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Mets Select Tommy Hunter, Transfer Carlos Carrasco To 60-Day IL

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The Mets announced Thursday that they’ve selected right-hander Tommy Hunter’s contract from Triple-A Syracuse and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by moving Carlos Carrasco from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. Righty Jordan Yamamoto was optioned to Syracuse to open a spot on the 26-man roster.

Carrasco has yet to pitch for the Mets this season due to a hamstring strain. His move to the 60-day IL means he’ll need to spend a total of 60 days there — not 60 days starting today. Factoring in the month-plus he’s already spent on the IL, this is largely a procedural move, as he’s yet to even formally embark on a minor league rehab assignment. He’ll now be required to be shelved through most of this month, but assuming he’d need multiple rehab starts, he wouldn’t have been available until mid-month at the absolute earliest.

The 34-year-old Hunter opened the year in Syracuse after inking a minor league pact with the Mets. He’s no stranger to the NL East, having spent the past three seasons with the Phillies organization and pitching to a combined 3.64 ERA in 94 innings of work.

Hunter had a rocky run as a starter early in his career, but since moving to the bullpen on a full-time basis back in 2013, he’s been a consistently solid reliever. In 394 innings out of the bullpen since that time, he’s logged a 3.24 ERA while striking out 20.7 percent of opponents against a tiny 5.2 percent walk rate. He’ll give the Mets yet another experienced arm to add to a late-inning mix that includes veterans Edwin Diaz, Trevor May, Miguel Castro, Aaron Loup and Jeurys Familia.

Mets Place Brandon Nimmo On Injured List

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The Mets are placing outfielder Brandon Nimmo on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 3 (via Tim Britton of the Athletic). Catcher Patrick Mazeika has been recalled in a corresponding move.

Nimmo left last Saturday’s game against the Phillies with a left index finger contusion. He came in as a defensive replacement on Sunday but hasn’t hit since suffering the injury. After Nimmo missed another couple games’ worth of action, the Mets have elected to place him on the IL and free up a spot on the active roster.

Even a brief absence from Nimmo is a tough blow to a Mets’ offense that had hit an underwhelming .240/.324/.364 entering play today. The 28-year-old has been stellar in the early going, raking at a .318/.430/.439 clip over his first 80 plate appearances. Nimmo has long been excellent at avoiding outs, but he looks to have taken his game to another level in 2021. Among qualified hitters, only Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bryce Harper have reached base at a better clip. Nimmo certainly won’t sustain a .465 batting average on balls in play, but he’s chasing fewer pitches than ever and should continue to draw plenty of walks when he returns.

With Nimmo out, the Mets figure to turn to Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr. in center. Neither of those offseason signees has contributed much offensively this season after generally struggling at the dish in recent years.

Jacob deGrom Dealing With Right Lat Inflammation

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6:12pm: The MRI revealed inflammation in deGrom’s right lat, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. While deGrom will take a few days off from throwing, the Mets don’t plan to place him on the injured list.

4:25pm: DeGrom will undergo an MRI this afternoon, manager Luis Rojas announced (via Healey).

4:04pm: The Mets have scratched ace Jacob deGrom from his scheduled start Tuesday because of “right side tightness,” Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to tweet. Righty Miguel Castro will take the ball against the Cardinals in deGrom’s place.

A major injury to deGrom could have a crippling effect on the Mets’ chances of contending for a playoff spot, but it doesn’t appear this is an especially serious issue, Jeff Passan of ESPN hears. Rather, deGrom may miss just one start, per Passan.

After a highly active offseason, the Mets have come out flat in 2021 with an 11-12 record, but deGrom certainly isn’t to blame. The two-time National League Cy Young winner is in top form at the age of 32, having pitched to a major league-leading 0.51 ERA over five starts and 35 innings. DeGrom is also pacing all starters in strikeout rate (48 percent) and swinging-strike rate (23 percent), and his K-BB percentage (44.7) is second only to the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes.

Mets Fire Hitting Coaches Chili Davis, Tom Slater

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The Mets have fired hitting coach Chili Davis and assistant hitting coach Tom Slater, Tim Britton of The Athletic was among those to report. Minor league hitting coordinator Hugh Quattlebaum will take over for Davis, and farm director Kevin Howard will succeed Slater.

