MIAMI — New York Mets left-hander Sean Manaea had a setback in his recovery from a right oblique strain and won’t throw for two weeks.
“He experienced some discomfort a couple of days ago when he was starting to ramp up,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday before a game against the Miami Marlins.
Manaea underwent imaging that showed inflammation and received a platelet-rich plasma injection on Monday.
“He’s going to go two weeks with no throwing, so we’re going to start building him back up,” Mendoza said.
Manaea didn’t pitch during spring training. He was shut down in late February and then placed on the 15-day injured list March 27. The original timeline for his return was late April, but Mendoza indicated that date no longer seems feasible.
The 33-year-old Manaea was New York's top starter in 2024, going 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 outings during his first season with the team. He helped the Mets reach the National League Championship Series before they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Manaea became a free agent again in November and re-signed with the Mets in January for $75 million over three years.
“I felt like we played a clean game except two pitches on my two ground balls,” Lindor, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI single, said after the game. “I take a lot of pride in it, it doesn’t feel good.”
“Very rare to see him with two errors in a game,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It happens; he’s human.”
The first play was a tougher chance, and a more generous official scorer may have bailed him out when the speedy Dane Myers’ slow roller bounced off the heel of his glove as he came charging in toward the infield grass.
The second was a play Lindor makes in his sleep: He was in perfect position in no time to field Otto Lopez's 103.8 mph grounder to start the fourth inning but misplayed the hop off the heel of his glove.
“Usually, errors happen when you take your eyes off the baseball,” Lindor said. “And I saw both of them hit my glove. So my head, everything was on the baseball. Just missed it.”
He added: “It’s our job to finish the plays, and today was on me.”
And while the first error went unpunished, the second allowed the Marlins to plate two runs on Graham Pauley’s two-out double to break a 2-2 tie. And the two unearned runs ended up being the difference and spoiled five solid innings from Kodai Senga.
Lindor said that he spoke to the starter after the game, who told him not to worry about it, but “it still kinda hurts” because Senga is a “great professional” and “great teammate.”
“I wish had still done better for Senga,” the shortstop said. “Senga had a great game. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t finish the play for him; he executed today all night long. Definitely should be better.”
But the starter didn’t let Lindor take all the blame, either.
“Since the day I signed with this team, Lindor’s always been there,” Senga said through an interpreter. “He’s always supported me, always given me words of encouragement, he’s always been there for not just me but everybody on the team. So, when he makes a mistake, I need to be there to pick him up.
“Not only him but everybody else on the team. He’s always there for everybody, and it was my fault to make his error be highlighted because of my poor performance.”
The only thing left to do is “go out there tomorrow, work at them and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Lindor added.
Torpedoes jammed
After an explosion for 10 runs on Monday night, the Mets could muster just a pair in the early innings off Miami ace Sandy Alcántara through five innings.
The right-hander surrendered just three hits – a Brandon Nimmo home run, a Luisangel Acuña double, and Lindor single – while getting four strikeouts and needed just 70 pitches.
“The way he mixes pitches, not only the sinker against righties but the changeup, the slider against lefties,” Mendoza said. “He used all of his pitches, kept the ball down, got ground balls, and we didn’t do much off him.”
The four Marlins who came out of the bullpen were equally tough, with only Jesse Winker managing an infield hit before the ninth inning saw Juna Soto walk and Nimmo grab a single. In all, the home side’s bullpen needed just 55 pitches to get the final 12 outs.
“We didn’t have many good at-bats there,” the manager said. “We couldn’t create opportunities until that last inning. Didn’t get much going and didn’t hit many balls hard against their bullpen.”
No Kranick at the disco
Mendoza said Max Kranick could be a “really good” weapon for the Mets after his three perfect innings of relief.
“For him to come in like that and basically save the bullpen and kept the game and gave us a chance,” the manager said. “That was pretty impressive.”
“Attacked, threw stikes, used all of his pitches, was pitch efficient, and that’s gonna be huge for us moving forward having a guy like that that you know you can trust in helping you keeping games close or keeping a lead, giving you distance out of the bullpen,” Mendoza added. “That’s a pretty valuable piece.”
Kranick did allow some hard contact, but the results – much like Huascar Brazobán on Monday – were hard to argue against.
Kodai Senga’s first start of his 2025 season got off to a horrible start – allowing two runs on two hits in just four pitches – but the Mets' right-hander settled into deliver a commendable effort in a 4-2 loss at the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
“I think I lacked a little bit of calmness, just kind of giving them easy pitches to hit,” Senga said of the two extra-base hits to start the game. “I was just a little relieved to be back out there in a big-league game after the year that he had last year and that lead to bad results.”
The first inning has been the bugaboo his entire career, as he has a 4.65 ERA in that frame, the highest for any inning. But after that, the right-hander really went to work and toyed with the Marlins lineup.
Senga got the first two batters of the second inning swinging through forkballs before the forkball got all three batters swinging in the third inning.
Carlos Mendoza called the first two batters a “wake-up call” for the right-hander. “Other than the first two batters of the game,” he said. “He was really good.”
