Series Thread: NY Mets @ Atl. Braves (4/22-24)

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

NEW YORK METS (7-7, second place/NL East) at ATLANTA BRAVES(4-11, fifth place/NL East)

Friday: RHP Matt Harvey (0-3, 5.71) vs. RHP Bud Norris (1-2, 6.23), 7:35 p.m. ET

Saturday: LHP Steven Matz (1-1, 7.27) vs. RHP Jhoulys Chacin (0-0, 2.38), 7:10 p.m. ET

Sunday: RHP Jacob deGrom (1-0, 1.50) vs. TBA, 1:35 p.m. ET



• Series preview: Mets at Braves


METS SHORT HOPS

• DeGrom is due to throw a bullpen session on Friday in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He then will rejoin the Mets on Saturday, in advance of his start in Sunday’s series finale. DeGrom’s lone start so far this season came in the home opener on April 8. He missed a rotation turn after that due to a right-lat issue. His newborn son then had a medical issue, which has kept deGrom away from the team since early last week.Logan Verrett, who logged 12 scoreless innings over two starts while filling in for deGrom, should be ready to resume pitching out of the bullpen beginning Saturday. Verrett tossed 91 pitches on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
  
  
• Harvey has lost a career-high four straight decisions dating to last season.
  
  
• Switching-hitting Neil Walker already has three homers in 11 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season. He had the same number of long balls against southpaws over the previous five seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Morning Briefing: Will it be a happy Harvey Day?

NEW YORK (4/22) -- The New York Mets' bats have awakened after a sluggish start to the season. Now is it Matt Harvey's turn to rise?

Harvey opposes Atlanta Braves right-hander Bud Norris in Friday’s 7:35 p.m. ET series opener at Turner Field.

Harvey enters the game 0-3 with a 5.71 ERA in three starts this season. He has dropped his last four decisions dating to last year.

“I thought he was going to have a big year,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said last weekend in Cleveland, after Harvey allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings. “I still think he’s going to have a big, big year. I think right now, if we’ve ever seen Matt Harvey press, this might be the time. I mean, he’s trying to force the issue right now.”

The Mets are 4-2 through two stops on their three-city trip. They won series at Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Read the Mets-Braves series preview here.

Meanwhile, Jacob deGrom is scheduled to throw a bullpen session in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on Friday. He plans to rejoin the Mets on Saturday and will return to the rotation on Sunday.

FRIDAY’S NEWS REPORTS:

• Braves players are unhappy with the condition of the infield at Turner Field, Doug Padilla reports at ESPN.com.
  
  
• Read more on Harvey’s slow start to the season in the Post, Daily News and at NJ.com.
  
  
• The Mets are “financially stable,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told a group of sports editors on Thursday, according to Steven Marcus in Newsday.
  
  
• Sandy Alderson tells Marc Carig in Newsday that there might be some hangover from last season with the pitchers. But the GM suggested it’s not “permanent” if that’s the case. “It is probably the cost of doing business,” Alderson tells Carig. “If you get to the postseason the year before, there’s certain things, certain baggage that goes along with that. We’ve experienced some of it. I think it’s somewhat inescapable.”
  
  
• The Mets shift little compared with other major league teams because their pitchers throw so hard that batters have a relatively hard time pulling the ball, Anthony DiComo notes at MLB.com. Writes DiComo: “Opposing batters have pulled a major-league-low 31.3 percent of the balls they've put in play against the team's pitching staff, according to Fangraphs. So the Mets, who lean heavily on advanced metrics for everything from player acquisition to lineup construction, have all but eschewed the league's popular group-think on defensive positioning in general. Through 14 games, the Mets have shifted just 55 times, also according to Fangraphs data. That ranks 28th in the majors.”
  
