The former All-Star hurler hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2019 due to Tommy John surgery during spring training the following year.

Acting general manager Zack Scott acknowledged before Tuesday’s game against the Nationals that Syndergaard might not have enough time to build up his arm to work as a starting pitcher this season.

“I think I’ve said this before, that he’s someone that obviously has a lot of talent, has the potential to impact the game,” Scott said before the Mets game against the Nationals was suspended. “And at this point in the year — and you just mentioned the sense of urgency and coming in and contributing in a shorter relief outing, whether that’s a two or three inning outing or whatever it may be, I think getting him to help the big league club is, is the priority when you get down to these last couple months of the season.

“So if we can get him to come back in a relief role faster than he could — which is typically the case, typically you want to stretch a guy out to be a starter, it’s going to take longer rehab. So I think we’re looking at September, getting him back in September, in a role where he can help the club, whether in relief would be a good thing for us to do.”

The 28-year-old Syndergaard has been throwing off a mound for a couple of weeks, including Sunday in Philadelphia, but the Mets have announced no plans yet for him to begin a minor league rehab assignment.

Javier Baez was out of the lineup, but possibly available off the bench with what manager Luis Rojas described as back tightness after he left Sunday’s loss in Philadelphia with what the Mets initially termed hip tightness. Jonathan Villar started at shortstop.

With infielders Francisco Lindor, Luis Guillorme and Jose Peraza already on the injured list, Rojas said either Brandon Drury or Jeff McNeil would be the emergency shortstop.

Jacob deGrom’s planned two-week throwing shutdown from forearm tightness will end later this week. He then will undergo another MRI exam “and we’ll have a plan of care from there,” Scott said.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

Without singling any of them out specifically, Scott assigned some of the injury blame to the Mets’ players for not being compliant with the medical staff’s plans to keep them healthy. 

“In some cases, you can have the best plan, and if the plan’s not followed, that’s not going to necessarily yield a good result. Sometimes that’s the issue,” Scott said before Tuesday’s series opener against Nationals. “On the soft tissue [injuries], we’ve talked through each one, but there’s nothing that stood out to me as some egregious mistake in our process, in our treatment, in our training, that led to it. 

“I think there are specific examples where it’s clear that something could have been handled differently. Most of the time, to be honest, it’s compliance issues.” 

Star shortstop Francisco Lindor currently is on the injured list with an oblique injury, and deadline acquisition Javier Baez is day-to-day after leaving Sunday’s game in Philadelphia with hip tightness that has moved to his back. Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Carlos Carrasco and Robert Gsellman also have spent significant time on the injured list with soft-tissue ailments. Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis and Jose Peraza were sidelined with hand or finger injuries and ace starter Jacob deGrom is currently on the IL with right forearm stiffness. 

Scott added that he wasn’t attempting “to vilify [any] players,” and it is unclear which Mets he was speaking about specifically. 

When asked to elaborate on his “compliance” remark, Scottt said: “Actually following the plan. Because these are all individuals and control their own bodies and sometimes they’re not as compliant as they should be. That happens. I’ve seen that happen in the past. 

“Going back to the individualized approach. You’ve got to take ownership of your career and your health, as well. It’s really an easy narrative to put it on performance staff or put it on hitting coaches. But that’s oversimplified. This is a partnership with those groups and the players and everybody has to be pulling in the direction.” 

The Mets entered this six-game homestand with seven losses in their previous eight games to fall to just one game above .500 (56-55) for the season and from first place to third place in the NL East, 2 1/2 games behind the division-leading Phillies. They had lost 15 of their first 24 games since the All-Star break, and ranked second-to-last in MLB in runs scored, ahead of only the Pirates. 

“Obviously there’s plenty of games left, and we have a chance to still compete and win this division,” Scott said. “It’s baseball and … there’s always a chance, so you can’t get too down or too high when things are going well. 

“That said, we’ve played very mediocre baseball for most of the year. This recent stretch has been much worse than mediocre. We’d have taken mediocre at this point. For this stretch it’s been unacceptably bad, and we need to be better. But we’re not gonna panic because you can’t do that in this game.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen tweeted that he “visited” with the skidding team in the clubhouse before Sunday’s game in Philadelphia, adding the players “are ready and in a good frame of mind for this game.”

The Mets have lost 14 of their 23 games since the All-Star break, including five of six on their current road trip, to slip into second place in the NL East, 1 ½ games behind the Phillies.

