Some interesting developments concerning the Mets and their starting rotation. Jacob deGrom was originally supposed to go back to NY for an MRI after he felt discomfort in his elbow, but that plan was apparently scratched when deGrom said he felt better
The Mets and deGrom have to hope that the NL Cy Young winner only has an inflamed elbow and nothing worse, but there is an alternative out there.
According to WFAN’s Sweeny Murti, Gio Gonzalez will exercise the opt out clause in his contract that he signed with the Yankees. That means the Yankees have 48 hours to promote him to the Major League roster or else he would become a free agent. At the current time, the Yankees don’t have room for Gonzalez, unless they decided to move Domingo German to the bullpen, something that is not out of the question.
The Mets had reportedly shown some interest in Gonzalez before he signed with the Yankees and they may be renewing that interest. The Mets have reportedly scouted Gonzalez who has had a rough time for the Yanks AAA affiliate at Scranton Wilkes-Barre. (6.00 ERA, 19 hits in 15 IP) Gonzalez’ scheduled start at Buffalo last night was rained out, but reportedly, he will make that start tonight.
Obviously, a decision on Gonzalez would be somewhat dependent on deGrom’s health. deGrom will have an MRI on Monday, but the fact that he said he’s feeling better is a good sign.
Would Gonzalez be a good sign for the Mets to replace the struggling Jason Vargas? The 33-year old has posted very good numbers at CitiField (11-2, 1.75 ERA) which would make him very attractive to signing with the Mets.
Noah Synergaard and Zack Wheeler will be counted on even more to carry the load for the starting rotation. The bullpen has shown some positive signs of late and if they can continue to improve, that would help ease the rotation concerns. Signing Gonzalez may also help ease the concerns. The Mets would be wise to be seriously considering it if the left hander does opt out.
The Yankees have been besieged by injury in the early season but Miguel Andujar’s bat has been the most significant loss to a lineup that has shown an early tendency to struggle against average pitching.
Andujar was, arguably, the Yanks most dangerous hitter last season (It’s still hard to fathom as to why Andujar’s bat was on the bench in the do or die game 4 of the ALDS vs. Boston) and despite his defensive woes, the most important. Andujar’s impact came to light when Aaron Judge hurt his wrist and missed time. Stanton played well during that stretch, but Andujar got a lot of big hits that helped the Yankees win 100 games despite not having their young slugger in the lineup.
Andujar’s slash line vs. right handed pitchers was .309/.335/.869 and the Yankees are seeing a slew of right handed pitchers.
It may be time to move Gleyber Torres out of the clean up spot. Torres looks like he’s trying live up to being in the four hole by hitting home runs and he’s gotten away from his strengths as a hitter.
D.J. LeMahieu is a better player than I thought and I already knew he was good.
LeMahieu is a dangerous hitter and a very difficult out for opposing pitchers. He’s been solid defensively at third and second and seems to provide some energy for the lineup.
The Yankees need to leave LeMahieu near the top of the batting order in order to maximize his potential and impact on the lineup.
LAST LICKS: It’s being reported that Blue Jays phenom Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will make his long awaited Major League debut on Tuesday when Toronto hosts the Giants. The son of the Hall of Famer was raking at AAA and the time has come to get him to the big club…..Rough night for the Phillies, who are feeling the injury bug. Scott Kingery (hamstring) and Andrew McCutchen (left knee soreness) were injured and left last night’s walk off loss to Colorado. They joined Odubel Herrera and Jean Segura who were already out with hamstring issues…..West World: Thanks to winning 11 of 12, the Astros have soared into first place in the AL West. Seattle, which set the pace early, has dropped six of eight as they have come back to the pack. There are really no challengers to Houston’s supremacy in the Division…..Colorado got off to a horrendous start but they’re starting to right the ship. The Rockies were 3-12 but they’ve won five straight and are starting to creep up the standings in the NL West.