Mets and Phillies slated to play London series next season, source says
A general view of the action during the MLB London Series game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium on June 30, 2019 in London, England. Credit: Getty Images
CINCINNATI — In 2024, you can meet the Mets, meet the Mets, step right up and greet the Mets . . . on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Mets and Phillies are penciled in to play a series in London next season, a source said Tuesday, part of MLB’s ongoing and recently increased effort to expand its reach internationally.
As part of the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ union, negotiations that resulted in the end of the 2021-22 lockout, the sides agreed to put on games or exhibition-type events in London, Paris, Mexico, Asia, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic through 2026.
The tentative plan is for the Dodgers and Padres to open the 2024 season in Seoul, South Korea, with Japan a backup option if logistical issues cannot be sorted out, according to Sports Illustrated, which first reported the Mets-Phillies plans. And the Astros and Rockies are lined up to play in Mexico City in 2024.
MLB staged its first games in Europe in 2019, when the Yankees and Red Sox played twice at London Stadium. Following a pandemic-induced hiatus from such ventures, the league is returning with a pair of contests between the Cardinals and Cubs in June, which comes after Giants-Padres in Mexico last month.
MLB has played games outside of the continental United States for decades, beginning with a Mets-Padres series in Mexico in 1996.
The Mets were scheduled to play the Marlins in Puerto Rico in 2020, but that got scrapped when the pandemic hit.
Marte moved
Back in the lineup Tuesday following one game on the bench, a slumping Starling Marte found himself in a new spot in the batting order: sixth, his first time batting anywhere other than second in a year.
Marte entered the day batting .213 with a .569 OPS.
“It’s got potential to help our lineup in a lot of ways,” said manager Buck Showalter. “We’re always trying to present nine guys that you gotta grind against. That’s kind of a utopic way of looking at it. It probably very seldom ever happens. But I look for Starling to get it going and work his way back up.”
Marte in the past has expressed a strong preference not to move from the No. 2 spot. Showalter said Marte was “on board” with this move, the possibility of which he had discussed with the rightfielder in recent days.
Carrasco update
In his first rehabilitation start, Carlos Carrasco (right elbow bone spur) went three innings for Double-A Binghamton, throwing just 33 pitches. He allowed one run, three hits and a walk and struck out one. He is likely to need at least another minor-league outing before the Mets activate him.
With David Lennon
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
