JOE PUETZ-USA TODAY SPORTS

The 2023 World Baseball Classic kicked off late Tuesday night in Pool A with Roger Bernandina leading the Kingdom of the Netherlands to a 4-2 win over Cuba in Taiwan. Yoenis Cespedes went 0-for-2 with two walks in the game.

Then on Wednesday morning in more Pool A action, Panama surprised the baseball world by blowing out Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) 12-5 behind two scoreless innings by starter Humberto Mejia and three runs knocked in by Jonathan Arauz. Both players are currently in the Mets organization. Former Met Ruben Tejada chipped in with two hits and a terrific defensive play at shortstop.

Pool B play begins tonight with Australia playing Korea in Japan.

Australia (0-0) vs Korea (0-0) – Pool B
LHP Jack O’Loughlin vs. RHP Young Pyo Ko
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Wednesday, March 8, 10:00 PM, FS1

Australia enters the tournament as the No. 18 (of 20) in our WBC rankings given their limited big league and minor league experience. Team Australia is managed by former major league catcher Dave Nilsson. Former Mets pitcher Graeme Lloyd is the pitching coach for Australia.

The Korean team’s strength is up the middle with infielders Tommy Edman and Ha-Seong Kim as their double-play combo and KBO MVP Lee Jung-hoo in center field.

Panama (1-0) vs Netherlands (1-0) – Pool A
RHP Jaime Barria vs. RHP Shairon Martis
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, Taichung, Taiwan
Wednesday, March 8, 11:00 PM, FS2

Panama plays again at 11:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night after their 12-5 over Taiwan was completed around 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning. The right-handed Barria had a 2.61 ERA in 79 1/3 big league innings for the Angels last season.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands sends WBC-star Shairon Martis to the mound at 35 years old. Martis hasn’t played in affiliated ball since 2013, but become the first (and only) pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the World Baseball Classic back in 2006 against Panama.

China (0-0) vs Japan (0-0) – Pool B
LHP Xiang Wang vs. RHP Shohei Ohtani
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Thursday, March 9, 5:00 AM, FS1

The team from China comes into the tournament as our No. 20 ranked team that features only one player currently slated to play affiliated ball in the US this season. That player is right-handed pitcher Alan Carter. Their manager, Dean Treanor, has a long career of coaching in the minor leagues in the US and was the Marlins bullpen coach from 2017-2019.

Japan, considered one of the favorites to win the WBC, is led by worldwide superstar Shohei Ohtani. Their strong pitching rotation also features major league star Yu Darvish, two-time Sawamura award winner Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and young phenom Roki Sasaki. Third baseman Munetaka Murakami leads the offense coming off setting the Japanese-born home run record in 2022 with 56 long balls.

Italy (0-0) vs Cuba (0-1) – Pool A
RHP Matt Harvey vs. LHP Roenis Elias 
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, Taichung, Taiwan
Thursday, March 9, 6:00 AM, Tubi

Manager Mike Piazza takes Team Italy to the field for their first game of the tournament with former Mets pitcher Matt Harvey getting the start. The Team Italy offense does have some big-league experience with Vinnie Pasquantino. David Fletcher, Nicky Lopez, and Andre Pallante.

This game sets up a matchup two of the Mets’ most important pieces of their 2015 World Series run with Harvey on the mound and Cespedes hitting in the middle of the lineup for Cuba.

The post WBC Game Thread: Pool B Begins Play appeared first on Metsmerized.

The fifth installment of the World Baseball Classic begins on Tuesday night at 11:00 p.m. ET with Cuba playing the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Taiwan as part of Pool A.

Cuba (0-0) vs Netherlands (0-0) – Pool A
RHP Yariel Rodríguez vs. RHP Tom de Blok
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, Taichung, Taiwan
Tuesday, March 7, 11:00 PM, FS1

The Cuban team includes big leaguers Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert alongside older stars Yoenis Cespedes and Alfredo Despaigne. The 36-year-old Despaigne leads World Baseball Classic tournament history with seven home runs.

The Netherlands has a long list of players with major league experience including star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, outfielder Jurickson Profar, and veteran infielder Andrelton Simmons.