Luis Rojas’ team also is just a half-game ahead of the third-place Braves, who play the Nationals at home on Sunday.

Following Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Phils, Rojas declared that “we’ve got to win [Sunday.]”

Veteran catcher James McCann noted the team needs to play with a “sense of urgency,” adding, “You can’t keep saying, ‘We’ll get them tomorrow, we’ll get them tomorrow,’ because the next thing you know you look up and it will be the middle of September and it will be too late. So there has to be a sense of urgency. But there’s a difference in a sense of urgency and panic.”

The Mets (56-54) have scored the second-fewest runs (416) in MLB, ahead of only the lowly Pirates (403).

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

Jets GM Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh huddled on the field with team doctors for several minutes after practice was halted.

Saleh said it’s a neck injury and that Clark had “some” movement in his extremities before leaving the facility, but was waiting on an evaluation.

The 23-year-old tackle was the Jets’ fourth-round pick in 2020 out of Charlotte, but he did not appear in any games. 

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

With Biles seated in the stands after the defending gold medalist dropped out of the team and individual competitions for mental-health reasons, the 18-year-old Lee became the fifth straight American to win the marquee individual event at the Summer Games.

Lee, whose father John was paralyzed in a 2019 tree-trimming fall from a ladder while helping a friend, already was the first Hmong-American Olympian in US history.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade stepped out of bounds twice on the floor exercise with a chance to surpass Lee, but she still became the first gymnast in her country’s history to earn a medal in the all-around. Angelina Melnikova of the Russian Olympic Committee grabbed the bronze. Biles’ replacement, Jade Carey, finished eighth.  

Team USA had earned the previous four Olympic golds in this event: Biles (2016 in Rio de Janeiro), Gabby Douglas (2012 in London), Nastia Liukin (2008 in Beijing) and Carly Patterson (2004 in Athens).

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Lee received a promising score of 14.600 with a double-twisting Yurchenko on her vault, not her strongest event, and the Minnesota native moved within seven-hundredths of point behind Andrade for the lead with a 15.300 with a stuck landing on the uneven bars. Lee nearly fell from the balance beam on a triple wolf turn but steadied herself for a score of 13.833, enough for her to take over the top spot by barely one-tenth of a point over Andrade entering the final rotation.

Lee’s score of 13.700 on floor exercise opened the door for Andrade to pass her to take the gold with a score of at least 13.801, but Andrade stepped outside the boundaries on two of her three tumbling passes for a 13.666.

Carey, who finished ninth overall in the preliminary round, made a small hop on her vault landing for a 15.200, one point behind Andrade in that rotation. But the 21-year-old Arizona resident scored a 13.5 on the uneven bars and then just an 11.533 following a fall from the balance beam to effectively eliminate her from medal contention.

The 24-year-old Biles had led the field following the qualifying round, but the four-time Olympic gold medalist withdrew following a faulty vault on her first rotation during Tuesday’s team competition finals.

Biles’ teammates – Lee, Grace McCallum and Jordan Chiles — earned the silver medal despite her absence, finishing behind the ROC contingent.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

“Physically, I feel good, I’m in shape,” the 24-year-old Biles told NBC’s Hoda Kotb after the team earned the silver medal following her departure. “Emotionally, that kind of varies on the time and moment. Coming to the Olympics and being head star isn’t an easy feat, so we’re just trying to take it one day at a time and we’ll see.

“I’m OK, just super frustrated of how the night, but super proud of these girls and now we’re silver medalists. Something we’ll cherish forever. We hope America still loves us.”

The four-time Olympic gold medalist would not commit to competing in the all-around competition that begins Thursday or the individual apparatus events.

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“We’re gonna take it day by day, and we’re just gonna see,” she said.

USA Gymnastics said earlier in a statement that Biles departure following her vault rotation was due to a unspecified “medical issue,” adding that she “will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.”

Biles also shared that her teammates “were freaking out” when she informed them of her decision to drop out of the competition.

“They were crying, and I was like, ‘You guys need to relax, you’re gonna be fine without me. Go out there, kick some butt just like you’ve done in training, and just lay it out on the floor and see what happens.’”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

According to the live Peacock broadcast, Biles’ withdrawal was not due to a physical injury, but a “mental issue she is having.”

