Mark Vientos, Photo by Richard Nelson

Good morning, Mets fans!

General manager Billy Eppler spoke on Friday about Mark Vientos and why he has not been called up to the major league club yet despite a scorching hot start in Triple-A. Eppler noted that there are several factors that play into it such as Vientos’ development and usage, but said a potential promotion is “definitely on our radar and something we’re thinking about.” Eppler said that he is sending Carlos Beltrán to Syracuse to supposedly watch Vientos play and to provide feedback. In 116 plate appearances this year in Syracuse, Vientos is batting .354/.431/.717/1.148 with nine home runs, nine doubles, and 26 RBIs.

Latest Mets News

The Mets defeated the Rockies 1-0 on Friday night with the help of strong performances from Kodai Senga, who threw six scoreless innings, and Brandon Nimmo, who drove in the only run of the game with a solo homer. Prior to the game, Edwin Díaz received his 2022 NL Reliever of the Year Award.

Former Met Matt Harvey announced his retirement from baseball on Friday. In parts of six seasons with the Mets, Harvey compiled a 34-37 record and a 3.66 ERA with a dominant stretch from 2012-2015 in which he was 25-18 with a 2.53 ERA.

Edwin Díaz received his 2022 NL Reliever of the Year Award prior to tonight’s game 🎺 pic.twitter.com/D32RarSQzG

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) May 5, 2023

Latest MLB News

Keith Law ranked his top 50 prospects in this year’s MLB draft.

Per the Astros, pitcher Luis Garcia will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season.

Sam Blum of The Athletic reported that Angels’ pitcher Austin Warren will also undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season.

Latest on MMO

Michael Famulari analyzed the season debut of Justin Verlander.

Chris Bello wrote about Matt Harvey‘s decision to retire.

Tyler Antonelle recapped Friday night’s victory over the Rockies.

On This Date in Mets History

Birthdays: Mike Kinkade (50), Willie Mays (92)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets Thinking About Potential Vientos Promotion appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Good morning Mets fans!

Former Met Matt Harvey coming off leading Team Italy to the second round of the WBC told the New York Post that he’d like to keep pitching. “Obviously I’m not pumping mid-to-upper-90s anymore — at least not yet. Hopefully, the velo comes back. But if it doesn’t, I feel like I still know how to pitch and to get guys out,” Harvey said. “I’ve worked really hard on a different style of pitching. I feel good. Hopefully, the stuff comes back. But I can still pitch. The game is still about getting people out.”

The Mets lost 3-0 to the Nationals on Thursday in Kodai Senga’s return to the mound after missing a start with a sore right index finger. Outfielder Tim Locastro went 1-for-2 with a walk and his sixth stolen base of the spring.

Latest Mets News

The Mets got the bad news on Thursday that star closer Edwin Diaz needed surgery to repair his torn patellar tendon in his right knee and will likely miss all of the 2023 season. The team announced later in the day that Díaz already had the surgery and it was a success. He will begin the rehab process in a week.

Díaz tweeted out a thank you message to Mets fans for all the support he has received.

The Mets will not be on the hook to pay Díaz for the time he spends on the injured list with the knee surgery. Instead, it will be paid by insurance that covers injuries that take place during the World Baseball Classic.

Francisco Lindor leads Team Puerto Rico up against Team Mexico tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET. Marcus Stroman starts for Puerto Rico with Julio Urias starting for Mexico. The winner will take on Japan on March 20 in Miami.

Lindor talked to the media on Thursday about the injury to his Team Puerto Rico and Mets teammate in Díaz. “I understand how Mets fans are hurting. But while for so many people the regular season is what counts, playing in the WBC means just as much to all of us…It is the dream of every Puerto Rican ballplayer to wear Puerto Rico’s colors and to represent our country. And not only Puerto Ricans, but every player in the WBC considers being here the ultimate honor,” Lindor said.

Steve Cohen at the Tokyo Dome right now to watch Italy vs Japan in the WBC.

Photo by @yakitori_1222 pic.twitter.com/zreOmdBlh4

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) March 16, 2023

Mets owner Steve Cohen was in Japan to watch the Samurai Japan vs Team Italy in their World Baseball Classic match.

According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, MLB sent a memo to all teams stating that they will be looking to crack down on sticky stuff again that pitchers might be using.

Speaking of the WBC, Japan vs Korea reached 63 million viewers last week. For reference, the most watched World Series game ever was 54 million back in 1980.

The Athletic reports that veteran reliever Sergio Romo has signed a deal bringing him back to the San Francisco Giants.

Latest NL East News

The Washington Nationals got their own bad news on Thursday when they found out pitching prospect Cade Cavalli will need Tommy John surgery. The 2020 first-round pick was expected to start the season in the Nationals rotation.

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Rivka Boord wrote about the battle between David Peterson and Tylor Megill for the fifth starter spot.

Dan Quiñones discussed Justin Verlander‘s most recent start and the Cy Young winner’s goals for the 2023 season.

