Good morning and happy Friday, Mets fans!
Unfortunately, the Mets are off on Friday, but will be back at it on Saturday with Jacob deGrom on the mound. Game starts at 6:05 p.m. ET.
Latest Mets News
According to MMO’s Michael Mayer, Seth Lugo‘s elbow rehabilitation is on track. “Everything is going well and feeling good,” Lugo told the press yesterday afternoon, and that the issue came out of nowhere.
New Met shortstop Francisco Lindor sent a heartfelt message in tribute to the family of the late Pedro Gomez on MLB’s main Twitter account.
Mets owner Steve Cohen announced on Twitter that, “without question there will be fans this year,” in the stands of Citi Field.
The Brooklyn Cyclones announced their 2021 coaching staff, per MetsMinors.net. Ed Blankmeyer will get another shot at manager, with Nic Jackson as the hitting coach, Royce Ring as the pitching coach, and Mariano Duncan as the bench coach.
Latest MLB News
Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that the initial recommendation for the Astros starter Framber Valdez is surgery to repair his fractured ring finger. The left-hander could possibly miss the 2021 season due to the injury sustained during spring training, but the team is getting a second medical opinion before announcing any further updates.
All of the major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, MLS, NBA, NHL & WBNA) combined to write a paper on Covid-19 and heart complications, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. They found that only 0.6 percent of athletes with the virus develop heart complications- an extremely encouraging statistic.
The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams reported that the Red Sox have signed infielder/outfielder Danny Santana to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.
Latest on MMO
Jordan Baron recapped the Mets defeating the division-rival Nationals, 8-4, Thursday afternoon on the back of three homers.
Matt Musico explored why Brandon Nimmo deserves more credit for his offensive production.
Thomas Hall broke down why the Mets shouldn’t extend Noah Syndergaard before the season.
MMO Digital
On today’s episode of Locked On Mets, host Ryan Finkelstein talks about Jeurys Familia and Dellin Betances after watching them struggle in their first appearances of spring training. Can either pitcher rebound enough this year to be counted on coming out of the bullpen?
Ryan also reacts to the report that all talk around the universal DH and expanded playoffs for 2021 is dead, and discusses what that means for the Mets this season.
On This Date in Mets History
On his 43rd birthday, we remember the career of former Met, multi-team minor league legend Mike Hessman. At 37 years old, during his 19th season in the minor leagues Hessman became the real life Crash Davis. Hessman broke the minor league career home run record (just as Crash does in the movie, “Bull Durham,”) with 433. Hessman is one of only four players in history to hit more than 400 home runs in the minor leagues.
His record-breaking grand slam came while playing for the Detroit Tigers’ minor league affiliate, the Mud Hens, surpassing the 78-year-old record set by Buzz Arlett of the Oakland Oaks in 1937. The record stood for 78 years.
Birthdays: Mike Hessman (43), Larry Elliot (83)
