Edgy MD

His second start of the year. For whatever reason, the Mets are a team that deploys openers.

Soto showing no bottom in his un-hustling ways.

So was Rojas. So was Callaway.

PLAYING TONIGHT IN THE GREAT AMERICAN BACKYARD THAT IS CITI FIELD: ST. LOUIS STARTING PITCHER Andre Pallante RHP 6-4, 3.96 ERA, 51 SO LINEUP JJ Wetherholt (L) 2B Iván Herrera (R) C Alec Burleson (L) 1B Jordan Walker (R) DH Lars Nootbaar (L) RF Masyn Winn (R) SS Nelson Velázquez (R) LF Nathan Church (L) CF José Fermín (R) 3B METS STARTING PITCHER Austin Warren RHP 1-2, 2.01 ERA, 23 SO LINEUP Carson Benge (L) RF Bo Bichette (R) SS Juan Soto (L) LF Jared Young (L) 1B Marcus Semien (R) 2B A.J. Ewing (L) CF Francisco Alvarez (R) DH Brett Baty (L) 3B Luis Torrens (R) C

I'm certain that the Mets can do better than Mendoza. I'm far less certain that they can't do worse. I also think much of what prompts frustration that is directed at any organization's manager really is a matter of organizational philosophy.

More likely, it will be a third party — Tobias Myers or Daniel Duarte or Dylan Ross or the like. They can come up with sophisticated rules, and teams will find sophisticated ways to skirt them. The only thing that is going to stop this sort of practice is when one team decides there's a better way to win and everybody starts copying them.

It sounds a particularly awful practice for ethnic-celebration-themed nights.

Among the 1985 Mets not invited to board the bus to 1986 were both Wes Gardner and Ron Gardenhire. That can't be a coincidence. Clearly, Frank Cashen had a gardening hangup. Gardner came from the same part of the country as a Kevin McReynolds and was similarly something of a fish out of water in both New York and Boston. He was an early practitioner of the splitter. I think both he and Sisk learned it in the Mets system from John Cumberland.

It kind of shits on the whole idea of a giveaway promotion, no? And entering through a special gate? Yikes! What an insult to Johnny Lunchbucket and Molly Housecoat!

Oh, they're totally going to win. It's Backyard Baseball Night tonight.

Oh, I know the concerns with Mendoza. I share them and then some. I was asking specifically about the case for Correa.

I'm probably going to want a better rationale for such a decision than "Why not?", though.

The New York Mets host the St. Louis Cardinalia at Citi Field for what is being dubbed "Backyard Baseball Night." This evening is being more specifically described as a "Special Event Ticket Required" affair, which only confuses me further. Is not any Mets home game a special event requiring a so-designated ticket? Austin Warren is scheduled as an opener for, presumably, David Peterson. The Cards counter with celebrity chef Andre Pallante. The good news is the Mets are going to win this game. The bad news is that it is only one game.