The starter concurred with the manager: “After that, I was able to sort out through my head what I need to do, all the data on how to approach the hitters, and that turned out to be effective.”
Overall, he threw 77 pitches through five innings, with 22 forkballs and 22 four-seam fastballs toping out his mix. But the forkball was most effective, getting nine whiffs on 15 swings.
But Senga is a harsher grader than most: “It was not bad, not great, but not bad,” he said of the forkball.
“First time throwing to [Luis] Torrens in a big league game, so I think there are some adjustments that are going to be continued to be made and I think he did a great job using it and that’s why I was able to perform decently," he said. “I think it’s gonna be better throughout the rest of the season.”
Despite the harsh self-critique, there were positives to take from his first outing of the season. Senga said he was able to “get his rhythm” and settled in very nicely to put the first four pitches behind him.
"I only threw about five innings in a big league game last year, and that's why a lot of the rythm part... was gone," he said. "How much to push and step on it earlier on in the game. And I think you could see my velo was a little bit higher toward the end of the game.
"I was able to grasp a little bit of that and able to get a lot out of this outing."
Senga closed on a high note, blowing a 97 mph fastball past Kyle Stowers for his eighth strikeout, making his final pitch the fastest he threw of the night by 1.2 mph.
Tuesday marked his first regular season start since July 26 last season and a pair of ill-fated outings at the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ALCS that October. Against that backdrop, Mendoza's assessment rings closer to reality: “The slider, sweeper, the split was really good. And then the way he was using the fastball."
But mistakes loomed large for the right-hander.
The second pitch of his debut was a 94.4 mph four-seam fastball that was right over the heart of the plate and smacked to right-center for a double off Xavier Edwards' bat. Two pitches later, he threw a 93.4 mph four-seam fastball that was middle-middle, and Stowers launched it 421 feet to center for a two-run home run.
“It all comes down to not winning,” Senga said. “I wasn’t able to put my team in the best position to win, gave up two runs quick against their ace. Our team got those two runs back, and then I let up the lead again.”
In the fourth, with two outs and a runner on first base after a Francisco Lindor error in a tied game. And here is perhaps where Senga's critique is harshest: Back-to-back forkballs failed to induce a swing from Jonah Bride, with the 3-2 offering not even close or tempting at all, came back to haunt the righty.
“They weren’t executed very well,” he said of the two forkballs. “They weren’t perfect pitches, mistake on my end, they could have been better.”
Senga then left another pitch right in the middle of the plate (this time a 90.4 mph cutter), and Graham Pauley cranked a two-RBI double to the opposite field in left-center to break the tie and proved to be the difference.
“We gave ‘em some extra outs, some extra bases, and they made him pay,” Mendoza said. “The two-out walk and then left pitch up. Just didn’t make a play there.”
The Yankees were on the verge of victory, but the bullpen's eighth-inning implosion led to New York's 7-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
With the Yanks nursing a 4-3 lead in the eighth, reigning NL Player of the Week Eugenio Suarez launched his MLB-leading fifth home run -- a grand slam -- off of Mark Leiter Jr. to give the D-backs a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Prior to that inning, Yankees pitching allowed just two runs on one hit.
Here are the takeaways...
-The fated eighth inning was the stuff of nightmares for the Yankees. With Devin Williams out on paternity leave, Luke Weaver was not available for the inning, so manager Aaron Boone went with Tim Hill to start. The southpaw allowed a double and single to start as Arizona cut the Yankees lead to 4-3. After Corbin Caroll ground out, Boone went with Leiter Jr. The right-hander walked Ketel Marte and Pavin Smith before striking out Josh Naylor. He was one pitch away from getting out of the inning before his splitter stayed out over the plate and Suarez launched his grand slam 376 feet over the left field wall.
Before that, the Yankees' bullpen was great. Fernando Cruz struck out four in two perfect innings and newly acquired RHP Adam Ottavino allowed just one walk over his 0.2 innings.
-Will Warren, making his season debut, started off strong, getting through the first two innings in order with three strikeouts. He wouldn't allow a baserunner until two outs in the third inning (a walk). Warren threw five straight balls before he grooved an 87 mph changeup over the plate to Carroll, who deposited it over the right field wall to put the D-backs ahead, 2-0.
Those location issues continued in the fourth as Warren walked his first two batters. A mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake seemingly settled Warren down, who induced a 4-6-3 double play from Suarez and a ground out from Gabriel Moreno.
The young right-hander had to work to get the requisite five innings to qualify for the win. After giving up a lead-off walk, Warren got the next three batters out, including striking out Carroll swinging on a curveball in the dirt.
The 25-year-old had a 10.32 ERA across six games (five starts) a season ago and showed that his impressive spring was not a fluke. Warren threw five innings (85 pitches/46 strikes) while allowing two runs on one hit and four walks while striking out four.
