Morning Briefing: José Quintana Withdraws From World Baseball Classic
Jose Quintana. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Good morning, Mets fans!
José Quintana announced on his Instagram that he will no longer be playing for Colombia in the World Baseball Classic this month. The decision comes after Quintana left his appearance in Sunday’s game early due to left-side tightness. Quintana said in his post that he’s been dealing with problems on the left side before Sunday’s appearance. He will now focus on being healthy for the start of the regular season.
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Kodai Senga made his first appearance of spring training Sunday, tossing two innings and allowing one hit, one run, and two walks with two strikeouts. Senga threw 42 pitches, 24 of which were strikes, and sat around 97 miles per hour on his fastball.
“He’s good, man. Good fastball. Thought the slider was really good. Obviously, he was a little erratic in that first inning, but he seems like he’s got plus stuff and it seems like he’s going to be really good for them,” Nolan Arenado said of Senga to Katie Woo of The Athletic after the game.
Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso both homered, and Tim Locastro and Abraham Almonte continued to impress as the Mets defeated the Cardinals 7-1. The Mets’ bullpen combined for seven scoreless innings, highlighted by Bryce Montes de Oca striking out two in a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
The Mets received some good news on David Peterson after he was drilled by a comebacker on Saturday, as he was diagnosed with just a bruised left foot. The Mets say Peterson is day-to-day.
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The investigation of White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger has concluded, and he will not face discipline for his actions. Furthermore, Clevinger has agreed to comply with MLB and the MLBPA on evaluations and their recommendations.
Rays radio announcer Dave Wills passed away early Sunday morning at the age of 58. Wills had been with the team since 2005 and was extremely popular and well-liked by fans and his coworkers. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Wills was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia during the final weeks of the regular season, which is an arrhythmia that affects the heart’s upper chambers. He returned to the team for the Wild Card Series and looked to be in good shape this spring according to the Rays. The team canceled Sunday’s radio broadcast and held a moment of silence before their game.
Yesterday was like every other day for the last 18 years. Sharing. Laughs. Baseball. Fun. No way to know it was the last time. Sadness beyond words today. It always felt like we were actual brothers. Will miss him forever. Love to him and his family. pic.twitter.com/pHnHAbwL2J
— Andrew Freed (@AndrewFreed33) March 5, 2023
The Rockies have reached an agreement on a minor-league contract with three-time All-Star Mike Moustakas. The 34-year-old is coming off another injury-plagued year for the Reds, in which he hit just .214/.295/.345 (74 OPS+) with seven homers and negative-1.0 rWAR in 285 plate appearances. The Reds released him from the last year of his four-year $64 million contract in January.
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Ricky Keeler previews Pool C of the World Baseball Classic.
Anthony Gabbianelli recaps Sunday’s win over the Cardinals.
On This Date in Mets History
2016: Despite new rules coming into place, the Commissioner’s office overturns the two-game suspension issued to Chase Utley for his slide that injured Ruben Tejada in the NLDS. The league comes to the decision because the rules on sliding were too vague at the time of the play.
Birthdays: Cookie Rojas (84)
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