213 Miles From Shea

The Mets have played 5 games this year. The Mets have to make up 4 games already this year.

The calendar continues to get more complicated for the Mets as they had to postponed yesterday’s game due to rain, thus adding another game to happen at a later time. Yesterday’s game should have never started, but for some reason it did. Marcus Stroman allowed a lead off hit, then Conforto made a tough catch fighting the rain. The umpires called for a delay and many hours later, called the game. It’s absurd that the game even started, wasting a Stroman start. It is unclear if he can pitch on short rest this week.

Further complicating if Stroman can come into another game this year – the weather. There should be rain showers tonight, Wednesday and Thursday. It’s unclear right now if the rain will be enough to call for a delay or postpone the game. The Mets have a soggy week ahead of them as they struggle to find consistent schedule to play baseball.

Meanwhile, the Phillies come to Queens tonight fresh off of avoiding a sweep by Atlanta. Similar to the Mets a couple of days ago, their game last night was essentially decided by a controversial call at home plate. Alec Bohm was rounding the bases and looked to be tagged out by our old friend Travis d’Arnaud. The Braves called for a replay and MLB offices in New York confirmed the incorrect call on the field. This ended up being the deciding run in the game.

David Peterson gets the start for the Mets tonight as he looks for redemption from his first start of the year. In his first start, he allowed 6 runs off of 7 hits and 2 walks in 4.0 innings. The line is a little confusing though. He had a terrible first inning. He allowed a short homer early on in the inning and then the wheels came off and he ended up allowing a total of 4 runs. Then he settled down and did quite well for the next several innings. He got off to a rough start in the 5th, was pulled and Barnes allowed a 3-run homer immediately in relief, tagging Peterson for an extra two runs. The Phillies have the following numbers against Peterson:

• Rhys Hoskins 4-5, 2 2B, 2 HR, K
• Alec Bohm 1-3, HR, K
• Bryce Harper 3-5, 2B, K
• Jean Segura 1-3, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Matt Joyce 0-1
• J.T. Realmuto 0-1, 3 BB
• Didi Gregorius 1-3, 2 K
• Andrew McCutchen 0-3, BB
• Adam Haseley 0-2

The Mets bats will get another look at Chase Anderson, who make his second start of the season tonight. His first start, also against the Mets, went alright for Anderson. He allowed 2 runs off 2 hits (including a homer) and 2 walks while striking out 3 over 5.0 innings. This was much better than his 2020 season where he posted a 7.22 ERA, 6.16 FIP, 1.634 WHIP and a 61 ERA+ over 33.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Dominic Smith 1-3, HR, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-8, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 3-15, 3 HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Jose Peraza 6-21, 2B, 3B, HR, BB, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 1-5, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Kevin Pillar 2-8, 2 2B, K
• Albert Almora Jr 3-17, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-5, 2B, BB
• Francisco Lindor 0-5, BB, K
• James McCann 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

For a second straight series the Mets will play a rubber game. On Thursday the Mets won the series opener on a controversial call where Conforto was hit by a pitch in the strike zone, which should have been called strike 3. Yesterday the Mets got a masterpiece of a game from Jacob deGrom where he struck out 14 Marlins, but the offense couldn’t get anything going against Trevor Rogers (a theme from last year too) and the Mets eventually lost 3-0.

So the Mets will try to get back to .500 today! Game 6 of the season! Over the first six games, the Mets have shown two early trends. First, the starting pitching is good, and is only going to get better when Carrasco and Syndergaard return. Second, the trend from last year were the Mets could get hits with the bases loaded and did nothing with RISP continues. I’m a big believer that over time, these averages should be the same. Hopefully the Mets can start to work on correcting that today.

