Mets Morning News: J.D. Davis to IL, deGrom foiled again

Meet the Mets

As the old adage goes: the more things change, the more they stay the same; it seems the 2021 Mets are no exception. The Mets lost 3-0 to the Marlins yesterday afternoon, wasting another brilliant Jacob deGrom start in which he went eight innings, striking out 14 batters to match his career high. His only “mistake” (if one can call it that) was a high 100mph fastball which Jazz Chisolm deposited into the seats for a solo homer in the second inning. The Mets’ bats failed to respond against Trevor Rogers or the Marlins bullpen, continuing to struggling with runners in scoring position. The Marlins added two insurance runs in ninth against Edwin Diaz to secure the victory.

Choose your recap: Amazin Avenue short and long, Daily News, MLB.com, Newsday, North Jersey, Post

Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated writes that the data show that deGrom is not as hard luck of a pitcher as one might think and that the narrative he does not get enough run support is driven by confirmation bias. It is worth noting that this piece was written before yesterday’s game.

As always though, deGrom refused to throw his teammates under the bus, even if the hitters probably owe him an apology.

According to reporting from The Athletic, the Mets refused to allow Jed Lowrie to get surgery for a knee problem during his time with the team and threatened him with a grievance.

The Mets placed J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list with a left hand contusion. To replace him on the roster, they selected José Peraza. Franklyn Kilome was designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster for Peraza.

General manager Zack Scott addressed the media yesterday and revealed that the Mets have not yet reached the 85% vaccination threshold that would allow the Mets to relax COVID-19 protocols, but he is optimistic the team will get there.

He also gave updates on the timelines of some of the Mets’ injured players. Noah Syndergaard threw live batting practice at Port St. Lucie and is on track for a mid-June return.

Meanwhile, Seth Lugo is still expected to return in May and Carlos Carrasco is “progressing well.”

“I don’t have a sense that door is fully closed,” Scott said regarding extension talks with Michael Conforto.

“That was tough to see, especially with such a great young player,” Michael Conforto said regarding Padres star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who recently suffered a similar shoulder injury to Conforto’s from 2017. “It was the same shoulder but it was his lead arm. Mine was my top hand, which is a little bit more rare. Those things tend to happen on your follow-through with your bottom hand. … It gives you the flashbacks to those tough days, realizing you’ve got to get surgery and miss time and all that. So that was tough to see. Hopefully he’s doing all right, and hopefully we see him back out on the field really soon.”

Around the National League East

The Marlins may use an opener in today’s rubber game against the Mets.

The Braves beat the Phillies 5-4, thanks to a decisive defensive miscue in the seventh inning.

The Braves placed Chris Martin on the 10-day injured list with shoulder inflammation.

The Dodgers put up a five spot against Patrick Corbin—freshly reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list—in the second inning of their 9-5 victory over the Nationals.

Around Major League Baseball

Joel Sherman of the Post thinks the Yankees should take a page out of the Mets’ book and trade Gleyber Torres for Trevor Story.

David Adler of MLB.com listed some Statcast standouts from the first week of games.

It looks like Alex Rodriguez will be an owner after all, just not of the Mets.

Although Thursday’s game at Citi Field demonstrated a situation where replay review would have revealed the correct call on a play that was not actually reviewable, Mike Vaccaro of the Post argues that an imperfect replay system is better than none at all.

Thanks in part to the new baseball, spin rates are higher than ever across baseball, writes Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane spoke to Curtis Granderson and Pete Alonso about Citi’s Community Home Runs Program, having fans back at the ballpark, what music they’re listening to, and more for an episode of Amazin’ Avenue in Conversation.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets played the very first game in franchise history—a loss—on April 11, 1962.