-Cobrin Burnes entered Tuesday's start with a 0-2 record against the Yankees but a minuscule 1.42 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees. In his first game as a Diamondback, the former CY Young winner was cruising until the third inning when he allowed a leadoff homer to Jasson Dominguez that went 377 feet over the right-center field wall. Ben Rice followed with a double, and then Oswaldo Cabrera walked, but Burnes got Paul Goldschmidt to pop out, before striking out Cody Bellinger and getting Aaron Judge to ground out to end the threat.
The Yankees were close to squandering a golden opportunity in the fourth. With men on second and third and one out, Rice struck out before Cabrera hit a weak grounder to Naylor. The former Guardians first baseman -- who has plenty of history with the Yankees -- airmailed a toss that went over Burnes' glove, who was covering first. That allowed the two go-ahead runs to score.
-Dominguez was one of only a few Yankees to not go deep this season, but he got off the schneid with his blast. The young left fielder finished 2-for-3.
Anthony Volpe's fourth-inning blast went 418 feet and broke the MLB record for most home runs through a team's first four games, which was set by the 2006 Tigers. It would be the shortstop's only hit (1-4), but he struck out twice.
Rice would tack on his second home run of the season in the ninth to extend the Yankees' new record to 18.
-Judge, Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Jazz Chssiholm Jr. went a combined 0-for-15 with a walk and nine strikeouts. Chisholm struck out four times. The Yankees as a team struck out 14 times.
The Yankees and Diamondbacks continue their three-game set on Wednesday night in The Bronx.
RHP Zac Gallen (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will take the mound for Arizona, while the Yankees will see LHP Carlos Rodon (1-0, 1.69 ERA) on the bump for the second time this season.
Kodai Senga delivered eight strikeouts over five innings of work, but the Mets’ errors and stimied bats spelled a 4-2 loss to the Marlins on Tuesday night in Miami.
New York managed just one base runner after the third inning until Juan Soto started the ninth inning by working a walk against left-hander Anthony Veneziano. After a fielder’s choice, Brandon Nimmo's single brought the go-ahead run to the plate. But righty Anthony Bender came on for Miami and got Mark Vientos to fly out to right and Jesse Winker to ground out to first to end the game.
Here are the takeaways...
- Senga opened up his 2025 campaign by allowing a bullet of a double (99.5 mph off the bat) into the gap in right-center by Xavier Edwards before Kyle Stowers drilled (104.5 mph) for a 421-foot two-run shot to center. The two hits both came on four-seam fastballs (94.4 mph and 93.4 mph) that were up in the zone and right over the heart of the plate. After the awful first four pitches, Senga's next 12 got his first three outs, but his career ERA in the first inning went up to 4.65, the highest of any inning. (His ERA in all other innings: 2.60.)
And then Senga started getting everything working. The right-hander’s spooky forkball got back-to-back swinging strikeouts to start the second and then three straight in the third.
The righty worked around a leadoff error in the fourth, but a two-out walk put two on for Graham Pauley. And Senga left a 1-0 cutter right over the heart of the plate and was punished for a two-run double to the gap in left center.
Senga closed his day with a 12-pitch, 1-2-3 fifth inning, blowing a 97 mph fastball past Stowers for his eighth strikeout of the evening.
- Out of the bullpen, Max Kranick entered a lower-stress situation than his first outing of the season and needed just six pitches for a 1-2-3 sixth with a strikeout. The right-hander allowed a pair of hard-hit balls, but 10 pitches saw him through his second perfect inning of the evening. Manager Carlos Mendoza saw no issue with the reliever going back out there and neither did Kranick, who got his third straight perfect frame in the eighth, needing just five pitches.
- Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara looked every bit the real deal again, getting three groundouts against the Mets’ top trio on just nine pitches in the first. While changeups got the two lefties in the first, Nimmo cranked a 2-1 changeup 388 feet for a solo shot to right, 108.3 mph off the bat. Alcántara, working his way back from Tommy John in late 2023, went 5.0 innings with two runs on three hits and four strikeouts.
Nimmo, who added his second homer of the series, finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts looking.
- Luisangel Acuña, getting the start at second against a right-hander ahead of Brett Baty, slashed a ground-rule double to right, going with an Alcántara 98 mph fastball on the outside corner. Acuña proved he was a plus-plus defender, including making a nifty play fielding a hot shot in the seventh.
Baty would pinch-hit for Acuña to lead off the eighth and grounded out to second in his only at-bat.
- Francisco Lindor, in his return to the lineup after the birth of his first son, was charged with an error in the second but made up for it the next half inning with an RBI single up the middle to past a drawn-in infield to plate Acuña. The hit snapped a 0-for-12 start to the season for the shortstop. The shortstop committed a second error to lead off the fourth. He finished the day 1-for-4 with a strikeout and RBI.
- Soto hit a ball right on the screws his second time up (104.8 mph, 348 feet), but right at the center fielder. He finished 0-for-3, with a walk to start the ninth. The on-base king has now reached base in every game this year.
- Pete Alonso had a quiet day going 0-for-4.
