Four-guard lineup helps the Wolfpack edge the Hurricanes

DJ Horne scored 24 points to lead NC State to a 74-68 win over Miami Tuesday night at PNC Arena. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Pack and raised their conference record to 6-4. It was a Quad 2 win, upping their record to 4-7 in games in the first two quads. [...]

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Remembering pitching coaches Rube Walker and Mel Stottlemyre

A point of commonality for the two Mets championship seasons of 1969 and 1986 was that both teams possessed an excellent pitching coach, Rube Walker for the ‘69 squad and Mel Stottlemyre in ‘86. Walker was a baseball lifer, his playing career was mostly as a backup catcher, first for the Cubs, then for the [...]

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One area of improvement for Francisco Alvarez

The New York Mets overall had a disappointing 2023 season. One of the few brights spots in that season was rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez. In his first full season in the major leagues, Alvarez showed glimpses of why he was the Mets No. 1 prospect, heading into 2023. Offensively, he showed his power in big [...]

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Mets Minors: Offseason deep dive on Colin Houck

Biography: The Mets spent their 32nd overall pick in the 2023 draft to bring aboard a shortstop named Colin Houck.  The high school infielder boasted tremendous offensive numbers and athleticism that allowed him to perform as a two-sport athlete. He received scholarship offers from a number of serious schools to continue his football career as [...]

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Steve Cohen and his plan to rebuild in New York

At this point it should be obvious to everyone that the Mets are trying to thread the needle with their moves this offseason. They’re trying to assemble a team capable of making the playoffs this year, while maintaining payroll flexibility for the future. My opinion is that the flexibility is for 2026. With the additions [...]

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Another bad shooting night dooms State in Syracuse

The gang that couldn’t shoot straight strikes again. N.C. State shot a dismal 21% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. They trailed by 16 at the half, by as many as 21 in the second half and wound up on the short side of a 77-65 score in a conference loss at Syracuse, [...]

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Mets bring back Adam Ottavino for third season

After turning down his $6.75 million player option after being unable to secure a multi-year deal, Adam Ottavino rejoins the Mets on a 1/$4.5 million deal. His option contained deferred money, so he may not be as bad off as it appears on first glance. But it works out well for the Mets, who bring [...]

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The 2024 Mets may be greater than the sum of their parts

  “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Maya Angelou’s famous quote was commentary on relationships rather than the state of an MLB franchise, of course, but it nonetheless seems fitting when assessing the Mets’ offseason. As Brian touched on earlier this month, they’ve done what they said they were [...]

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Mets 2024 projections: Pete Alonso

Most people see Pete Alonso hit 46 HR and drove in 118 runs and figure it was another great season. But his wRC+ - the most-advanced tool we have to rate offensive productivity – dropped 20 points, putting 2023 just a single point ahead of his 2020 season. And after posting 3.8 fWAR in 2022, [...]

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How many starts in center field will Harrison Bader, Brandon Nimmo and others get in 2024?

Recently, Brandon Nimmo was voted as the second-best LF in MLB. It’s always nice to see players on your favorite team rated so highly. But why is everyone so ready to declare Nimmo as a corner outfielder? Sure, in an ideal world, Nimmo is a corner outfielder. But are the 2024 Mets living in an [...]

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