Morning Briefing: Pitchers and Catchers Report Today

KAILA JONES/TCPALM

Good morning, Mets fans!

Mets pitchers and catchers report today, officially. Of course, as you will see from the news below, lots of the Mets are already in camp.

Latest Mets News

As the final round of Mets players reach the spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Mets new ace Justin Verlander is already throwing a bullpen session. Verlander signed a two-year deal with the Mets this offseason as he begins his first spring training with New York.

Noted Mets pitcher Justin Verlander throws a bullpen session on his first day at spring training pic.twitter.com/tRWgO5VjcX

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) February 14, 2023

Mets closer Edwin Díaz was asked about a number of topics when he met with media members down in the team’s spring training facility. Díaz and the team expect to win the World Series this season was one of many things the closer said during those conversations.

Díaz also expects to keep throwing his two pitches, his fastball and slider, which he hopes to keep striking out opposing batters. Díaz also wants to see Timmy Trumpets, the artist behind his now signature entrance song, at more games this season and loves being back with the orange and blue.

Latest MLB News

Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote an article about MLB’s plans to enforce illegal pitch and balk rules this season. This and the new pitch clock rule will certainly work hand-in-hand, as there is now a 15-second time limit between when the pitcher receives the ball back from the catcher and his next pitch. This time increases to 20 seconds when there is a runner on base.

In addition to the new MLB rule changes, media members were given the first on-the-field look at the base size increase put in place this year, which sees the first, second and third base bags grow three inches to square. This gives the batters a 4.5-inch shorter distance between the bases they run around and three-inch shorter distance to and from home plate.

Free agent starting pitcher Michael Wacha is in agreement on a contract with the San Diego Padres, pending physical, sources tell The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal. Wacha’s contract with the Padres is worth $24 million over the next four years. The deal includes a player and team option that protects both Wacha’s upside and downside while lowering his annual average value for luxury-tax purposes.

Looking deeper into the signing, Rosenthal says the Padres addressed long-term uncertainty in rotation. The Padres have already extended pitchers Joe Musgrove back in August and Yu Darvish. With a potential contract for Nick Martinez coming soon, agreeing to a deal with Wacha solves some of those issues. Pitcher Blake Snell is still eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Mike Clevinger, who remains under investigation for potentially violating MLB’s domestic violence policy, will be permitted to fully participate at the White Sox’s spring training camp, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Clevinger is not being placed on administrative leave at this time.

Back in late January, Clevinger’s girlfriend, who is also the mother of their almost one-year-old child, told The Athletic of incidents involving physical, verbal and emotional abuse towards her and their child. According to the article, the White Sox were aware of the investigation after Clevinger was signed.

MLB.TV subscribers will now be able to watch Minor League Baseball (MiLB) this season. If you didn’t think you could get enough baseball, now you have access to over 7,000 streamed games from affiliates of the 30 MLB teams. This includes all 60 Triple-A and Double-A minor league clubs, 40 additional clubs and some postseason games that will all be available through the First Pitch App.