Baseball this 'n' that

Who did the Mets offend to have four players go on the disabled list this week?

First, it was reliever Josh Smoker, who was placed on the DL earlier this week, with Rafael Montero recalled from Las Vegas. Then, after Wednesday's game vs. the World Champion Cubs, pitcher Matt Harvey, who went just 4 innings (shoulder) and 2nd baseman Neil Walker (hamstring) were added. Filling the defensive gap for Walker isn't as bad as you'd think. T. J. Rivera was recalled and started at second in Thursday's loss to Washington.

But, it was in that game that outfielder Juan Lagares injured his thumb, and will likely have been placed on the DL as these words are being written. Lagares is regarded as one of the better defensive outfielders the Mets have. The Mets just got slugger Yoenis Cespedes back from the DL, and avoided placing Michael Conforto on the list, preferring instead to let him rest a stiff back--he missed the Cubs series--before he was inserted in the game Thursday after Lagares went down.

These are troubled times in Flushing Meadows.
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Y'think maybe the Mets regretted letting utility infielder Ty Kelly go earlier this season?

Kelly has gone from Flushing to Toronto to Philadelphia, and helped the Phillies beat Boston on Thursday night. Trust me, this will come back to haunt the Mets when they play the Phillies again. Just sayin', 'cause that's how it seems to work. Just ask the Nationals' Daniel Murphy, who has owned his former club since signing with Washington last year.
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Three days after the MLB Entry Draft, the Tri-City Valleycats held their annual Education Day exhibition on Thursday, playing host to the Albany Dutchmen of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, a short-season league that starts right at the end of the college season, and wraps in July.

The Dutchmen, in first place in their division in the PGCBL, took advantage of the 'Cats' hospitality and spoiled former Astro & Yankee infielder Morgan Ensberg's debut in front of the home fans with a 3-2 win. As Houston signs their draft picks and figures out where to assign them over the next few days, the 'Cats will open the NY-Penn League season at Connecticut on Monday before the home opener Wednesday vs. Lowell. Something tells me, however, that we could be in for a long summer in the home district.......!
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While the Nationals are in New York this weekend, the annual Congressional Baseball Game was played Thursday night in Washington, with the Democrats beating the Republicans like a pack of government mules, 11-2. This year's edition got more publicity than usual when a lone gunman opened fire during practice in Alexandria, Va. on Wednesday, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and three others. I would think, too, that this year's game would also honor the memory of former Senator and major league pitcher Jim Bunning, who passed away last month.