One of Biles’ coaches told NBC that “physically she is fine, but she is done for tonight.”

The four-time Olympic gold medalist was being attended to by a trainer and left the floor at Ariake Gymnastics Center and was replaced during the second apparatus rotation, the uneven bars, by reserve Jordan Chiles.

Biles returned later to the floor sidelines wearing a Team USA warm-up suit to support her teammates.

Biles, who made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes on the floor exercise and vault in the qualifying round, scored a 13.766 on her vault Tuesday morning, opening up early out of a twist and taking a hop forward upon landing.

“Simone has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement. “She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.”

The 24-year-old Biles led the all-around standings after the qualifying round on Sunday, but the heavily favored American team trailed the Russian Olympic Committee squad entering the finals.

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“It wasn’t an easy day or my best but I got through it,” Biles wrote Monday in an Instagram post. “I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times.

“I know I brush it off and make it seem like pressure doesn’t affect me but damn sometimes it’s hard hahaha! The Olympics is no joke!”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

The U.S. Women’s National Team secured the point it needed to reach the quarterfinals Tuesday morning with a lackluster and mostly uneventful scoreless draw against Australia in Kashima.

“It was a great test for us today to see that the players can execute the game plan very, very well,” U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. “So whatever we feel like we need to do to win the [next] game, we’re going to present it to them and then let them do their job.”

The top-ranked Americans, who received two saves from goalie Alyssa Naeher in the dual clean sheet, finished the group stage with the same 1-1-1 record as the Aussies. Alex Morgan had a potential goal on a header disallowed by VAR (Video Assistant Referee) in the 33rd minute, when she was ruled offside on a corner kick taken by Kelley O’Hara.

The U.S. advanced to the quarterfinals as the second-place finisher based on a better goal differential.

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The USWNT dropped its opening match to group winner Sweden last week (3-0) before rebounding with a 6-1 victory over New Zealand. The top two finishers in each group and the two best third-place finishers advance to the quarters beginning Friday. As the second-place team in Group G, the Americans will face the winner of Group F, likely either Brazil or the Netherlands, at 7 a.m. ET Friday in Yokohama.

Australia, ranked ninth in the FIFA world rankings, still could advance as one of the third-place finishers.

The U.S. squad was knocked out by Sweden in penalty kicks in the Olympic quarterfinals in 2016 in Brazil before capturing its fourth World Cup title in 2019.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

The Americans led Team France by seven with under four minutes remaining, but the French scored the next 14 points for a shocking 83-76 victory Sunday at Saitama Super Arena.

Nets star Kevin Durant was in early foul trouble and had 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting in 21 minutes before fouling out in the closing seconds. Jrue Holiday net a team-high 18 and Bam Adebayo added 12 in a rocky start for the three-time defending gold medalists.

The loss marked Team USA’s first in the Olympics since it fell short of the medal stand in 2004.

Team USA’s next Pool A game is Wednesday against Iran, which lost its opener, 84-78, earlier Sunday to the Czech Republic.

Evan Fournier scored 28 points to lead Team France, which played without Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina, who sat out due to a leg injury.

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“They had a good run, but we just stuck with our game plan,” Fournier said. “Second, you have to be honest and look at their roster, they have guys who are pretty tired from playing in the NBA Finals. “We know they aren’t at full strength yet, but it was a good win regardless for us. It’s a hell of a win, and our country is going to be extremely proud”

France also had won the previous meeting between the two countries, in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup in 2019.

After dropping two of four exhibition games leading into the tournament, U.S. coach Gregg Popovich started returning gold medalists Durant and Draymond Green up front alongside Adebayo, with Damian Lillard (11 points) and Zach LaVine (eight) in the backcourt.

Milwaukee’s Holiday and Khris Middleton and Phoenix’s Devin Booker, who joined the team in recent days after participating in the NBA Finals, were among those coming off the bench. Pistons forward Jerami Grant, who dealt with COVID-19 issues leading up to The Games, was the lone player on the U.S. roster to not see any action.

The U.S. led 45-37 at the half, with Adebayo netting 10 and Lillard nine on three 3-pointers. But Vincent Poirier’s 3-point play completed a 12-3 French run to tie the game, 52-52, with 3:54 left in the third.

