Marcus Stroman’s acrimonious departure from the Mets doesn’t necessary mean that No. 0 is going out with him. The Mets this week have signed veteran reliever Adam Ottavino to a 1-year contract.
Ottavino, who’s notable around here for having come though the same Brooklyn little league baseball program my kid plays in, is a former Cardinal, Rockie, Yankee and Red Sock, and has worn 0 — for O, you know — since 2013 so it’s a fair bet that’s what he’ll suit up in here, though the Mets as of this morning hadn’t updated their numerical roster yet.
Stroman, who’s listed in 0 on the Cubs’ roster, by the way, always came off to me as one of those guys who had to invent things to be pissed off about in order to maintain an edge he thought he needed. That’s a really hard demeanor to sustain as a ballplayer and though we missed having clubhouse reporters to pass it along surely something wasn’t right with the chemistry.
In other news, Brad Hand, the 63rd and final Met of last year’s record-smashing player personnel explosion, has gone and signed with the Phillies. Hand wore 52 last season, one of two. The other, Jake Reed, is still on the 40, and still listed in 72 so let’s watch that.
The powerful database where my number data resides is unhappy: It wants me to assign uniform numbers to the five guys who played in the resumption of last Tuesday’s suspended game who joined the club following its beginning back in April: This is because the stats accrued “belong” to the game initially scheduled. OK, so I backdated Patrick Mazeika, Brandon Drury and Heath Hembree with no issues. Chance Sisco is now ahead of, and also behind, Anthony Banda in progression of Met 77s.