Discount Shoppers

🎧 Mets Fix Podcast: Episode 33

☀️ Good Morning:

After an off day on Thursday, the Mets begin their longest road trip of the season tonight in Anaheim with new acquisition Paul Blackburn on the mound.

A favorable schedule helped Carlos Mendoza’s team crawl back into the race; now they pay the price for that with a litmus test that sends them on two west-coast swings over the next four weeks.

The first of those trips complicated by a make-up date. The Amazins will spend this coming weekend near Disneyland, before flying back east for a rescheduled game on Monday in St. Louis, before traveling back west to play in Denver and Seattle next week.

“I saw this in the beginning of the season and thought this was going to be a big test and a tough part of the season,” Brandon Nimmo said, via the NY Post. “It’s always tough with the travel of going to the West Coast. You do it twice in a month, it makes it difficult.”

New York’s 27–22 record on the road is tied with the Phillies for the second best mark in the National League. They will try to keep that pace with 20 of the next 29 away from Citi Field.

To get you ready for it all, we dropped a fresh episode of the MetsFix Podcast!

Blake and JB give their thoughts on the trade deadline and whether the moves were enough to push the Mets into the playoffs. They also discuss the state of the rotation, Jeff McNeil’s recent play, Francisco Álvarez, and much more.

Make sure you’re subscribed to the Mets Fix Podcast on your favorite platform (Apple, Spotify, SoundCloud).

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📈 GOING UP: While David Stearns didn’t swing any blockbuster deals on Tuesday, no National League team improved their playoff chances more than the Mets, according to pre- and post-trade deadline playoff odd differences projected by ZiPS.

Of course, since the Mets are one of the teams jockeying for a final wild-card spot, even a marginal gain makes a big difference. You’re not going to find a big playoff odds swing for a team like Philadelphia, who is already a 98% lock.

🤕 SCRATCHED: Top prospect Luisangel Acuña was scratched from Thursday’s game due to a sore foot. When the lineup news first broke, many thought he could be getting the call to the majors.

🗓️ UP NEXT: As noted earlier, Paul Blackburn (4–2, 4.41) will make his Mets debut tonight, facing off against southpaw Tyler Anderson (8–9, 2.96).

Blackburn is making only his second start since early May after missing most of the season with a foot injury. You can learn more about him and the rest of the trade deadline additions by following the link below:

On the Margins

💤 RESTED: The off day helped the restructured bullpen gain a day of rest ahead of a grueling schedule that won’t give the Mets another off day until August 12.

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🕷️ Find headlines for all of your favorite teams at SportSpyder, the number one source for sports news links.

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◾️ Mike Trout is out for the season with another meniscus tear in his surgically repaired left knee.

◾️ Freddie Freeman revealed that his three-year-old son is suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrom, a rare neurological disorder. Freeman has been on the family emergency list since last weekend.

◾️ Bryce Harper says the Phillies need to “cowboy up” after dropping their fourth straight game on Wednesday. Harper is mired in a career-worst 1-for-30 slump and the Phillies are 4–11 since July 12.

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🔗 Mets traded for an obscure reliever at the deadline: Why his story matters, by Will Sammon, The Athletic ($): “The trade deadline doesn’t have a Mr. Irrelevant, but Zuber would be on the shortlist if it did. Each summer, teams deal prospects that many fans never heard of. But they don’t typically exchange them for players with a similar level of anonymity. But that’s what the Mets did when they traded Double-A reliever Paul Gervase for Zuber, who has tossed just 3 1/3 innings this season — his first action in the major leagues in three years.”

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