Nando De Colo’s 3-pointer a few possessions later gave France its first lead since the opening minutes, 55-54. Additional 3s by De Colo and Thomas Heurtel made it 62-56 after three, as the French outscored the U.S. 25-11 to close the quarter.

Holiday netted a dozen points in an 18-5 start to the fourth quarter, however, to give Team USA a seven-point advantage. But Fournier’s 3-pointer with 59.7 seconds remaining gave France a 76-74 lead

Durant sat down with his third foul with 4:33 left in the first half, and he picked up his fourth in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Durant front-rimmed an open look from long range with a chance to put the U.S. back on top, and De Colo drained two free throws for a four-point cushion with 21 ticks left on the clock.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

“It’s definitely something I think I have to earn and that’s definitely something I am going to try to do,” the 18-year-old hockey player said Saturday on a Zoom call.

Mailloux, a defenseman for the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League, had asked NHL teams not to select him in a social-media post earlier this week, writing: “I don’t feel I have demonstrated strong enough maturity or character” to be drafted this year.

He added Saturday that he hadn’t spoken since to any NHL team, including the Canadiens, before they chose him with the 31st overall selection of the first round.  

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said Friday that the organization “will work closely with [Mailloux] and give him the support he needs,” calling the criminal incident “very unacceptable and a serious mistake in judgment” and one “we truly don’t agree with in all senses of the word.”

Mailloux was on loan to Sweden’s SK Lejon when he received a fine for “Kränkande fotografering” (offensive photography constituting an invasion of privacy) and “Förtal” (defamation) on Nov. 7, 2020 in the northern town of Skelleftea, the Daily Faceoff reported.

The victim told The Athletic’s Katie Strang in an email earlier this week that she did not believe “that [Mailloux] has understood the seriousness of his behavior,” adding “All I wanted was a heartfelt apology for his behavior. The woman wrote that she did receive an apology from him via text message, but it was “no longer than three sentences.”

Mailloux said Saturday he hopes the victim understands how “sincerely sorry” he is and said he has been undergoing therapy for several months.

“It was totally irresponsible and a stupid act that I committed without thinking twice. For that lack of judgment on my part, I was fined by Swedish law,” Mailloux said. “I know I caused a lot of harm to this person and her family, and I regret doing this stupid and egotistical act. I deeply regret it.

“What I did now is, unfortunately, a part of both her life and mine. I’ve apologized to her, but nonetheless, this will follow her for the rest of her life. And for that, I deeply and sincerely regret it… I promise I won’t let anybody down and I want to use my personal story to be a part of the solution moving forward.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

Gorton’s replacement, Chris Drury, traded 20-goal scorer Pavel Buchnevich for bottom-six forward Sammy Blais and a 2022 second-round pick earlier Friday. He then drafted winger Brennan Othmann with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round. Rugged former Lightning forward Barclay Goodrow also was acquired and signed to a six-year, $21.85 million contract.

“I don’t know, you might have heard a rumor that the Rangers are trying to play a little harder,” Gorton quipped during the ESPN broadcast.

Over the last couple years, Gorton’s Rangers teams were criticized for not having enough toughness, leading Drury to make the aforementioned moves.

Fired team president John Davidson also was interviewed during the show. Davidson and Gorton were axed together on May 5, with Drury – the former assistant GM – taking over both roles.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

Bouncing back from what star Megan Rapinoe described as “getting our asses kicked” Wednesday in a 3-0 loss to Sweden, the top-ranked Americans easily dispatched New Zealand, 6-1, on Saturday in their second match at the Olympics.

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Four players scored for the USWNT – Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Christen Press and Alex Morgan – with the other two scores credited as own goals against New Zealand.

The result marked the team’s highest scoring output and margin of victory in any Olympic match

The loss to Sweden ended the Americans’ 44-match unbeaten streak, but Team USA can advance to the knockout round out of Group G with another win Tuesday  against Australia.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

Hours after the Mets traded for veteran lefty Rich Hill to fortify their rotation, Megill continued his unexpected rookie ascension Friday night by outdueling former Met Steven Matz in a 3-0 win at Citi Field to open an 11-game home stand.

Pete Alonso clubbed two home runs — and was shown carrying around a stuffed horse in the dugout after his second blast in the eighth inning — to account for all three runs in support of Megill, the Mets’ eighth-round draft pick in 2018 out of Arizona, and three relievers.

Megill tossed six scoreless innings for the second straight start, lowering his ERA over six big league outings to 2.10.

