Good morning Mets fans! The New York Mets (42-51) enjoyed a day off on Monday as they traveled to Minnesota. They now open a two-game interleague series with the first-place Minnesota Twins (58-34).
Latest Mets News
Steven Matz (5-6, 4.89 ERA) returns from his brief bullpen stint and will rejoin the rotation in the Mets opener against the Twins at 8:10 p.m. EDT. He will be opposed by Michael Pineda (6-4, 4.56 ERA). The game can be followed on SNY, WCBS 880 and ESPN Deportes 1050.
Zack Wheeler (6-6, 4.69 ERA) was originally scheduled to get the start against the Twins, but was instead placed on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder fatigue according to Tim Healey of Newsday. The move is retroactive to July 12 so he will be eligible to return on July 23. If he returns in the minimum amount of time, he could pitch two more times before the trade deadline.
Omar Minaya went to scout New York Yankees top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia as he made his Triple-A debut with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders per Andy Martino of SNY.
Dominic Smith, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Chris Mazza and Mickey Callaway shared their thoughts on the extension of protective netting in an article by Justin Toscano of NorthJersey.com.
The Mets currently reside in 14th place in the National League, but are only 5.5 games behind the second Wild Card.
Latest MLB News
The Chicago Cubs acquired Martin Maldonado in a trade with the Kansas City Royals per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Travis d’Arnaud supplied all the scoring offense for the Tampa Bay Rays in their 5-4 win over the Yankees. The backstop went 3-for-3 with two walks, three runs, three home runs and five RBIs. D’Arnaud is now hitting .282/.342/.542/.884 with nine homers, 26 RBIs and 26 runs scored in 131 at-bats and 39 games since joining the Rays.
Tom Joyce of FanGraphs wrote a piece about athletes who have played both football and baseball professionally.
Terry Lefton of the Sports Business Journal reported that advertising patches are coming to MLB uniforms and they may come within three years.
The Detroit Tigers selected Trevor Rosenthal‘s contract from Triple-A Toledo.
Baseball Prospectus released what they believe is the first-ever women’s baseball pitch and hit data website. You can check out the new website here.
Latest NL East News
The Atlanta Braves defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 and the Philadelphia Phillies were walloped by the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-2. The Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins had the day off.
The Braves (58-37) lead the division, followed by the Nationals (49-43; 7.0 games back), Phillies (48-46; 9.5 games back), Mets (42-51; 14.5 games back) and Marlins (34-57; 21.5 games back).
Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post looked back on the Nationals’ 2016 trade of Lucas Giolito and stated that while it would be helpful to have the 2019 All-Star right now, the trade was not a mistake.
Latest on MMO/MMN
Tim Ryder broke down Jacob deGrom‘s brief, yet successful start from Sunday.
Brian Devine compared Sandy Alderson’s drafts to that of other teams.
Matt Musico tackled the question of “How important is a big second half for Robinson Cano?”
Jack Ramsey looked at five under-the-radar Mets who could be traded.
John Sheridan continued his “3 Up, 3 Down” series following the Mets’ three-game set with the Marlins.
Sheridan also listed and elaborated on MMN’s “Weekly Top Performers” from each of the Mets minor league affiliates.
This Day in Mets History
1988: The Jackson Mets fell 1-0 to the San Antonio Missions in the longest game played in Texas League history. It was a 26-inning game which started on July 14, was suspended at 2:25 a.m. on July 15, resumed on July 16 and took a total of 7 hours and 23 minutes to complete.
2003: The Mets traded closer Armando Benitez to the Yankees for pitching prospects Jason Anderson, Anderson Garcia and Ryan Bicondoa.
2006: Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran both hit grand slams in a franchise-record 11-run sixth inning.
Birthdays: Norm Sherry turns 88.
