Mets Morning News: Mets take lead for second Wild Card on day off

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Thanks to a 12-5 Cardinals loss at the hands of the Brewers on Thursday night, the Mets claimed sole possession of the second National League Wild Card spot. They’re a half-game behind the Giants for the first one.

Despite a rash of injuries to the starting staff, the Mets are in this position thanks in part to a pair of unexpected heroes in starters Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman, Mike Puma noted.

The Mets signed Tim Tebow to a minor league deal yesterday morning. They’ll play it by ear with his assignment in the spring. David Lennon says the signing is a no-lose situation for both the player and the team.

Ken Davidoff tells Tebow that to not be a joke, he has to prove it on the field. Yankees manager Joe Girardi will be following Tebow’s baseball career.

Ted Berg broke down the odds of which Mets minor league affiliate Tebow will play for.

Over at FanGraphs, Andrew Perpetua examined whether there’s a correlation between good pitching and a high BABIP. He found a group of 11 pitchers with at least 80 innings under their belt in 2016, with a FIP of 3.50 or lower and a BABIP of .300 or higher. Of the 11, three are Mets starters: Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz.

BP Mets fantasized about a scenario in which the Mets don’t capture a Wild Card spot—but the NL East instead.

Around the NL East

The Braves scheduled their first contest at the new SunTrust Park in 2017.

Fish Stripes argues against Dee Gordon leading off for the Marlins.

The Phillies topped the Nationals 4-1 behind six shutout innings from Alec Asher, who notched his first career win. Read recaps from The Good Phight and Federal Baseball.

Around the Majors

How a change to Kris Bryant’s approach at the plate has made all the difference this year.

August Fagerstrom made a case for Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson as the American League MVP.

FanGraphs wrote up the otherworldly changeup of Jharel Cotton, who was impressive for the Athletics in his major league debut on Wednesday.

Yesterday at AA

Rafael Montero isn’t guaranteed to stay in the Mets’ rotation.

22-year-old catching prospect Tomas Nido won the Florida State League batting title, hitting .320.

Get all your Tim Tebow reactions in one place.

This Date in Mets History

In 1969, behind a complete-game gem from Tom Seaver, the Mets clinched their first winning record in franchise history.