Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, Met fans!

Thursday marked the Mets’ first day off since June 3. The team will buckle up for a long stretch of games starting on Friday, playing 19 games in 18 days which will take them right into the All-Star break. The Mets have a record of 38-31 and are atop the National League East Standings by 3.5 games over the Washington Nationals.

They will play a doubleheader at home against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday with the first game starting at 4:10 p.m. The second game is a makeup of the April 15th rainout and will start shortly after the first one. Both games will be seven innings as is standard in 2021.

Taijuan Walker (6-3 2.42) gets the ball in the opener and David Peterson (2-5 5.31) will toe the rubber in Game 2. Walker has been sensational this year, only allowing three or more runs in three of his 13 starts this season. He has faced the Phillies twice this season with both games resulting in a no decision. Peterson has struggled at times this season but has been better his last two starts. He has faced the Phils three times this season and is 1-1 with 4.80 ERA in those games.

The Phillies are coming off a two-game series against the Washington Nationals. They lost both games, including a Wednesday matinee in which the club blew three leads and lost 13-12. Manager Joe Girardi has yet to name a starter for both games on Friday. They come into Citi Field with a record of 34-37.

Latest Mets News

The New York Mets have signed veteran right handed pitcher Vance Worley to a minor league deal. Worley was pitching for the Kane County Cougars in the Independent League American Association. The news was reported by Alex Smith of SNY.

The 33-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2017. He has a 35-36 career record with a career 4.07 ERA in 163 games. He has pitched for the Phillies, Twins, Pirates, Orioles and Marlins in his career. The Mets are thin on pitching depth after a plethora of injuries. Worley will report to Triple-A Syracuse.

Sources tell our own Jack Ramsey to not expect the Mets to make any panic moves for pitching. With the rash of injuries to the pitching staff over the last week or so, some have suggested the Mets need to make a splash in the pitching market. That is not the case, not yet at least as according to the sources, the Mets will go with internal options before getting serious about adding a major piece outside the organization.

It is also likely the Mets use the waiver wire to add some depth. The club recently claimed pitcher Robert Stock off waivers from the Cubs, and sources say that is the route the Mets feel more comfortable with at the moment. Expect more waiver claims for veterans if the opportunity presents itself.

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo played in all seven innings and went 1-for-3 in Game 1 of a doubleheader for the Syracuse Mets on Thursday night. The hope is for Nimmo to join the Mets by next week, barring any setbacks. He is rehabbing an injured hand and hasn’t played a big league game since May 2.

Pitcher Joey Lucchesi underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday. He shared the news via his Instagram page. Lucchesi experienced discomfort after his start last week and it was later determined he needed Tommy John surgery. He will miss the rest of the 2021 season and most likely the 2022 season as well.

Latest MLB News

Major League Baseball released the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star game jerseys and caps that will be worn during the game on July 13. Previously, teams worn their traditional home and road uniforms during the game, but that will be different in 2021.

Chris Creamer of SportsLogos.Net broke the story via his Twitter page.

John Blake reported that the Texas Rangers will have two more honorees inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame this year. The team announced that Chuck Morgan and Adrian Beltre will be the 23rd and 24th inductees into their Hall of Fame. The ceremonies will take place on August 24 prior to the Rangers’ matchup with the Oakland Athletics.

Morgan has been the team’s Public Address announcer since 1983. He hasn’t missed a game since he started and if that streak continues when he announces the lineups on August 24, it would be his 3,083 consecutive game behind the microphone.

Beltre, meanwhile, spent eight seasons (2011-2018) with the Rangers and was a big factor on 2011 Texas Ranger team that won the American League Championship. In his eight years with the club he accumulated 199 HRs, 699 RBIs, and hit .304 in just under 1,100 games for the organization. He also had five postseason homers for the team.

The Cincinnati Reds placed pitcher Lucas Sims on the injured list, the team announced Friday. Sims is listed to have an ‘elbow sprain’ and was replaced on the roster by outfielder Scott Heineman. Sims has a 5.02 ERA on the season and has pitched in 28 games for the Reds this season. Heineman has split the year between the big league club and Triple-A. In 17 games with the Reds this season, he is batting .077 with two HRs and three RBIs.

