John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 5/18/2020

Good Morning, Happy Birthday Steve Phillips, Nelson Figueroa, and Connor Wollersheim, and Art Howe is released from the Hospital.

Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Asian Baseball Links, and This Day in Mets History.   

Yahoo Sports: Former major league manager and infielder Art Howe was released from a Houston hospital Sunday after a stay in intensive care because of the coronavirus. ''Relief, back in my own bedroom. It's just sweet,'' the 73-year-old Howe said. ''It was a long five days or so. I'm finally feeling a little bit better. Still not able to eat real good, taste buds are giving me a hard time. It's just nice to be back home and hopefully continue to progress.''

Mets Links:

Mike’s Mets had two pieces on the MLB’s plans to restart in “It Ain't Going to Be Easy” and “The Obstacles in Our Way”. 

Mets360.com: Jerry Krause and the New York Mets connection. Writer Dalton Allison notes that Jerry Krause was one of the main White Sox executives that pushed to pick Tom Seaver off the Mets before the start of the 1984 season. 

Brian Joura Mets360.com: Mets hitters and under the radar fluke numbers.  Brian looks at David Wright, Lance Johnson, Bernard Gilkey and others with stats that only Brian can.

Mike Puma NY Post: Dominic Smith may have stumbled onto his greatest Mets strength. “Smith, 24, had a .282/.355/.525 slash line with 11 homers and 25 RBIs in 177 at-bats last season. Some of his best swings came off the bench — he posted a 1.002 OPS in games he didn’t start.

Metsmerized Online: MMO Top 5 Prospects: Shortstop.  No 5. William Lugo, No. 4 Wilmer Reyes, No. 3 Shervyen Newton, No. 2 Andres Gimenez, No. 1 Ronny Mauricio. About Wilmer Reyes they say: “In leading the Cyclones to their first ever championship, Reyes was among the league leaders in multiple categories. His aggressive contact-first approach leads to very few walks, yet in 2019 his results showed an ability to find the holes in the defense while constantly getting the bat on the ball. He cut his strikeout percentage almost in half from 2018 (30.8% to 16.8%) and showed some power, hitting a career-high five home runs. Reyes also won over a lot of evaluators with his defensive showing. Having a strong arm capable of making any throw from anywhere on the field tends to do that.”

NY Post: Mets PR guru Jay Horwitz gives ultimate insider look at 1986 World Series.

Metsmerized.com: Mets Video Vault: 1999 NLDS Game 1.

Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History (5/17/1972): Rookie John Milner Drives in Five Runs.

Centerfield Maz: SNY Analyst (2015-2018) & Former Mets Pitcher: Nelson Figueroa (2008-2009).

Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History: (1972) Willie Mays Returns To New York With A Game Winning HR.

YouTube: New York Mets Videos - Strawberry Hits First Career Home Run.

MLB LINKS:

AP News: New MLB rules: shower at home, don’t spit, Mr Met stay away. “Team personnel will be banned from eating at restaurants on road trips. Even the Phillie Phantic and Mr. Met will be missing, banned from the field along with all other team mascots…Teams will be allowed to have 50 players each under the plan, with the number active for each game still be negotiated.”

CBS Sports: MLB's safety proposal for 2020 season includes 'severe discipline' for fighting, report says.

CBS Sports: Will Yankees or Mets play games in New York? Governor Cuomo says there's 'a lot of reward with minimal risk'.

CBS Sports: MLB's safety protocols for 2020 season include regular testing and socially distanced lockers, report says.

ESPN.com: The immensity of MLB's plan to return through a daunting health-and-safety protocol.

Ken Davidoff: MLB’s proposed coronavirus rules could compromise quality of the game.  Ken runs down the rules including “Shutting down the stadium’s amenities…closing off of the saunas, steam rooms, hydrotherapy pools and cryotherapy chambers as well as discouraging the usage of indoor batting cages…If they can’t manage their bodies to the extent to which they have become accustomed, will we see an increase in injuries?”

Ken Davidoff NY Post: Weird coronavirus baseball would be better than no baseball.

AP News: MLB projects $640K per game loss with no fans. 

Asian Baseball:

The Korea Times: Amid early home run surge, numbers show KBO batters are hitting ball harder.

No games in Korea or Taiwan today.

Yesterday it was NC Dinos 11 SK 5.  Aaron Altherr 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. (Box score). Aaron is hitting .205 in 11 games, 34 Abs, 7 hits, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB, 11K’s, 1BB.

Chris Flexen, 2 games, 2-0, 3.75 ERA, 12 innings, 13 hits, 5 runs (all earned), 2 BB, 12 Ks, 1.250 WHIP.

Drew Gagnon, 2 games, 0-2, 6.10 ERA, 10.1 innings, 12 hits, 8 runs, 7 earned, 3 BB, 14 Ks, 1.452 WHIP.

Here is KBO’s Scoreboard for yesterday and today.

Balk Off 💔 pic.twitter.com/meouPMyKYh

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 17, 2020

WHAT A PLAY!!

The @CTBC_Brothers infield executes the perfect play to catch the double-steal by the #UniLions! The call was later confirmed by video replay.#CPBL #CPBLwithFans #BaseballwithFans #Livebaseball pic.twitter.com/GukVEJStHK

— CPBL 中華職棒 (@CPBL) May 17, 2020

Last weekend at Mack’s Mets:

Reese Kaplan -- Art Howe's Mets 2-Year Tenure.

Mack – Draft News – Casey Martin, Heston Kjerstad, Ian Seymour, Kyle Mora, Seth Lonsway.

Mack – Draft News – Parker Chavers, Brian Klein, Jordan Nwogu, Burl Carraway, Robert Hassell.

Mack – Sunday Thoughts: Opening Baseball, 5-Round Draft, Safety Protocols, Kevin Mitchell, UDFAs.

Mack – The Draft.

Mack – Draft News – Brian Van Belle, Jesse Franklin, Dillon Dingler, Clayton Beeter, Markevian Hence.

Mack – Draft News – Pete Crow-Armstrong, Justin Lange, Mick Abel, Logan Allen, Carson McCusker.

Mack’s Blast From The Past: Mack Ade – Morning Report – 5-18-13. Mack looked at players that could have an impact in 2014 including: 2B-1B – Wilmer Flores – AAA: .265/.317/.429/.746,3-HR, 25-RBI, 5-E; C – Travis d’Arnaud – (DL) - AAA: .250/.429/.472/.901, 1-HR 8-RBI, 1-E; SP – Zack Wheeler – AAA – 8-ST, 2-1, 3.74, 1.34, 43.1-IP, 47-K, 18-BB.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born May 17:

• Dick Smith (1939)
• David Roseboom (1992)

Transactions:

New York Mets released Yogi Berra on May 17, 1965.

New York Mets released Raul Gonzalez on May 17, 2004.

New York Mets released Frank Catalanotto on May 17, 2010.

Houston Astros signed Kyle Farnsworth of the New York Mets as a free agent on May 17, 2014.

Born on this date:

• Steve Phillips (1963)
• Nelson Figueroa (1974)
• Connor Wollersheim (1997)

Baseball Reference:

1992 - Bruce Hurst of the San Diego Padres pitches a one-hit, 3 - 0 shutout against the New York Mets and Dwight Gooden. The only hit is a single by the recently-acquired Chico Walker.

2011: Five different games end in shutouts today. ESPN.com: Jonathan Niese pitched seven sharp innings and Justin Turner added to his surprising tear with a two-run double that sent New York to a 3-0 victory over the light-hitting Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. (Box Score).

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