  
• Jeff Walters surrendered a walk-off two-run homer and Las Vegas lost at Sacramento, 3-1. Akeel Morris suffered his second blown save in two days and Binghamton lost to Erie, 10-8, in 10 innings. Phillip Evans walked and scored on a wild pitch in the 13th inning as St. Lucie produced a 5-4 walk-off win against Charlotte. Columbia scored five runs in the top of the ninth to rally for a 13-9 win against Greenville. Vinny Siena and David Thompson had four hits apiece. Read the full minor-league recap here.
  
  
• Travis d'Arnaud's bat has shown signs of life, Mike Puma writes in the Post.
  
  
• Joel Sherman in the Post looks at Aaron Sanchez -- the pitcher the Toronto Blue Jays retained when they traded Noah Syndergaard to the Mets.
  
  
• From the bloggers … Mets Report suggests it’s about time Harvey steps up.
  

 

[tabascojet]

braves with a sweep.....

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

ATLANTA -- Here are the lineups for Friday's 7:35 p.m. ET game between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

This is the Braves' final season at Turner Field, which opened for baseball in 1997. The Mets are 60-103 at the ballpark, although they are on a four-game winning streak here.





Curtis Granderson, RF

David Wright, 3B

Michael Conforto, LF

Yoenis Cespedes, CF

Lucas Duda, 1B

Neil Walker, 2B

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Travis d'Arnaud, C

Matt Harvey, RHP







Nick Markakis, RF

Daniel Castro, 2B

Freddie Freeman, 1B

Adonis Garcia, 3B

A.J. Pierzynski, C

Kelly Johnson, LF

Erick Aybar, SS

Mallex Smith, CF

Bud Norris, RHP

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Mets take game 1 in Grand fashion.....

Grandy slam gives Matt Harvey margin for error as Mets top Braves

Granderson, Mets continue power surge, beat Braves, 6-3

Mets' Matt Harvey on outing vs. Braves: 'It's still a work in progress'

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Morning Briefing: It's Matz (and Matzah) day

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

ATLANTA -- Here are the lineups for Saturday's 7:10 p.m. ET game between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

Yoenis Cespedes sits the day after aggravating a right leg bruise with a slide into second base. Juan Lagares, not lefty-hitting Alejandro De Aza, starts in Cespedes' place.

The Mets have 21 homers on this road trip to Cleveland, Philadelphia and Atlanta. That's the most in the majors in a seven-game span since the Washington Nationals produced 23 during a stretch of the same length in 2012, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.


Mets

Curtis Granderson, RF

David Wright, 3B

Michael Conforto, LF

Lucas Duda, 1B

Neil Walker, 2B

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Travis d'Arnaud, C

Lagares, CF

Steven Matz, LHP



Braves

Nick Markakis, RF

Daniel Castro, 2B

Freddie Freeman, 1B

Adonis Garcia, 3B

Tyler Flowers, C

Jeff Francoeur, LF

Erick Aybar, SS

Drew Stubbs, CF

Jhoulys Chacin, RHP

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Morning Briefing: It's Matz (and Matzah) day

DeGrom returns to Mets with son free of issues

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

• Mets top Braves 8-2, suddenly rule at Turner Field

• Matz helps keep Mets hot with 8-2 win over struggling Braves

• Neil Walker produces 100th career homer as April surge continues

• Mets' Yoenis Cespedes might be sidelined at least through the weekend

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Morning Briefing: Hair we go again! Jacob deGrom set to face Braves

Sunday's Mets-Braves lineups

 

[tabascojet]

mets with a sweep.....

fifm

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Broom shakalakalaka...

• DeGrom makes successful return, Mets sweep Braves

• Nervous Jacob deGrom notches win as son watches in Florida

• Michael Conforto cements role as No. 3 hitter

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I endorse this thread.

Did everybody see Neil Walker's face after Asdrubal Cabrera's homer Saturday night?

Interestingly, Walker didn't even know he had hit his 100th homer (just before Cabrera's) because he "lost count recently." Dude has been on a tear and it seems to have infected the rest of the offense. Terrific road trip.