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PORT ST. LUCIE – Before leaving the Mets clubhouse at Clover Park for a week back home in New York on March 6, 2020, I told Jacob deGrom we would continue our interview upon my return to spring training.

Two years later, I got back into the Mets clubhouse.

If coverage throughout the sport seems more insightful and colorful this spring, it’s because reporters have been allowed back in MLB clubhouses after two seasons of COVID restrictions.