as the three players remaining for the Mets’ final bullpen spot.

Dominic Smith appeared on MLBNetwork Radio and talked about the difference between this year’s spring training and last year’s.

The Royals inked former Good Met Lucas Duda to a minor-league deal.

Latest News in the MLB

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe broke the news that the Red Sox and Chris Sale have agreed to a massive five-year, $145 million dollar deal.

Urine in luck if you came here for some unique, ground-breaking news that you won’t get on any other baseball site. Yu Darvish mentioned to reporters that he’s using pee as a remedy for a blister on his pitching hand. I’m sure he’s pissed about this situation, but hopefully, it’s feeling better.

The Twins announced that they’ve released veterans Tim Collins and Adam Rosales.

Rich Hill will start the season on the IL with an injured MCL.

Scooter Gennett left yesterday’s matchup after getting injured fielding a ground ball.

Eric Filia, MLB.com’s No.28 Padres prospect, was suspended 100 games after testing positive for a drug of abuse.

The Giants let go of outfielder Cameron Maybin per Kerry Crowley of The Bay Area News Group.

Matt Olson had to undergo hand surgery after hurting his hand in Thursday’s contest against the Mariners.

Two-time Tommy John Surgery recipient Daniel Hudson has been released by the Angels.

The Brewers signed reliever Alex Wilson to a Major-League deal worth $750,000 dollars according to Jon Heyman of MLBNetwork.

The Reds assigned a few of their top prospects to minor-league camp, including top prospect Nick Senzel. Senzel’s agent voiced his displeasure at the move, calling it a “simply egregious case of service-time manipulation.

The White Sox agreed to a minor-league deal with middle-infielder Alcides Escobar.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic mentioned that the Astros and Justin Verlander have a mutual interest in an extension.

John Ourand of The Sports Business Daily reports on the latest between Disney and their fight to sell RSNs.

Jon Sheatakosky of the Baseball Hall of Fame listed all of the Ichiro-related items that will appear in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

HardBall Talk analyzed the correlation (or lack thereof) between player salaries and ticket prices.