Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Good morning, Mets fans!
The Mets suffered another rotation injury Tuesday night when Robert Stock left Tuesday night’s game after one inning. After running a ball out during an at-bat in the top of the second, Stock couldn’t make a pitch in the bottom half and exited with a right hamstring injury.
The team is down to just three healthy starters on the active roster with Stock hurt and Jerad Eickhoff designated for assignment before Tuesday’s game. (He will likely return to the organization soon as soon as possible, though, if he wants, given the state of the Mets’ rotation.) Mike Puma of the New York Post reported Tommy Hunter likely won’t return to the Mets this season due to the back injury he suffered in May, too.
Jacob deGrom won’t be back for at least a week, Carlos Carrasco, should he return next week (more on that in a moment) won’t be fully stretched out and guys like Noah Syndergaard, David Peterson, and Jordan Yamamoto are still a ways away.
Zack Scott made an appearance recently on Jon Heyman’s Big Time Baseball podcast and said starting pitching is his priority over the next week and a half. The trade deadline is nine days away. The Mets need to make a move before then.
Now let’s get into the morning briefing.
Latest Mets News
The Mets lost to the Reds 4-3 on Tuesday night. (Recap here.) After Stock’s injury, the bullpen kept the Mets in it for seven more innings, allowing just three runs over that time. They’ll try to take the rubber game Wednesday with a 12:35 p.m. start.
Carlos Carrasco labored in his second rehab assignment, giving up five runs on three home runs in 1.2 innings. He threw just eight pitches in the first but needed 33 pitches to get two outs in the second. Given the Mets’ current roster situation, his next start might be with the major-league squad.
Shortly before Tuesday’s game, the Mets revealed José Peraza fractured a finger on his right hand during Monday night’s game, adding to the team’s injury woes. Peraza injured the finger fielding a double play in extra innings. He was replaced on the roster with Geoff Hartlieb, who threw 1.1 innings Tuesday night amidst the game that the bullpen patched together.
MMO’s own Jack Ramsey reported Kumar Rocker isn’t expected to throw any professional innings in 2021 after his high workload in college. The Mets’ first-round pick threw 122 innings in his last college season. He only threw 15 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that followed an already-laborious 2019, where Rocker threw 99 innings in his freshman season.
Rocker, who will be 22 before next year, will likely start the 2022 season in one of the Mets’ higher minor-league affiliates.
In other draft news, Ramsey reported Mark Vasil, their third-round pick, signed for “just over his slot value,” which is $181,200.
The Mets also locked in their fourth-round pick JT Schwartz with a $475,000 signing bonus (about $50,000 under slot), according to MLB Pipeline‘s Jonathan Mayo. Their 20th round pick, shortstop Justin Guerrera, signed with the team Tuesday, too. He earned a $75,000 signing bonus.
J.T. Ginn, the Mets’ healthiest pitching prospect, was promoted to High-A Brooklyn after compiling a 2.56 ERA in 38.2 innings with St. Lucie. His WHIP sat at 0.93 over eight starts. The 22-year-old made his professional debut this season after the Mets drafted him in 2020 despite having just undergone Tommy John surgery. He’ll make his first start in High-A on Saturday.
Latest MLB News
Shohei Ohtani signed an exclusive memorabilia deal with Fanatics, ESPN’s Dan Hajducky reports. This comes piggybacking off the fact Ohtani has been the top jersey sale on Fanatics since July 1, as Jeff Passan points out.
The Phillies are going through another COVID-19 issue, as Matt Gelbs reports Bailey Falter and JD Hammer were placed on the COVID restricted list. They had another small COVID score before the All-Star break. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday that just half of the Phillies 26-man roster (before Tuesday’s game) is vaccinated.
Orioles ace John Means returned from the injured list Tuesday night. He gave up five runs in five innings.
The Royals placed Danny Duffy, a potential Mets trade target, on the 10-day injured list with a left flexor strain.
The Detroit Tigers’ top starter Spencer Turnbull will be out for the rest of the year due to upcoming Tommy John surgery. He’d been on the injured list since June 4 with a forearm strain. As he was rehabbing, the team found damage to his right elbow. Turnbull threw one of MLB’s four no-hitters so far this year on May 18.
Starlin Castro, who was placed on administrative leave after being accused of domestic violence, isn’t expected to return to the Nationals, general manager Mike Rizzo says.
Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara was placed on the bereavement list due to a death in the family, Craig Mish says.
Latest on MMO
John Flanigan covered a ton of topics on the site: Jeff McNeil‘s hot last couple weeks, Michael Conforto‘s percolation, the team’s power output from Monday and the Mets’ Players of the Week from the last week.
Alexis Farinacci wrote about how the Mets’ rare bad night on defense hurt Jerad Eickhoff‘s performance Monday.
Beyond the Blog
This Day in Mets History
Mike Bordick, who in my youth would’ve sworn was on the Mets for like five seasons, celebrates his 54th birthday today. He was only on the Mets for half of their 2000 World Series run.
Also on July 21, this time in 2018, the Mets traded Jeurys Familia to the A’s in return for Bobby Wahl and Will Toffey. Though Familia returned the next offseason on a three-year deal, neither Wahl nor Toffey are still in the Mets’ organization.
