Good Morning Mets Fans. Jacob deGrom takes the mound today as the team travels to take on the Houston Astros in West Palm Beach. DeGrom will look to keep his scoreless innings streak alive and will be opposed by Lance McCullers Jr. The deGrominator has thrown six scoreless innings so far this spring to go along with seven strikeouts. Today’s game is scheduled to start at 1:05 PM ET and can be heard on 710 WOR.
LATEST METS NEWS
Noah Syndergaard started for the Mets yesterday and hit his first bump of spring, allowing three runs in the fourth inning. He is said to still be battling illness at this time and pitching through it. Manager, Terry Collins spoke on the subject after Monday’s game. “He’s fighting that, he’s been on medication, it is getting better, but he just ran out of gas, which comes with the territory,” Collins said. “Not only with being sick, but we wanted to get him to 65 pitches today, and that’s a lot. It was 80-something degrees, and with the humidity, he just got a little tired, but I thought he threw the ball very well.” Read more from columnist Mike Puma in the NY Post.
Dwight Gooden is currently in Mets camp and discussed his now tumultuous relationship with fellow former Met, Darryl Strawberry. This past August, Strawberry accused Gooden of relapsing as for the reason that he had neglected to show up for a joint promotional appearance. Gooden spoke on the subject in camp on Monday of no longer speaking to Strawberry. “Not at all,” Gooden said. “I mean there’s no hard feelings there, unfortunately he spoke how he felt, whether I like it or not, I respect that. But it wasn’t true. We move on. Maybe one day we’ll get together and talk, right now is not the time.” Read more from Kristie Ackert in the NYDN and Kevin Kernan in the NY Post.
Mike Piazza is currently in Mets camp, working as a special instructor for the team. The Mets legend spoke on knowing what types of pressure Yoenis Cespedes will be dealing with in his time in Queens. “Ultimately, New York likes personalities and [Cespedes] is an interesting personality,” Piazza said. “He has fun playing the game, and I always say if we’re all the same it would be a boring world. Now it seems like he’s found a home here, which I think is really good for him. For me, I enjoyed the pressure and I think it made me a better player. I think it may have the same effect for him.” Read more from columnist Mike Puma in the NY Post.
NL EAST RUMBLINGS
Washington Nationals starting pitcher, Stephen Strasburg has struggled this spring as he allowed six runs on seven hits against the St. Louis Cardinals last week. Pitching coach, Mike Maddux found the issue as he was tipping his pitches and now has reportedly fixed what could have been a big flaw entering the 2017 season. “I always have a tendency to tip pitches. I think it’s just the way I grip the ball,” Strasburg said. “My hands are pretty big, and if I’m not paying attention, I do little things. They’ve got everything on video, so they know all the little things that I do.” Read more from columnist Chelsea Janes in the Washington Post.
David Schoenfield of ESPN makes his case for the Atlanta Braves to make a trade for Evan Longoria in order to make themselves a win-now team. Schoenfield believes the trade would be a big step for both Atlanta and the Tampa Bay Rays as one team is in the midst of a rebuild and the other is in the process of building a contender. Schoenfield writes, “It’s never easy to trade the face of the franchise, but this has to be the Tampa Bay way of competing in the AL East. For the Braves, they build on their strong finish in 2016 by adding an affordable contract at a position of need. That’s a win-win trade.”
RECENTLY ON MMO
Joe D writes on the report of the Mets being unhappy with Jeurys Familia‘s usage in the World Baseball Classic.
Over at MetsMinors.net, Jacob Resnick reports on how impressive L.J. Mazzilli has been thus far in camp.
TODAY IN METS HISTORY
On this day in 1961, George Weiss became the team’s first club president.
Former New York Met, Josh Stinson turns 29 today.
