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Jed Lowrie Suffers Setback

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Mets infielder Jed Lowrie has suffered a setback that will delay his activation, Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports on Twitter. A “slight hamstring strain” will force Lowrie back to extended spring training for several more weeks of rehab work.

Lowrie has already spent the first six weeks of the season on the injured list with a sprained left knee. The 35-year-old played in eight games on a rehab assignment, hitting just .161/.235/.258 with ten strikeouts in 34 plate appearances.

To this point, the Mets have not received any return on their two-year, $20MM investment in Lowrie, who signed on in New York after an impressive pair of seasons with the Athletics. There’s still plenty of time for him to perform as expected, though it’s suboptimal for his tenure to open in this manner.

Furthermore, the new injury to Lowrie will quite likely prolong what has long been viewed as an impending roster crunch of sorts in Queens. A healthy Lowrie could very well have pushed wither Adeiny Hechavarria or Keon Broxton — neither of whom can be optioned to the minors without first hitting waivers — off the active roster. Instead, both players will now likely continue to hold down bench jobs, though between the lack of roster flexibility they offer and the struggles of veteran Todd Frazier, it’s not out of the question that changes are still looming on the horizon.

Rays, Mets Complete Wilmer Font Trade

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The Rays have acquired right-hander Neraldo Catalina from the Mets as the player to be named later in last week’s trade that sent righty Wilmer Font from Tampa Bay to New York.

Catalina, 18, has yet to pitch in a professional game and hasn’t even been in the Mets organization for one calendar year. He was signed out of the Dominican Republic last July 2 and received a $150K signing bonus at the time, as Baseball America’s Ben Badler recently noted in reviewing the team’s 2018-19 international free-agent class. Badler notes that Catalina is already a massive 6’6″ and 205 pounds with a fastball that reaches 95 mph and a power slider. Obviously, he’s years away from being any kind of factor in the Majors, but he seemingly makes a nice lottery-ticket arm to add to the minor league ranks in Tampa.

Font, 28, has made just one appearance for the Mets since the time of the trade. He tossed four innings in a spot start and allowed a pair of runs on three hits with no walks allowed and one strikeout. He had a tough start to the season with the Rays — nine runs on 15 hits and five walks in 14 innings — but he’s a fairly hard-throwing righty who has seen a substantial uptick in swinging-strike and strikeout rate so far in 2019. Font is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on the Mets’ roster moving forward or else be passed through waivers before he can be sent to the minor leagues.

Mets Place Justin Wilson On IL; Jeurys Familia Set To Return Sunday

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The Mets’ bullpen is set for a couple noteworthy changes this weekend, per Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. The team placed left-hander Justin Wilson on the 10-day injured list Saturday because of an elbow problem, while righty Jeurys Familia is expected to come off the IL on Sunday. In the meantime, the Mets recalled righty Eric Hanhold from Triple-A Syracuse.

Wilson’s IL placement is already the second of the season for the 31-year-old, who went down April 26 with elbow soreness and is now back on the shelf almost immediately after returning from that issue. Wilson came back May 6, gave up two earned runs on three hits in an inning of work and hasn’t pitched since.

Normally a competent reliever, Wilson hasn’t yet given the Mets the type of production they were hoping for when they signed the ex-Pirate, Yankee, Tiger and Cub to a two-year, $10MM contract in free agency. Over 10 appearances and 9 1/3 innings, Wilson has yielded five earned runs on six hits – including two homers – and seen his strikeout rate drop precipitously.

As with the Wilson pickup, the Familia signing was one of a few headline-grabbing bullpen additions general manager Brodie Van Wagenen during his first winter on the job. Familia got an even richer pact, a three-year, $30MM deal, but has also fallen flat thus far. Now in his second stint with the Mets, the 29-year-old Familia logged a 6.26 ERA/5.98 FIP with 9.42 K/9, an untenable 8.16 BB/9 and a career-worst 18.2 percent HR-to-fly ball rate 14 1/3 innings before going to the IL. Familia’s velocity dropped at an alarming degree along the way, likely because he was trying to pitch through a Bennett lesion – which Thosar notes is “equivalent to a bone spur.”

While it’s unclear when Wilson will return to the Mets’ bullpen, they’ll need the vintage version of Familia immediately. New York’s relief corps looked like a strength coming into the season, but it has since stumbled to the majors’ seventh-worst walk rate and eighth-highest ERA amid the club’s uninspiring start.

Mets COO Wilpon Holds Sit-Down With Van Wagenen, Callaway

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Earlier today, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon held a sit-down with GM Brodie Van Wagenen and manager Mickey Callaway, according to a report from Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The ninety-minute session was conceived of in hopes of preventing a second-straight early-season collapse.

Things are off to a promising start tonight, as the club is pouring it on early against the Marlins. That’s likely happenstance, though it’s always nice to see a response after such a moment. The Mets entered play today at 17-20, a particularly disappointing mark considering the club’s 9-4 open to the year.

It’s not entirely clear what was actually discussed in the meeting. Sherman says that Wilpon delivered the message that “the current play is unacceptable and that the need [sic] finding remedies is critical.” Callaway was reportedly encouraged “to apply whatever means he thought workable to improve the results,” though it’s not really evident whether any specific concepts will be put into action.

