Good morning Mets fans! The New York Mets (59-56) had a day off on Thursday ahead of their weekend series with the Washington Nationals (61-53). The next three games can have a big impact on the National League Wild Card race as the Mets could come out leading the Nats by half a game, trailing the Nats by 5.5 games, or somewhere in between.

Latest Mets News

Marcus Stroman (6-11, 3.07 ERA) is slated to make his Citi Field debut against Stephen Strasburg (14-5, 3.72 ERA), who is coming off his worst start of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EDT, with coverage on SNY, WCBS 880 and ESPN Deportes 1050.

Joe Panik is expected to sign with the Mets after he clears waivers on Friday at 1:00 p.m. EDT sources confirmed to MMO.

The Mets announced that they signed Brad Brach to a major league deal, optioned Donnie Hart to Triple-A Syracuse and transferred Brandon Nimmo to the 60-day injured list.

Despite the move to the 60-day injured list, Nimmo is making progress in his recovery from a bulging cervical disk (and other physical issues that popped up during his recovery). He is currently working out and he may start a minor league rehab assignment within the next week according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Former Mets Ron Hunt and Skip Lockwood will be greeting fans on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Mets’ Hall of Fame at Citi Field.

Latest MLB News

The Chicago White Sox announced that they will play the New York Yankees at the Field of Dreams in Iowa on Aug. 13, 2020.

The Boston Red Sox placed David Price on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Aug. 5) with a cyst in his left wrist, as reported by Pete Abraham of the The Boston Globe.

Jared Diamond of The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece on Nathan Patterson, the 23-year-old software salesman who lit up a speed-pitch challenge booth at a Colorado Rockies game in July and received a contract from the Oakland Athletics in August.

A record six Hawaiian players are playing in the Area Code Games as noted by Kyle Glaser of Baseball America. The six headline a 2020 high school draft class which many consider the best class out of Hawaii in recent history.

Glaser also got some MLB All-Stars to weigh in on whether pitchers should choose college ball or pro ball out of high school.

Gabe Lacques of USA Today Sports wrote a piece on how a fourth year of declining MLB attendance rates are leading some teams to aim at shrinking their ballparks to match.

The Houston Astros will upgrade and extend protective netting at Minute Maid Park beginning on Aug. 19, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The current netting will be replaced with knot-less netting which will improve the view from the seats located behind the netting.

Latest NL East News

The Atlanta Braves (68-49) remain atop the NL East standings, followed by the Nationals (61-53; 5.5 games back), Philadelphia Phillies (59-56; 8.0 games back), Mets (59-56; 8.0 games back) and Marlins (43-71; 23.5 games back).

The Marlins defeated the Braves 9-2 and the Phillies fell to the San Francisco Giants 5-0. Like the Mets, the Nationals had a day off.

The Braves placed Austin Riley on their 10-day injured list (retroactive to Aug. 5) with a right knee sprain, and recalled Jeremy Walker from Triple-A Gwinnett. Riley has a partially torn LCL in his right knee and will visit Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, FL as reported by Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Phillies reinstated Jay Bruce from the 10-day injured list and optioned Adam Haseley to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Latest on MMO/MMN

Gianna Arantes broke down Steven Matz‘s start from Wednesday.

Michael Mayer wrote a piece spotlighting Mets’ catching prospect Francisco Alvarez‘s impressive start to his professional career.

John Sheridan continued his “3 Up, 3 Down” series following the Mets’ four-game sweep of the Marlins.

Cesar Montenegro wrote a Fan Shot that told the stories of how he became a Mets fan, his experience visiting Citi Field for the first time in 2016 and his excitement for the 2019 Mets. If you are interested in writing a Fan Shot for MMO, you can find out more information here.

Rob Friedland provided 19 key stats that help explain the Mets’ second half resurgence.

Ernest Dove interviewed St. Lucie Mets reliever Marcel Renteria.

This Day in Mets History

1963: Jim Hickman hit a walk-off grand slam against the Chicago Cubs at the Polo Grounds. The grand slam led the Mets to a 7-3 victory and snapped Roger Craig‘s 18-game losing streak.

1964: Jim Bunning followed up his perfect game against the Mets on Father’s Day by retiring the first 14 Mets. While his streak ended on Joe Christopher‘s base hit on a bunt, he had retired 44 straight Mets batters dating back to his June 13 start.

1988: The Mets took part in Cubs history as they played the first official night game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had previously played 5,687 straight day games at home before their contest with the Mets.

2006: In his return to Queens as a San Diego Padre, Mike Piazza hit two home runs off of Pedro Martinez. His first home run was greeted with a curtain call, while his second home run was greeted with boos.

Birthdays: Pat Mahomes turns 49. Tommie Agee was also born on this day in 1942.