- Luis Torrens showed he was no fool when he nailed the speedy Dane Myers at second base to close the second inning with a perfect throw to Acuña. The catcher looked like he tied the game in the seventh, but his deep drive to center (103.5 mph off the bat) traveled just 394 feet to the warning track.
- Vientos committed a big no-no his second time up when he slowed down about 15 feet from first base on a grounder. Had Vientos run as hard as he did the first 75 feet, he would have easily reached as the Marlins' third baseman bobbled the ball. Instead, he was out by a half step. He finished 0-for-4.
Game MVP(s): Senga and Kranick
With Senga still building himself back up to his full strength, he showed off a devastating forkball and a good arsenal of pitches to finish his season debut with a final line of 5.0 innings, four runs (two earned), three hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts on 77 pitches (49 strikes).
The two Mets pitchers combined to throw just 99 pitches (66 strikes) on the night. Hard to find too many faults there.
The Mets wrap up the three-game set in Miami with a late-afternoon first pitch of 4:40 p.m. in Miami before returning home for Opening Day at Citi Field on Friday.
Right-hander Clay Holmes will look to do better in his second start of the campaign. He'll face off against Marlins righty Connor Gillespie.
Here’s the latest from some of the Mets’ top prospects at Double-A media day…
Jett the Met is 100 percent
Last season didn’t quite go as planned forJett Williams.
The No. 2 ranked prospect on SNY’s Top 30 list had his development slowed down a bit as he was limited to just 33 games after undergoing a wrist procedure that kept him sidelined for a little over four months.
Williams was able to make his way back down the stretch and then participated in both the Arizona Fall League and big-league spring training -- so now he’s feeling 100 percent heading into the Double-A season.
The versatile youngster will continue receiving reps at all three positions up the middle -- but he told reporters on Tuesday at Binghamton Media Day that the team is planning on giving him more time in center field this year.
“It doesn't matter to me, as long as I’m on the field whether that’s at short, second, center. They told me I was going to be getting more reps in center, but at the end of the day, it’s just going out there, and just being on the field and staying healthy.”
Williams has appeared in 33 games in center to this point in his career -- but if he can master the position and regain his dominant form at the plate while staying healthy, he just might be able to continue cruising his way through the system.
Clifford looking to be more consistent, will play some OF
Ryan Clifford is another one of the Mets’ top prospects who will start the year on a loaded Binghamton squad.
The young slugger had gotten off to a slow start last year in the pitcher-friendly confines of Single-A Brooklyn -- but after receiving a promotion to Double-A, he returned to his power-hitting form and finished the season on a high note.
He popped 18 homers, 21 doubles, and recorded a .359 on-base percentage in 99 games.
After working on some things this offseason and being around some of the Mets’ top sluggers throughout big-league camp, Clifford is looking to add more consistency to his game this year in Binghamton.
"If I can do my best to put the bat on the ball, good things happen," he said.
Defensively, the plan is for him to spend the majority of his time at first base for the first month of the season and then to get some reps in the outfield in an effort to continue increasing his versatility.
Clifford played 60 of his 130 games in the outfield last season.
Morabito ready for opportunity
Nick Morabito is one of the newcomers for this Double-A squad.
The second-round pick is making the leap up from Brooklyn after putting together a tremendous campaign in which he took home the Mets' Minor League Player of the Year award after leading the organization in batting average (.312), on-base percentage (.403), stolen bases (59), and hits (142).
The jump from Single-A to Double-A is usually a big one, but he feels ready for the promotion.
“I’m very grateful for this opportunity to be here in Binghamton,” he said. “I’m ready for the opportunity and ready to take it on -- I'm going to embrace it, and I just want to be on the field as much as possible and allow my game to play itself.”
For those of you not familiar with his game -- SNY’s Joe DeMayo notes that Morabito has an above-average hit tool, above-average plate discipline, and is a plus athlete in center with tremendous speed.
He only appeared in one spring training game because of a wrist issue but is 100 percent heading into the season.
Morabito is the 14th-ranked prospect in the organization according to DeMayo, and he could improve upon his floor of a fourth outfielder profile if he can become more of a gap-to-gap line drive hitter.
HOUSTON — It’s not unusual for a player to return to his locker after a game and find a baseball in a glass case. It’s the move for any milestone, from a first hit (which Christian Koss is chasing) to a 100th (Tyler Fitzgerald is one away). It’s a way to commemorate big homers, big wins or your 200th double, but the Giants are putting a twist on the tradition this season.
Logan Webb had a glass case in his locker after Tuesday’s 3-1 win, but if the Giants come out on top again on Wednesday, it won’t belong to him anymore. Willy Adames had one, too, but he might not be the owner for long, either.
The Giants are celebrating wins by choosing a Player of the Game and a Pitcher of the Game, and their names are written on the two baseballs by bench coach Ryan Christenson, who might have the best calligraphy in the game. The hope is that everyone is involved, and that the balls make their way around the clubhouse.