New York made this decision in the wake of a 6-5 loss to St. Louis that dropped the team to a disappointing 11-12. A mediocre offensive performance has played a role in the Mets’ slow start, as their hitters currently rank 17th in the majors in wRC+ (96). Prized offseason pickup Francisco Lindor, whom the Mets acquired from the Indians and then signed to a 10-year, $341MM extension, has slumped over the Mets’ first 23 games. Likewise, outfielder/first baseman Dominic Smith has fallen flat after an excellent showing in 2020, as has $40MM free-agent signing James McCann.

Of course, it’s debatable how much blame Davis and Slater deserve for the above players’ struggles. It’s also worth noting J.D. Davis (who went on the 10-day injured list Monday), Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso have all gotten off to great starts. Regardless, the Mets are taking their coaching staff in another direction in hopes of breaking a four-year playoff drought.

In Davis, the Mets are saying goodbye to a former big league slugger whom they hired before 2019, when Mickey Callaway – not Luis Rojas – was their manager. Prior to that, Davis worked as the hitting coach for the Cubs, who relieved him of duties after the 2018 campaign. Slater joined the Mets’ staff as their assistant hitting coach a year earlier than Davis.

Mets Place J.D. Davis On 10-Day IL

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MAY 3: The Mets have placed Davis on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 2) and recalled righty Trevor Hildenberger, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Meanwhile, Nimmo is still active, but he’s not in the Mets’ lineup Monday.

MAY 1: The Mets’ 5-4 victory over the Phillies may have been a costly one, as New York saw two lineup regulars leave tonight’s game with injuries.  The Mets announced that Brandon Nimmo suffered a left index finger contusion that forced the outfielder to leave partway through a seventh inning at-bat, while third baseman J.D. Davis was replaced before the bottom of the seventh due to a left hand sprain.

X-rays were negative on Nimmo, which is a positive sign considering that Nimmo looked to be in pain after fouling off a pitch during his at-bat.  It isn’t clear how Davis hurt his hand — he struck out during a sixth-inning plate appearance and then played his position in the bottom of the sixth, seemingly with no issue.  It’s possible this latest problem could be related to Davis’ previous left hand injury, as he was hit by a Chase Anderson pitch on April 7 and ended up spending a 10-day minimum stint on the injured list.

Since returning from that injury, however, Davis has been among the game’s hottest hitters.  Entering tonight’s play, Davis had an outstanding .395/.489/.632 slash line and two homers over 45 plate appearances, with a 208 wRC+ that ranked seventh amongst all players in baseball with at least 40 PA.

Nimmo hasn’t been far behind in terms of productivity, hitting .339/.453/.468 in 76 PA heading into tonight’s game.  Nimmo’s .453 OBP was leading the National League, and ranked fourth overall in baseball (behind only Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Yermin Mercedes) among qualified players.

Davis and Nimmo have represented a major chunk of the Mets’ offense thus far in the season, as apart from Pete Alonso, virtually the entire New York lineup has struggled to begin the season.  The Mets finished April ranked last in the majors in both runs and home runs, as well as 29th in team slugging percentage, 22nd in OPS+, and 20th in wRC+.

Mets Release Caleb Joseph

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The Mets released Caleb Joseph from his split contract with the team, MLBTR has learned.  The move took place last week.  Joseph signed with New York in February and was a late cut at the end of Spring Training camp.

A veteran of seven big league seasons, Joseph is best known for his time as a backup and part-time catcher with the Orioles from 2014-18.  He also appeared in 20 games with the Diamondbacks in 2019 and three games back in the AL East with the Blue Jays last season.  Joseph has hit .222/.270/.351 with 32 home runs over 1367 career plate appearances in the majors, but is better known for his defense, particularly his pitch-framing and his ability to throw out baserunners.

Joseph’s release leaves the Mets without much experienced catching depth at the Triple-A level, though the club added another backstop by claiming Deivy Grullon off waivers from the Rays last week.  Grullon, Bruce Maxwell, and Patrick Mazeika are the top depth options behind the MLB catching combo of James McCann and Tomas Nido.

Jose Alvarado To Serve Two-Game Suspension

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TODAY: Alvarado and the league have agreed to a reduced suspension of two games.  He will begin serving his suspension tonight.

SUNDAY: Jose Alvarado has been suspended three games for his part in Friday’s fracas between the Mets and Phillies, per an MLB release. Alvarado will appeal the decision.