Marcus Stroman will make his second start of the season today. In his first start of the season, he allowed 1 run off a solo homer and 3 hits over 6.0 innings while walking 2 and striking out 3. Very few Marlins have seen Stroman in a real game before. Stroman missed the Marlins when he was traded to the Mets in 2019. He sat out 2020 and the Marlins roster turned over so many times in the last couple of years and was filled in with homegrown players, there are only three Marlins that have seen him:

• Adam Duvall 2-3, HR, K
• Corey Dickerson 14-33, 5 2B, 2 HR, BB, 5 K
• Starling Marte 1-5

As of right now, the Marlins have not named a starter for today’s game. Don Mattingly said after the game last night he’s considering doing an opener for today. Craig Mish, a Marlins beat writer, speculates that two names we could see in this scenario are John Curtiss and Paul Campbell. Curtiss so far this year has allowed 2 runs from 5 hits over 2.2 innings while walking none and striking out 3. For the Rays last year he pitched in 17 games, making 3 starts, and totaled 25.0 innings with a 1.80 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 0.960 WHIP and 232 ERA+. In his one game against the Mets he allowed 2 runs from 4 hits over 2.1 innings. Paul Campbell made his major league debut earlier this year where he allowed 3 runs from 4 hits in 2.0 innings against the Rays.

Let’s Go Mets!

No matter how many years I watch baseball, I’ll never get used to the off-day after the opener game (incase it rains). Not having a game on a Friday during the season is so strange. Anyway, the Mets return to baseball today after the off-day on Friday. Several Mets took advantage of the off-day to get vaccinated after the game to protect against Covid!

Speaking of things we almost never see – how about the ending of Thursday’s game? The Mets were leading 1-0 most of the game, still struggling to get hits with RISP when the Nationals went up 2-1 in the 6th inning. Everything that happened since that point has basically washed over the original story line of the game – Taijuan Walker looked great! The score stayed 2-1 until the bottom of the 9th when Jeff McNeil, on his birthday, smacked a solo homer to tie the game. The Mets then proceeded to load the bases for Michael Conforto, who may (probably did) lean into the pitch, got hit, and the Mets won the game. The umpires announced after the game that it was the wrong call and Conforto should have been called out on strikes.

There will probably be some karma correcting this for the Mets at some point. Here’s how I’m thinking of it – the Mets whole start of the season was ruined by the Nationals. The Mets got rusty, and another team, the Braves, got to face a depleted Nationals team in a less obtrusive way to their own schedule. This was the universe giving the Mets something back. Now the universe owes the Marlins something. Here’s hoping it isn’t going to come at the Mets expense.

It’s also Jacob deGrom day! The last Jacob deGrom day was interrupted by a Mets bullpen meltdown. Before the bullpen fell apart, Jacob was taken out of the game early, after 6.0 innings and only 77 pitches after allowing no runs and 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. One third of his starts came against the Marlins last year (4 starts) and he allowed 7 runs, 4 earned, over 24.0 innings from 19 hits and 6 walks while striking out 36 batters. That’s an ERA over 1.50. The Marlins have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Jesus Aguilar 4-12, 2B, HR, 2 K
• Garrett Cooper 4-14, HR, BB, 7 K
• Jon Berti 6-19, 3 2B, 5 K
• Jorge Alfaro 4-18, 2B, HR, BB, 10 K
• Brian Anderson 8-35, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 10 K
• Miguel Rojas 9-37, 3 BB, 7 K
• Corey Dickerson 2-14, BB, 4 K
• Starling Marte 1-9, BB, 3 K
• Adam Duvall 0-2, 2 K

