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Mets Place Brandon Nimmo On 10-Day Injured List

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8:34PM: “In my heart of hearts, I really do think I’m going to be back this season,” Nimmo told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters.  Nimmo also noted that his hamstring injury impacted his muscle, rather than a tendon.

5:28PM: Prior to the second game of their doubleheader with the Nationals, the Mets have placed outfielder Brandon Nimmo on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain.  Travis Blankenhorn has been called up to take Nimmo’s roster spot.  Nimmo made an early exit from the first game, leaving in the second inning after going 2-for-2 with a stolen base during his brief time on the field.

Nimmo is now hitting .302/.420/.415 with five home runs over 320 plate appearances this season, continuing his outstanding work out of the leadoff spot in New York’s lineup.  Nimmo has basically done nothing but hit over his six MLB seasons, though staying healthy has been a consistent problem.  This season alone, Nimmo missed close to two months due to a finger ligament issue.

Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora figure to get most of the center field duty while Nimmo is out.  Michael Conforto is the everyday right fielder and Dominic Smith and Jeff McNeil have been increasingly platooning in left field (Smith is currently on the bereavement list).  While the Mets do have personnel in place to weather Nimmo’s absence, losing one of their best hitters for even the minimum 10 days is obviously a major blow for an offensively-challenged team in the thick of a pennant race.  The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, so it is possible that Nimmo’s 2021 campaign could be in jeopardy with only a month remaining of regular-season action.

Latest On Jacob deGrom

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Mets ace Jacob deGrom is roughly 10 days away from beginning bullpen sessions, a team official tells MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.  With this timeline in mind, deGrom’s best-case scenario would be a return in late September, though perhaps for only a game or two at the most.  “Even then, it’s likely only to be in abbreviated spurts,” DiComo writes, so deGrom could be something of a glorified opener more than a proper starting pitcher.

Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner updated reporters (including Mike Puma of The New York Post) on deGrom’s current work, saying that the former NL Cy Young Award winner has been playing catch at 75 feet.  Once deGrom reaches 125-130 feet, a bullpen session can be considered.

In short, there still isn’t much clarity about whether or not deGrom could return to the mound at all this season.  It is fair to say that the Mets’ place in the standings will play a factor, as if the Mets aren’t in the playoff race, the team could decide to just shut deGrom down.  That said, Hefner noted that “It just depends on how he reacts to the throwing.  It’s no different than if we were in April.  The timeline doesn’t change because we are in September.  Obviously we want him to pitch, but we have to go through the necessary steps to make sure that he’s not only healthy this season, but he’s also healthy for the rest of his career.”

DeGrom last appeared in a game on July 7, as he was placed on the injured list due to forearm tightness and elbow inflammation.  This 10-day IL stint was extended to a 60-day placement following a setback in his rehab, so deGrom isn’t eligible to return until September 15, though it appears he won’t be back when first eligible.

This long absence has spoiled an all-timer of a season for deGrom, who posted a 1.08 ERA over his first 92 innings of the season.  While a lack of hitting has been the biggest problem for the Mets this season, it isn’t hard to imagine that a healthy deGrom could have carried New York into a playoff position, considering the Mets entered the day four games back in both the NL East race and the wild card race.

Red Sox Claim Geoff Hartlieb From Mets

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The Red Sox announced that right-hander Geoff Hartlieb has been claimed off waivers from the Mets.  Hartlieb has been assigned to Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester.

New York designated Hartlieb for assignment earlier this week, after the righty posted a 14.54 ERA over his 4 1/3 innings in a Mets uniform.  This marks the second time Hartlieb has changed teams via waiver claim within the last two months, as the Mets acquired him from the Pirates in early July.  For the season as a whole, Hartlieb has an 11.00 ERA over nine combined frames with New York and Pittsburgh.

A lack of control has been the main culprit for Hartlieb’s struggles this season, as he has walked 11 batters over those nine innings.  The right-hander also had as many walks (19) as strikeouts (19) over 22 1/3 innings with Pittsburgh in 2020, though Hartlieb managed to evade damage and post a respectable 3.63 ERA.

Hartlieb becomes the latest player acquired by the Red Sox in recent days as the team has sought to rebuild its depth following a widespread COVID-19 outbreak.  Beyond just being an extra arm on standby, Hartlieb also offers some interesting potential.  Though he has yet to show much over his three MLB seasons, Hartlieb has a 3.18 ERA over 62 1/3 career innings at the Triple-A level, with a 28.73% strikeout rate and very high grounder rates.

Mets Activate James McCann

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The Mets have activated James McCann from the injured list, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. No corresponding move is needed at this time, as he will serve as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader.

The move comes just at the right time, as Chance Sisco was involved in a collision at the plate in the ninth inning of yesterday’s game. He’s still being evaluated today, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see him involved in some kind of roster move tomorrow. McCann and Patrick Mazeika will split the catching duties in today’s twin bill.

