Morning Briefing: Trea Turner Tests Positive For COVID-19 During Game

Good morning, Mets fans!

Nationals star Trea Turner was removed from Tuesday’s game after testing positive for COVID-19. Turned scored on a Josh Bell home run during the first inning, then he went immediately down the tunnel and was replaced by Gerardo Parra. After trade and injury speculation subsided, the team announced the shortstop’s diagnosis.

The Nationals’ game against the Phillies continued and they won 6-4.

Multiple teams, including the Mets and Phillies, still have not hit the 85 percent vaccination threshold set by Major League Baseball to allow them to ease COVID-19 restrictions. The restrictions have turned into more of a suggestion as of late, and there’s now been increasing spread within clubhouses like the Phillies and Yankees. There’s no word on any other positives stemming from the Nationals’ clubhouse.

Now let’s get into the morning briefing.

Latest Mets News

The Mets lost to the Braves 12-5 Tuesday night. The Mets had no starter lined up for the game for about a week, and Jerad Eickhoff was brought back to eat some innings the night after a doubleheader (one of which was a bullpen game). He gave up 10 runs in four innings. You can read the recap here.

Luis Rojas said Carlos Carrasco with most likely start Friday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. They’ll be wearing the black jerseys for the first time this year.

Rojas also revealed Noah Syndergaard threw off a mound for the first time since he was shut down in May as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. When he was shut down, the Mets gave Syndergaard an estimated September 1 return date.

Ken Davidoff of The New York Post reported the Mets’ deal with first-round pick Kumar Rocker may be “in jeopardy” due to medical issues, particularly with Rocker’s elbow. SNY’s Andy Martino reported, though, that it’s not expected that Rocker needs Tommy John surgery right now and the deal should still get done by the August 1 deadline.

Mets Minors’ Joseph Langan dropped an interview with intriguing Mets prospect Bryce Montes de Oca, detailing his years-long return from Tommy John surgery to now throwing 102 miles per hour in games.

Latest MLB News

The A’s started the trade party Tuesday when they acquired Andrew Chafin from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia.

The Phillies were in the process of trading for Pirates lefty Tyler Anderson. The two teams allegedly agreed to a deal Tuesday afternoon, but there were issues with the medicals of one of the two prospects the Phillies planned to send back — Cristian Hernandez and Abrahan Gutierrez.

Later Tuesday night, Jeff Passan reported that Anderson had been traded — but not to the Phillies. He was acquired by the Mariners, with the Phillies deal officially falling through.

It was reported earlier in the day the Mets were interested in Anderson.

The Mariners kept things going in the evening when they traded Kendall Graveman, who’s been one of the better relievers in the league, and Rafael Montero (former Met alert) to division rival Houston Astros in exchange for Abraham Toro and Joe Smith.

Then there was some late-night trade news, as the Yankees announced that they traded former Met Justin Wilson and Luis Cessa to the Reds for a player to be named later.

Jon Morosi reported the Giants are interested in Kris Bryant, and the Cubs are in turn looking at top catching prospect Joey Bart, though there is no way the Giants trade Bart for a rental like Bryant. (If you’ll remember, it was reported the Cubs were asking for the Mets’ Francisco Alvarez earlier in the season when talks around Bryant swirled.)

Morosi said Bart would only potentially be available if the deal included other players, presumably guys like Craig Kimbrel and/or Zach Davies.

The Nationals announced Stephen Strasburg will undergo neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome surgery to help solve a nerve issue in his neck, as The Athletic‘s Maria Torres points out. Strasburg has been out since June 2 with a neck injury, and after a setback, they discovered the need to perform surgery to solve the issue.

The Reds signed their 2021 first-round pick, shortstop Matt McClain, to a $4.625 signing bonus. It’s $1 million over slot.

Latest on MMO

John Flanigan gave Pete Alonso and Tylor Megill the team’s Players of the Week honors. He also went deep on Dominic Smith‘s hot July.

John Jackson looked into the Mets’ pitching efforts from Monday’s doubleheader.

This Day in Mets History

Happy 26th birthday to Tylor Megill, who is starting Wednesday against the Braves!

Given we’re close to the trade deadline, there have been a couple of significant trades on July 28 in Mets history.

Most significant was probably shipping off Carlos Beltran to San Francisco in 2011 for Zack Wheeler.

Next comes the acquisition of Marcus Stroman, whom the Mets traded Simeon Woods-Richardson and Anthony Kay for in 2019. Though he sat out the 2020 season, he’s been the team’s second-best starter this season while playing on a qualifying offer.

Then lastly, in 2000, the Mets traded Melvin Mora and a couple of other prospects to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Bordick, whom they used on their World Series run. Bordick (whose birthday was last Tuesday) would leave in free agency that offseason and Mora would play 10 seasons with the Orioles.

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