Notably, Sherman writes that Wilpon never threatened Callaway’s job or set any strict performance demands. The organization would obviously rather not drop Callaway in the middle of his second season at the helm of the dugout. And with good reason: it’s hard to lay too much blame upon him for the fact that the team has limped to a -27 run differential that lags all but six other MLB teams. (Today’s onslaught seems likely to tip that back in a more favorable direction.) Though Callaway is safe for the moment, the meeting does seem to serve as notice that ownership is anxious to see things pointed back in the right direction.

James Loney Retires

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Veteran first baseman James Loney, who’d launched a comeback bid when he signed with the Atlantic League’s Sugar Land Skeeters, announced his retirement from baseball Friday.

It’s been three years since Loney, now 35, appeared in a big league game. His last Major League work came in 2016 when he batted .265/.307/.397 through 366 plate appearances with the Mets. Loney had a brief stint with the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins, did not play in 2018 and appeared in just 11 games with the Skeeters this season before today’s announcement.

Although it’s been a bit since Loney was prominent in Major League Baseball, he’s still a well-known name to most fans thanks to a solid 11-year run at the MLB level. Selected by the Dodgers with the 19th overall pick in the 2002 draft, Loney debuted as a 21-year-old less than four years later and quickly solidified himself as a viable long-term piece in Los Angeles. He hit .284/.342/.559 in 111 plate appearances during that rookie effort and followed it up with a brilliant .331/.381/.538 showing in 375 plate appearances during the 2007 season.

That cemented Loney’s place in the L.A. lineup, and while his bat never matched that lofty standard again, he was a solid offensive presence for the Dodgers over the next four years, consistently hitting for average with quality on-base skills and one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates. In parts of seven seasons with his original organization, Loney hit .284/.341/.423 all while providing the Dodgers with above-average defense at first base.

Loney struggled in a brief run with the Red Sox after being included in 2012’s epic Adrian Gonzalez/Carl Crawford/Josh Beckett blockbuster and settled for a one-year deal with the Rays in hopes of rebuilding his stock. He did just that. Loney turned in a .299/.348/.430 performance with his characteristically strong glovework in his first season with Tampa Bay, and he parlayed that success into a three-year, $21MM deal to remain with the Rays. He’d give Tampa Bay a second season of above-average output before struggling in year two of that pact and eventually being released prior to the final season of the deal. It was at that point that Loney latched on for what now proved to be his final season — the aforementioned Mets run.

All told, Loney logged 1443 games in the Majors and hit .284/.336/.410 with 108 home runs, 267 doubles, 21 triples, 38 stolen bases, 528 runs scored and another 669 knocked in. Beyond that, Loney was a monster in the postseason, hitting .350/.429/.525 through 91 plate appearances across parts of eight different series (mostly with the Dodgers). Between his first-round bonus and his 11 seasons in the Majors, Loney racked up more than $38MM in career earnings.

Mets Notes: Lowrie, Roster Crunch, Frazier

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The latest out of Citi Field….

  • Jed Lowrie’s official Mets debut will wait a few more days, as the infielder will play in more minor league rehab games through the weekend rather than be activated off the injured list on Friday.  (Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to report the news.)  Lowrie has yet to play this season due to a capsule strain in his left knee, though his extended rehab stint isn’t due to any sort of health setback, but rather simply the fact that the Mets want to give the veteran infielder more time to get ready.  Lowrie missed almost all of Spring Training due to the injury, and he has only two hits in 25 plate appearances during the six rehab games he has already played.  The 35-year-old Lowrie signed a two-year, $20MM contract with New York as a free agent over the offseason.
  • With Lowrie’s return delayed, the Mets will get a bit of extra time to figure out a bit of a roster crunch situation.  As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes, demoting either J.D. Davis or Dominic Smith would cost the Mets a productive player, though Davis could at least benefit from playing every day as a left fielder at Triple-A.  If not Davis or Smith, the team could also designate veteran Adeiny Hechavarria for assignment, though that would leave the shortstop position thin behind Amed Rosario.  Lowrie has a lot of shortstop experience, of course, though he has played only two games at the position since the start of the 2016 season.  DiComo doesn’t think that Keon Broxton (who is out of options) is a candidate for DFA limbo when Lowrie joins the 25-man roster.
  • Todd Frazier also won’t be moved to make room for Lowrie, as a source tells Newsday’s Tim Healey.  With just a .143/.160/.265 slash line through 50 plate appearances, Frazier has yet to get on track following his own Spring Training injury, an oblique strain that kept him out of action until April 22.  The injury continued a frustrating stretch for Frazier since joining the Mets, as he was hoping to rebound from a subpar 2018 season.  New York’s crowded infield will likely lead to less playing time for Frazier, who is cognizant of the situation but still confident that he can regain some of his old form.  “I don’t know if this will be my last year with the Mets. I know I’m a free agent after this year, so I want to put my best foot forward and make an impact on this team again,” Frazier said.  The 33-year-old is still owed roughly $7.2MM of his $9MM salary for the 2019 season, making him an expensive cut if the Mets decided to part ways with him entirely.
  • In other Mets news from earlier today, Steven Matz was placed on the 10-day injured list due to radial nerve discomfort.

