Mets Morning News: Let the west coast trip begin

Meet the Mets

The Mets were off yesterday, as they had a travel day ahead of a west coast swing that includes stops in Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Here’s something that you probably didn’t want to see in April: The Mets might give José Butto a start during this road trip to give the other starters extra rest.

The Mets’ road gives them a shot at character building, writes Laura Albanese.

Will Sammon looks at the numbers that might make the Mets call up Brett Baty and give him a look as their starting third baseman.

Greg Prince wrote about the Mets’ come-from-behind win on Wednesday afternoon.

The Mets were linked to Zack Britton at various points of the offseason, but the veteran reliever remains a free agent for now.

Around the National League East

The Phillies lost to the Reds and are now 4-9 to start the season and tied with the Nationals for last place in the division.

Matt Strahm of the Phillies is not a fan of baseball teams extending alcohol sales into later innings of games.

The Braves announced that Orlando Arcia has a microfracture in his left wrist and that Ian Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery.

Around Major League Baseball

Having been tormented by the Yankees for the entirety of this century, the Twins obliterated them in a game at Yankee Stadium last night.

The Rays won again and are now 13-0 to start the season and sit atop a recent power rankings list at ESPN.

The Tigers beat the Blue Jays, but Javier Báez got himself benched during the victory.

Adley Rutschman hit the first walk-off home run of his career to give the Orioles a win over the A’s.

The Brewers beat the Padres, which leaves the highly-touted Padres with a 7-7 record on the young season.

It’s still very early, but the Pirates’ win over the Cardinals yesterday has Pittsburgh at 8-5 and St. Louis at 5-8.

Jay Jaffe wrote about the on-base streaks that Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have going to start this season.

With stolen bases up under baseball’s new rules, Jayson Stark talked to people around the league about what the future holds in that regard.

The Astros were the latest team to extend alcohol sales, and in their case, there is now no cutoff at all.

Umpire Larry Vanover remained in the hospital yesterday after being hit in the head by a throw during a game on Wednesday.

John Smoltz had some words for those who criticize his broadcasting.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

David Capobianco continued his great series looking back at Matt Harvey’s 2013 season with a piece about his third start of that year.

The Mets putting ads on their jerseys reeks of a desperation move by the Wilpons, writes Richard Staff.

Thomas Henderson has concerns about the bottom part of the Mets’ roster.

This Date in Mets History

April 14 is a pretty eventful day for Mets Hall of Famers and Baseball Hall of Famers with ties to the Mets.