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Your Friday morning dose of Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
The Mets lost to the Nationals 8-2 on Thursday and are now 0-3 for the season. Choose your recap: Mets.com, New York Times, Post, Daily News, ESPN New York, Amazin' Avenue.
Zack Wheeler said he let too many Nationals on base during the loss.
After being criticized by some local radio personalities regarding his decision to go on paternity leave, Daniel Murphy yesterday spoke with the media regarding the "controversy."
Terry Collins defended Murphy's choice, saying, "when you start attacking Daniel Murphy's credibility, you need to look in the mirror a little bit."
Andy Martino of the Daily News expects Lucas Duda to get the majority of playing time at first base in the near future. If that happens, Ike Davis will be relegated to the bench.
Bobby Parnell's chances at avoiding Tommy John surgery to deal with the torn ligament in his pitching arm? 50-50.
Anthony Rieber at Newsday reminds us that the Mets are facing a very difficult schedule in April. He still believes the team can finish around .500 even after a difficult start.
According to Sandy Alderson, the Mets will occasionally pitch some of their triple-A starters out of the bullpen "in a controlled way" in order to manage their innings. Noah Syndergaard is one such triple-A starter, although he is still expected to be a starting pitcher in his MLB debut.
Josh Lewin is celebrating his return to the Mets radio booth with his fans... by buying them all a drink at McFadden's after this Saturday's game!
If you choose to go to Friday's game, though, you can get this sweet t-shirt for free. Decisions, decisions!
Around the NL East
If you have a friend or loved one who doesn't hate the Braves yet, show them this video. Chop Arm Strong! At least there's a Scrubs reference in there.
The Marlins fell behind the Rockies 5-2 after five innings, but they rallied for an 8-5 win, their third in their first four games. Adeiny Hechavarria had three hits in the victory.
The Mets aren't the only team in their division with a horrible bullpen. Philly's has been just as bad, and it's way more expensive, too.
Around the Majors
Matt Adams got into a minor, yet amusing altercation with a fan in Cincinnati during the Cardinals' 7-6 victory on Thursday.
A swarm of bees delayed the Giants vs. Diamondbacks game in Phoenix for a little while.
Ted Berg discusses the possibility of Mike Trout becoming the best baseball player of all time. I hope he hasn't reached his peak yet, but it's hard to imagine him playing much better than he has in his first two MLB seasons.
Veteran umpire Tim McClelland is going to be out for the season due to back surgery. He's not yet sure if he'll resume his 31-year umpiring career in 2015.
Sean Rodriguez is going to make like Murphy and go on paternity leave. Somehow I don't think the New York media will care about this one, but it is Rodriguez's fourth child with his wife Giselle. At age 28, that's pretty impressive.
Not everyone is a fan of Chief Wahoo in Cleveland. Several Indians fans have been removing the icon from their merchandise because of its offensive nature. The team hasn't said anything publicly, but it has quietly been phasing out the chief over past few years in favor of the less controversial block "C."
Speaking of uniforms, Junior Lake of the Cubswore the wrong one yesterday. Chicago has been wearing new "Cubs" road jerseys this week in Pittsburgh, but Lake came out in the old "Chicago" version.
Yesterday at AA
Rob Castellano posted a fun poll so that fans can vote on their favorite Mets minor leaguer to watch this season.
The Amazin' Avenue community projection for Bartolo Colon is now available.
Paul Goebel interviewed Dwight Gooden!