Javier Baez almost has first altercation as a Met

Javier Baez homered in his first game as a Met and he nearly had his first altercation with them in his fourth game.

After flying out to right field to end the top of the eighth inning in the Mets’ 5-4 loss to the Marlins, Baez took his helmet off and made an aggressive move toward the mound. Marlins first baseman Jesus Aguilar and a few Mets players stepped in front of Baez, who appeared to be angry with reliever Richard Bleier.

“Javy is a guy that wears his emotions [on his sleeve],” manager Luis Rojas said over Zoom. “I think he heard something that was said to him, and he reacted.”

Baez is no stranger to confrontations. While with the Cubs, the fiery infielder was involved in an altercation with Reds reliever Amir Garrett. Baez was fined after leaping over the dugout railing to confront Garrett. He later taunted the southpaw in another game after picking up a game-winning hit against him.

Javier Baez is held back by Pete Alonso after Baez made an aggressive move at pitcher Richard Bleier after flying out in the eighth inning of the Mets' 5-4 loss to the Marlins.
Javier Baez is held back by Pete Alonso after Baez made an aggressive move at pitcher Richard Bleier after flying out in the eighth inning of the Mets’ 5-4 loss to the Marlins.
AP

One day later, Brandon Nimmo was back in the starting lineup batting leadoff — but for real this time.

The Mets had planned on Nimmo starting in the series opener against the Marlins on Monday, but he was a late scratch because the team’s performance staff didn’t feel he was completely ready after dealing with a minor hamstring injury. Nimmo looked fine in Tuesday’s 5-4 loss, going 1-for-4 and playing the entire game in center field.

After feeling a pinch in his hamstring in Friday’s loss to the Reds, Nimmo was out of the lineup Saturday, Sunday and Monday.


The Mets were without reliever Miguel Castro for just one day. After placing him on the COVID-19 list on Monday, they activated the right-hander Tuesday when his test came back negative. Castro had a fever Monday, so the Mets isolated him. He was available out of the bullpen, but wasn’t used. To make room for Castro on the roster, reliever Geoff Hartlieb was sent to Triple-A Syracuse.


Right-hander Robert Gsellman is ahead of schedule after suffering a partially torn right lat and could begin throwing soon, according to Rojas. On the injured list since June 21, Gsellman underwent a follow-up MRI recently which showed significant healing. Gsellman was a valuable piece to the Mets’ bullpen as a long reliever, notching a 3.71 ERA over 26.2 innings.

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