Edwin Diaz recorded his first save over his last four opportunities with a scoreless ninth, completing the first-place Mets’ first set of consecutive shutouts this season. Marcus Stroman and Jeurys Familia combined for a 7-0 one-hitter Wednesday in Cincinnati.

The 25-year-old Megill (1-0) earned his first major league win and recorded his first career hit — a single to right against Matz in the fifth inning.

Last weekend in Pittsburgh, Seth Lugo and Diaz had coughed up nine runs in the final two innings of a 9-7 Mets loss to flush the six-run lead with which Megill left that game.

The 6-foot-7 righty, who opened the season at Double-A Binghamton, allowed two singles with five strikeouts and one walk on just 78 pitches Friday before Lugo replaced him with a 2-0 lead to start the seventh inning.

Alonso provided the quick 2-0 lead with a two-run blast (his 20th of the season) into the left-field seats off Matz in the first inning. He rocked his second homer of the night, a 450-foot clout into the second deck in left-center against lefty reliever Ryan Borucki in the eighth for a 3-0 lead.

Alonso’s initial Mets on Matz crime came a few minutes after the Long Island-bred lefty had tipped his cap to a partial standing ovation from the Citi Field crowd. That followed a video tribute the Mets showed on the scoreboard after Megill had retired the side in the top of the first inning.

Matz, who is 8-5 with a 4.34 ERA in 17 starts this season, was traded to Toronto in the offseason after six seasons with the Mets. The Alonso homer marked the only two runs Matz allowed before departing to more cheers after recording two outs and issuing a walk to Michael Conforto in the home sixth.

Conforto had helped Megill post his final zero with a charging, belly-flop catch on Bo Bichette’s soft liner to right for the second out of the sixth.

“This kid is getting better each day, he’s learning … and I’m excited to watch him,” manager Luis Rojas said after Megill’s previous start. “This guy, as young as he is and as little experience he has at the big league level, he does a lot of good things.

“We’ve got ourselves a pitcher here when we’re in need. … I think this is a guy that can make a difference.”

Lugo, who was tagged for five earned runs in the eighth inning of Megill’s previous outing, worked a scoreless seventh Friday night. The righty setup man was aided by a heads-up play by second baseman Luis Guillorme, who backed up a ball booted by Alonso and nabbed Cavan Biggio at first for the third out.

After Trevor May got through the eighth unscathed, Diaz worked a perfect ninth for his 20th save of the season, but first in four chances since July 10 against the Pirates.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

The Blueshirts protected seven forwards, three defensemen and goalie Alexandar Georgiev, with their most notable exposures including newly acquired pending free agent Barclay Goodrow, fellow forwards Julien Gauthier, Colin Blackwell and Phillip Di Giuseppe, defensemen Tony DeAngelo, Anthony Bitetto and Brendan Smith and third-string goalie Keith Kinkaid.

After dealing center Brett Howden to the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, the Rangers protected forward Kevin Rooney as their seventh forward. The others protected were Artemi Panarin, Mike Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich, Ryan Strome and Filip Chytil, and defensemen Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek.

The expansion draft will take place Wednesday, with Seattle selecting 30 players — one from each team’s availability list, excluding the Golden Knights, who joined the NHL in 2017. Teams were allowed to protect either eight skaters and one goalie or seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie.

All first- and second-year professionals and unsigned draft choices, are exempt from selection and did not need to be protected. Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere, K’Andre Miller and Igor Shesterkin fell into this category with the Rangers, among others.

Among those left available by the Islanders are mainstays Josh Bailey and Jordan Eberle, forwards Leo Komarov, Kieffer Bellows and Otto Koivula and defensemen Andy Greene and Sebastian Aho.

The Devils left former Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban, who has a $9 million cap hit entering the final year of his contract, unprotected.

Other big names available for the Kraken include: Canadiens goalie Carey Price, 2019 Norris winner Mark Giordano (Flames) and Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Kraken began an exclusive 72-hour window Sunday morning to negotiate with exposed pending free agents such as Alexander Ovechkin and Gabriel Landeskog.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

“Dear fans, thank you. During the incident last night outside of the ballpark, you handled yourselves in a very admirable manner,” the team said Sunday morning in a statement. “You stayed calm. You helped one another. We have always known that we have the best fans in baseball.