Panama (0-0) vs Taiwan (0-0) – Pool A
RHP Humberto Mejia vs RHP Chih-Wei Hu
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, Taichung, Taiwan
Wednesday, March 8, 6:00 AM, FS2

Former Met Ruben Tejada and current Met Jonathan Arauz are part of the Panama infield. Team Panama has gone 0-5 in two WBC appearances. Game 1 starter Humberto Mejia signed a minor league deal with the Mets this offseason.

Big leaguer infield Yu Chang will lead the Taiwan offense that will also have former Mets minor leaguer Tzu-Wei Lin.

Make sure to check out our Pool A preview and our WBC power rankings. 

The post WBC Game Thread: Pool A Action Begins appeared first on Metsmerized.

Pete Alonso. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Pete Alonso looks primed and ready as the 2023 Mets’ spring training season officially gets under way.

Alonso was 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. One of those hits was a lead-off, solo home run in the bottom of the second inning off of Marlins’ starting pitcher, Braxton Garrett. It was a long home run, deep over the center field wall of Clover Park, clocked at 105.3 MPH off the bat.

Alonso spoke with the media after his day concluded. One of the topics he discussed was how he has altered his routine and structured his spring camp with the World Baseball Classic coming up in a couple weeks.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve changed anything,” stated Alonso. “It’s just trying to do the best I can to master consistency,” he said. Alonso talked about trying to be in control of as many outcomes as a possible in a, “Sport where you have little to no control.”

Pete crushed this one in his first AB of the spring! Exit velo was 105.3 mph.pic.twitter.com/ccO1XQX4vz

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) February 25, 2023

“If I can stay within myself and stay disciplined in any situation, I want to be able to get the most out of my ability,” he expressed.

Alonso also spoke about getting used to the new pitch clock rules that are now in place and what it’s been like figuring out a routine and clock management.

“I’m just trying to figure it out right now. I want to be able to establish a routine,” he said. “I want to be able to develop something where I have time, where I have certain cues,” stated Alonso. He went on to elaborate that now that spring games have begun and players get to experience real use of the pitch clock that he can now “tinker,” or figure it out ahead of the regular season.

“I just want to develop a routine or ritual and get it down. I’ll kind of play with some stuff during these spring games, but so far, so good,” Alonso stated.

Regardless, it looked like the new pitch clock had little-to-no effect on Pete. Who exploded out of the gates. It’s early, but a 3-for-3 game with a rocket of a home run is always a great early sign.

The post Pete Alonso Begins Spring Training With A Bang appeared first on Metsmerized.

KAILA JONES/TCPALM

Good morning, Mets fans!

All MLB teams begin spring training games today, with the Mets playing two split-squad games, one against the Astros at 1:05 p.m. ET and the other against the Marlins at 6:10 p.m.

Latest Mets News

MMO’s own Michael Mayer reported that the Mets have been in attendance to scout the Korean World Baseball Classic team. Among the players of note is outfielder Lee Jung-hoo who is a 24-year-old reigning MVP of the KBO and has slashed .342/.407/.495/.902 in six full years in the league. A Boras client, he is expected to be posted to be signed by MLB teams after this season.

Tim Healey of Newsday wrote a story on Max Scherzer‘s method of taking golf swings to help his oblique.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Mets are signing outfielder Jaylin Davis to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp.

Steve Gelbs noted during Friday’s intrasquad matchup that Mets pitching prospect Dominic Hamel will start Game 3 for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.

Latest MLB News

Jacob Resnick of MLB Pipeline compared different Top Prospects lists and listed other prospects that the site is high on.

An automatic strike was called on Manny Machado for taking too long to get in the batter’s box during Friday afternoon’s spring training game between the Padres and Mariners. This is the first of many infractions we are likely to see as players get used to the new rules MLB is implementing this season.

 Latest on MMO

Andrew Steele-Davis broke down Billy Eppler’s role in the Mets’ historic offseason.

Jack Markowski debated whether Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer should start Opening Day.

Tyler Antonelle recapped the Mets’ intrasquad game that took place Friday afternoon.

On This Date in Mets History

Birthdays: Ed Lynch (67)

The post Morning Briefing: Full Slate Of Spring Training Games Begins Today appeared first on Metsmerized.

As sad as it was for New York Mets fans when Jacob deGrom signed with the Texas Rangers, owner Steve Cohen has received confirmation that he did the right thing.

Just as MLB spring training begins, deGrom has already been set back a couple of days due to side tightness “as a precaution,” per Kennedi Landri of MLB.com.

Sound familiar?

