Category: Sports News

The Yankees announced right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain.

In corresponding moves, right-hander Geoff Hartlieb has been signed to a major league deal and added to the Yanks' active roster. To make room for Hartlieb, who had been pitching for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, on the 40-man roster, infielder CJ Alexander has been designated for assignment.

Curz sustained the injury while warming up with a medicine ball in the weight room on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters ahead of the Yankees series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. He went for an MRI on Monday morning, but the club is still waiting to know the grade of the strain to determine the length of time the reliever will be out. The IL designation was retroactive to June 28.

Cruz had been a stalwart of the back end of New York's bullpen during his first season in The Bronx, pitching to a 3.00 ERA and 1.000 WHIP in 33.0 innings over 32 games. He had 54 strikeouts to 14 walks while allowing 13 runs (11 earned) on 19 hits.

Added this offseason in a trade with Cincinnati that sent catcher Jose Trevino to the Reds, Cruz's success is based on a devastating split-finger pitch that has bamboozled batters. He has a 60.2 whiff rate on the pitch, which he is throwing 59.3 percent of the time. Overall, the righty's 49.6 percent whiff rate and 41.2 percent strikeout rate are both in the 100th percentile for all MLB pitchers.

Hartlieb has pitched to a 3.34 ERA and a 1.286 WHIP in 35.0 innings over 24 games at Triple-A this year. The 31-year-old has 38 strikeouts to 10 walks and finished 12 games, collecting two saves. He appeared in five games last season for the Colorado Rockies, allowing 10 runs (nine earned) on 13 hits and four walks over 9.0 innings pitched.

Alexander spent just 13 games in the Yanks organization at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after he was claimed by the organization following his DFA by the Athletics organization on June 5. The 28-year-old corner infielder had a .196 average and .498 OPS over his 46 at-bats there. In six games with the A's at the big league level this year, he had three hits in 17 at-bats.

This is the second time Cruz has been on the IL after right shoulder inflammation caused him to miss 15 days in late May.

Austin Wells dealing with finger issue

Wells is having a circulation issue in one of his fingers and will miss his second-straight game on Monday night.

Testing over the past two days ruled out any blood clots.

"It’s not something that bothers him from a performance standpoint," Boone told reporters, via Chris Kirschner.

Boone said he will likely not return to the lineup until Wednesday, which means JC Escarra will catch Tuesday's day game after a night game.

Through 69 games this year, Wells is slashing .214/.275/.424 for a .699 OPS (93 OPS+) with 11 home runs and 45 RBI.

Naturally, Terry Collins remembers playing with Dave Parker.

How could anyone not?

Parker was electricity incarnate, a 21-year-old budding superstar patrolling center field for the 1972 Salem Pirates of the Carolina League and honing the five tools that would eventually propel him into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But Parker, who died on Saturday at age 74, carried through life an even stronger memory of Collins, a scrappy infielder on that club who would go on to become the longest-tenured manager in the history of the New York Mets.

Parker’s 2021 memoir Cobra: A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood (written with Dave Jordan), contains this anecdote about an experience that year with Collins, 23 at the time, and another teammate, Ron “Satch” Mitchell:

“After a day game, me and Satch were walking through Salem with Terry Collins, that feisty, skinny kid from up north. He generally didn’t look for trouble, but he wasn’t afraid of it, either. We just wanted a quick meal without going all the way back to Roanoke. As we made our way through town, these young men -- they were both actually pretty tall - sitting outside a general store yelled over, ‘You two don’t belong here.’

I wasn’t in the mood for a fight, and neither was Satch. But that didn’t stop Terry.

“What the hell does that mean? Ol’ Collins got right in their faces.

“I’m from Michigan! People don’t talk to other people like that!”

“I ain’t talkin’ to you. We’re talking to Leroy over there.”

Back then “Leroy” was the name racists used when they were tired of the N-word.

“You’re talkin’ to me now, and if I ever --”

At this point, Satch quietly dragged Terry away from the guys. Collins sure had some balls on him. What a good dude.”

Reached by telephone on Monday from his home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Collins said that he had not read the passage in Parker’s book. But he remembered the incident well.

“I was appalled by what I heard,” Collins said. “I had heard stories about how [Black players] were treated in the Carolina League, but to see it in person -- I was shocked. Plus, Dave was my friend. He was my teammate.”

Collins remembers that Parker told him that he was crazy, and that the men probably had guns in their store. But Collins was the guy who won the Pirates “Red Ass of the Year” Award in ‘72. That honor came with a trophy of a donkey. He was not going to allow a few menacing racists to speak to his friend that way.

More than half a century later, Collins remains in awe of Parker’s talent.

“He could fly,” Collins said. “And I saw him hit a line drive off a pitcher’s shoulder, and that guy never pitched again. From then on guys would flinch when they threw the ball to him.”

The following year, Parker jumped from A-ball to Triple-A to the big leagues. He and Collins remained in touch.

In 1997, when the Anaheim Angels named Collins manager, Collins received a call from his friend Tony La Russa. La Russa was managing the St. Louis Cardinals and had earlier won a World Series in Oakland with Parker on his roster.

“Do yourself a favor and hire Dave Parker [as a coach],” La Russa said, unaware that the two had once played together. “He’s the best clubhouse guy I’ve ever had. I would hire him myself if I had room.”

