Good morning, Mets fans!
On Wednesday night, former Mets pitchers and twice teammates faced off deep in the heart of Texas, as Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros and Max Scherzer of the Texas Rangers went head-to-head. Verlander had a big bounceback start as he went seven stellar innings, just giving up two runs (one earned) and holding the vaunted Rangers lineup to only four hits.
Scherzer, on the other hand, did not have as encouraging of a performance. The veteran struggled in yet another big game as he got barraged by the Astros offense, only lasting three innings. He gave up seven earned runs on six hits in his short night. Scherzer gave up home runs to Yordan Álvarez and Michael Brantley in the first two innings, but “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was a third inning grand slam from José Abreu. While Scherzer has done well since being dealt to Texas, the veteran is yet again facing injury issues as he felt forearm tightness in his previous start, and in a big divisional matchup for the Rangers he fell flat yet again.
In Washington on Wednesday night, the Mets lost in walk-off fashion as they lost the second of two games to the Nationals by a score of 3-2. José Butto, who has not made a big league appearance since August 15, gave the Mets a solid outing as he went 6 1/3 IP while allowing two runs on six hits and racking up six strikeouts in the process. However, the Mets offense was not able to crack the Nats bullpen, leaving the door open in the ninth inning. Nationals rookie Jacob Young took advantage of the opportunity as he chopped an RBI single up the middle to plate the winning run.
The Mets, who fall to 64-75 on the season, will have an off day as they travel north to take on the Minnesota Twins in a three-game set over the weekend.
Latest Mets News
In a Baseball America article where their staff ranks the 20 hottest prospects from the previous week, Mets pitching prospect Dominic Hamel found himself at No. 10 on the list. Hamel, who has spent the entire season with Double-A Binghamton, went six scoreless innings while only allowing three hits and racking up 11 strikeouts in his latest outing.
Baseball America also put together an article where they had managers, scouts, and executives vote on the “Best Tools” of 2023. A couple of Mets made an appearance as Pete Alonso was ranked third for “Best Power,” Jeff McNeil came at third for “Best Hit-and-Run Artist,” David Peterson in third place for “Best Pickoff Move,” and finally Francisco Lindor grabbed second place in the “Best Defensive SS” category.
Luis Guillorme, who has been on the sideline since late July with a calf injury, is progressing in his rehab as he plans to begin a rehab assignment. Mets skipper Buck Showalter told the media that Guillorme should be starting his rehab assignment this Friday in High-A Brooklyn as he looks to return before the season’s end.
The Mets also received some more encouraging news on the injury front as their closer Edwin Díaz threw sliders during his bullpen session on Wednesday for the first time since his surgery in March, per Tim Healey of Newsday. Díaz, who tore his patellar tendon in the World Baseball Classic, has been meeting key marks in his recovery over the last few months as he steadily progresses towards getting back on the mound.
Latest MLB News
Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urías was placed on paid administrative leave by Major League Baseball on Wednesday, which was first reported by Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. This is following an incident on Sunday Night where Urías was arrested on suspicion of a felony charge of corporal injury of a spouse, in which he was released on Monday morning on $50,000 bond. Urías was suspended for 20 games due to suspicion of domestic battery in 2019, although not formally charged, making this his second offense according to MLB.
The Miami Marlins, who are in the thick of the NL Wild Card race, faced two big blows on Wednesday as they had to place both Sandy Alcántara and Jorge Soler on the IL. The 2022 Cy Young award winner, Sandy Alcántara, is going on the 15-day IL with a right forearm flexor strain following him expressing arm discomfort after his start in Washington on Sunday, per Craig Mish of Herald Sports. Soler, who leads the team with 35 home runs, will be hitting the 10-day IL with a right oblique strain which initially came up on August 29 when he left the game with discomfort following a swing, per Jordan McPherson of the Herald Sports.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are calling up the 10th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, and the best prospect in their system, Jordan Lawlar, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Lawlar, who was the sixth overall pick in the 2021 draft, has spent his last 16 games in Triple-A where he has really thrived, holding a .358 batting average with a 1.050 OPS in his short stint there.
Pittsburgh Pirates veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen will be missing the last month of the season with a partial tear in his left Achilles, per Justice delos Santos of MLB.com. McCutchen, who is sitting at 299 career home runs, said “I’m not worried about it. I should be good” after leaving Monday’s game with left Achilles tightness. Unfortunately, the injury is more serious than the former MVP hoped, as he will be in a walking boot for the next six weeks and will have to wait until next year to reach the 300 career home run mark.
According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, lefty starting pitcher Shōto Imanaga for the Yokohama DeNa Baystars of Japan’s NPB will be posted this offseason for all 30 major league teams. The 30-year-old started the championship game of the WBC for Japan as they claimed gold against team USA in March, and since then has posted a 2.57 ERA in 20 starts for the Baystars. The Mets have shown interest and scouted the veteran lefty, according to Mike Mayer of Metsmerized Online.
Latest on MMO
Jorge Eckardt took a closer look at the news of Shōto Imanaga’s posting.
Ross Bentley looked into Buck Showalter’s comments about Brett Baty‘s future playing time.
Chris Bello highlighted how Franisco Álvarez is chasing history after breaking out of his month long slump.
On This Date In Mets History
2015: The Mets win a pivotal game against division rival Wahington Nationals behind a three-run seventh inning, which included a David Wright RBI single and a Yoenis Cespedes RBI double. Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes, and Kelly Johnson all took Max Scherzer deep in route to the 8-5 win.
2006: José Reyes hits his one and only career inside-the-park home run against Dodgers starting pitcher Brad Penny in the bottom of the sixth inning. Reyes bolted a ball off the center field wall in Shea Stadium, which got by center fielder Matt Kemp on the ricochet, and he dove head first into home as he scored without a throw.
1984: Dwight Gooden takes control of the National League rookie record for most strikeouts in a season. With his second inning strikeout of Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Cey Gooden amassed his record-setting 228th strikeout while officially passing Grover Cleveland for the record.
Birthdays: Brian Stokes (44), David Newhan (50), Jason Isringhausen (51), Darren Bragg (54), Rick Sweet (71)