In case you missed it, the Phillies were leading 2-1 in the top of the eighth inning when Alvarado hit Jeff McNeil on the elbow with his second pitch. With two outs and first base open, the Phillies elected to intentionally walk J.D. Davis to bring up Dominic Smith. A wild pitch moved up the runners as Alvarado struggled with his command. Smith appeared to disrupt Alvarado’s timing a couple of times in the at-bat, leading to an emotional celebration from Alvarado when he finally coaxed Smith into striking out to end the inning. Alvarado was amped, yelling at Smith and throwing his glove down. Though no punches were thrown, Alvarado’s incendiary behavior earned him an ejection.

On the Mets’ side, Smith was fined an undisclosed amount. Reliever Miguel Castro was also fined. Castro entered the game in the bottom of the inning. With one out, he walked Rhys Hoskins on back-to-back inside fastballs that were well off the plate. Hoskins took exception, and though the benches did not clear again, the game was brought to a halt as the umpires met to discuss. No other action was taken, however, and Castro was able to finish the inning.

Injury Notes: Diaz, Springer, Arihara

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Let’s begin our Monday morning by rounding up some injury news from yesterday’s games…

  • Edwin Diaz left last night’s game against the Phillies after serving up a two-run double to Rhys Hoskins. Diaz was dealing with some back pain, but it doesn’t sound like the Mets are overly concerned, per Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). The Mets held on for the win anyway, pulling ahead of the Phillies into a tie for first place with the Nationals. Diaz has a 4.22 ERA/2.17 FIP in 10 2/3 innings so far with three saves, a slightly-depressed 31.8 percent strikeout rate and 11.4 percent walk rate. His velocity has been good so far this year with an average 98.8 mph fastball. If he misses time, Jeurys Familia could step in as he did last name, when he snagged the final out for the save.
  • George Springer was pulled from yesterday’s game because of fatigue in his legs, writes Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca. A quad injury has been bothering Springer as he tries to round himself into regular season form. While it’s a little concerning to see Springer pulled from just his fourth game of the year, it doesn’t sound as if the Blue Jays anticipate another injured list stint. Said manager Charlie Montoyo, “He felt it a little bit and we said, ’OK, there’s no sense with this hot weather and stuff to force you to hit another at-bat or run or something. So, let’s just stop right there.'”
  • Kohei Arihara received an injection in his right middle finger recently to help with some soreness around a callus, but he’s still likely to miss at least one start and potentially even land on the injured list, per MLB.com’s Daniel Guerrero. With Arihara set to miss time, Hyeon-jong Yang will move into the rotation. Yang has been good in two longer stints out of the pen, allowing just two earned runs in 8 2/3 innings. Yang was a starter in the KBO, though the 33-year-old is coming off a less-than-stellar year in which he racked up a 4.70 ERA in 172 1/3 innings over 31 starts for the Kia Tigers.

Latest On Luis Guillorme

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  • Luis Guillorme looks good enough in his recovery from a right oblique strain that the Mets are hopeful he can return after the minimum 10 days on the injured list, manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News).  The return of utilityman Guillorme could be particularly helpful to a Mets team that saw third baseman J.D. Davis leave last night’s game due to a hand sprain — Davis also isn’t in tonight’s lineup.  Guillorme’s return isn’t quite imminent, however, since his IL placement was only retroactive to April 29.  Over the small sample size of 91 plate appearances, Guillorme has hit .333/.440/.413 over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, though he is primarily known for his infield versatility.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/28/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers have traded 24-year-old right-hander Leon Hunter to the American League West rival Mariners for cash considerations or a player to be named later, according to an announcement from Texas. Hunter was a 35th-round pick of the Rangers in 2019 who pitched at the rookie and Low-A levels that year. He notched a minuscule 1.38 ERA and amassed 30 strikeouts against just five walks in 25 innings during his first professional action, but with no minor league campaign in 2020, Hunter was unable to build on that quality showing last season.
  • The Mets announced that they’ve claimed catcher Deivy Grullon off waivers from the Rays. New York then optioned the 25-year-old to its alternate site. Grullon, whom the Rays designated on April 24, totaled 13 major league plate appearances between the Phillies and Red Sox from 2019-20. In his Triple-A debut in 2019, Grullon batted a productive .283/.354/.496 with 21 home runs in 457 PA.
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