McCann has been out for a little more than two weeks because of back spasms. Unfortunately for the Mets, even when healthy, he’s been closer to the Tigers’ version of McCann than the White Sox’ version from the past two seasons. In the first year of a four-year deal, McCann is hitting .240/.303/.357 in 337 plate appearances.

Mets Place Zack Scott On Administrative Leave; Sandy Alderson To Assume GM Duties

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The Mets announced Thursday that they’ve placed acting general manager Zack Scott on administrative leave “until further notice.” Team president Sandy Alderson is assuming Scott’s responsibilities indefinitely. Scott was arrested earlier this week on a DWI charge in White Plains, N.Y. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment earlier this morning.

It’s been a tumultuous year for the Mets’ front office, to say the least. Alderson, the team’s former general manager who stepped away years ago in the wake of a cancer diagnosis, was brought back to the organization by new owner Steve Cohen and expected to serve a broader role as team president. Cohen parted ways with GM Brodie Van Wagenen, a former agent who’d been hired by the prior Wilpon family ownership group as Alderson’s successor.

Alderson and Cohen at one point were said to be looking to hire both a president of baseball operations and a general manager but were unable to secure interviews with some top targets and had their interest rebuffed by others. Reported names under consideration at the time included Indians GM Mike Chernoff, Athletics GM David Forst and Twins GM Thad Levine, among others. The Mets eventually settled on a trio of assistant general managers a finalists in their search, selecting D-backs AGM Jared Porter as their new general manager and hiring Scott, then an AGM in Boston, as an assistant GM as well.

Porter, however, was fired just weeks after being hired once it came to light that he’d repeatedly sent unsolicited, and at times graphic and sexually explicit text messages to a reporter in 2016. Allegations against former manager Mickey Callaway, who’d since been hired as the Angels’ pitching coach, soon followed. Callaway was with another club by that point, but much of the purported behavior took place during his tenure with the Mets. Both Porter and Callaway have been placed on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list through the 2022 season.

With Porter quickly ousted, Scott was elevated to the status of acting general manager. There’d been some thought that he could be in line for a permanent appointment to that post — perhaps still with a president of baseball operations being hired to oversee things — but the recent arrest and today’s announcement have now brought his future with the organization into question.

Following the revelations regarding Callaway and Porter, Alderson spoke of improving the Mets’ vetting and background checks during future hiring processes. With another key member of their leadership team now facing a legal issue, an even brighter spotlight will be focused on who the Mets hire this coming winter. It’s possible that Scott is retained in some capacity — notably, Cohen fired Porter the day after word of his purported transgressions broke — but it seems at the very least that there will be some changes to the team’s front office looming this winter.

Mets Designate Geoff Hartlieb For Assignment

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The Mets have designated right-hander Geoff Hartlieb for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the roster goes to lefty Brad Hand, whose previously reported waiver claim has now been officially announced.

Hartlieb, 27, was claimed off waivers out of the Pirates organization earlier in the summer and appeared in just three big league games with the Mets, He was tagged for seven runs through 4 1/3 innings in that tiny sample. All in all, he has a 7.46 ERA in 66 1/3 big league innings dating back to 2019. He’s also had a rough go of it in 13 Triple-A frames with the Mets, which marks a departure from a generally excellent track record in the upper minors.

His struggles since being claimed by the Mets notwithstanding, Hartlieb carries a career 3.03 ERA in parts of six minor league seasons — including a 3.18 mark in 62 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. He’s fanned just shy of 29 percent of the opponents he’s faced in parts of two Triple-A seasons and posted a very strong 56.3 percent ground-ball rate in that time as well.

The Mets will now either place Hartlieb on outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days. In addition to his strong numbers in the upper minors, Hartlieb has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so he could give another club some depth should they wish to place a claim.

Mets Claim Brad Hand

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The Mets have claimed left-handed reliever Brad Hand off waivers from the Blue Jays, reports MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter thread). The Jays designated Hand for assignment earlier this week. Because he’s been acquired after Aug. 31, Hand would be ineligible for the Mets’ playoff roster, should the team qualify.

It proved to be a short stay in Toronto for Hand, who was acquired in a July 29th deal that sent catcher Riley Adams from Toronto to Washington. Hand had been in something of a slump with the Nats after a strong three-month start to the season and ultimately wasn’t able to turn the tide following a change of scenery. In 8 2/3 innings with the Jays, Hand yielded 10 runs (seven earned) on 13 hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Of those 13 knocks, three of them left the yard.

Hand is playing the season on a one-year, $10.5MM deal he signed with the Nationals in free agency. He’s still owed $1.75MM of that sum through season’s end, and by claiming him off waivers rather than letting him reach free agency and then attempting to sign him, the Mets are taking on the remainder of that salary.