Webb was disappointed by his performance in the opener last Thursday, but he looked like his old self Tuesday, and he smiled as he looked up at the baseball in his locker. In a win over the Houston Astros that clinched a winning road trip, Webb threw seven innings and showed his evolution as a pitcher.
The face of the franchise has always been known for two things: Piling up innings and dominating hitters with a sinker-changeup combination down in the zone. But on Tuesday, Webb was a four-pitch guy, and he bordered on five pitches. He has full faith in his cutter, developed last season and sharpened this spring, and he’ll mix in the occasional four-seamer to give him a third fastball he can elevate.
“I’m just trying to mix it up, I’m trying not to be a one-dimensional guy,” Webb said. “That fastball up, whether it’s the two-seam, four-seam or cutter, it can be kind of a game changer.”
Yordan Alvarez learned that the hard way in his first at-bat. The Astros superstar swung through a cutter that was up and outside, one of six strikeouts for Webb. In the seventh, with a runner on first and a two-run lead, Webb threw him a slider down and in. Alvarez again struck out.
The two strikeouts showed why Webb is so excited about his cutter in particular. He’s now comfortable elevating on some of the best hitters in the game, and once that’s in their head, he can attack every part of the strike zone.
“It’s just a different look for me, and being able to do that and trying to mix things up to certain hitters that maybe I don’t match up the best with, I think those are situations where I can throw something like that,” Webb said.
The previous version of Webb would have had his name on the Pitcher of the Game ball often. He’s been one of the game’s best since his breakout 2021 MLB season, but at the age of 28, he’s hoping to evolve. Hitters taught him some lessons last year. Now it’s time to return the favor.
“You saw some of the takes and some of the swings — it’s different now,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Alvarez [got] a couple in, a cutter in, he’s never seen that one from him before. With the sweeper and changeup, it’s really a four-pitch mix and it’s both sides of the plate, which is going to make him better. He needed all that tonight.”
Ahead of the Yankees opening a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night in The Bronx, manager Aaron Boone, in answering questions about the hot topic of the torpedo bats, discussed the level of organizational thought that went into the equipment change and discussed the signing reliever Adam Ottavino on a big league deal.
Run (not so) silent, run deep
Over the last three days, the shape of lumber has become the main story of the new season.
“I’m kinda starting to smile at it a little more,” the manager of the team at the center of the new controversial but MLB-approved bats said.
“It’s taken on a life of its own. A lot of things that aren’t real,” he continued. “I really just look at it as the evolution of equipment, and I think I said the other day, I went and got fitted for golf clubs 10 years ago. This is essentially that. This is all within regulations.”
In keeping with the analogy of golf clubs to bats, Boone indicated that there is “a lot more to it” than just, say, selecting the “torpedo bat off the shelf over there, 34-32."
“Our guys are way more invested in it than that,” he added. “Really personalized, really work with our plays in creating this stuff. But it’s equipment evolving.”
Boone said it is “to each their own” when it comes to the club recommending a certain bat to a player, but he seemed to indicate that the organization is involved in working with the players on figuring out what bat would work best for them.
“We want to create an environment where we’re not missing anything, we’re not missing any chance to help a player become their best or optimize a player,” he said. “Ultimately, it's up to the players. How much information do you want? That’s on individual players and us to help educate. But, ultimately, it comes down to what works for you.”
While the league is now aware of the new bats, the manager "doesn't necessarily know that everyone 'knows about it,'" he said while adding air quotes around the final three words. When asked about the distinction, he seemed to imply that awareness of the torpedo bats is "different than knowing about it," he said while pointing for emphasis.
“I think there’s just a lot more that goes into it” than just deciding to use the torpedo bat, the manager added. “A lot went into doing that for our individual guys, and it’s a lot more than just the look of the bat.”
He added: “I think there’s a lot more to it. That even I don’t know all about it, I’m not smart enough to know all of that stuff, but I think there’s more to it.”
But with that being said, how much of an impact do the new bats have? The manager isn’t sure.
"Hopefully what doesn’t get lost in this: It's about the player. It’s about the hitter. It's about the person swinging it,” he said. “Understandably, I get it. It's getting a lot of attention right now. But yes, ultimately, when the dust settles here, it's about players performing.”
Boone stressed he doesn’t see this as giving any player a big advantage: “You’re trying to just, where you can on the margins, move the needle a little bit. And that’s really all you’re gonna do. It’s not like this is some sort of revelation… It’s not related to the weekend we had. I don’t think it’s that.”
He said for some players in some cases it “may help them incrementally.”
Mar 30, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) follows through on a two run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the third inning at Yankee Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
In discussing how the bats work, Boone wanted to dispel a notion, saying that it was “wrong to say we’re moving the sweet spot” with the torpedo bats.
“It’s no moving. Big leaguers don’t not hit the ball off the barrel. The worst of big leaguers they hit the ball off the barrel more than they [don’t],” he said. “You’re trying to just optimize the weight of the bat and take out wasted spots that you don’t use.”
Boone said he was aware Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Trevino were using torpedo bats last season. Stanton was asked if the new lumber was the "bat adjustments" he said earlier this year that may have contributed to his elbow injuries.