The Mets attended the workout of lefty reliever Zack Britton on Thursday.

On This Date in Mets History

Birthdays: Vance Wilson (50) Juan Lagares (34)

2022: Mets sign outfielder Travis Jankowski to a minor league deal.

The post Morning Briefing: Matt Harvey Wants Another Chance appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Mets fans, another new episode is here!

This week Mike and I discuss the World Baseball Classic and the wild week for Mike Piazza, Matt Harvey and team Italy advancing to the quarter finals in Tokyo, Mike updates us live from Mets camp about José Quintana and Bryce Montes de Oca injury statuses along with Darin Ruf, Tylor Megill‘s strong outing and how he’s been “taking notes” from Max Scherzer, and much more!

After Megill’s successful four innings Monday afternoon he spoke with Mike and the rest of the Mets reporters about going back to what made him successful when he was first called up to the big leagues and how Scherzer has helped the young right-hander:

“The big thing that Megill spoke about today was when in 2021 when he came up, he was a guy who was 93-96 mph [with his fastball] and got hitters out and was a good pitcher for the Mets. Last year he started the season as one of the best pitchers in baseball, but the fastball was 97-99 MPH early in starts, which Megill even alluded to that possibly playing a part in why he developed that shoulder strain and miss a large portion of the year and why he fell off in most starts, too. When he was successful last year he was only really a five-inning starter, and that’s something Megill said that he’s been discussing with Scherzer about learning how to manage a starter and understanding that pitches 85-100 are more important than pitches 1-30.”

Watch and subscribe to the MMO Youtube channel here.

The post MMO Weekly Episode 37: Matt Harvey, Italy Advance In WBC appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Team Italy has advanced to the next round of the WBC after defeating the Netherlands 7-1. They will be joined by Cuba, as the two teams will head to Tokyo after advancing from Pool A in Taichung.

Former Mets ace Matt Harvey took the ball in a win-and-in game for Italy. Harvey looked sharp on the mound, tallying 3 strikeouts in 4 innings to earn himself the win over the Netherlands. Harvey started in both games that Team Italy won in Pool A play. His lone earned run came from a solo shot off the bat of Chadwick Tromp in the top of the 3rd inning.

Chadwick Tromp puts Team Netherlands on the board first! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/VpajPZVuBO

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 12, 2023

After falling behind due to Tromp’s home run, Italy bounced back in a big way in the bottom of the fourth inning. Dominic Fletcher led things off with a ground-rule double to right field, followed by a Brett Sullivan single to bring Fletcher in to score. Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, nicknamed the “Italian Nightmare” then ripped a base hit to keep the line moving.

After a mound visit, Netherlands reliever Mike Bolsenbroek would go on to hit Vito Friscia in the triceps with an up-and-in fastball to load the bases, proceeding to throw a wild pitch the next at-bat which allowed Sullivan to cross the plate, giving Italy a 2-1 lead. Ben DeLuzio and Sal Frelick both picked up RBI singles, and with two outs Nicky Lopez lined a two-RBI triple into the left-center field gap. It was a huge inning for Italy, scoring six runs in total. A pair of Royals teammates had quite the inning for this young Italian squad.

Nicky Lopez can fly! 💨 #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/w0zCxw7Mpu

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 12, 2023

Xander Bogaerts and Didi Gregorius both picked up a single and went 1-4 at the plate for the Netherlands. The Dutch were only able to pick up that one run in the third inning, being shut down for the remainder of the game. They left 22 runners on base while striking out 12 times for the day. Needless to say, the Netherlands has been eliminated from the WBC.

Italy’s bullpen was stellar in this one. In five shutout innings, they allowed five hits, one walk and struck out nine. Andre Pallante, Joe LaSorsa, Vinny Nittoli, Matt Festa and Mitchell Stumpo each threw one scoreless inning for Italy.

Player of the Game

Harvey deserves the player of the game for this contest. He was able to get through four innings after pitching three innings in Thursday’s game against Cuba. His control of the strike zone and ability to maintain a sharp slider have been the keys to Harvey’s success this week. One more adequate performance has the potential to earn him an opportunity with a major league team after he did not make an appearance in the bigs in 2022.

While his fastball has been sitting in the upper 80s to lower 90s, he has had to redefine himself as a pitcher since receiving thoracic outlet surgery in 2016. Harvey, who will turn 34 years old on March 27 has helped Italy to their 2-2 record and advancement into the next round.

Italy will face a very tough opponent in their next WBC game. They will be playing Japan at the Tokyo Dome on Thursday, March 16 at 6 a.m. Starters have yet to be officially announced. It will be an uphill battle for Italy, as Japan is the only team to go 4-0 so far in the tournament.

The post Matt Harvey Leads Italy to WBC Final 8 appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The New York Mets made it to the World Series in 2015 in large part because of pitcher Matt Harvey and slugger Yoenis Céspedes and on Thursday morning those two were opponents as Italy took on Cuba in the World Baseball Classic.

