Your Saturday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
Matt Harvey's return from Tommy John surgery went about as well as you could've imagined, as he tossed two perfect innings with three strikeouts. His fastball reached 99 MPH twice, his curveball looked as good as advertised, and Dan Warthen says his mechanics are sound. For Harvey, it was his first outing since 2013 when he also faced the Tigers. Travis d'Arnaud had great things to say about Harvey and the other Mets pitchers. Oh yeah, the Mets also won 5-4 on Matt Reynolds' walk-off home run in the 9th inning.
Jacob deGrom makes his 2015 debut today and he'll do it with a revamped curveball of his own. Also debuting will be Dillon Gee: Relief Pitcher.
The news wasn't all great yesterday as Daniel Murphy was hit in the wrist by a pitch. X-Rays appear to be negative and it sounds like it's just a bruise.
Bobby Parnell has a date for his return from Tommy John surgery! Lucas Dudashould also get into a game in a week.
The Mets hosted the families of slain NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos yesterday.
Ron Darling will do the play by play on today's SNY broadcast. Regardless of who is behind the mic, it's really great to see that the Mets are back!
Get to know Mets reliever Carlos Torres! Hopefully Terry Collins doesn't break him first.
Around the NL East
Veteran reliever Peter Moylan is back with the Braves on a minor league deal.
Cole Hamels threw yesterday for dozens of scouts.
Is Christian Yelich a "high BABIP" guy? Having watched a little of him, I'd guess yes.
Tyler Moore is off to a hot start for the Nationals this spring, who defeated the Braves 9-8.
Around the Majors
Cuban infielder Hector Olivera is officially a free agent, though possible UCL damage may have an effect on his market.
Once again, the Astros tried to renege on a contract that was already agreed upon. First it was with the #1 overall draft pick and now it's veteran starter Ryan Vogelsong.
The Giants will likely try to replaceHunter Pence from within. Pence and Corey Black, the pitcher who broke his arm, engaged over Twitter yesterday.
Ben Zobrist is a very valuable baseball player. Who could be the next Ben Zobrist?
Yesterday At AA
What will the Mets minor league rotations look like to start 2015?
Can you name all of the players in Mets spring training this year?
If you read an article or find a link that you think would be a great addition to a future edition of Mets Morning News, please forward it to our tips email address tips@grission.com and we'll try to add it in.