"You're not going to get the story you're looking for, so if that's what you guys want, that isn't going to happen,” the slugger said, via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Stanton added that he will use a torpedo bat when he returns from the IL.
Ottavino has chance to stick
Reports of Ottavino throwing the ball much better during the end of spring training with the Boston Red Sox helped nudge the Yankees to sign the veteran reliever for a second stint with the club, the manager said.
“He’s kinda been on our board a little bit. I know the front office [has] been talking about him the last couple weeks as a potential,” Boone said. “Felt like what he was doing back-end of spring training was in-line with who Otto is.”
And with closer Devin Williams going on the paternity list, Boone said the club “felt like it an opportunity to get him in here and excited to have him back.”
Ottavino regained his form after back-to-back down seasons during his first year with the Mets in 2022, pitching to a 2.06 ERA and 0.975 WHIP over 65.2 innings. But the veteran saw his effectiveness decline over the following two years and his ERA climb to 4.34 and WHIP to 1.286 over 56 innings.
“I think he’s got a lot left in there,” Boone said. “He’s still been very effective, really, throughout his entire career.”
While the Yanks will have a decision to make on the roster when Williams returns, the skipper left the door open for the 39-year-old to stick around.
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” he said, before adding that his two seasons in The Bronx during 2019 and 2020 provide a level of familiarity.
“When we first got him, we brought him in to kinda be that righty killer, high-leverage, set-up [man,] and he delivered on that,” Boone said. “And, obviously, very familiar with what it takes to play here… and he’s played [with] the Mets and Boston. This [pressure environment] is what he knows.
“This is a chance to get a quality pitcher in here, and hopefully it can help us. And where it goes, we’ll see.”
Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo check in with a new episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, as the Mets have started the season and there’s actual baseball to discuss!
The guys cover the early returns from the starting rotation, the bullpen, and the lineup, plus also chat about what April holds in store for Francisco Lindor.
Connor and Joe then go Down on the Farm to look at the first outings of the year for top pitching prospects Blade Tidwell and Brandon Sproat, bring back The Scoreboard for more weekly bets in 2025, and open the Mailbag to answer questions about adding pitching at the trade deadline and the current depth in the outfield.
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After dropping a handful of best bets for the futures market ahead of Opening Day, here is another player prop in the futures market worth adding to your bet slip.
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Aaron Judge to lead the MLB in home runs (+130)
One of my earliest blunders was thinking Aaron Judge wouldn’t win the MVP. Oh, how wrong I'll probably be!
The only thing standing between Judge and another MVP trophy is, quite simply, his health. A freak injury could throw a wrench into what promises to be an incredible season. But with odds sitting at -110 to -130, that ship has pretty much sailed on betting Judge for MVP. The value is gone.
Instead, let’s get a little creative. Forget MVP, let’s talk about Judge leading the league in home runs. After all, the man’s a monster. Last season, he crushed 58 bombs, and in 2022, he set a career-high with 62. And guess what? That record could fall this season.
Judge has been absolutely on fire to start the year, launching 4 homers and racking up 11 RBIs in just 3 games. He’s not just hot, he’s scorching. As the Yankees make headlines with their offensive fireworks, don’t be surprised if other teams start following suit. New York just laid a smackdown on the Brewers, sweeping them in a 3-game series with a jaw-dropping 36-14 scoreline. Sure, Judge is wielding last season's bat, but let’s be real—it’s mostly him, not the bat.
Pick: Aaron Judge to lead the MLB in home runs (2u)
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The Mets are going to be without their ace for a lot longer than initially expected.
Sean Manaea, who had recently resumed throwing and was working toward a return from an oblique injury, has been shut down.
"He experienced some discomfort a couple of days ago while he was starting to ramp up," manager Carlos Mendoza said on Tuesday. "We took an MRI of it again and it showed inflammation. So he got a PRP injection yesterday. So he's not throwing for two weeks now."
Because of the two-week no-throw, Manaea -- who had been expected to return around the end of April -- will likely not be back until toward the end of May or a bit later due to this setback.
Before this update, the latest news on Manaea came from president of baseball operations David Stearns, who said last Wednesday that Manaea's rehab was moving at a "really good clip."
In addition to Manaea, the Mets are without Frankie Montas, whose return could come in late May or early June.
Without two expected members of their starting staff, the Mets have abandoned their plan for a six-man rotation and are counting on two of their depth pitchers as regular rotation contributors in addition to the top three of Clay Holmes, David Peterson, and Kodai Senga.
Those depth starters are Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning, who each turned in a strong first regular season start.
Paul Blackburn, who was in the rotation competition during spring training and had been ticketed for the bullpen before getting hurt, is on the IL due to a knee issue.
The Mets don't currently have another legitimate starting pitching option on the 40-man roster.
HOUSTON — The 2024 Giants were remarkably allergic to anything but .500 baseball.
If they sunk too low, they always would find a way to go on a little run, no matter how many issues they had on the roster. If they started to creep too far above even, they would always go into a skid. They finished 80-82, never falling more than six games under or climbing more than three games over.