After splitting six games on what feels like their 75th West Coast swing of the season, the Mets come home to news of their hardy starting catcher being reactivated. With rehabilitating players starting to filter back in, no further games to play out of the Eastern and Central Time Zones, and a bunch of games up ahead against teams they are chasing, things have to be looking up, right? Right? Transactions, 6/6/2026 GOING Released Relief Pitchers Anderson Severino L/L DoB: 1994-09-17 High Level: MLB (2022) As Anderson Severino put up a 1.31 ERA in Syracuse, only to see the Mets, looking to add another lefty reliever to their staff, add Cionel Perez instead, and take away his 40-Player roster spot to do it (ouch!), he could clearly see the writing on the wall. His release comes at his request as his agent has been fielding interest from NPB teams. I don't know if I'd rather be an Orix Buffalo than a Syracuse Met, but the pay is surely better. Should a Japanese contract be in the offing, it will be the sixth country in which a team has employed Anderson. Transactions, 6/9/2026 GOING COMING COMING Demoted to Syracuse Ended Rehab Assignment and Activated from Injured List Signed away from New York (Frontier League) and Assigned to St. Lucie Catchers Hayden Senger Francisco Alvarez Jack Scanlon R/R DoB: 1997-04-03 High Level: MLB (2026) R/R DoB: 2001-11-01 High Level: MLB (2026) L/R DoB: 2001-05-17 High Level: Frontier League (2026) A special congratulations to Hayden Senger who returns from his latest emergency stint at backup catcher with his first MLB homer under his belt. As the big fly was one of only two hits for Hayden in 15 at-bats, he is still proving to be far from a serviceable bat at the top level. But, hey! He pulled off two sacrifice bunts. The real news in the Catcher Carousel, of course, is the return of Francisco Alvarez, far ahead of schedule, as is his modus operandi. More power to him, with the hope that he continues the other half of that MO, which is returning from absences with a hot bat and a head screwed on straight. He's got MVP ability but as long as he swings from his heels every time, he's barely keeping his head above the liability level — and the Mets already have their share of those. It's probably just a coincidence that the day the Mets swapped out one catcher for another, they additionally signed a backstop out of The Frontier League. Jack Scanlon has been tearing it up (.333 / .423 / .656 // 1.079) for The New York Boulders this season, which says a lot about the benefits of home cooking, as the Boulderinos play in Pomona, NY, only 10 miles or so from Suffern, the Rockland County burg in which Jack went to high school. Jack initially reports to St. Lucie, but after a five-year college career (in both The Pac 12 and The ACC), along with two partial seasons of Indy Ball, the Mets probably have him ticketed for a higher level.

Oh, there's a good chance one to three of those guys will appear. Believe in your dreams!