The Mets went through this saga with deGrom for several years. In 2021, he missed several starts due to tightness in various parts of his arm, then missed the entire second half of the season due to forearm tightness. In 2022, he missed the first four months of the season with a shoulder injury.

Still, it came as a shock to large segments of the fanbase when deGrom left for Texas in the offseason. However, the five-year, $185 million price tag was very steep for a player who made a combined 26 starts over the past two seasons.

In many ways, the Mets dodged a bullet with deGrom.

As sad as it will be for many not to see the tall, lanky No. 48 pitch at Citi Field any longer, that kind of financial commitment to a player with an uncertain shelf life is not a wise investment. Cohen chose to go the route of Justin Verlander, six years older but willing to take a pricey two-year contract rather than a five-year one. Even if the Verlander signing blows up in the Mets’ face, it will still be for only two years. DeGrom’s up-and-down situation can last for the next five.

The fact that this tightness is surfacing on day one also makes it clear that the Mets were better off without this roller coaster. Mets manager Buck Showalter indicated that deGrom told him there was more to the story about why the ace ended up leaving New York. However, it was clear that deGrom was unhappy about something the Mets did in 2021, as that’s when he started cutting back his media availability.

It has been rumored that deGrom did not like how the Mets handled his injury situation in 2021. If that is the case, this could have been an ongoing headache for the Mets even if deGrom was healthy. All those little tweaks and his wishes vs. those of the Mets’ coaching staff and doctors would continue to be a story.

Some would point out that Verlander missed virtually two seasons due to Tommy John surgery at age 38. However, Verlander returned to win the Cy Young Award and pitch 175 innings, which, while not the 200+ innings that he had pitched in 12 out of the previous 13 seasons prior to his injury, was still a more-than-serviceable number for an ace.

By contrast, even when deGrom did return for the Mets, he averaged 5.8 innings per start and was babied back for most of August. When the training wheels were taken off in September, he finished the season with a 6.00 ERA in his last five starts.

This is not to say that Verlander will work out for the Mets and deGrom won’t work out for the Rangers. Probability does not imply certainty. Still, Cohen did the smart thing. If his five starting pitching investments do not work out, all but one contract will be expired by the end of the 2024 season. He’s going all-in but in a calculated manner.

Jacob deGrom did not fit that timeline. With his injury history, he was a bad bet. The Mets’ multibillionaire owner doesn’t like bad bets.

The choice was clear. Now it’s time for the results to play out.

The post Mets Dodged Bullet as DeGrom Injury Saga Begins appeared first on Metsmerized.

For any baseball fans looking to watch some live games before spring training begins later this month, the Caribbean Series just might be the thing to focus on. The tournament begins on Thursday in Venezuela as eight nations will go for the title.

While there are no current Mets major leaguers or prospects on any of the rosters that feature the champions of each country’s winter league squad, some of the names that you will see will get fans reminiscing on players who wore orange and blue in recent years.

For the host country, Venezuela (Leones Del Caracas), Wilson Ramos is one of the catchers. Ramos spent two years as the catcher in Flushing (2019-2020) and had a slash line of .276/.339/.410 with 19 home runs and 88 RBIs in 186 games.

One of the favorites, the Dominican Republic (Tigres del Licey), they are managed by a man who had a brief cup of coffee with the Mets in Jose Offerman (.250/.316/.319, 1 home run, 10 RBIs in 53 games in 2005). The former outfielder will get to manage Robinson Cano (.765 OPS, 24 HR, 72 RBIs in 3 years in Flushing), who has been known for having success in winter ball, especially in the Caribbean Series.

As for team Colombia (Vaqueros de Monteria), one player Mets fans will remember well is former infielder Dilson Herrera. Once a top prospect in the Mets organization, Herrera only played 49 games for the Mets in 2014-2015 (.215/.308/.383, 6 HR, 17 RBIs) before being traded to the Reds for Jay Bruce in August 2016. Colombia will look to try to repeat their title run from a year ago.