Collins loved the idea, and made Parker his first base and outfield coach. The following year, La Russa brought Parker to St. Louis as his hitting instructor.

Parker and Collins remained in loose contact for a few years, then mostly lost track of one another -- with the exception of a time when Collins’ Mets were playing in Cincinnati, where Parker lived. Parker made a point to come to the ballpark to say hello to his old buddy.

“He was a fun-loving guy with a great sense of humor,” Collins said. “He was a great dude, just a good guy. And he had tools up the ass.”

With the Free Agent Frenzy less than 24 hours away, Will Cuylle and the Rangers still have not agreed to a contract extension. 

This means that Will Cuylle could become a restricted free agent on Tuesday with the risk of another team giving him an offer sheet. 

There’s now concern the Rangers could possibly lose Cuylle, but reportedly there isn’t much to be afraid of. 

According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, there aren’t expected to be any issues regarding Will Cuylle’s potential contract extension with the Rangers. 

The Athletic’s Peter Baugh reported that the Rangers have already been in talks with Cuylle about a potential contract extension.

It’s unclear how far negotiations have gone between the two sides and if they are close to finalizing a new deal. 

What’s the hold-up? It’s certainly strange that Cuylle remains unsigned at this point in time and there’s no real explanation for it. 

There's Pressure On The Rangers To Finalize A Contract Extension With Will Cuylle Before The Unthinkable Happens There’s one upcoming restricted free agent on the New York Rangers that’s flying under the radar, but still needs to be signed. 

However, it would be hard to imagine the Rangers letting a 23-year-old leave who’s only beginning to blossom into a promising forward with an exponential amount of potential.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Brewers play a three-game series at Citi Field starting on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

5 things to watch

The Mets' starting rotation has been a big issue

As bad as the Mets' weekend sweep at the hands of the Pirates was, two of the losses can be chalked up to poor starting pitching, as David Peterson and Frankie Montas got jumped early to make Friday and Sunday's games relatively non-competitive.

In the cases of Peterson (who has had two bad starts in a row after being tremendous before that) and Montas (who was great in his first start back from the IL), it's fair to expect they'll be fine going forward.

Peterson gets the start in the series finale on Thursday, which will follow starts by Clay Holmes (Tuesday) and Blade Tidwell (Wednesday).

Holmes was solid against the Braves last Wednesday, tossing 5.0 innings of one-run ball while allowing three hits, walking four, and striking out two. His issues with bases on balls and his increased workload will continue to be something to watch, though.

As far as Tidwell, he was hit hard in relief against the Pirates on Friday, surrendering four runs in just 3.1 innings. That came after a decent showing against the Phillies on June 20, when he allowed two runs on four hits in 3.2 innings.

Can Mark Vientos shake off the rust?

Vientos returned on Friday but didn't provide much, going 1-for-13 while striking out five times.

That Vientos looked rusty shouldn't be a surprise, given the fact that his rehab assignment was relatively short and that he had gone nearly a month without an at-bat in a big league game.

But the Mets badly need Vientos to provide better at-bats, which would help lengthen a lineup that has been very inconsistent lately.

Vientos had been hitting relatively well in the six weeks before his injury, and he has the type of power bat that can make a serious impact if he finds his footing.

When are the reinforcements coming?

As the Mets hope for their rotation and offense to stabilize, help is on the way.

Sean Manaea, whose rehab was briefly paused due to a cortisone shot in his elbow after a loose body was discovered, is expected to make another rehab start this week. That could potentially be Manaea's final one before returning.

Then there's Kodai Senga, whose return could possibly come shortly after the All-Star break.

Senga recently said that he was nearing a rehab assignment. And once he gets in rehab games, it might not take long for him to return. Despite being out with a hamstring injury, Senga has continued throwing - and threw off the mound last week.

Another key cog the team could get back soon is Jesse Winker, who started a rehab assignment on Sunday with Triple-A Syracuse.

Jacob Misiorowski

Misiorowski, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, has been a force of nature since debuting on June 12.

In three starts, he has allowed just two runs on three hits while walking seven and striking out 19 in 16.0 innings.

The wiry right-hander features a fastball that regularly touches triple digits, and a devastating slider that he throws in the low-90s. He also mixes in a curve and changeup.

Misiorowski gets the start on Wednesday.

The Brewers have been hot

During a season that started with Milwaukee being a bit of an afterthought when it came to the playoffs, they're again right in the middle of things.

The Brewers have won eight of their last 10 games, trail the Cubs by just 2.0 games for first place in the NL Central, and are holding the second Wild Card spot.

A lot of that can be linked to Milwaukee's solid starting pitching, which includes Freddy Peralta, former Met Jose Quintana (who starts on Thursday) and now has Misiorowski.

Offensively, they're getting strong contributions from the usual suspects. That includes Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Rhys Hoskins, Sal Frelick, and Brice Turang.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Francisco Lindor

Lindor is overdue for a breakout.

Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?

Clay Holmes

Holmes carries a 2.97 ERA and 1.24 WHIP into Tuesday's outing.

Which Brewers player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?

Rhys Hoskins

Hoskins seems to relish playing the villain in New York.