After splitting six games on what feels like their 75th West Coast swing of the season, the Mets come home to news of their hardy starting catcher being reactivated. With rehabilitating players starting to filter back in, no further games to play out of the Eastern and Central Time Zones, and a bunch of games up ahead against teams they are chasing, things have to be looking up, right? Right? Transactions, 6/6/2026 GOING Released Relief Pitchers Anderson Severino L/L DoB: 1994-09-17 High Level: MLB (2022) As Anderson Severino put up a 1.31 ERA in Syracuse, only to see the Mets, looking to add another lefty reliever to their staff, add Cionel Perez instead, and take away his 40-Player roster spot to do it (ouch!), he could clearly see the writing on the wall. His release comes at his request as his agent has been fielding interest from NPB teams. I don't know if I'd rather be an Orix Buffalo than a Syracuse Met, but the pay is surely better. Should a Japanese contract be in the offing, it will be the sixth country in which a team has employed Anderson. Transactions, 6/9/2026 GOING COMING COMING Demoted to Syracuse Ended Rehab Assignment and Activated from Injured List Signed away from New York (Frontier League) and Assigned to St. Lucie Catchers Hayden Senger Francisco Alvarez Jack Scanlon R/R DoB: 1997-04-03 High Level: MLB (2026) R/R DoB: 2001-11-01 High Level: MLB (2026) L/R DoB: 2001-05-17 High Level: Frontier League (2026) A special congratulations to Hayden Senger who returns from his latest emergency stint at backup catcher with his first MLB homer under his belt. As the big fly was one of only two hits for Hayden in 15 at-bats, he is still proving to be far from a serviceable bat at the top level. But, hey! He pulled off two sacrifice bunts. The real news in the Catcher Carousel, of course, is the return of Francisco Alvarez, far ahead of schedule, as is his modus operandi. More power to him, with the hope that he continues the other half of that MO, which is returning from absences with a hot bat and a head screwed on straight. He's got MVP ability but as long as he swings from his heels every time, he's barely keeping his head above the liability level — and the Mets already have their share of those. It's probably just a coincidence that the day the Mets swapped out one catcher for another, they additionally signed a backstop out of The Frontier League. Jack Scanlon has been tearing it up (.333 / .423 / .656 // 1.079) for The New York Boulders this season, which says a lot about the benefits of home cooking, as the Boulderinos play in Pomona, NY, only 10 miles or so from Suffern, the Rockland County burg in which Jack went to high school. Jack initially reports to St. Lucie, but after a five-year college career (in both The Pac 12 and The ACC), along with two partial seasons of Indy Ball, the Mets probably have him ticketed for a higher level. Your 2026 New York Mets Starting Pitchers Sean Manaea Nolan McLean Freddy Peralta David Peterson Christian Scott R/L DoB: 1992-02-01 R/R DoB: 2001-07-24 R/R DoB: 2996-06-04 L/L DoB: 1995-09-03 R/R DoB: 1999-06-15 Relief Pitchers Huascar Brazobán Joey Gerber A.J. Minter Cionel Pérez Brooks Raley Austin Warren Luke Weaver R/R DoB: 1989-10-15 R/R DoB: 1997-05-03 L/L DoB: 1993-09-02 R/L DoB: 35176 L/L DoB: 1988-06-29 R/R DoB: 1996-02-05 R/R DoB: 1993-08-21 Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders Devin Williams Francisco Alvarez Luís Torrens Bo Bichette Brett Baty Vidal Brujan Marcus Semien R/R DoB: 1994-09-21 R/R DoB: 2001-11-01 R/R DoB: 1996-05-02 R/R DoB: 1998-03-05 L/R DoB: 1999-11-13 S/R DoB: 1998-02-09 R/R DoB: 1990-09-17 Infielders Outfielders Mark Vientos Eric Wagaman Carson Benge A.J. Ewing MJ Melendez Juan Soto Jared Young R/R DoB: 1993-12-11 R/R DoB: 1997-08-14 L/R DoB: 2003-01-20 L/R DoB: 2004-08-10 L/R DoB: 1993-11-29 L/L DoB: 1998-10-25 L/R DoB: 1995-07-09 Also on 40-Player Roster Starting Pitchers Relief Pitchers Clay Holmes Tylor Megill Kodai Senga Zach Thornton Jonah Tong Alex Carrillo Daniel Duarte R/R DoB: 1993-03-27 R/R DoB: 1995-07-28 L/R DoB: 1993-01-30 L/L DoB: 2002-01-17 R/R DoB: 2003-06-19 R/R DoB: 1997-06-06 R/R DoB: 1996-12-04 Relief Pitchers Catchers Reed Garrett Justin Hagenman Tobias Myers Dedniel Núñez Jonathan Pintaro Dylan Ross Hayden Senger R/R DoB: 1993-01-02 R/R DoB: 1996-10-07 R/R DoB: 1998-08-05 R/R DoB: 1996-06-05 R/R DoB: 1997-11-07 R/R DoB: 2000-09-01 R/R DoB: 1997-04-03 Infielders Outfielders Francisco Lindor Ronny Mauricio Jorge Polanco Nick Morabito Luis Robert, Jr. Tyrone Taylor S/R DoB: 1993-11-14 S/R DoB: 2001-04-04 S/R DoB: 1999-11-13 R/R DoB: 2003-05-07 R/R DoB: 1997-08-03 R/R DoB: 1994-01-22 Your Mets Coaching Staff Manager Bench Coach Pitching Coach Hitting Coordinator Third Base Coach First Base Coach Bullpen Coach Ass't Pitching Coach Carlos Mendoza Kai Correa Justin Willard Jeff Albert Tim Leiper Gilbert Gomez José Rosado Dan McKinney DoB: 1979-11-27 DoB: 1989-07-14 DoB: 1990-09-09 DoB: 1992-08-16 DoB: 1996-07-19 DoB: 1992-03-08 DoB: 1974-11-09 DoB: 1989-06-06 Hitting Coach Strategy Coach Catching Coach Coaching Assistant Bat'g Practice Pitcher Equipment Manager Bullpen Catchers Bullpen Catchers Troy Snitker Danny Barnes J.P. Arencibia Rafael Fernandez Kevin Mahoney Kevin Kierst Eric Langill Dave Racaniello DoB: 1988-12-05 DoB: 1989-10021 DoB: 1986-01-05 DoB: 1988-08-03 DoB: 1987-05-11 DoB: 1964-07-09 DoB: 1979-04-09 DoB: 1978-06-03 Your Mets Training Staff Director of Player Health Head Athletic Trainer Assistant Athletic Trainer Reconditioning Coordinator Reconditioning Therapist Head Performance Coach Assistant Performance Coach Performance Coordinator Soft Tissue Specialist Brian Chicklo Joseph Golia Bryan Baca Sean Bardanett Josh Bickel Dustin Clarke Tanner Miracle Jeremy Chiang Hiroto Kawamura DoB: 1972-07-17 DoB: 1978-??-?? DoB: Circa 1980 DoB: 1988-06-23 DoB: 1996-??-?? DoB: 1987-??-?? DoB: 1991-??-?? DoB: ????-??-?? DoB: 1962-07-19 View full article

Well, that was a poor showing for Puerto Rico.

