The new rules in Major League Baseball for 2023 have been discussed over and over. Is the pitch clock good or bad for the game? Will the larger bases protect infielders and encourage more stolen bases? How about the “two disengagements” rule? Will base runners (such as Tim Locastro) feel emboldened to take off after two attempted pickoffs, knowing that if the pitcher throws over...
The Mets have largely already made the big roster decisions ahead of 2023 Opening Day. Brett Baty will start the year in Triple-A, as will Mark Vientos, and Darin Ruf was designated for assignment. The last couple weeks, I did roster projections for the first day of the season, but doing another one of those feels pretty cheap. The Mets will head into the season with Luis Guillorme, Tommy Pham,...
Updated Post – March 24, 12:40 The Mets announced on Friday that Max Scherzer will indeed get the start on Opening Day against the Marlins in Miami. The three-time Cy Young champ will face off against reigning NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara. The game starts at 4:10 p.m. and will be on MLB Network. Original Post – March 15, 14:49 Max Scherzer will be the Mets Opening Day starter...
Brandon Nimmo was the latest New York Met injured. On Friday, Nimmo left the game after an awkward slide into second base. He underwent imaging the next day and luckily received some good news. Nimmo was only diagnosed with low-grade sprains in both his ankle and knee. Seemingly, especially given the initial reaction, a best-case scenario. Nimmo agreed with this claim that his diagnosis was a...
In a week that has been mired by injuries, Luis Guillorme provided a much-needed bright spot for the Mets in their 6-1 win over the Marlins on Friday night. Starting at shortstop, Guillorme got his evening started with a walk in the second inning, but came up with the bases loaded and none out in a tie game in the fourth. Guillorme turned on a Eury Perez cutter, ripping it down the right-field...
Good morning, Mets fans! According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright will start the first game for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The 41-year-old veteran will take the mound at 10 p.m. EST on Saturday against Great Britain. Team USA and Great Britain are in Pool C together along with teams like Mexico, Colombia and Canada. Wainwright is one...
Tim Britton of The Athletic writes that the New York Mets will use a six-man rotation at strategic times throughout the 2023 season. Britton notes that the Mets are going to dissect their schedule to find spots where it makes the most sense to use a six-man rotation while still making sure veterans like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander can stay close to their normal routines. The Mets remade...
On Wednesday, Buck Showalter revealed that David Wright would be visiting the team this spring to serve as an alumni coach along with a who’s who of other Mets legends. In addition to Wright on March 1-2, Showalter plans to bring in Edgardo Alfonzo and Darryl Strawberry from March 2-6, Mookie Wilson and Howard Johnson from March 5-10, and Al Leiter and John Franco from March...
It’s been well documented that 2023 will be a year of significant on-field changes for Major League Baseball. This season, we will see the debut of larger bases, pitch clocks, and shift restrictions, as well as an encore performance of increased enforcement of the balk rule. Now, MLB has taken a step toward what may be sweeping changes in the game’s revenue structure and is planting...
One of the rule changes, and possibly the most significant that we will see in 2023, is the introduction of the pitch clock in Major League Baseball. Commissioner Rob Manfred is determined to shorten games, quicken the pace of play, and add more action to the game. The pitch clock has demonstrated its ability to achieve the first of those objectives. Minor league game times have been reduced...
There’s a lot of speculation and hoopla around the limitations on the infield shift and how it may affect various hitters. Earlier this week, I speculated about how the rule changes might impact various Mets’ hitters. There has been less chatter about how the changes will affect specific pitchers, though. At the request of some commenters on the hitting article, let’s dive into...
One of the more highly-anticipated changes of the 2023 baseball season is the limitation of the shift. Since its widespread inception at the beginning of the 2010s, batting averages have plummeted, leading to a further emphasis on home runs and launch angle. Batting average with balls in play (BABIP) became too risky to rely on, as teams took advantage of batters’ inability to “hit...