“Last night, you showed it. [Nationals manager] Davey Martinez said it best, our fans are our family. Thank you.”

The shooting outside the third-base gate left at least four people injured, according to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. The gunfire could be heard inside the stadium during the sixth inning of the game, causing players such as Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. to retrieve their families and groups of fans from the stands into the dugouts. Other fans fled to the concourse or ducked behind their seats.

Martinez was quoted by a fan in the Washington Post as telling a security guard that the fans congregating in the Nationals dugout and clubhouse “are family, they are our fans.”

Fans initially were directed by the stadium public address announcer to “please remain calm and remain inside the stadium,” before they eventually were asked to exit through the outfield gates.

The Padres led, 8-4, in the sixth inning when the game was suspended. It is slated to resume at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the regularly scheduled game to follow.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

The two-time Cy Young Award winner will not pitch either Sunday or Monday, as the team had hoped, although an MRI exam administered Saturday showed “no structural damage,” according to manager Luis Rojas.

“He told me this [Saturday], by the way — I didn’t know about this. He told me that he felt it in a side that he threw before the break,” Rojas said of when deGrom first experienced the tightness. “He played catch at home and intended to throw a side there, too, and he felt the tightness again and he just stopped. … It’s a similar feel that he has in between sides sometimes with forearm tightness and it goes away, but this time it hasn’t gone away and that’s why right now he’s just getting treatment.

“Right now we’re treating the player for what he feels and what’s getting in the way of him doing his work. So that’s how we are approaching it right now, day to day, until he feels good that he can throw, but right now he’s not throwing. Until that tightness is gone, we’re just not going to have him throw.”

Taijuan Walker, who replaced deGrom on the National League roster for the All-Star Game this past Tuesday in Denver, will start Sunday’s series finale against the Pirates.

“Walker is going [Sunday] for us and we were TBA waiting on Jake to throw his side [on Friday],” Rojas said. “When he was throwing his side he felt some tightness in his forearm, and he didn’t finish his side.

“So we’re evaluating him. He has been getting treatment so we’ll see where he’s at, but right now he’s not pitching Monday, either. We are approaching him day-to-day at this time.”

The 33-year-old deGrom, who leads MLB with a 1.08 ERA, hasn’t pitched since July 7 after dealing with three different physical issues in the first half, including flexor tendinitis in his right arm and shoulder soreness last month.

Rojas had said Friday that the Mets’ ace wouldn’t pitch in Pittsburgh this weekend to maximize his starts against NL East opponents in the second half.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

The Yankees right fielder finished second behind injured Angels superstar Mike Trout among American League outfielders, with Teoscar Hernandez of the Blue Jays nabbing the other starting nod.

Judge, who is batting .282 with 18 homers and 42 RBIs with a .904 OPS in 75 games, will start in the Midsummer Classic for the third time. He had been named last week as one of nine finalists for the three starting outfield spots. DJ LeMahieu also was among three finalists at second base, but he finished behind starter Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays in the final phase of fan balloting.

The remaining AL starters are Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, Royals catcher Salvador Perez, Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts and Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, with the pitchers and reserves being named on Sunday for the July 13 game at Coors Field in Denver.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

“Am I mad at what I see? Absolutely,” Steinbrenner said on a Zoom call as the Yankees’ afternoon game against the Angels was postponed due to forecasted inclement weather. ”I’m aggravated. Frustrated. Angry. But that’s not going to push me to a knee-jerk reaction to get rid of somebody.”

The fans that remained at Wednesday’s ninth-inning giveaway loss to the Angels – with closer Aroldis Chapman giving up a game-tying grand slam in a seven-run inning – chanted for Boone to be fired. The $201 million Yanks are 41-39 at essentially the season’s midway point, with five losses in their last six games, a streak that includes being swept by the Red Sox over the weekend in Boston.

“We’re not going to get down. We’ve had tough losses before. We’re going to do everything we can to win, win, win,” Steinbrenner said.

Boone said Steinbrenner has been “very supportive,” yet “pretty pointed with some comments at times about what’s going on, and ‘Hey, this needs to be better.”

Steinbrenner added he would “absolutely consider” going over the luxury tax with the team’s payroll if the front office believed such an addition would help the Yanks become a championship contender. He also said being a seller at the trade deadline is “not a direction I’m contemplating.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani homered in his first at-bat — and DJ LeMahieu’s error led to the go-ahead run in the fifth inning — as the sloppy and sliding Yankees dropped their fourth straight game Monday, 5-3 to the Angels, before an announced crowd of 25,054 at the Stadium.