Neither player saw major league time in 2022 with Harvey pitching to a 3.72 ERA in the Orioles’ minor leagues and Céspedes only playing a few games in the Dominican Winter League.

Harvey showed better in this game as the starting pitcher for manager Mike Piazza in Game 1 of their 2023 World Baseball Classic play. Harvey, with a fastball topping out at 90 mph, pitched three scoreless innings with zero strikeouts. The former All-Star was a groundball machine getting six outs via the ground. In the third inning, he faced a tough spot with runners on second and third with one out and big leaguers Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert coming to the dish. A pop-out and ground-out got Harvey out of the jam.

https://twitter.com/WBCContent/status/1633801553252593665

Harvey was pitching for Italy for the first time in his career. His Italian heritage comes from his mother’s side with family living outside Rome. Team Italy decided to wear their dark jerseys for the first time in international play to honor the Dark Knight. Piazza said that he had no idea Harvey was Italian, but was really excited when he found out and was happy to have him on the team.

The game was a much different story for Céspedes. La Potencia went o-for-4 with groundball outs at the plate including one with the tying run on second in the eighth inning. He also dropped a ball in left field that led to a run for Italy.

Italy took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning before Cuba score one in the frame and another in the bottom of the eighth to tie it at 2-2. Erisbel Arruebarrena scored the first one for Cuba and knocked in the second.

Italy and Cuba became the first 2023 WBC game to head to extra innings. The rules are the same as Major League Baseball with a runner on second starting in the 10th inning.

Italy scored four runs in the 10th inning capped by a two-out, two-run single by Royals’ infielder Nicky Lopez. Cuba scored one run in the bottom of the 10th, but it wasn’t enough as Italy won 6-3 in their first game. Cuba dropped to 0-2 in Pool A which is led by the 2-0 Kingdom of Netherlands.

Royals’ first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was on base three times for Italy. Dominic Fletcher and Miles Mastrobuoni each had two hits for the Italian team. Italy is back at it on Friday at 6:00 a.m. ET against Taiwan (Chinese Taipei). Cuba looks to get their first win when they play Panama on Thursday night at 11:30 p.m. ET.

The post Matt Harvey Throws Three Scoreless in Italy’s Opening Game Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Good morning, Mets fans!

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the México vs. United States game Sunday at Chase Field is officially sold out. It is arguably one of the most highly anticipated sporting events in North America this year.

Additionally, Michael Mayer reports that Matt Harvey is getting the Game 1 start for Team Italy vs Cuba on Thursday. The game is at 6:00 am and can be watched on Tubi.

Now, it is time for the morning briefing.

WBC Scores

Australia shocked the baseball world by beating Korea 8-7 in the first game of Pool B play.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands moved to 2-0 with a 3-1 win over Panama behind home runs by Xander Bogaerts and Jurickson Profar.

Latest Mets News

Mookie Wilson claims that there was “not a doubt” that he would have beaten Bill Buckner to first base. Ryan Gilbert of KFH Sports Radio has the story.

Jonathan Araúz, a player in the New York Mets organization, hit a 2-RBI single for Panama against Taiwan in the 6th inning. John Sheridan has more on the performances of Araúz and Humberto Mejia for Panama.

Jonathan Arauz drives in 2 more for Panama, and they now lead 8-1 in the 6th! 🇵🇦

📺: FS2 and the FOX Sports App pic.twitter.com/IToF8vFvxZ

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 8, 2023

Mets minor leaguer Jeremy Vasquez has voluntarily retired.

"He plays the game hard and consistent. He's doing all the things that are close to my heart."

– Howard Johnson on Brett Baty pic.twitter.com/uLA6RZ3wn6

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 8, 2023

Hank Azaria, a voice actor who is most famous for his role in The Simpsons, announces that he is so excited for Amazin’ Day on March 25. He is looking forward to repping his Mets pride with everyone in NYC. Learn more about Amazin’ Day at this link.

Latest MLB News

Michael Clair of MLB.com wrote an article talking about how Jung-Hoo Lee could be MLB’s next star. Michael Mayer reports that the Mets were scouting him about two weeks ago.

Levi Weaver of the Athletic reports that Jacob deGrom is expected to be ready to pitch on opening day. When asked about his availability for opening day, Bruce Boche said, “That’s the plan, yeah.”

Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net reports that Disney+ Korea is releasing a documentary series called Full Count. It will feature all 10 KBO teams and be released in April.

Matt Monagan of MLB.com wrote an article about a Cuban baseball super fan who brings a very loud horn to every Cuba national baseball team game.

Latest on MMO

Christian de Block has a preview of the World Baseball Classic Group B.

Dan Quiñones recaps last night’s game against Nicaragua.

The MMO News Desk has the 2023 promotions schedule for Mets home games.

On This Date in Mets History

1963: The song “Meet the Mets” made its public debut on this date in 1973.

Birthdays: C.J. Nitkowski (50)

The post Morning Briefing: Matt Harvey To Start Game 1 For Italy appeared first on Metsmerized Online.