Category: Spring Training
Reynolds will make roster, then demoted for Henderson shortly after.
ESPN New York is reporting that Matt Reynolds will head to Kansas City with the Mets and be on the Opening Day roster. Reynolds will be primarily used as bench depth, but when the Mets return to Citi Field on April 8th, Reynolds will be demoted for reliever Jim Henderson.
Henderson has had as strong of a spring as anyone on the Mets roster and is well deserving of a spot in the Mets bullpen. The Mets with Henderson added to the roster, will have a 7-man bullpen to work with. Henderson appeared in 11 games this spring, and had an impressive 1.86 ERA with a walk and 12 strikeouts. Opponents only hit .194 off the 33- year old former Brewers closer, who looks to have revived his career this spring. Henderson who had shoulder surgery in 2014, spent all of last season trying to regain his velocity, and he has been clocked as high as 95 mph this spring.
Final: Nationals 12 – Mets 1
The Washington Nationals defeated the New York Mets this afternoon by the final score of 12-1 at Tradition Field. This game concludes the Mets games at Tradition Field this spring. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…
Game Notes:
- Matt Harvey got the start and pitched 2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits. He had 1 walk and 2 K’s. Harvey’s big mistake came on a 3-run home run off the bat of Nationals 1B Ryan Zimmerman.
- Noah Syndergaard came on in relief and pitched 3 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, with a strikeout. Syndergaard’s lone mistake came off a 2-run homer from Nationals LF Jayson Werth.
- Yoenis Cespedes was 2-2 this afternoon with a double.
- David Wright was 1-2 with a single.
- Travis Taijeron was 2-2 with a solo home run.
- Jeurys Familia struggled this afternoon pitching 0.2 inning allowing 5 runs (2 earned) with 2 walks and a strikeout.
- Mets are winless in last 13 Spring Training contests.
- The Mets have scored 1 run in their last 24 innings.
The Mets were simply outplayed this afternoon, as two pitches cost them five runs, and the bats were again silent today. It’s fair to wonder if the players are simply bored at this point with as long as the spring has been, and are ready to get going against Kansas City Sunday night. Either way there shouldn’t be an excuse for poor play today, including a throwing error by Lucas Duda, a misplayed ball by Cespedes, a fielding error by Eric Campbell, a catching error by Familia, and the team in a run scoring drought this late in spring. Antonio Bastardo allowed one of Familia’s inherited runners to score in the 9th before retiring his final batter. I’m leery on Bastardo, but we will see how he performs when the games that matter start. The Mets have two opportunities in the next couple of days to show better results in Las Vegas against another National League favorite in the Cubs. Either way I will not be hard on this team unless this play translates to regular season games, but it is difficult not to ignore the sloppy play recently.
- The Mets will head to Las Vegas to play the Chicago Cubs tomorrow evening, with first pitch at 8:05 pm et. The game can be seen on MLB Network.
- Jacob deGrom has been scratched from his start, as he will stay behind in Port St. Lucie with his wife who is expecting their child any day now. RHP Paul Sewald will make the start for the Mets against Cubs righty Ryan Williams.
Nationals vs. Mets Lineups 12:10 pm et
Nationals:
1. Ben Revere (L) CF
2. Anthony Rendon (R) 3B
3. Bryce Harper (L) RF
4. Ryan Zimmerman (R) 1B
5. Daniel Murphy (L) 2B
6. Jayson Werth (R) LF
7. Wilson Ramos (R) C
8. Danny Espinosa (S) SS
9. Trevor Gott (R) P
SP: Trevor Gott RHP
Mets:
1. Curtis Granderson (L) RF
2. David Wright (R) 3B
3. Yoenis Cespedes (R) CF
4. Lucas Duda (L) 1B
5. Neil Walker (S) 2B
6. Michael Conforto (L) LF
7. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS
8. Travis d’Arnaud (R) C
9. Matt Harvey (R) P
SP: Matt Harvey RHP
- Today’s game can be seen on SNY.
