Edgy MD

We have a Pop sighting!

Wow, I think Stanek threw more pitches today than Montas. I say 'Sit down, Diaz,' but there is a good chance Mendoza goes to him in the ninth.

Pulling the Stanek Switch seems to have been less than wise.

Mauricio was already in the game. It might have been a good idea to pull McNiminy even if that ball didn't catch him square.

We might even get a Pop appearance.

Soto: 21 Alonso: 20 Nimmo: 18 Your turn, Brandon.

This hustling version of Soto is certainly preferable to the other guy.

And a bigger boat. Was not anticipating throwing Devenski into the fire here, but asking for one out with the bags empty is not too much.

Laz Diaz not giving that outside corner that Estabrook was so generous with yesterday.

This is The Age of Lovelady.

Great to see Montas out for the sixth, but two cheapies bring up Judge with two on and no out and that is not how it should happen.

Edgy MD wrote: Nimmo has matched Alonso in homers. Alonso says NOT SO FAST.

Vientos (and Baty and Mauricio and Taylor) will all have the next several weeks to salvage their seasons before the Mets move for a third-baseman and/or shortstop on the trade market. Here is hoping they all tear it up.

Nimmo has matched Alonso in homers.

Trent Grisham wearing an AI-generated insignia on his helmet.

No margin for error today. Montas has thrown two lousy pitches and both got parked.

It used to be that, if you hit one off the wall and only got a single out of it, there was a good chance that your last name was Staub. Now, everybody does it.

It feels like a good idea to get four more in the second inning.

A curtain is drawn on an era with the passing at 97 of infielder Billy Hunter at 97 — the last member of the inaugural 1954 Baltimore Orioles, as well as the last surviving St. Louis Brown. Billy was a rookie All-Star in 1953, despite hitting .219 and having a negative WAR. This suggests that (a) he was an otherworldly fielder, ( The Browns were simply a horrible team, © they had a really funny way of picking All-Stars back then, (d) maybe he was MUCH better in the first half than the second, or (e) some combination of all-of-the-above. The other All-Star on that Brownie team was their 46-year-old closer Leroy "Satchel" Paige. [FIMG=204]https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/3f/63f12036-b945-45db-a9ef-c2f7ecc59467/68674e5719a9c.image.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=250]https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/515437811_1335391654616474_435441417980720940_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=vvqgz4PjTyQQ7kNvwGXRrlE&_nc_oc=Adk2JW6yN7yHmpTrdXrRRvE7goobFuBd9Kkh4pEFPGTRKFe6awvhRKPzx9CTu548xQyW1G26HQv-0xQnbmzhQQQY&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&_nc_gid=SMmkuAWekiQvr0F5JlMIOg&oh=00_AfQt9iZAY4K7-zrSus_EVuDLH-fqazVhgh6ujhuf_u3cDA&oe=686EDA60[/FIMG]

The funny thing is ... I think this was the only MLB free agent the Cards signed this offseason, otherwise sitting the market out. Not necessarily related, but I think the Cards are going to take a big tumble.

We are all part-something, but what DiComo was trying to speak to was the idea of foreign native-born players signed out of a new country. But yes, Rocker is believed to be the first MLB player of Indian descent. That probably isn't so, but he is the first so-known.

Cal Raleigh may be a no-brainer of an All-Star, but watch him get owned by Bobby Witt, Jr. here. [media=youtube]qi3p7h6fXFU[/media]

There was a movie about the Pirates signing a pair of Indian pitchers. True story, but bad film.

Turns out that I was only part-right. The Czech catcher was https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=cerven000marMartin Červenka, and he only joined the Mets organization for one season in 2021, after previously spending several seasons grinding it out on Cleveland and Baltimore farm teams. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gronau001kaiKai Gronauer, the German catcher, was indeed signed as an amateur, spending six years in the Mets system.

The Mets are preparing to sign Matteo Marelli, a teen-aged pitcher from Rovigo, Italy. If and when this comes to fruition, he will be the first ever Mets prospect signed out of The Beautiful Country. Anthony DiComo is reporting him as "the first European amateur signing in Mets history," but that can't be right. I think they've signed a German kid and a Czech in the past — both catchers, I am pretty sure. The Czech guy may even still be in the system. Still, congratulazioni ai Metropoliti as they expand their global footprint — or bootprint, in this case. [FIMG=500]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/t_16x9/t_w1536/mlb/juw4i66fn7mjus7n7myj.jpg[/FIMG] Rovigo is, historically, mostly a rugby town, but they are also the first Italian city to have a Gaelic football club and, hopefully, soon they will be the first to have their very own Met.