Mets Place Steven Matz On 10-Day IL

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The Mets announced today that lefty Steven Matz is headed to the 10-day injured list with radial nerve discomfort. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by first baseman Dominic Smith.

While Matz had hoped to avoid a stint on the shelf, it seems he’s not bouncing back quite quickly enough. The Mets already placed Jason Vargas on the IL, replacing him for the time being with just-added righty Wilmer Font.

Fortunately, the outlook is still favorable. Matz is expected to be ready to make a start on Thursday, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to tweet. As for Smith, it seems that this’ll only represent a brief return to the majors unless an injury occurs before his roster spot is needed.

Mets Place Jason Vargas On Injured List

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Mets manager Mickey Callaway announced today that lefty Jason Vargas is headed to the 10-day injured list, as Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to cover on Twitter. He left his most recent start with a hamstring injury and is evidently going to need some time to recover.

Fortunately for the New York organization, there’s still hope of a quicker bounce back for fellow southpaw starter Steven Matz, who isn’t joining Vargas on the IL. Matz is being treated for nerve irritation in his elbow, but it’s obviously not seen as a terribly worrisome issue.

The Mets will need a fill-in starter for Wednesday, at least, but haven’t yet settled on a name. Reliever Corey Oswalt was called up to fill the open roster spot; he’s one of several long-man/spot-start candidates who could be tasked with the open start, individually or in tandem.

More important than the mid-week outing is the full-season picture for the Mets staff. The club has already come under some scrutiny for sticking with Vargas to this point. While he has certainly turned in a more promising run of outings more recently, he’s a rather limited option at 36 years of age.

A significant acquisition isn’t likely at this point of the year, but the Mets could use this time to look at internal alternatives or potential piggyback candidates to pair with Vargas once he’s activated. It’s not yet clear how long Vargas is expected to be sidelined.

Mets To Acquire Wilmer Font

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The Mets have reached an agreement to acquire right-handed reliever Wilmer Font from the Rays in exchange for cash or a player to be named later, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports (via Twitter). Font, 29 later this month, is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to be added directly to the big league bullpen.

Font has worked as both an opener and a reliever over the past two seasons between the Dodgers, A’s and Rays. He’s not found much success at the MLB level, with a career 6.51 ERA in 65 innings of work. However, he’s shown enough that four clubs have been willing to commit a 40-man roster spot over the past calendar year. Font has averaged 94.3 mph on his heater in his MLB career, complementing that offering with an 83.2 mph slider and a 75.5 mph curveball.

It should be noted, too, that the Mets are likely in somewhat of a scramble to find arms to fill out their big league staff. Left-hander Steven Matz is dealing with a nerve issue that’ll likely sideline him for at least one start, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman recently tweeted. On the heels of that report, SNY’s Andy Martino followed up by tweeting that Jason Vargas is also likely to head to the injured list with a minor hamstring injury. He may only miss one start, and the Mets won’t need a fifth starter for nearly two weeks, but it’s nonetheless another arm soon to be rendered unavailable.

Mets Notes: Matz, Vargas

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X-rays were negative on Lorenzo Cain’s left hand after the Brewers outfielder was hit by a Tim Peterson pitch during the sixth inning of today’s 3-2 win over the Mets.  Cain was removed from the game after his HBP, though told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that he is hopeful of playing on Tuesday, when Milwaukee hosts the Nationals.  Cain has hit .259/.316/.406 through 158 plate appearances this season, though he has made up for that slow start at the plate with his usual excellent center field defense.  It doesn’t seem like this injury will require a DL stint or perhaps even an absence whatsoever, though it’s still worth monitoring, as the Brewers can ill-afford to lose any of their stars amidst a tightly-contested NL Central race.

  • The Mets have sent Steven Matz back to New York for tests on his left forearm, manager Mickey Callaway told the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters.  As per Callaway, Matz has a “nerve issue” and has been dealing with a sore forearm “for about two weeks now.”  Matz hasn’t been ruled out of his next scheduled start on Wednesday, though one would think the Mets would sit him out simply as a precautionary measure, given the inherent seriousness of forearm problems.  (Callaway noted that Matz’s current injury isn’t related to the elbow procedure he underwent in 2017.)  Losing Matz to the IL would be a blow to a New York rotation that has struggled this season, and also just generally been lacking in quality results.  Matz has posted a 3.86 ERA, 3.56 K/BB rate, and 8.2 K/9 over 35 innings, and his numbers would look better apart from a singularly disastrous outing on April 16 against the Phillies that saw him allow six earned runs without recording an out.
  • In more unfortunate injury news for the Mets, Jason Vargas left today’s game due to tightness in his left hamstring.  As Puma notes, Vargas’ spot in the rotation wouldn’t necessarily need to be filled immediately, as the Mets have enough upcoming off-days that a fifth starter isn’t required until May 18.  Vargas allowed three runs in four innings today to give him a 5.92 ERA over 24 1/3 frames in what has been a rough beginning for the veteran southpaw.
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