Game Notes:
RHP MATT HARVEY: Is making his fourth Grapefruit League start of the spring…His last outing came on March 24 vs. Houston…
RHP NOAH SYNDERGAARD: Will make his fifth spring appearance… Syndergaard does not have a decision but has posted a 2.04 ERA (4 ER/17.2 innings)…He has issued one walk and struck out 19…
JIM HENDERSON: Posted 1.0 scoreless inning yesterday…Has allowed two earned runs in 9.2 innings this spring (1.86 ERA)…He has issued one walk and struck out 12 in 11 games…
CURTIS GRANDERSON: Is 7-for-his- last-20 (.350) with four doubles in his last six spring games…Granderson is hitting .295 (13-44) this spring with four doubles, one triple and three RBI.
VIVA LAS VEGAS: The Mets will close their exhibition season with two games in Las Vegas at the home of their Triple-A affiliate vs. the Cubs… The Mets play the Cubs on Thursday, March 31 at 8:05 p.m. (ET) and then play at 4:05 p.m. (ET) on Friday, April 1…
FIT TO BE TIED: The Mets have had five tie games this spring, the most such games in franchise history for a single Spring Training.
Mets Tidbits
- ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin is reporting that manager Terry Collins is reverting from his previous plan of having Yoenis Cespedes strictly stick in center field against left-handed pitching. Originally Collins wanted Juan Lagares to play left field, and Cespedes to stick in center field, in order for Cespedes not to move around as much, when the Mets faced a left-hander. Terry Collins also stated that Michael Conforto may not be used in right field against a left-handed pitcher if Curtis Granderson sits, but Eric Campbell or Juan Lagares could play right field. This is a moot point for the time being as the Mets aren’t expected to face a southpaw the first week of the season.
- Terry Collins stated today that he may use one of his many outfielders as a designated hitter in Kansas City, in order to have Juan Lagares glove in the outfield.
- Terry Collins also stated that game situations in Kansas City will dictate how the rest of the rotation fills out, after Jacob deGrom’s April 8th start in the series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Collins believes it could be Matt Harvey or Bartolo Colon starting on the 9th.
- Jacob deGrom will make his final start of the spring Thursday night against the Chicago Cubs in a Las Vegas exhibition game. Steven Matz will make his final spring start on Friday afternoon’s exhibition game against the Cubs also in Las Vegas.
Final: Marlins 1 – Mets 0
The Miami Marlins defeated the New York Mets this afternoon at Tradition Field by the final score of 1-0. For a full box score recap follow the link below…
Game Notes:
- The Mets only had 2 hits this afternoon. One hit each from Juan Lagares & Yoenis Cespedes.
- Sean Gilmartin pitched 3 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 3 strikeouts.
- Jim Henderson pitched a clean inning with 1 strikeout.
- Logan Verrett pitched 3.2 scoreless innings allowing only 2 hits, with 3 strikeouts.
- Addison Reed pitched a scoreless inning only allowing 1 hit with 1 strikeout.
- Final 19 Mets batters were retired in order today.
Since there is not much to write about in this game, as the Mets seemed to be just going through the motions, I will leave a link below of a highlight of a nice play made at first base by Wilmer Flores. Flores seems to look comfortable at first and I think defensively he will be fine wherever he plays. The confidence he carried from the second half of last season seems to have carried over into this spring. It also looks like those defensive lessons from Keith Hernandez are paying off as well. Yes I know the Mets haven’t won a game in their last twelve played. Am I worried? The simple answer is no.
- The Mets will play their final 2016 Grapefruit League game at Tradition Field tomorrow afternoon against the Washington Nationals, with a 12:10 pm et start time. The game can be seen on SNY.
- Noah Syndergaard will get the start for the Mets, with Matt Harvey following him in relief to pitch two innings. The Nationals will send their ace right-hander Max Scherzer to the mound.
Royals seek payback on Noah Syndergaard’s pitch in opener…
Another storyline to add to this Sunday’s Opening Night showdown between the Mets and Royals is making waves in the news today. According to to Newsday’s Marc Carig, multiple industry sources have told him, that the Royals are planning to seek retribution against the Mets and Noah Syndergaard on Opening Night. The Royals still seem to be upset over Syndergaard’s fastball thrown over the head of Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar, in Game 3 of the World Series. Continue reading
Lineups Marlins vs. Mets 1:10 pm et
Marlins:
1. Dee Gordon (L) 2B
2. Marcell Ozuna (R) CF
3. Justin Bour (L) 1B
4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) RF
5. Martin Prado (R) 3B
6. Derek Dietrich (L) LF
7. J.T. Realmuto (R) C
8. Adeiny Hechavarria (R) SS
9. Chris Narveson (L) P
SP: Chris Narveson LHP
Mets:
1. Curtis Granderson (L) RF
2. David Wright (R) 3B
3. Yoenis Cespedes (R) CF
4. Wilmer Flores (R) 1B
5. Neil Walker (S) 2B
6. Kevin Plawecki (R) C
7. Juan Lagares (R) LF
8. Matt Reynolds (R) SS
9. Sean Gilmartin (L) P
SP: Sean Gilmartin LHP
- Today’s game can be seen on SNY.