Notably, the Mets had interest in Hand dating all the way back to the early stages of the 2020-21 offseason. Team president Sandy Alderson has gone on record to state that the team might have claimed Hand when the Indians placed him on waivers at the end of the 2020 campaign (in an effort to spare themselves the $1MM buyout on his $10MM club option). However, with the team’s ownership change not yet finalized, the Mets weren’t in a position to claim an eight-figure salary. Later in free agency, the Mets were reported to have made an offer similar to the $10.5MM deal Hand accepted from the division-rival Nationals.

That could have turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Mets. Even setting aside Hand’s recent struggles, the Mets’ alternate course of action saw the team instead turn to sign southpaw Aaron Loup, who has pitched to a stellar 1.20 ERA through 45 innings while playing on a one-year, $3MM deal.

The Mets now have both lefties, and they’ll hope for a rebound for Hand. It’d likely be expecting too much to seek a return to his halcyon days with the Padres, when he pitched to a 2.62 ERA with a 33 percent strikeout rate in 240 1/3 innings from 2016-18. However, Hand pitched to a mid-2.00s ERA with the Nats up through the season’s first few months — albeit with a greatly diminished 23 percent strikeout rate and much more questionable marks from fielding-independent metrics than during his San Diego peak.

There’s not much risk for the Mets in claiming Hand, other than being out a bit of money for a player who has been struggling immensely in recent weeks. If Hand can return to form, he can help fuel an improbable postseason push and perhaps set himself up more nicely for his forthcoming return to the free-agent market. If the struggles persist, the Mets were already a long shot for the playoffs anyhow. They’re five games out of the division lead and five and a half back in the Wild Card hunt, but team president Sandy Alderson is still willing to make some moves and Cohen is still willing to spend some money to try to close that gap.

Mets GM Zack Scott Facing DWI Charge

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Sept. 2: Scott pleaded not guilty to the DWI charge at this morning’s arraignment, writes Ryan Gerbosi of Newsday. He has another court date scheduled on Oct. 7.

Sept. 1: Mets acting general manager Zack Scott was arrested in White Plains, N.Y., early Tuesday morning, as first reported by Mike Puma, Craig McCarthy and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon of the New York Post. The Post reports that police found Scott “dozing” in a vehicle, at which point he allegedly refused a breathalyzer but failed a field sobriety test. CBS 2 New York indicates that an officer saw the vehicle in question “driving erratically” shortly before the arrest. Scott has been charged and is due back in White Plains City Court this Thursday, per the Post report.

The Mets issued a statement just minutes after the news of Scott’s arrest was reported, which reads as follows:

“We were surprised and deeply disappointed to learn this morning about an alleged DUI involving Zack Scott. We take this matter very seriously. Zack will not be traveling with the team for our upcoming road trip while we learn more and determine next steps.”

The 44-year-old Scott is in his first year with the Mets, having been hired out of the Red Sox organization, where he oversaw the pro scouting and analytics departments, this past offseason. Scott was originally hired as an assistant general manager but was elevated to the title of acting general manager after then-GM Jared Porter was fired.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Mets Release Zack Godley

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The Mets have granted right-hander Zack Godley his release, MLBTR has learned. He’d been on a minor league contract and pitching with their affiliate in Triple-A Syracuse. He’s now a free agent and eligible to sign with another club for the final month of the season. Godley is the second veteran free agent cut loose by the Mets late in the month, as they also released Josh Reddick from their Syracuse affiliate just yesterday.

The Mets were the third organization of the 2021 campaign for the 31-year-old Godley. He opened the year in the Brewers system after signing a minor league deal and got a pair of brief looks in the Majors. He’s also spent time with the Indians this season, though Cleveland didn’t call him to the Majors.

Godley has been tagged for six runs in 3 1/3 big league innings this season and, generally speaking, has struggled in the Majors over the past few years. He was a solid member of the D-backs’ rotation from 2017-18, pitching to a 4.10 ERA with a 24.9 percent strikeout rate and a 9.4 percent walk rate through 333 1/3 innings (57 starts). However, the D-backs moved on after he limped to a 6.39 ERA through 76 frames for them in 2018. A brief run with the Blue Jays’ bullpen yielded solid results late in that season, but Godley allowed 26 runs through 28 2/3 innings with the Red Sox last summer before a season-ending IL placement due to a forearm strain.

It’s been a solid season in Triple-A for the veteran Godley, however, who has pitched to a 2.33 ERA in four starts with the Mets’ top affiliate and owns a season-long 3.56 ERA with a 22.1 percent strikeout rate and a 10.9 percent walk rate through 73 1/3 innings. Godley carries a 3.29 ERA in 134 career innings at the Triple-A level and a 4.92 ERA in 568 2/3 innings at the big league level.

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