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Mets Notes: Diaz, Lowrie

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The Mets are off to a slow start at 3-4, and high-profile reliever Edwin Diaz hasn’t helped matters. Diaz, whom the Mets hoped would rebound this year after a subpar first season with the team in 2019, has allowed an earned run in two of three appearances this year. He struggled Thursday in a loss to the Red Sox, allowing four of five hitters to reach base. Afterward, manager Luis Rojas told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and other reporters that Mets bigwigs will discuss whether to use Diaz in high-leverage situations going forward. Considering Diaz has only thrown 2 1/3 innings this season, it’s far too soon to say he won’t bounce back. Nevertheless, it’s stunning to see how far he has fallen off since a tremendous run with the Mariners from 2016-18. The Mets’ decision to trade for Diaz and second baseman Robinson Cano continues to look worse and worse.

  • Infielder Jed Lowrie joined the Mets in the same offseason as Diaz and Cano, but he has barely played for the club. Now in the second season of a two-year, $20MM contract, various injuries have limited Lowrie to nine games and eight plate appearances as a Met. He hasn’t played yet this season, and the reason became somewhat more clear Thursday. It turns out that Lowrie is dealing with PCL laxity in his left knee, according to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. It’s still unknown if Lowrie will play for the Mets this season, however.

Mets Select Brian Dozier, Designate Hunter Strickland For Assignment

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The Mets announced a series of roster moves today, placing Eduardo Nunez on the 10-day injured list with a left knee contusion and selecting the contract of veteran second baseman Brian Dozier in his place. In order to open a spot on the roster for Dozier, New York designated right-hander Hunter Strickland for assignment. Lefty Daniel Zamora is up from the team’s alternate training site to take Strickland’s spot on the 30-man roster.

Dozier, 33, inked a minor league deal with the Mets midway through Summer Camp after being let go by the Padres. He’s already in tonight’s lineup and will give the club some thump against lefty starter Martin Perez. Dozier, a former All-Star with the Twins, is a lifetime .270/.354/.500 hitter against southpaws. For a brief stretch from 2014-17, he was among the league’s best second basemen, hitting a combined .254/.338/.476 with 127 home runs in that four-year stretch. That included a monstrous 42-homer effort in 2016, which he followed up with a 34-dinger season in 2017.

A knee injury hobbled Dozier for much of the 2018 season, which surely contributed to a dismal .215/.305/.391 showing. He bounced back a bit with the World Series-winning Nationals in 2019, slashing .238/.340/.430 in 482 plate appearances. However, Dozier’s role shrunk late in the regular season and in the postseason. This winter, with an abundance of supply and considerably less demand on the second base market, Dozier settled for a minor league deal — but he’s quickly worked his way back to the bigs.

As for Strickland, he’ll depart after surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits in just 2 1/3 frames as a Met. The 31-year-old posted terrific numbers with the Giants from 2014-17 before slipping a bit in 2018 and completely cratering in 2019. Strickland still has a 3.24 ERA in 252 2/3 Major League innings, but his recent track record is concerning, and he’s had some issues off the mound. The righty broke his hand when he punched a door after blowing a save back in 2018, and he’s previously incited a benches-clearing brawl by throwing at Bryce Harper (widely believed to be in response to Harper homering off him twice in the postseason three years prior).

Latest On Marcus Stroman, Jared Hughes

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Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman is making progress in his recovery from the left calf tear he suffered last week. Stroman has returned to throwing “full tilt” bullpen sessions, manager Luis Rojas said (via Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner added that Stroman is still unable to sprint, so it remains unclear when he’ll be in line for his season debut. The sooner the better for the Mets, for whom Stroman is a must-have complement to ace Jacob deGrom. From his own standpoint, Stroman’s in for a rather important season with his first trip to free agency scheduled for the winter.

