🎧 Character Building 101
Morning Dose: Friday, May 24
☀️ Good Morning:
It’s Christian Scott Day! The young right-hander will make his second start at Citi Field tonight against the Giants. He’s coming off a tough outing in Miami, but it should be no surprise that his stuff ranked the highest among Mets starters by Eno Sarris’ recent Stuff+ update.
For all of the mediocrity in the current rotation, it’s a breath of fresh air to see Scott take the mound, firing his 95-mph fastball, mixed with a slider/sweeper (and split-change) combination that allows him to fool hitters from both sides of the plate.
🎧 Mets Fix Podcast
To keep you company this morning, we have our latest Mets Fix Podcast episode. Blake and Peter take a philosophical approach in trying to answer the age-old question of why Mets fans do this to ourselves season after painful season – and address the most pressing issues with the lineup, bullpen and rotation.
Make sure you’re subscribed to the Mets Fix Podcast on your favorite platform (Apple, Spotify, SoundCloud).
📝 ROSTER MOVES: The Mets claimed right-hander Ty Adcock off waivers from the Tigers and optioned him to Triple-A. They had two open 40-man roster spots, so they didn’t need to make any corresponding moves.
Who? The 27-year-old started the season in the Mariners organization, before joining the Tigers and being designated for assignment again this past weekend. He’s a late bloomer after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021. He finally saw his first bit of Big-League action in 2021, pitching to a 3.45 ERA over 12 relief appearances.
This year he has pitched exclusively in the minors, with a five-run outing in one of his Triple-A appearances with Detroit ballooning his ERA. But he throws a 96-mph fastball and has options remaining, something we know the organization needs. He also has a cool ‘stache.
🗓️ UP NEXT: We will see how the Mets look against the NL West, with the Giants, Dodgers and Diamondbacks visiting Citi over the next 10 days.
As mentioned, Christian Scott (0–2, 4.32) will toe the rubber against southpaw Kyle Harrison (4–1, 3.60) on Friday.
San Francisco is coming off back-to-back dramatic come-from-behind victories in Pittsburgh. The two wins helped improve their road record to 10–16. Otherwise, they have been a team that has very much relied on home cooking to stay above water, at 25–26 overall.
David Peterson is scheduled to make another rehab start on Friday before becoming eligible to come off the 60-day IL on Monday. We will see if the Mets give Adrian Houser one more start next week, or if they use Thursday’s off day to return to Quintana and work Peterson back in the rotation after that.
◾️ MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says robot umpires are unlikely for 2025: “We still have some technical issues,” Manfred said Thursday. “We haven't made as much progress in the minor leagues this year as we sort of hoped at this point. I think it's becoming more and more likely that this will not be a go for ‘25.”
◾️ The World Baseball Classic will return in March 2026, with the championship round to be placed at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
🔗 Citi Field hasn’t been friendly to Mets’ bats — nor foes — as dismal all-time records loom, by Mark W. Sanchez, NY Post: “The hitting horrors and pitching excellence adds up to Mets fans who show up for games seeing the worst display of offense in baseball this season. Hitters at Citi Field are slashing .202/.290/.313. In what has been a down season for offense across Major League Baseball, no park has taken more of a hit than the Mets’. By Statcast’s Park Factors analytic tool, Citi Field — usually one of the worst but not usually the overall worst — has been the single worst park to hit in this year.”
🔗 Mark Vientos has earned the Mets' starting third-base job, by Tim Healey, Newsday ($): “That is as much a reaction to Vientos’ very productive week as it is a result of Brett Baty’s continued inability to consistently hit — now across a full season’s worth of games. The Mets are at risk of their season slipping away, and here they have a straightforward, in-house, non-dramatic, reversible switch that legitimately could help.”
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Now!?! The Mets finally are deciding to stockpile relievers who have options remaining!?! The horse has been out of the barn door for quite awhile now, so why not just continue to leave the barn door open & see what else wanders in. There is no need whatsoever, NONE, to give Adrian Houser another start anytime soon, especially with Peterson & hopefully soon thereafter Tylor Megill coming off the IL. Give Houser some turns in the bullpen and see how effective he is in that role for awhile. I am not in favor of robot umps, not now & not ever! While it is annoying to have a home plate umpire whose strike zone seems to be all over the place (see previous Guardians series) these umpires are graded each and every time and there is a process in place to Relieve the really bad umpires of their duties. If anything, perhaps it is that process that needs to be tightened up a bit. Finally, yes Mr Healy, you are SO correct, Vientos has earned the 3b job, no further discussion needed. Please Mets management, send Baty down to Syracuse and let him start daily at 3b there, where hopefully he can find & refine his stroke. I am not willing to give up on Baty yet, so hopefully a stint at Syracuse will lead to some good things.
Only upside to this dreck is cheap tickets. Sitting in section 319 tonight. I’ll say hello to Keith.