Meet the Mets
Jeremy Hefner had the worst night of his baseball life since, well, the last time he faced Philadelphia, and the Mets dropped the rubber game of their series at Citizen's Bank Park. The recent struggles of Gee, Laffey, and Hefner makes the backend of the Mets rotation look very shaky. And Howard Megdal thinks the key to the Mets staying afloat might be Mr. Gee.
But there's some good news you guys, Unconfident Lucas Duda is feeling a bit more confident after knocking a pair of home runs last night. The Big Lebowski is up to a 1.216 OPS on the young season, which when combined with his defense probably makes him about an average major leaguer. Baby steps.
Seems like Lucas is eschewing the Mets secret strategy at the plate. Which involves not swinging the bat and hitting home runs of course. Jared Diamond has the inside scoop at the Wall Street Journal.
And Rising Apple recaps Terry Collins' appearance on WFAN yesterday. Well someone has to do it, and I'm very glad it wasn't me.
Yesterday at AA
Outfield Avenue took a look at the newly available Julio Borbon.
David Moseder reminisced about the longest home run in Shea Stadium history.
And Rob Castellano wrote about shortstop prospect Wilfredo Tovar, because of course he did.
Around the NL East
Bryce Harper murdered a baseball with malice aforethought, and the Nationals cruised to a win over the White Sox.
And the Braves stayed hot, completing the sweep of the Marlins for their sixth straight win.
Around MLB
Both Bay Area teams are also heating up. The Giants completed a three-game sweep of the Rockies behind Barry Zito and his 0.00 ERA in 2013. Yes, that Barry Zito. Meanwhile the A's needed some late pop from their offense to support a mediocre Tommy Milone, but got the win in Anaheim.
Break up the Astros! Another offensive explosion made it two in a row for Houston. Fedoras for everyone! Meanwhile, the Pirates continue to struggle with things like hitting baseballs and winning games.
Steven Goldman of Baseball Nation writes about Branch Rickey as 42 hits theaters nationwide.
The Twins maybe kind of Marlins'd their fans a bit with a recent promotion. I always thought the people of Lake Woebegone would be much slower to anger though.
Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs examines the exploits of Coco Crisp, power hitter.
And finally, a poem about America, you guys.