On-Base Perception
Newsday's new all-encompassing baseball blog on the Yankees, Mets, MLB and more from around the sport.
Anthony Rieber
Anthony Rieber has been at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998 and in his current position since July 4, 2004. Before that he worked for eight years at the NY Daily News, where he was best known for the headline "Clueless Joe" when the Yankees hired Joe Torre. He is also responsible for the lesser-known headline "Yanks Top Tribe in 10."
Ivan Nova hurt again, Vidal Nuno to get start
Photo credit: AP
So much for Ivan Nova’s quick recovery.
The righthander, on the disabled list since April 27 with inflammation of the right triceps, was scheduled to start Game 2 of Monday’s doubleheader in Cleveland.
However, Nova “felt something in his left side” while playing catch Sunday morning, according to manager Joe Girardi.
This is a new injury, though Girardi couldn’t say what it was...
Read more »Matt Harvey's WAR puts him on pace to join some elite company
Photo credit: Jim McIsaac
How good is Matt Harvey? Let's go to WAR to find out.
WAR is an advanced metric that calculates a player's offensive and defensive contributions over what a replacement-level player would add. The Mets righthander, who is 4-0 with a 1.28 ERA and 58 strikeouts and has two brushes with no-hitters, already owns a 1.9 WAR (using FanGraphs calculation methods) this season, or 0.27 per start. If...
Read more »Mets' Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Jordany Valdespin out of lineup against Pittsburgh Pirates
Photo credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
A few notes as the Mets prepare to take on the Pirates on Thursday night:
1. Manager Terry Collins put a priority on loading the lineup with righthanded bats against Pirates lefty Jeff Locke. So, that means Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Jordany Valdespin will watch as the Mets go with Justin Turner, Juan Lagares and Marlon Byrd.
Collins said the slumping Davis figures to be back in the lineup...
Read more »David Phelps batting eighth for Yankees against Colorado Rockies
Photo credit: David Pokress
Desperate for an offensive spark, the Yankees are turning to...David Phelps?
Yes, you read that right: Phelps, Wednesday night's starter, will bat eighth on Wednesday night against the Rockies at Coors Field.
Phelps will bat ahead of catcher Austin Romine and behind third baseman Chris Nelson.
The last time a Yankees starting pitcher batted eighth in the lineup? Don Larsen, back...
Read more »Poll results: What to do with the DH?
Photo credit: Jim McIsaac
Far from scientific, here are the results from our most recent reader poll about baseball, based on 905 votes:
What should be the future of the designated hitter position?
50% -- Abolish the DH from the American League
33% -- Give the National League the DH
17% -- Keep it the way it is
The next reader poll can be found on the right....
Read more »Jay Horwitz continues to tweak media about Matt Harvey joke
Photo credit: Twitter
The Mets may take forever to win a baseball game, but give them this: they're quick with a joke.
Or at least their longtime director of media relations is.
Jay Horwitz, the team's PR guru since 1980, set off a mini firestorm on Tuesday after jokingly tweeted that Matt Harvey would be allowed to miss Wednesday's game in order to attend the Rangers playoff game at Madison Square Garden....
Read more »MLB's top tweets from Tuesday
Photo credit: Jim McIsaac
Each of the 30 teams in baseball have a 40-man roster, various injured players, top prospects, interesting minor league veterans, beat reporters, blogs and stat-minded followers.
Basically, we’re saying that’s a whole lot of people to follow on Twitter.
But we follow them so you don’t have to and every morning we’ll embed the top tweets from the previous 24 hours:
1. Matt Harvey’s...
Read more »Mets PR joke causes backlash at Matt Harvey
Photo credit: David Pokress
First things first: Matt Harvey is NOT missing Wednesday's Mets game in order to cheer on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in Game 4 of their playoff series against the Washington Capitals.
Longtime Mets director of media relations Jay Horwitz caused a stir Tuesday morning when he tweeted: "Matt Harvey has Mets permission to skip game tomorrow and be at MSG to root on Rangers. Matt...
Read more »Edgardo Alfonzo joins Mets' Banner Day judging panel
Photo credit: AP, 2002
The Mets revived their Banner Day tradition last year to help celebrate the 50th anniversary, and this year, they're adding a familiar face to the celebration.
Former Mets infielder Edgardo Alfonzo will be a judge for Banner Day before the Mets' game against the Pirates on May 11 at Citi Field. He joins SNY's Kevin Brukhardt and 92.3 Now's Ty Bentli on the panel.
The team describes Banner...
Read more »Yankees prospects report
Photo credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
How the Yankees’ top minor league prospects have fared so far this season (all stats through Friday):
1. Mason Williams OF | Tampa Yankees (Single A Advanced) .258 BA, .379 OBP, .392 SLG, 2 HR, 10 RBIs Williams has walked just as many times as he’s struck out – 18 times.
2. Slade Heathcott OF | Trenton Thunder (Double A) .169 BA, .258 OBP, .260 SLG, 1 HR, 7 RBIs Has struggled to hit...
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