Morning Briefing: Harvey Looks to Keep It Rolling

Good morning Mets fans!

Today, Matt Harvey will face off against the St.Louis Cardinals. After striking out eight Marlins in five innings his last time out, Harvey will look to keep the good times rolling. Today’s game will broadcast on 710 WOR.

Yesterday, Steven Matz silenced any concerns about his poor spring, pitching six innings of two-run ball against a potent Astros offense. He mixed his pitches and was able to command well, which were two things that he struggled with in his first few starts. Despite his strong effort, he was still tagged with the loss as Justin Verlander befuddled the Mets hitters, holding them to only five hits.

Phillip Evans continued his strong spring with two more hits, increasing his OPS to .954. Despite not recording a hit, Kevin Plawecki also had a decent game, throwing out two Astros on the bases.

After receiving a cortisone shot in his wrist late last week, Yoenis Cespedes returned to the Mets lineup and went 1-for-3.

Latest Mets News

In an interview with Newsday’s Tim Healey, Matz feels confident going into the season saying, “I’m really feeling comfortable on the mound right now,”

Erik Goeddel was released from his minor-league contract from the Rangers. The Mets have many options in their Major League and Triple-A bullpens so a Goeddel reunion appears unlikely.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com expresses his excitement at the chance to finally see the “Fab-Five” go through one turn through the rotation.

DiComo also reports that the Mets will play their Triple-A counterparts on March 26 with the proceeds from the event going to American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

Latest MLB News

The Padres released a bevy of former Major League veterans, including Melvin Upton Jr. and Ryan Hanigan.

The Reds reassigned their top infield prospect, Nick Senzel, to Minor League camp.

The Tigers top prospect Franklin Perez will miss the next four months due a lat strain.

Major League Baseball released their “Fourth of July” hats that each team will wear on Independence Day.

Forbes.com published their list of the top 30 Major League ballparks. After reviewing the list, it seemed like that the stadiums were ranked simply in the order they were pulled out of a hat. Even Yankee fans couldn’t believe that Yankee Stadium was ranked higher than Citi Field!

According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, the Red Sox and Yankees will play two games in London in June 2019.

Aaron Boone confirmed that Jacoby Ellsbury will miss the beginning of the season.

Latest NL East News

The Braves decided that a player slashed .432/.519/.727 this spring wasn’t deemed worthy of an Opening Day roster spot. Of course, there were more factors in demoting Ronald Acuna to Minor League camp, especially considering the Braves will now own Acuna’s rights for an extra year.

The Rangers claimed Tommy Joseph off waivers from the Phillies.