Good Morning, Mets fans!

After two days without play, the New York Mets begin a weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, with right-hander Jacob deGrom (8-3, 3.55 ERA) on the hill for the Amazins. He will be opposed by Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez (6-7, 3.15) in a 8:05 PM matchup.

Joe D. says – DeGrom’s bid for a no-hitter ended with two outs in the fifth inning in his last start,  a 2-1 win over the Phillies at Citi Field. He was charged with one run on three hits and one walk in seven innings. His 12 strikeouts gave him a career-high six double-digit strikeout performances this season. He has allowed just three earned runs over 32 innings for a 0.84 ERA in his last four outings. DeGrom may not have made the All Star team, but since June 1, he’s been the most dominant pitcher in the National League.

Latest Mets News

Cameron Planck, the Mets eleventh rounder from last year, will undergo season ending shoulder surgery. Obviously not something you would like to hear but hopefully it does not impact him too much long term.

Some more bad news surrounding Mets pitching prospects: Thomas Szapucki left last night’s game due to forearm soreness. Never like hearing that diagnosis but we can only hope it is not foreshadowing Tommy-John surgery.

Joe D. says – In five starts for Class-A Columbia, Szapucki has an excellent 2.86 ERA and 1.165 WHIP. However, the southpaw has seen his strikeout rate dip from 14.9 last season to 8.3 in 2017. We’ll keep an eye on the Toms River, NJ native and report any injury updates on this top ranked Mets prospect.

Michael Conforto went 3 for 4 with a walk in a rehab game last night. He played all nine innings while playing center field. Josh Smoker also threw a scoreless inning in the game with a strikeout.

Latest NL East News

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports about the Nationals nearing a deal with their first rounder LHP Seth Romero.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes about the near return of Sean Rodriguez.

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes about the latest Ichiro Suzuki milestone.

Matt Gelb of the Philly.com writes about the electric but erratic righty, Vince Velasquez.

Latest on MMO

Mike Mayer writes about Addison Reed‘s high trade value.

Check out this article by John Jackson who writes about the pitching staff’s much higher walk rate this season as compared to last season.

This Day in Mets History

1964: The Mets host the 1964 All-Star game. Ron Hunt starts for the National League and went 1 for 3. The NL won 7-4.

Birthdays: John Buck turns 37, Andy Green turns 40, Tim Teufel turns 59, Bob Gallagher turns 69, Tommy Moore turns 69.

Tweet of the Day