Reds starter Sonny Gray was scratched from his rehab start in Louisville on Wednesday night. Gray was on the IL with a groin injury and woke up with a stiff back. There shouldn’t be too much concern as Gray was at Great American Ballpark on Thursday throwing long toss and if is expected to pitch Saturday. If all goes well he should rejoin the Reds rotation sometime next week.

The Arizona Diamondbacks start the day as the worst team in baseball with a record of 21-55. With the MLB Trade Deadline fast approaching, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic breaks down which players the Diamondbacks are most likely to move before July 31.

Latest NL East News

Kyle Schwarber continued his red-hot hitting on Thursday night, smashing two homers in the Washington Nationals victory over the Miami Marlins. Schwarber got things started in the top of the first with another home run. He set a league record with 12 home runs from the lead-off position in 13 games.

He also hit a three-run homer in the 2nd inning to give the Nats a 4-0 lead. They would eventually win by a score of 7-3. The Nationals moved their record to 36-36 becoming the only team other than the Mets in the National League to be .500 or better. They currently trail the Amazins’ by 3.5 games.

Prior to Thursday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds the Braves added two new pitchers to their roster. Former National Tanner Roark was added to the roster as was veteran relief pitcher Jesse Chavez. The team announced the news via their Twitter page.

Kyle Wright, who started Wednesday night’s game against the Mets, and relief pitcher Ty Tice were optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. They also transferred pitcher Tucker Davidson and catcher Austin Jackson to the 60-day IL to make room for Chavez and Roark. The Braves lost to the Reds 5-3 on Thursday. They are 35-39, 5.5 games behind the Mets.

Latest on MMO

The Mets split a four-game set with the Atlanta Braves this past weekend. Patrick Glynn discusses what went well and where the Mets struggled.

The Mets No. 6 prospect, Mark Vientos is really starting to make some noise at Double-A Binghamton, writes Joseph Langan.

The Mets position players have been getting healthy. So When will see Brandon Nimmo? Alex Horowitz has the scoop.

Joe D. wants to know. Can you WHIP it?

The NL East – Where do things stand? Anthony E. Parelli breaks it down for you.

Beyond the Blog

Locked On Mets: On today’s episode, host Ryan Finkelstein is joined by Dan Wilson, host of Locked On Phillies, for crossover special to preview the New York Mets upcoming four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

On This Date in Mets History

On June 25, 1968, Tom Seaver threw a complete game shutout, giving up just five hits in a 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field. The game was scoreless until the top of the sixth when Cleon Jones took George Culver deep to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. The Mets would tack on three in the seventh  to complete the scoring. The Mets pulled to within a game of .500 at 34-35, the closest they’d get to that mark all season.

The Mets took the division lead on this date in 1984 after a 10-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium. Ron Darling started and got his eighth win of the season going 6.1 innings giving up 5 runs. However, future broadcast partner Keith Hernandez hit a 3-run home run off of Jim Kern in the fourth inning which gave the Mets a 7-1 lead. Tim Leary and Jesse Orosco spelled Darling with 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The win put the Mets at 38-29 record as they took the division lead away from the Phils.

A walk-off grand-slam by Kevin McReynolds gave the Mets an 8-5 win versus the Montreal Expos on this date in 1991. The Mets were down 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, but Expos reliever Barry Jones struggled in the ninth, giving up a single and a walk. Scott Ruskin relieved Jones and proceeded to walk Dave Magadan to load the bases. After a Greg Jeffries strikeout, McReynolds won it on a grand slam. It was his sixth career grand slam.

The Mets won the second straight Subway Series game against the New York Yankees on this date in 2005. Tom Glavine started for the Amazins as the Mets tattooed Yankee starter Sean Henn for six runs in just 4.1 innings pitched. Cliff Floyd hit two homers and David Wright added one as well to give the Mets a 10-3 victory. The win pulled the Mets to .500 at 37-37.

Birthdays: Franklyn Kilome (26), Kane Davis (46), Carlos Delgado (49), Michael Tucker (50), Aaron Sele (51), Alejandro Pena (72)

Let’s go Mets!