Morning Briefing: Nolan McLean to Enter WBC Spotlight
Good morning, Mets fans! Francisco Lindor is back.
Team USA is moving on to the World Baseball Classic final for the third straight time after a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Dominican Republic in the semifinals on Sunday. Mason Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo with the tying run on third to end the game. Gunnar Henderson homered off ex-Met Luis Severino and Roman Anthony went deep off ex-Met Gregory Soto.
Juan Soto went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Huascar Brazobán entered the game with a runner on and two out in the fifth and got Henderson to ground out to first. He struck out the side (Will Smith, Anthony, Brice Turang) in the sixth.
Venezuela plays Italy in a semifinal at loanDepot Park in Miami on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. LHP Joe Jacques, who the Mets assigned to minor-league camp on Sunday, was added to the Team Italy roster for the game.
Nolan McLean, who started last season at Double-A Binghamton, will get the start in the title game on Tuesday (FOX, 8 p.m. ET). The United States is looking for its second WBC title.
In other WBC news, a day after losing to Venezuela in the quarterfinals, Hirokazu Ibata announced he will resign as Samurai Japan manager.
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
Latest Mets News
Lindor played shortstop, batted leadoff and went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a strikeout Sunday in his first Grapefruit League action since surgery on the hamate bone in his left hand last month. If all continues to go well, he is likely to be ready for Opening Day on March 26.
Marcus Semien hit his first spring homer and the Mets (11-8-1) beat the Blue Jays 8-1 in front of 6,722 at Clover Park in a game suspended in the sixth inning due to rain. Luis Robert Jr. and Mike Tauchman had two hits apiece and Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez doubled. LHP Zach Thornton (No. 15 Mets prospect on MLB Pipeline) threw 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Luke Weaver tossed a scoreless inning.
The Mets host the Nationals at 6:10 p.m. ET Monday. David Peterson will start and the game will air on SNY.
MLB Trade Rumors conducted a poll: Who will be a better value for the Mets between Jorge Polanco (two years, $40 million) and Bo Bichette (three years, $126 million, opt out after this season)? As of Sunday night when I voted for Bichette, it was tight, with Polanco earning 42% of the vote to Bichette’s 41. Sixteen percent of the 5,022 respondents at that point said they were equally valuable.
Latest MLB News
Major leaguers could face minor leaguers in midseason exhibitions in 2028 when many of the league’s top players leave their teams to participate in the Olympics that July, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic. The non-Olympians will want to stay sharp and MLB’s All-Star break could run from July 10-21 that season due to the Olympics, which are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles.
José Ramírez left the Guardians’ game Sunday and is day-to-day with left shoulder inflammation. He was hurt sliding into third.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told reporters that RHP Hunter Dobbins will start the season on the injured list.
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Free baseball cards! Head over to X, follow MMO and retweet for a chance to be the envy of all the Carson Benge fans in your life. He could be a future Rookie of the Year. (Or the runner-up to McLean.)
James Villani with more on the win over the Blue Jays.
The Mets assigned 11 players to minor-league camp, including RHP Ryan Lambert and OF A.J. Ewing. James Villani breaks it down.
Alexis Farinacci recounts Freddy Peralta‘s strong showing on Saturday. He struck out five in four innings.
On This Date in Mets History
1961: The state approves a bond issue for the construction of a 55,000-seat stadium on the site of the 1939-40 World Fair in Flushing Meadows. The first regular season Mets game at Shea Stadium would take place in three years.
Born on This Date: Jacob Rhame (1993), Curtis Granderson (1981), Abraham Núñez (1976), Don Florence (1967), Rich Puig (1953), Hobie Landrith (1930).
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