Mets Morning News: David Wright Is Out, As Dreaded Intercostal Strain Gets The Mets Again

Meet the Mets

Jeremy Hefner struck out seven over five innings and Lucas Duda hit a mammoth home run off of Tim Hudson, as the Mets defeated the Braves 5-2 on Friday. The clock continues to tick on Duda, who may not be guaranteed a starting job anymore. This is obviously a small sample but since starting out the spring 0-7, Duda has hit .320/.393/.620, so at least that's something. Lefty Aaron Laffey also threw well in relief and may have a shot at a long relief spot with Hefner in the rotation. This afternoon, the Mets take on the Marlins at 1:10 PM and you can catch the game locally on SNY.

David Wright has a moderate intercostal strain, which will cost him 3-5 days at the very least. Ugh. With Wright out, it's likely Justin Turner who'll see reps at 3rd base. You'd have to assume Zach Lutz will see time as well, though Wilmer Flores will not. The 21-year-old was demoted to minor league camp along with Carlos Torres and Josh Satin.

Johan Santana threw a mound session in secret and was said to feel really good after it. Meanwhile, Daniel Murphy played in a minor league game without issue, though he didn't hit.

In a New York Post podcast, Sandy Alderson said that the Mets may look to extend Ike Davis at least through his arbitration years.

Minor league spring training games started yesterday, as Binghamton defeated Springfield 6-3. Domingo Tapia and Luis Mateo combined for four scoreless innings of relief. I wouldn't look too much into the placement of Tapia and Mateo, as guys often play a level up during the spring.

At HardballTalk, Bill Baer has a preview of the 2013 Mets.

Around the Majors

Puerto Rico knocked out USA from the World Baseball Classic, holding on to win 4-3 in Miami last night. TRAID DAVID WRONGZ!

Reports say that MLB is going hard after players linked to the Biogenesis clinic, which shouldn't be a shock now after minor leaguer Cesar Carillo was suspended 100 games for his involvement.

The Yankees signed former Tigers' outfielder Brennan Boesch to a major league deal. He was awful last year but Yankee Stadium should at least treat his lefty power well.

For all of you fantasy baseball players out there, Fake Teams has a great listing of deep league and late round targets to go after in your draft.

Yesterday At AA

Rob Castellano explores whether Terry Collins can actually handle a bulllpen.

Jeff Paternostro and Rob have released episode 11 of the Amazin' Avenue Audio Podcast so go listen to that now!

AA is still on the lookout for writers, so get out there and get your applications in.

Brock Mahan looks back at March 15th in Mets history.