Harvey was dealing with blood clot, cleared for Opening Night.
All Mets fans can collectively breathe a sigh of relief this morning as Matt Harvey has been cleared by doctors to start Opening Night. Harvey dealt with a scare of having a blood clot in his bladder that developed from a previous urinary tract infection. Harvey spoke to the media including ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin this morning about the situation.
“It started with a bladder infection and it created a blood clot in the bladder,” Harvey said Tuesday morning after returning to camp. “I passed it yesterday. It wasn’t a great first day [after] my 27th birthday. But we cleared that. And then we had a little procedure done this morning just to go in and check the bladder and everything was clear.”
Basically the infection was caused by Harvey holding his bladder for too long and he needs to change his urination patterns to keep this incident from happening again. Harvey has now been given the green light for Opening Night, and the Mets plan to let Harvey work two innings tomorrow afternoon in a side session, to get work in before Sunday’s start. Breathe easy fellow Mets fans, our hero will be on the mound Sunday night in one of the most intriguing Opening Day matchup’s in recent memory.
Former Met Bobby Parnell released…
Former Mets right-handed pitcher Bobby Parnell was one of many cuts made by the Detroit Tigers this afternoon. Parnell was given an unconditional release and is free to sign with any team. Parnell originally signed a Minor League deal with Detroit in the offseason, after he struggled in his return to the Mets bullpen last season.
Parnell struggled this spring with the Tigers allowing 15 hits and 9 earned runs over 15.1 innings. Parnell’s fate was sealed when he allowed five runs to the Blue Jays last Tuesday, while only retiring one batter. The good news for Parnell is that his velocity seems to be returning but he is going to be hard-pressed to find a Major League deal. Parnell could benefit pitching in the minors for a couple of months before getting another crack at the Majors later this season.
Harvey scratched from final spring start due to health issue, questionable for Opening night…
It is being reported this afternoon by multiple outlets that Manager Terry Collins has scratched Matt Harvey from his final spring start tomorrow afternoon. Harvey was the only Mets player who skipped the trip to Jupiter as he was scheduled to see a doctor. The good news out of all of this is that the doctor Harvey saw was not an orthopedic doctor, which rules out any sort of arm injury.
GM Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins have both declined to comment on Harvey’s condition when asked after today’s game. Terry Collins has also been noncommital on Harvey’s avalibility for Opening Night against the Royals, but stated he could pitch Opening Night without another Spring Training start under his belt. All that Terry Collins would disclose is that Harvey’s issue is new, and not something Harvey has dealt with previously.
It is very tough to speculate exactly what is wrong with Harvey at this point, as right now we could all breathe somewhat a sigh of relief as it is not an arm injury. It is concerning however that nobody from the organization will disclose the issue with the public. Sandy Alderson commented about the situation stating “If Harvey was having a wisdom tooth pulled, he would not pitch tomorrow so let’s not jump to conclusions.” It’s tough to believe the Mets would consider flying Harvey to New York tonight over a wisdom tooth, as Alderson had stated was a possibility.
Bartolo Colon was told by Collins earlier this afternoon to prepare to pitch out of the bullpen against Kansas City. It makes sense which if now Harvey is not himself on Opening Day, if he indeed gets the start, Colon could come in to relieve him.
There is much mystery surrounding this situation and as a Mets fan it’s hard not to think about the worst case scenario with Harvey. Mets fans all over Twitter are speculating anything and everything about Harvey’s condition, from Zika Virus to an appendix issue. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed and hopefully we will know more in the coming hours about Harvey’s condition and that it is indeed nothing serious.
Above The Mendoza 