Morning Briefing: Starling Marte To Start Rehab Assignment Next Week

Good morning, Mets fans!

Per Mike Puma of the New York Post, outfielder Starling Marte expects to start appearing in minor league rehab games next week, and he will be traveling to Port St. Lucie on Monday. Marte has been sidelined since late June with a knee injury and his recovery has been slow. Marte had a .745 OPS on the year before his injury and was slashing .333/.395/.522/.916 against lefties. If he’s able to return without any setbacks, he could form a strong platoon with Jesse Winker in right field.

Latest Mets News

The Mets (58-51) defeated the Angels (47-63) 5-1 on Friday night. Paul Blackburn impressed in his Mets debut, allowing just one run in six innings. Pete Alonso also hit his third home run in the last five games to give him 23 on the year.

The Mets and Angels continue their series on Saturday night with David Peterson (5-1, 3.52 ERA) going up against José Soriano (6-7, 3.69 ERA). The game will be broadcast on SNY with first pitch scheduled for 9:38 p.m. ET.

Prior to Friday’s game, the Mets activated Paul Blackburn and optioned Tylor Megill to Syracuse in a corresponding move. Megill is expected to remain stretched out and start in Triple-A. The Mets also outrighted catcher Logan Porter to Syracuse.

Mets’ top prospect Brandon Sproat had an utterly dominant performance for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Friday. Sproat struck out 13 batters in five scoreless innings, including a span where he struck out 11 consecutive batters. He now owns a 2.05 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A this year.

Ronny Mauricio underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove scar tissue from his right knee. Per the Mets, “he remains on pace to be back to competition this offseason and will progress his rehab as tolerated.”

Minor league pitcher Matt Allan, who hasn’t appeared in a regular season game since 2019, threw a baseball in Port St. Lucie on Friday. Allan was a 2019 third-round draft pick who has battled numerous injuries since then. Despite this, he is attempting to comeback and continue pitching.

Latest MLB News

The Rangers announced that they placed former Met Max Scherzer on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 31 with right shoulder fatigue. Scherzer went just four innings and allowed three runs in his last start against the Cardinals. The Rangers recalled Walter Pennington from Triple-A.

The Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Professional Baseball had a scary experience late Thursday night into Friday morning when their bus caught on fire on their way to an away game. Thankfully, no one was injured.

A jury reached a split verdict on Friday in a case involving the daughter of Dennis Eckersley. Dennis’ daughter, Alexandra Eckersley, was found guilty of reckless conduct and endangering the welfare of a child and falsifying physical evidence, but not guilty of two felony assault charges. Eckersley was charged for allegedly leaving her newborn child in the woods in subfreezing temperatures.

Latest on MMO

In the latest Mets Minors Recap, Michael Mayer discusses Luke Ritter hitting a home run for the third consecutive night.

David Melendi names Francisco Lindor and Jose Quintana as the Mets’ players of the month for July.

Colin Chatto names the Mets’ minor league players of the month for each affiliate for the month of July.

In the latest MMO Roundtable, we discuss whether Francisco Lindor can win the NL MVP.

On This Date in Mets History

1962: In the Mets’ first season as a franchise, Frank Thomas hit a pair of home runs in three consecutive games, tying an MLB record with six home runs in a three-game span. That record was broken in 2007 when Shawn Green hit seven in a three-game span.

1976: Ed Kranepool became the first player in Mets history to record 100 career home runs.

Birthdays: Jonathan Araúz (26), Travis Blankenhorn (28), Kevin Elster (60), Mackey Sasser (62)

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