Good Morning Mets Fans. Matt Harvey till toe the rubber for the Metropolitans today as he looks to build on his last start in which he showed better velocity and command. Harvey will be opposed by Matt Wisler and the Atlanta Braves. The game is scheduled for a 1:10 PM ET start and can be seen on WPIX.
LATEST METS NEWS
Yesterday, Rafael Montero continued to show why he is deserving of a spot in the bullpen in 2017. The once top prospect had another impressive start in the team’s 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. He pitched five scoreless innings while allowing four hits as he walked and struck out one batter. Overall this spring he is now 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched with a WHIP of 1.20 and has struck out 21 batters. Read more from Mike Puma in the NY Post.
Speaking of the bullpen, the Mets are said to be tinkering with the idea of carrying an extra arm to start the season. Marc Carig of Newsday reports that this would mainly be due to the team not wanting to expose Josh Edgin to waivers as he would more than likely be claimed by another team. It is believed the last spot would come down to Paul Sewald or the aforementioned Montero, both have had tremendous springs. With Sewald having to be added to the 40-man roster and as strong a spring as Montero has had, it would be hard to think of the team bumping someone off the roster to add him at this point.
Abbey Mastracco of NJ.com breaks down the battle for the fifth spot in the rotation, which seems to be Robert Gsellman‘s to lose at this juncture of spring.
NL EAST RUMBLINGS
Jon Heyman of FanRag sports breaks down his 30 potential breakout stars to watch for in 2017. Included in this list is Noah Syndergaard, Christian Yelich of the Miami Marlins and Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals.
Heyman also advises of many NL East nuggets in the article including the following;
The Braves see it as a long shot to add Kelly Johnson, even though it would fill their need for some bench power.
The Miami Marlins are said to be open to acquiring another starting pitcher. Jose Urena will also make the team out of camp, due to being out of options.
The Philadelphia Phillies are making great progress on their rebuild with numerous top prospects waiting to break out from Triple-A.
The Washington Nationals are not engaged in contract talks with manager, Dusty Baker at this time. He is in the final year of a two year, $4 million deal.
RECENTLY ON MMO
Connor O’Brien advises as to why baseball must embrace emotion and flair.
TODAY IN METS HISTORY
On this day in 1997, Howard Johnson announced his retirement.
Mets players born on this day include, Jose VIzcaino (49), Shawn Hare (50) and Mickey Weston (56).
