Morning Briefing: Rhys Hoskins Tears ACL

Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, Mets fans!

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins was injured in Thursday’s spring training game vs. Detroit going after a ground ball hit to him at first. Hoskins was attended by medical professionals on the field and was determined he suffered a torn ACL and will undergo surgery, effectively ending his 2023 season.

Rhys Hoskins is being handled by EMTs following a bad left knee injury pic.twitter.com/5iIv2mm4K6

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 23, 2023

Now onto the morning briefing!

Latest Mets News

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that former Mets infielder Jed Lowrie has announced his retirement from professional baseball. Lowrie, a 14-year veteran, signed a two-year, $20 million contract with the Mets in January 2019, but his time with the team was plagued by injuries and he only played in nine games for the Mets during his first season. Lowrie was initially signed to be a versatile infielder who could play second base, third base, and shortstop, and provide some much-needed depth to the Mets’ infield. However, he suffered a knee injury during spring training and didn’t make his Mets debut until September 2019. Lowrie would sit out the 2020 season with persisting injuries, finishing a Mets tenure that never really took off.

Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo took one more step to being ready for opening day, as he took part in a Triple-A game in the back fields of Clover Park, by hitting a two-run triple. His participation is a good sign that Nimmo can be ready or be close to ready for the start of the season. A few days prior, Nimmo injured himself sliding into second base during a game and suffered a low-grade sprain in his ankle and knee.

Former Mets PR head Jay Horowitz will be autographing copies of his book on Saturday, March 25 at Union Square Park at 11 a.m. as part of the Mets’ first Amazin’ Day around New York City. Horowitz will be joined by former Mets pitcher Glendon Rusch.

Amidst a very exciting day for certain members at Citi Field, the New York Mets have changed and updated the playoff banners at Citi Field. The World Series champion banners feature the regular white base with orange border around it. The pennant banners featuring the 1973, 2000, and 2015 seasons now feature a new blue base with an orange border as well. The NL East pennants have been consolidated to one, featuring an orange base with blue border and the NL Wild Card pennants, which include the 2022 season, are featured on an all-white base.

Joe Pantorno of amNewYork tweets that the Mets will offer college students tickets to games with price points starting at $15 dollars, all through text. Pantorno notes that the Mets goal for this program is to reach a demographic that has been priced out by Major League Baseball.

Latest MLB News

Mark Bowman, Braves beat writer for MLB.com, notes that pitcher Raisel Iglesias has a low-grade shoulder inflammation in his throwing shoulder and will start the season on the injured list.

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright will start the season on the injured list with a groin strain, per Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Forbes released its list of most valuable major league franchises and notes that price tags have gone up 12%, even with the impending regional television woes. The Mets rank sixth on this list.

Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic released their MLB aces rankings, separated by five tiers, with tier one being the highest. Mets pitcher Justin Verlander ranked No. 1 in the first tier, while pitcher Max Scherzer ranked fifth in the second tier.

Baseball America released its MLB Top 100 players and for the first time ever, they graded every MLB regular on the 20-80 scale.

Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports that former Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki has been cut by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He notes that the Pirates have not yet announced it, but was told he will not make the team. He has an opt-out if he’s not on roster by Saturday.