Morning Briefing: Ben Verlander Ranks Mets Offense Ninth in League

Happy Saturday, Mets fans!

It was an off day for New York on Friday, but there was still plenty of news. Let’s jump into recapping the action from around baseball on Friday.

Latest Mets News

The Mets announced on Friday that their scheduled evening game against the Houston Astros today has been moved up to start at 1 p.m. due to bad weather conditions later in the day, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. The afternoon contest will be a seven-inning game and will feature Jacob deGrom’s 2021 Grapefruit League debut. He will face off against Zack Greinke.

Fox Sports MLB Analyst Ben Verlander released his offense rankings on Friday, marking the Mets at number nine on the list that included rankings of all thirty major league teams. The Atlanta Braves were the only division rival of the Mets ranked in the top 10, at the number three spot.

The Mets released a set of 14 minor league players on Friday. The complete list of players can be found in this tweet.

Latest MLB News

New York Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone updated his health status on Twitter after undergoing a procedure to implant a pacemaker on Wednesday. Boone said that he feels great and is excited to rejoin the team, which he plans to do either today or tomorrow, according to an article posted to ESPN.

Major League Baseball announced that pitcher Sam Dyson was suspended for the entirety of the 2021 season under their Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

MLB and the MLBPA released their latest set of COVID-19 testing results. To date, 35,541 tests have been completed, with just 25 coming back positive, which is good for a 0.07% positivity rate.

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Houston Astros have been “looking at” free-agent pitcher Jake Odorizzi. Heyman mentioned that the Toronto Blue Jays, who were rumored to be interested in Odorizzi earlier in the offseason, remain contenders, among other teams as well.

The San Francisco Giants and free agent first basemen Justin Bour agreed to a minor league contract on Friday. He will not get an invite to big league camp, and instead will report to minor league camp on at the beginning of April, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi told reporters, including Matt Gelb of the Athletic, that outfielder Adam Haseley has a moderately strained groin and will miss the next four weeks of play.

Luis Guillorme Sr. announced on Friday that his wife Lilibeth officially passed her test to become a United States Citizen in a heartfelt message released via Twitter.

Former Met Matt Harvey made his Spring Training debut for the Baltimore Orioles, and gave up three earned runs on four hits and a hit-by-pitch across a two-inning appearance.

MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman reported that the market is heating up for Maikel Franco, who played for a 109 OPS+ in 2020.

Latest on MMO

Matt Musico wrote about reliever Dellin Betances’ struggles in his first Spring outing, which came in Thursday’s game versus the Nationals.

Michelle Ioannou and the rest of the MMO team wrote about their all-time favorite Mets’ right fielders.

James Schapiro wrote about his opinion that the Mets should extend starting pitcher Marcus Stroman as soon as they possibly can.

Thomas Hall wrote about pitcher David Peterson, and how he thinks he can improve by working on his changeup.

On This Date in Mets History

March 6 is a highlight day for prospects that have seemed at the time to be future stars but turned into expendable pieces. On this day in 2007, 20-year-old Mike Carp looked to be the first basemen of the future as he drove in 5 RBIs in a Spring Training game. The same game saw 22-year-old Joe Smith make an appearance on the mound. Both players were shipped off soon after in the trade that brought J.J. Putz to Queens.

On this day in 1998, Preston Wilson, the son of Mets’ legend Mookie Wilson, scored the winning run of an exhibition game against the Royals. Wilson was later shipped out in the trade that brought the Mets Mike Piazza.

Birthdays: Cookie Rojas (82)

Let’s go Mets!

The post Morning Briefing: Ben Verlander Ranks Mets Offense Ninth in League first appeared on Metsmerized Online.