  • One of Stroman’s Mets teammates, fellow righty Jared Hughes, has been on the injured list since July 15. The team didn’t announce a reason for the move at the time, though it turns out he tested positive for the coronavirus, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Hughes was symptomatic for roughly 10 days, per Rosenthal, but he’s now healthy and pitching at the team’s alternate training site. Prior to his bout with the virus, Hughes appeared as if he’d earn a season-opening roster spot after the Mets signed him to a major league contract.
  • The Red Sox, having gotten poor production from their patchwork rotation thus far, will give righty Zack Godley an opportunity as a starter, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald tweets. Godley, whom the Red Sox signed to a minor league contract this month, will make his first start with the club on Saturday against the Yankees. The former Diamondback and Blue Jay was an effective starter just a couple years ago before falling off dramatically last season. Godley had an extremely encouraging long-relief appearance Monday, though, as he tossed four scoreless, four-hit innings with seven strikeouts against no walks in a loss to the Mets.

Mets Place Jake Marisnick On IL, Select Ryan Cordell, Designate Jordan Humphreys

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The Mets have announced a series of roster moves. Outfielder Ryan Cordell is headed onto the 40-man and active roster, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports on Twitter, taking the place of injured outfielder Jake Marisnick.

Marisnick is headed to the injured list with a hamstring strain. To create a 40-man spot, righty Jordan Humphreys was designated for assignment.

Humphreys, 24, was added to the 40-man in advance of the 2019 Rule 5 draft. But he obviously wasn’t seen as a critical part of the team’s immediate or future plans.

Cordell has appeared in each of the two prior MLB campaigns, compiling a cumulative .205/.267/.335 batting line over 287 plate appearances. He’ll help fill in for Marisnick, though it may be tough for him to hang onto a roster spot thereafter.

Jose Reyes Announces Official Retirement

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Veteran infielder Jose Reyes has announced his retirement from the game. The 37-year-old appeared in 16 MLB seasons.

Reyes had at one point hoped to play in the 2019 season, but evidently did not draw sufficient interest to continue his career. It isn’t surprising at this point to hear that he will no longer pursue playing opportunities.

There’s no denying what a dynamic player Reyes was at his height. During his first run with the Mets, he turned in 4,453 plate appearances of .292/.341/.441 hitting with 81 home runs and 370 steals while delivering excellent glovework at the shortstop position.

By the end of the 2011 season, Reyes had accumulated four All-Star appearances and 28 rWAR. He was never better at the plate than in 2011, when he posted a .337/.384/.493 slash to set the stage for a lucrative trip onto the free agent market.

Reyes landed with the Marlins on a $106MM deal. While he performed well in his first season in Miami, the team shipped him and other veterans to the Blue Jays at season’s end. Reyes supplied two more quality campaigns in Toronto before hitting a wall in 2015. That set the stage for a blockbuster swap in which the Jays sent Reyes and prospects to Colorado for Rockies star Troy Tulowitzki.

While his struggles continued down the stretch in 2015, Reyes seemed primed for a rebound effort in the ensuing season. Instead, he was arrested in the offseason and faced charges for domestic abuse. Though charges were dropped because the alleged victim declined to testify, Reyes admitted he had made a “terrible mistake” and MLB found sufficient evidence to impose a suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy.

The Mets elected to overlook the awful situation and brought Reyes in for a second stint. He provided solid output for the 2016 and 2017 seasons but scuffled to a .189/.260/.320 slash line in what turned out to be his final campaign.

Mets Designate Tyler Bashlor For Assignment

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The Mets announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-hander Tyler Bashlor for assignment. His roster spot will go to southpaw David Peterson, who is being selected to the 40-man roster for his MLB debut.

Bashlor, 27, has seen time in the Majors in each of the past two seasons but hasn’t yet stood out. Over 54 frames in the big leagues, the former 11th-round pick has a 5.33 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9. Bashlor averages 96 mph on his heater, but he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher (career 31.2 percent ground-ball rate) who has averaged two home runs per nine inning pitched in the Majors.

Bashlor does have a sharp track record in Double-A and Triple-A, which, combined with his high-end fastball spin (97th percentile) and a remaining minor league option, could make him appealing to another organization in need of some bullpen depth. The Mets have a week to trade Bashlor, place him on outright waivers or release him.

