Mets Morning News: Underdogs no more

Meet the Mets

The Mets are starting to shed their underdog reputation. “I saw them described as ‘a plucky team,’ ” one rival NL general manager said after Thursday’s comeback victory against the Phillies. “They’re not a plucky team. They literally have a $300 million payroll. You are not ‘plucky’ at $300 million. You just have a talented team playing well for Buck [Showalter]. The real story isn’t even this team, it is about the previous incompetence.” Joel Sherman of the Post takes a look at all the upgrades the Mets have made that improved the depth and versatility of the roster.

A fun fact that will surprise absolutely no one: Max Scherzer positions the Mets outfielders during his starts.

The Wall Street Journal ran a piece about some employees who are doing work both with the Mets and with Steve Cohen’s hedge fund, Point72 .

Paul Lukas, who runs the popular Twitter account @UniWatch, pointed out a design error in the Mets’ Tom Seaver statue.

Around the National League East

The Phillies routed the Mariners 9-0 behind a stellar performance from lefty Ranger Suárez, who pitched six shutout innings.

The Marlins fell to the Diamondbacks 4-3 thanks to a key tiebreaking sixth inning homer from Ketel Marte off Elieser Hernandez, who took his second loss of the season.

Prior to Monday’s game against the Padres, the Marlins selected infielder Erik González onto the major league roster and reliever Richard Bleier was placed on the COVID-19 injured list in a corresponding move.

Braves closer Kenley Jansen opened up to Andy McCullough of The Athletic about how therapy and meditation helped him revive his career.

David O’Brien of The Athletic writes about Matt Olsen enjoying playing for his hometown team.

Around Major League Baseball

Many players this season have already commented on issues with the baseball—specifically the inconsistency between balls, sometimes even within the same game. The league is working to ensure that all the baseballs perform the same in every environment, which is why humidors were put in place at every ballpark. Gripping agents may be next, per the New York Times.

According to Peter Gammons’ club sources, the Reds are now willing to listen to offers for Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle. The Dodgers are also willing to trade David Price to give him the opportunity to start, while the A’s likely will not trade Frankie Montas until closer to the trading deadline.

MLB announced the return of regular season games to London in 2023, 2024, and 2026. The effort began in 2019 when the Yankees and Red Sox played in the inaugural London Series, but was paused due to COVID-19.

Zack Meisel of The Athletic wrote about the unusual offensive approach being utilized by the Cleveland Guardians.

The Dodgers announced that the team will be wearing custom on-field pride caps at Dodger Stadium on June 3 for LGBTQ+ Night. And on June 11, both the Dodgers and the Giants will be wearing pride hats on the field at the same time in a historic first.

Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado—two of the best third basemen in baseball—may end up in a two-man race for the NL MVP this year.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

There was a new episode of From Complex to Queens.

Now that Robinson Canó’s Mets career is over, Dave Capobianco took another look back on the trade with the Mariners that brought Canó to Queens along with Edwin Díaz.

I posted the weekly position player and pitcher meters.

This Date in Mets History

Rickey Henderson took his 10,000th career at-bat on this date in 2000.