Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Good morning, Mets fans!

Mets manager Buck Showalter announced on Thursday that catcher and Mets top prospect Francisco Álvarez will catch the back end of today’s game vs. Washington. Álvarez is in competition with his fellow teammates Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, to try and seal a spot on the major league roster.

Now onto the morning briefing!

Latest Mets News

According to Tim Healey of Newsday, Buck Showalter noted that pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and current team Puerto Rico and Washington Nationals bullpen coach Ricky Bones spoke about not using Mets closer Edwin Díaz on back-to-back nights. “They know what we’re thinking now,” Showalter said. Diaz himself confirmed that he will not pitch on back-to-back days on the Foul Territory podcast.

Former Mets third baseman David Wright says he will return to Citi Field on August 10 to emcee the NYPD vs. FDNY charity game. This will be the first time Wright will be at the stadium since his last major league game in 2018.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports that SNY’s opening weekend netted an audience of 169,000 viewers, making it the highest viewership over a two-game span in Mets spring training history. The games ranked second and fourth all-time out of 179 spring broadcasts.

Anne Hayes of Syracuse.com reports that Mets outfielder Khalil Lee failed to appear in court. Lee’s reason for not appearing in court is because he is currently at spring training with the Mets in Florida. After the news of the incident surfaced, the Mets designated Lee for assignment, removing him off the 40-man roster but still extended him an invite to spring training. Lee was arraigned on February 2nd after an arrest warrant last summer that accused him of a domestic incident against his partner.

Latest MLB News

Major League Baseball has tapped FanDuel as their official North American sports betting partner. According to Boardroom.TV, FanDuel will gain the rights to use MLB branding in its products, platforms, and marketing campaigns, and will additionally be able to stream MLB.TV’s Free Game of the Day through its sportsbook app and FanDuel+

Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com writes about Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer helped Sanchez’s son deal with his stuttering, as Springer grew up the same way, along with being a positive influence on all their lives.

Shawn Spradling of the WBC Central podcast tweets that Baseball United, a league based in Dubai, will be the first ever professional baseball league in the Middle East and South Asia. The ownership group features former major leaguers, such as Barry Larkin, Mariano Rivera and Adrian Beltre. The inaugural franchises for Baseball United will be announced after the conclusion of the World Baseball Classic.

Juan Toribio of MLB.com talks about pitcher Noah Syndergaard and his quest to regain his velocity, how he can potentially throw hard again and whether he will even need to try and do so or not.

Latest on MMO

Ronny Mauricio Continues Torrid Spring Start

On This Date in Mets History

Birthdays: Dilson Herrera (29), Jorge Julio (44), Jack DiLauro (80)