Here are the teams participating and players with Mets ties on their roster:

Mexico

• RHP Matt Pobereyko
• C Juan Uriarte
• 1B/OF Joey Terdoslavich

Colombia

• INF Dilson Herrera
• LHP Fernando Abad

Panama

• No Mets ties

Cuba

• No Mets ties

Puerto Rico

• RHP Rob Whalen

Dominican Republic

• 2B/DH Robinson Canó
• LHP Raul Valdes
• RHP Yennsy Diaz
• INF Gustavo Nunez

Venezuela

• C Wilson Ramos
• INF Wilfredo Tovar
• RHP Anthony Vizcaya
• RHP Miguel Socolovich

Curacao

• LHP Nelmerson Xavier Mariano Silvano Angela
• OF Roger Bernadina

Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio has decided to not play in the series after a full season in the minors and playing a full schedule during the Dominican Winter League regular and postseason for the champion Tigres del Licey. Mauricio, recently ranked as the No. 56 prospect in baseball by ESPN, was the regular season LIDOM MVP when he hit .287/.335/.468 in 46 games.

The games will be split between two stadiums including the picturesque Estadio de La Rinconada.

The view for the Caribbean Series is unreal! 😯

📹: https://t.co/MsVFTmrNYW pic.twitter.com/NhNFuetMC7

— MLB (@MLB) January 31, 2023

The games start today at 9:30 a.m. ET when Cuba takes on Curacao. The eight countries will play a round-robin format and then the top four will meet in the semifinals a week from today (February 9) with the champion being crowned on February 10.

This year, ESPN+ along with ESPN Deportes will have coverage of every single game during the series. If you are looking to get your international baseball fix before the World Baseball Classic next month, this might be the event for you to see some high-stakes baseball and a lot of emotion all at the same time.

The post 2023 Caribbean Series Begins Today appeared first on Metsmerized.

Photo: Corey Sipkin, NY Post

Good morning, Mets fans!

The New York Mets arrive in Atlanta for a pivotal three game weekend series against the rival Braves. Fresh off a walk-off win and a five RBI night, courtesy of Eduardo Escobar, the Mets currently sit one game ahead in the NL East standings and will send Jacob deGrom to toe the slab against Max Fried. For more insight, Michael Mayer goes in-depth on possible scenarios from this series that can impact the NL East division race.

As reported by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets plan to call up top prospect Francisco Álvarez. Listed as the No. 1 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, Álvarez will be activated for the upcoming series vs. Atlanta.

Now onto the morning briefing!

Latest Mets News

Mets owner Steve Cohen tweets that he has joined the team for their upcoming weekend series in Atlanta.

I just landed in Atlanta and I’m pumped for the weekend series against the Braves. Baseball doesn’t get any better than this.LGM

— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) September 29, 2022

Jacob Resnick of SNY tweets that the Mets have signed 17-year-old outfielder Randy Guzman as an international free agent. He is the younger brother of MLB veteran Ronald Guzman.

The Athletic MLB staff released an anonymous poll where players voted on World Series winner, Game 7 starter, most intimidating atmosphere and much more. Mets ace Jacob deGrom got 33.9% of the vote to start a game 7, Mets closer Edwin Diaz received 44.5% of the vote as top getter to close out a World Series game 7, and Citi Field received runner up votes in the “most intimidating atmosphere” where it was mentioned that “It’s like playing in a f—- nightclub in there.”

Latest MLB News

The Puerto Rican Baseball Federation announced that Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina will manage Team Puerto Rico for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Molina will transition into the role of manager as the 2022 season will be his last as an active major league player.

Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald tweets out a flurry of transactions from the Miami Marlins, as they have activated pitcher Tommy Nance, infielder Joey Wendle and outfielder Avisail Garcia from the injured list. They have also recalled outfielder Jesus Sanchez, optioned Jerar Encarnacion and Luke Williams to Triple-A Jacksonville and have placed outfielder Garrett Cooper on the 10-day IL with a pinky fracture and pitcher Steven Okert on the 15-day IL with left triceps tightness (retroactive to 9/26).

Latest on MMO

Mojo Hill chats with Mets pitcher David Peterson about him being proud to have been an Oregon Duck as well as finding success with the New York Mets.

Steve Sica highlights prospects Francisco Álvarez, Jake Mangum and more on the latest edition of the Mets Minors Recap.

On This Date in Mets History

1962: The Mets finish their inaugural season with 120 losses, a 20th-century record, as the team lost a 5-1 contest to the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago. In his last career at-bat, Mets catcher Joe Pignatano hits into a triple play in the eighth inning with Richie Ashburn and Sammy Drake on base, who are both also playing in their final major league contest.

Birthdays: Yorkis Perez (55), Dave Magadan (60)

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