The 2025 Giants already are three games over .500, tying last season’s high-water mark. Thanks to Logan Webb, Willy Adames and Heliot Ramos, they clinched a winning season-opening road trip, and they’ll try to get greedy on Wednesday.
Webb turned in a vintage Webb game, striking out six and getting three double play grounders over seven innings. Adames and Ramos provided the offensive jolt as the Giants beat the Astros 3-1.
Adames yanked a two-run double into the left field corner in the third and Ramos found the Crawford Boxes an inning later for his third homer. Webb gave up his own short-porch blast to Jose Altuve, but that was it. He dialed it up in the seventh, striking out Astros three-four hitters Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker with a runner at first.
Extra! Extra!
Anytime you join a list that previously only included Felipe Alou and Willie Mays, you’ve done something pretty cool. Ramos found himself with that company after hitting a 108-mph laser just over the wall in left, giving him an extra-base hit in five consecutive games to open the season. The last Giant to do that was Mays in 1971, and Alou holds the franchise record by beginning his season with six straight such games in 1963.
Ramos now has three homers off right-handed pitchers this season, which is a quarter of the way to his total from last year, when he struggled against righties and posted a .673 OPS in the matchups. Through five games, the left fielder is slugging .810.
Welcome to the Show
Christian Koss was the biggest surprise on the Opening Day roster. He made an impression from the start of camp, and over time, the front office and coaching staff came to feel that his versatility, speed, good eye and attitude were the right fit, even if it required adding him to the 40-man roster.
Bob Melvin was thrilled to deliver the news to Koss last Tuesday, but he had to wait a whole week to make his big league debut since he’s third on the depth chart when it comes to right-handed-hitting second basemen, and there were no obvious pinch-running situations in the first four games. Koss’ parents traveled to Cincinnati and had to return to Southern California to go to work Monday, but his wife and young daughter were at Daikin Park.
Koss drew a walk in his first big league plate appearance, showing that good eye. He fell behind 1-2 but worked the count full and took a fastball that was just off the plate. He then came around to score from first on Adames’ double. Koss didn’t have a hit the rest of the night, but he made an extremely quick turn on an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
Waiting for Wade
The Giants came into the season pretty committed to having Jung Hoo Lee hit third and LaMonte Wade Jr. and Ramos lead off. While Ramos is off to a red-hot start, Wade might head home looking for his first hit of the season. The veteran is 0-for-16 with five strikeouts, three of which came Tuesday, and the Giants face lefty Framber Valdez on Wednesday. Wade, usually one of the best on-base guys in the game, is also still looking for his first walk.
Melvin sent Casey Schmitt up to hit for Wade with a runner on and one out in the seventh, which led to Schmitt playing first base for the first time in his career. The young infielder has been taking grounders on this trip to prepare for the possibility, and it’s something the Giants might have to do often while Jerar Encarnacion rehabs.
With Encarnacion out and Wilmer Flores starting at DH just about every day, the bench is short on backup first base options. Koss, Tyler Fitzgerald and backup catcher Sam Huff have all done it in the past, but Schmitt is the best defender of the group and shouldn’t have too much of an adjustment period.
World Series champion and two-time All-Star pitcher Lance Lynn is retiring from Major League Baseball.
Lynn announced his decision on the “Dymin in the Rough” podcast.
He was 7-4 with a 3.84 ERA in 23 starts last season with St. Louis. The right-hander was 143-99 in his career with the Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Texas, Minnesota, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.
Lynn was an All-Star with the Cardinals in 2012, when he finished the season 18-7, and in 2021 with the White Sox.
St. Louis selected the former Mississippi star No. 39 overall in 2008. Lynn, who is from Indianapolis, helped the Cardinals win the World Series as a rookie in 2011 when he was 2-0 in 10 postseason appearances.
Boston acquired Crochet from the Chicago White Sox during the offseason in exchange for a package of prospects, including catcher Kyle Teel. The bold move was made to give the starting rotation a legitimate ace, something it has lacked in recent years. Now that Crochet is locked up long-term, the Red Sox will hope he lives up to the hype as a perennial Cy Young contender.
NBC Sports Boston’s Michael Holley is among those encouraged by the deal. He shared his instant reaction to the extension during Monday’s Boston Sports Tonight.
“I think it’s a great signing,” Holley said. “And it makes sense to me because when they acquired Crochet, there was conversation about, ‘Well, they brought him in, but they’re not gonna sign him.’ I was thinking, ‘OK, why not?’ He’s 25, you gave up one of your top prospects to acquire him, you’re the Boston Red Sox. It makes all the sense in the world. You think he’s an ace, go ahead and sign him to a contract.
“So now that they’ve signed him, there’s more evidence that the Red Sox are getting back to being the Red Sox team that you remember from 2017, 2018, 2019. They went out and they got Alex Bregman. They went out and they acquired Crochet. Now, they’re signing Crochet. Theo Epstein is back with the organization as a consultant but may be even more influential than your typical consultant. They are getting back to the big business Boston Red Sox, and that is my main takeaway from this deal.”