Bo Bichette, still swinging at everything.

Carson Benge, dive for flies dropping in, when they're going to only bounce a few meters away if you come up short. Don't dive for liners that are going to roll to the wall.

I would have the course of this game altered greatly. I give fewer than zero shits about Peralta's trade value.

How loud and how foul was McNeil's profanity?

Gary Cohen's absence from the booth in the recent Padres series has proved ironically fruitful, and not just because Keith Hernandez' classic self-mythlogizing exchange with Gelbs over his flight into town. For Gary Cohen — even as his reduced schedule suggests a figure who is trying to sidle into semi-retirement — is a field that never lies fallow. Not only did he usefully inject himself by text into a broadcast this weekend, reaching out to the booth in addressing a highly relevant official scorer's error, but he interrupted his weekend "off" by appearing in Jeff Passan's Sources Tell Jeff Passan podcast. (Admittedly, his part was probably taped earlier as the focus of the podcast — as is the focus of all things — was Keith.) All of this is to say that the nut of Cohen's argument, as summarized by Awful Announcing, was that he absolutely celebrates the advent of the pitch clock, even while acknowledging the ironic point that what has made the Cohen/Hernandez/Darling team so celebrated was largely the gross surplus of dead air in the pre-pitch clock era, and his team's ability to sustain a fascinating level of discourse while digressing onto unanticipated topics. And, of course, triggering Keith's barely filtered level of candor. It's really interesting, in that Cohen clearly knows he has long had a good thing going, but resents it. He resents how "mentally exhausting" it was to sustain a broadcast, and probably moreso resents how his extended workdays had diminished his private life — something you sense from him, but only Keith (of course) has the temerity to say out loud. And then the added level of irony — even as they get more days off as they age, they are seemingly spending their time, often enough, watching the broadcast and texting the booth.

loanDepot Park it is — betrayed by the curved scoreboard, the parallel contours, the fence, the niche in left center, and the empty space where features used to be.

That's the third-longest scoreless-inning streak in history — but the longest modern streak in captivity outside of Los Angels. Orel Hershiser, Dodgers, 1988: 59 IP Don Drysdale, Dodgers, 1968: 58 IP Walter Johnson, Senators, 1913: 55 2/3 IP (generally not counted, as 1913 is "Pre-Modern" or "Dead-Ball Era" or the like) Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies, 2026: 50 2/3 IP Bob Gibson, Cardinals, 1968: 47 IP (Drysdale's streak was still going when Gibson started his in Game One of a doubleheader at Shea Stadium, and Drysdale was the winning pitcher when Gibson's streak ended) Zack Greinke, Dodgers, 2015: 45 2/3 IP (the pennant-winners-to-be 2015 Mets ended this one) Carl Hubbell, Giants, 1933: 45 1/3 IP (long live the screwball) Sal Maglie, Giants, 1950: 45 IP Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks, 2022: 44 1/3 IP (a surprising name compared to the legends above, but probably a better pitcher than one might appreciate, after accounting for the Arizona run environment and the short workdays of the latter-day starting pitcher) Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks, 2007: 42 IP (a whole lot of NL West action here Tie: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, 2014: 41 IP Ted Lyons, White Sox, 1926: 41 IP (somehow Walter Johnson in 1913 doesn't count but Lyons in 1926 does, but hey! Congratulations, American League! You mde the list!) Luis Tiant, Indians, 1968: 41 IP (the third and final 1968 pitcher on this list, the second American Leaguer, and until Sanchez, the only foreign-born player of the group)