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Yesterday was one of those games I was definitely looking forward to watching as soon as I got up in the morning. Collin McHugh was set to make his debut, and he's been interesting enough at both AA and AAA this season that he should factor into the discussion for next season. McHugh was absolutely fantastic in his first outing, going 7 innings and allowing only a pair of hits in his first taste of the big leagues. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be enough for the bullpen and the defense, as the Mets immediately gave up the winner in the 8th. The box score can be found here.
It doesn't look like McHugh will be the last pitcher added to the Mets rotation this fall. Young Jenrry Mejia is expected to join the club in September and he'll be making a few starts. The 2013 Mets sure do have a few question marks, but options for the starting rotation are not amongst them. Assuming both Dillon Gee and Johan Santana are healthy in February, the Mets might not need the services of guys like Chris Young anymore. Hooray!
One guy that likely won't be on the opening day roster is Rob Johnson. He's currently on the major league disabled list though, a tidbit that escaped the notice of most.
Around MLB
It's not yet September, but the Braves are starting to look a bit shaky again. They lost again last night, this time in a 5-2 defeat to Barry Zito and the Giants.
The Phillies were the other team in the division with a game yesterday, and they made the most of it. They'd need extra innings to beat the Reds, but the 4-3 victory puts them alone in 3rd in the NL East. Grant Bisbee also pointed out that Domonic Brown is actually getting a chance now, and he's not all that bad.
Over at Fish Stripes, they'd look at what the Marlins should be doing for next season.
There was some Nats talk out there yesterday as well. Bryce Harper was tearing up the minor leagues, but he's struggled a bit lately in the big leagues. Rob Neyer looked at whether or not he should be playing everyday.
Josh Beckett is going to clear waivers with ease. That much is pretty certain. FanGraphs takes a look at whether or not teams should be taking a look at trying to acquire the former ace, and it's certainly interesting in the right deal.
Finally for today, noted fool Skip Bayless made the assertion that we should be skeptical of Derek Jeter having a good season on the straight and narrow. Howard Medgal responds. I really wish ESPN would just can him already; he makes them look even worse than Joe Morgan did.