Mets To Sign Bruce Maxwell

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The Mets have agreed to a deal with catcher Bruce Maxwell, per Tim Healey of Newsday (via Twitter). He’ll report to the team’s alternative training site once he passes a physical and gets a pair of clean coronavirus tests.

Maxwell is unquestionably best known for his decision to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem when he played for the Athletics in 2017. He drew a lot of attention of all kinds at the time, which only increased the spotlight on his later arrest and subsequent plea arrangement. ESPN.com’s Howard Bryant has authored an important account of Maxwell’s situation.

The A’s dropped Maxwell in the wake of the 2018 season, in which he performed poorly on the field in addition to his off-field troubles. He has not suited up with another affiliated organization since.

Maxwell, now 29, did have a successful 2019 showing in the Mexican League. Over 487 plate appearances, he turned in an excellent .325/.407/.559 slash and hit 24 home runs.

David Peterson To Debut For Mets

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The Mets will promote well-regarded pitching prospect David Peterson to start tonight’s game, according to Tim Healey of Newsday (via Twitter). That’ll require active and 40-man roster moves to make way for Peterson.

Peterson, 24, is a former first-round selection who has shown well in a steady march up the ladder. Last year, he worked to a  4.19 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 over 116 innings at the Double-A level.

The Mets are in a bit of a pickle with their pitching staff. Corey Oswalt struggled in a spot start in the place of the injured Marcus Stroman, who’s still hopeful of a quick rebound.

Bringing up Peterson now appears to set him up to log a full year of service, if he can stick in the big leagues, based upon a pro rata conversion to the typical 172-day scale. Waiting just one more day would’ve foreclosed that possibility, but the Mets are obviously angling to win now and need the start this evening.

Predict The NL East Division Winner

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With final roster decisions in the books and the 2020 season underway at long last, it’s time to make some predictions. We’re polling the MLBTR readership on each of the game’s six divisions — though plenty more teams will crack the postseason under the rather inclusive new playoff qualification system. We’ve already surveyed the AL Central and NL Central landscapes, and now we’ll turn to the National League East.

As is the case with the National League more broadly, the NL East looks like it could end up very tightly-packed from start to finish. The Braves have claimed back-to-back division titles and their star young core only figures to get better. Fresh off a World Series win, the Nationals still boast perhaps the game’s top starting rotation. Anthony Rendon’s defection is quite the loss, but the lineup is still chock-full of talent. The Mets, too, have a strong group of bats and an uber-ace in Jacob deGrom. Their defense is questionable and there’s some volatility on the pitching staff, yet there’s no denying the upside. The Phillies have a handful of high-end players but some uncertainty on the mound. It’s a bit more of a long shot in Miami, but the Marlins have built a high-upside young rotation and added a handful of solid veteran position players over the offseason.

Which team do you think is the best of the bunch? (Poll link for app users).

Red Sox Claim Stephen Gonsalves

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The Red Sox claimed left-hander Stephen Gonsalves off waivers from the Mets, as per a team press release.  Gonsalves has been optioned to Boston’s minor league training site.

The Mets designated Gonsalves for assignment earlier this week, ending the 26-year-old’s tenure in New York without so much as a big league pitch after Gonsalves was claimed off waivers from the Twins last November.  Gonsalves’ lone taste of MLB action came with Minnesota in 2018, as he posted a 6.57 ERA over 24 2/3 innings (starting four of seven games).

Originally drafted by the Twins as a fourth-round pick in 2013, Gonsalves has a impressive 2.50 ERA, 2.67 K/BB rate, and 9.6 K/9 over 612 career minor league IP, though much of that success came at the lower levels.  Walks were a bit more of an issue for Gonsalves at the Triple-A level, with a 4.9 BB/9 over his 125 frames at the highest rung on the minor league ladder, though he still managed a 3.46 ERA at Triple-A Rochester.

Gonsalves will now join a Red Sox club that is in need of any sort of pitching help, so another call to the majors might not be too far away.  Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are both recovering from positive COVID-19 tests, however, so the Sox will be getting southpaw bullpen reinforcements back in hopefully short order.  With Gonsalves’ addition, Boston has now maxed out its player pool at 60 men, and has 38 spots filled on its 40-man roster.

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