Good Morning Mets Fans. The Dark Knight, Matt Harvey will take the mound today as he will be opposed by Justin Nicolino and the Miami Marlins. Also scheduled to pitch in this game is Zack Wheeler, who will be making his second Grapefruit League appearance, this time in relief. Today’s game is slated to start at 1:05 PM ET and can be heard on MLB Gameday Audio courtesy of the Marlins radio broadcast team.
LATEST METS NEWS
Yoenis Cespedes continues to have a big spring as he belted a two-run bomb on Tuesday, his fifth of the Grapefruit League season. The homer was good enough to hold up in the team’s 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros. Cespedes looks to already be in midseason form and is poised for an MVP caliber season. His numbers this spring have been staggering thus far, putting up a .444/.444/1.037 batting line. Manager, Terry Collins spoke of his star player’s dedication to his craft. “He’s asking to play, he’s not asking to DH — he wants to play again [Wednesday] in the outfield,” Collins said. “He is determined to have a big year.” Read more from columnist Mike Puma in the NY Post.
Jay Bruce made his anticipated debut at first base for the Mets on Tuesday. Bruce looked solid in the field, playing four innings at first base. He even made a nice pick on a throw from Wilmer Flores that was in the dirt. “Today there was as much anticipation as I have had for a spring training game in a long time,” Bruce said. “No one got hurt, so that’s a good start. It was fine. I was happy to pick that ball, the ball I got thrown to me, that was good. I need to get the ball to Jake (deGrom) a little quicker. Overall I felt comfortable. It’s definitely faster and, you know, it’s different, but It was fun.” Read more from columnist Kristie Ackert in the NYDN.
David Wright has begun taking ground balls yet again over the past few days. The Captain is attempting to get himself back to a point where he can get back on a throwing program after being shut down earlier in spring. Manager, Terry Collins spoke on what Wright has been up to as of late as we get closer to opening day. “I don’t know if he’s in the cage yet, but I know he’s been running and taking ground balls,” Collins said. “But that is something that he’s got to keep doing, because when the arm comes, the legs will be under him.” Read more from columnist Abbey Mastracco on NJ.com.
NL EAST RUMBLINGS
The Philadelphia Phillies found themselves with quite a scare on Tuesday as slugging first baseman, Tommy Joseph was hit hard on his left hand by Aaron Blair of the Atlanta Braves. X-rays proved to be negative and Joseph will rest his bruised left hand for the next few days. “I got lucky,” Joseph said. “Obviously if it would’ve hit higher, it probably would’ve gotten more bone. When I grabbed a bat, it didn’t feel too comfortable. So at that point it was a pretty easy decision to come out, come in here, start treating it and try to get this thing taken care of.” Read more from columnist Matt Gelb on Philly.com.
Washington Nationals catcher, Matt Wieters is of a weird breed due to his height for his position. Wieters stands at 6-foot-5, making it harder for him to crouch into a low position to provide a quality target for lower strikes. “I think for a tall catcher, the only thing that makes it a little bit tougher is you really got to focus on staying flexible enough,” Wieters said. “Because if you get tight, you can’t low enough to give a good target. Other than that, it’s still same mechanics. I don’t have to do anything different than a guy that would be shorter would have to. It’s just a matter of kind of keeping the levers in line. It’s just a little bigger levers than the smaller guy has.” Read more from columnist Jorge Castilo in the Washington Post.
RECENTLY ON MMO
Rob Piersall catches up with former Mets reliever, Scott Rice in an exclusive interview.
Over at MetsMinors.net, Logan Barer takes a look at FanGraphs ranking of five Mets players in their top 100 prospects.
TODAY IN METS HISTORY
On this day in 1980, pitcher Craig Swan ended months of negotiations by signing a five-year, $3 million contract. The deal made him the highest paid player in Mets history at the time.