“We just haven’t showed up every night,” Giancarlo Stanton said after the game. “We have spurts of it. But this game, these seasons, this uniform — it isn’t about spurts. It’s about showing up every night. We just have to figure it out. We’re just not collectively as a group performing as we should, as we envisioned.”

Aaron Boone also didn’t mince words before the game as his fourth-place team (now 40-38) returned home following an alarming three-game sweep in Boston. He bluntly stated multiple times that the Yankees’ “season is on the line.”

“I’m disappointed we lost, certainly we understand where we are and the importance of these [games],” Boone said afterward. “Certainly frustrating coming off a very tough weekend.”

Boone’s team is now 7 ½ games behind the Red Sox, who finished off their weekend sweep at Fenway with a 9-2 victory Sunday with Yanks ace Gerrit Cole on the mound.

“There’s always one to point the finger at, whether deserving or not. We’re the ones performing. You can’t put that on him,” Stanton said of Boone. “We’re the ones that go up and have the opportunity to spin that around. I don’t think that’s fair to put that blame on him.”

Boone said the organization continues to discuss potential changes, but has remained patient with the hope the team will rediscover the consistency that led to a 13-5 run in mid-May

“I think there is a level of patience that we all have because of the faith we have in our group and each other. But also we’re a team that expects to be really good,” Boone said. “We’re a team that expects to compete for a championship.

“We’re getting to the middle of the season. There’s a lot of calendar that’s gone off the clock already.”

Ohtani, who is slated to pitch Wednesday night’s game, put Yanks starter Mike King in an early hole as the game’s second batter. He drilled a full-count curveball into the right-field bleachers — with an exit velocity of 117 mph — for his 26th homer of the season to tie Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the major league lead.

King, who had called Ohtani “an absolute freak of nature” on Sunday, also gave up a second run on Jared Walsh’s double to left-center.

King didn’t allow another run until the fifth, after the Yanks had tied the score against ailing Angels starter Dylan Bundy. They plated single runs in each of the first two innings on an RBI groundout by Gary Sanchez and a solo homer by Gio Urshela.

Bundy departed with what the Angels later described as heat exhaustion, after vomiting behind the mound with LeMahieu batting with two outs in the second inning.

“I feel bad for him, he was pitching, I don’t know what really happened there,” Urshela said. “Not good for him. I hope he’s OK.”

Bundy’s replacement, Jose Suarez, silenced the Yankee bats into the sixth, one inning after the Angels had regained the lead. LeMahieu booted Walsh’s grounder following Rendon’s one-out double to put runners on the corners. He then got handcuffed on Max Stassi’s sharp grounder and only was able to record one out at second base as Rendon scored.

After ex-Met Juan Lagares and Stanton traded homers in the sixth, the Yanks’ recent spell of sloppiness continued in the eighth, even though LeMahieu wasn’t charged with a second error. His relay throw sailed over Sanchez’s head on Jose Iglesias’ RBI double against Chad Green for a 5-3 game.

“We can throw out all the sayings. Talk is cheap, we’ve got to go do it,” Boone said. “As disappointing and as frustrating as we are to not grab this first one, especially coming off the weekend we had, we’ve got to go play [Tuesday] and try to dig ourselves out of this.

“We need to put things together … and we have to do it with the guys in that room.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte

The retired Giants quarterback took part in an exchange of Father’s Day jokes with former center Shaun O’Hara, in a video posted Sunday by the team’s official Twitter account.

Of Brady, whose Patriots lost twice in the Super Bowl to the Giants, Manning asked: “What is Tom Brady’s favorite wine?”

He immediately answered his own question in a high-pitched impression, while flailing his arms up and down: “I can’t beat the Giants!”

O’Hara laughed and responded “You can’t throw it and catch it,” channeling Brady’s wife, Gisele Bundchen, who once was caught on video yelling at a heckling fan, “My husband cannot f—ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.”

After Manning repeated O’Hara’s words, Eli added, “That’s not really a joke, it’s kind of very true.”

He then moved on to a quip about his older brother Peyton.

“What happened when Peyton Manning told his receivers a joke?” Eli asked. “It went over their heads.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Peter Botte