Michael Hurley joined Holley in praising the Red Sox’ move, noting that the risks that come with extending Crochet don’t outweigh the risk of letting him hit free agency.
“I guess if you want to be critical of this one, you might say, ‘There’s the risk, the injuries, he hasn’t done this, he hasn’t done that.'” Hurley said. “All true, but there’s an equal risk in just saying, ‘We don’t need to sign him now, we’ll try again in a couple years when he’s a free agent and he’s gonna be making 45, 50, 55 million dollars. This is actually in a lot of ways safer than that.”
Crochet established himself as one of the game’s most dominant pitchers in 2024, notching a 3.58 ERA with a 1.07 WHIP and 209 strikeouts in 146 innings. He started Boston’s 2025 season opener on Thursday, allowing two runs on five hits over five innings with four strikeouts in a 5-2 win.
Watch the full Boston Sports Tonight segment with Michael Holley and Michael Hurley below or on YouTube:
It’s a long season, but that won’t stop us from overreacting to the Boston Red Sox’ lackluster start to the campaign.
The 2025 Red Sox entered the year with lofty expectations but have stumbled out of the gate with a 1-4 record. After a promising 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Opening Day, they have since dropped four straight games.
There have been a few bright spots, such as top prospect Kristian Campbell, but Rafael Devers’ historic struggles and the offense’s inability to hit with runners in scoring position have dominated the early headlines. The question is: Are we overreacting to what we’ve seen over the first five games, or will these developments have a lasting impact on the remaining 157?
Here are the five biggest overreactions to Boston’s 1-4 start, and whether they hold any merit:
Time to panic about Rafael Devers
Rafael Devers’ at-bats have become appointment television for all the wrong reasons. To say the 28-year-old slugger has looked out of sorts at the plate would be a massive understatement.
It was a tumultuous offseason for Devers. He played in only five spring training games after voicing his displeasure about the DH role. He also battled nagging shoulder issues in 2024, though manager Alex Cora insists Devers’ shoulder is fine and isn’t the cause of his alarming dip in bat speed.
For now, we should chalk Devers’ struggles up to poor hitting mechanics that should improve with time. However, if the strikeouts continue to pile up when the Red Sox host the St. Louis Cardinals for their home opener on Friday, then it might be time to start worrying.
Verdict: Overreaction
Kristian Campbell is the real deal
Red Sox No. 2 prospect Kristian Campbell won the starting second baseman job and has looked the part over his first five MLB games. The 22-year-old is 6-for-16 with two doubles and his first career homer, which he belted against the Rangers on Saturday.
It’s a small sample size, but Campbell has fit right in both at the plate and in the field– whether at second base or in left. His meteoric rise through the minor-league ranks was no fluke. He belongs in the majors, and he’s proving it by being one of Boston’s most consistent players so far.
Verdict: Not an overreaction
Tanner Houck is regressing to the mean
Tanner Houck earned his first All-Star nod after a terrific start to 2024, but we’ve seen him crash back down to earth since. The right-hander’s disappointing second half carried into spring training and his first start of 2025.
Houck allowed four earned runs on seven hits and three walks while surrendering two homers in Friday’s loss to Texas. That followed a brutal final spring training start in which he allowed 10 earned runs on 12 hits in just 3.2 innings.
This isn’t to say Houck’s struggles will last all season, but it’s fair to temper expectations. He may not replicate his All-Star campaign and form a dominant 1-2 punch with ace Garrett Crochet. Instead, Walker Buehler, along with the currently injured Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, and Kutter Crawford, will need to step up for a rotation that may have been overhyped entering the year.
Verdict: Not an overreaction
This Red Sox offense can’t score runs…
The Red Sox have been abysmal with runners in scoring position. They are a putrid 9-for-55 (.164 batting average) with 23 strikeouts, a .505 OPS, and only one run scored in those situations.
While that’s disappointing, water will find its level. Boston finished ninth in runs scored and seventh in OPS with a less talented lineup in 2024. We have to assume Devers, Alex Bregman, Triston Casas, and other struggling key contributors will find their groove sooner rather than later.
Verdict: Overreaction
…But the bullpen is nails
The Red Sox bullpen was their weakness throughout 2024, but it’s been a bright spot amid the club’s 1-4 start to 2025. It didn’t allow an earned run before Monday’s loss, when it was forced to enter the game early due to Sean Newcomb’s rough Boston debut.
Garrett Whitlock (4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 K), Aroldis Chapman (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K), Zack Kelly (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K), Greg Weissert (3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 1 BB), Brennan Bernardino (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 K), and Justin Wilson (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 K) have held up their end of the bargain. Last year’s breakout reliever Justin Slaten looked sharp up until Monday’s off day in Baltimore.
Boston’s bullpen should be better than last year’s, but let’s not get carried away just yet. We’re in for a roller-coaster of a year, especially with Chapman attempting to close out games with his concerning walk rate.