The Mets bats will get their first 2021 look at Trevor Rogers. In Rodgers first start of the season against the Cardinals, he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, over 4.0 innings from 2 hits, 4 walks while striking out 6. Rogers first two starts of his career were against the Mets last year. In his first start he allowed no runs despite allowing a hit and 5 walks over 4.0 innings. He did strike out 6 Mets in that outing. In his next outing he allowed 2 runs from 5 hits and 2 walks over 5.0 innings, this time with 5 K’s. After he stopped facing the Mets his season got a lot rougher. In his next 4 starts he would allowed 17 earned runs in 16.0 innings before ending the season with 3 scoreless innings against the Yankees. All of these great starts against the Mets and the Yankees were in New York – maybe he just really likes pitching here? Anyway, the Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Jeff McNeil 2-4, 2 2B, BB, K
• Dominic Smith 1-2, 2 BB, K
• Luis Guillorme 1-3, BB, 2 K
• J.D. Davis 0-1, BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, BB
• Pete Alonso 0-5, 2 K
• Michael Conforto 0-2, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are finally playing at home with fans in the stadium today! It’s been a rocky road the last week or so, going from winding down spring training, to the “will he sign?” extension with Lindor (that had a happy ending) to the Mets finding out over the course of several days that not only was their season opening game cancelled, but the whole opening series was cancelled. Then the season got started and the Mets looked like a team that has a lot of talent – that also hasn’t played in a week.

And we will probably keep seeing that over the next couple of days. David Peterson‘s line from yesterday does not really reflect well on what happened. He struggled in the first inning, and gave up 4 runs (I’m biased and the first home he gave up that inning went only 362 feet and would have been an out in most ballparks). He then settled down for the next several innings. He got into trouble again at the end of his outing and Jacob Barmes came in, hasn’t pitched in a while, and immediately gave up a 3 run shot. Mets hitters left 13 batters on base yesterday as they continue to find rhythm. I believe that this is still due to not playing for a week and eventually the Mets will put it all together. Plus, it’s a long season.

Taijuan Walker will make his Mets debut today. A late signing in the off-season made to round out the rotation, the addition of Walker has become even more important now that Carlos Carrasco is injured to start off the year. Walker had a tale of two seasons last year. In 27.0 innings and 5 starts for the Mariners, he posted a 4.00 ERA, 4.97 FIP, 1.074 WHIP and 107 ERA+. He was then traded to the Blue Jays where he pitched 26.1 innings over 6 starts and posted a 1.37 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.253 WHIP and absurd 321 ERA+. Only a few Marlins have faced Walker in a major league game:

• Corey Dickerson 3-5, 3B, 2 HR, K
• Miguel Rojas 1-2, 2B
• Adam Duvall 0-3
• Brian Anderson 1-2, K

The Marlins, as of writing this, still have not announced their start for today. Marlins beat reporters were saying last night that it was going to be Nick Neidert or Paul Campbell. The Mets game notes were sent out with Nick Neidert listed as the starter, so we’ll go with that. Nick was one of many Marlins pitchers who made their major league debut in 2020. In 4 games last year he pitched 8.1 innings with a 5.40 ERA, 4.51 FIP, 1.440 WHIP and 87 ERA+. He pitched in 5 games this spring, totaling 12.2 innings with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.105 WHIP. This will be his first time facing the Mets in an official game.

Let’s Go Mets!

2021’s first rubber game of the year!

The Mets play the rare mid-week, mid-afternoon getaway game (usually these games are at 1 PM) today as the Mets try to take the series from the Phillies. After melting down during the 8th inning on Monday night, the Mets came roaring back last night thanks to a great start by Marcus Stroman and 4 run 7 inning.

Dominic Smith got the Mets started early, with a 2 run homer and in the 7th inning, they got Vince Velasquez to post one of the more insane pitching lines in history: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 4 ET, 4 BB, 4 K. The big inning (plus a 2 run shot by Pete Alonso in the 9th inning, part of this big night) ended up being critical as the Mets started to melt down again in the 9th inning. But they held on for the win!

On to this afternoon! David Peterson will look to pick up where he left off in his rookie season. In 10 games, 9 starts, David pitched 49.2 innings with a 3.44 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 1.208 WHIP and a 127 ERA+. He’s coming off a spring where he allowed 5 runs from 10 hits over 12.0 innings, leading to an ERA of 3.75 and a 1.083 WHIP. David’s one game against the Phillies last year was not a good one as he allowed 5 runs from 3 hits and 4 walks over 2.0 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Rhys Hoskins 1-2, HR, K
• Jean Segura 1-2, 2B, K
• Bryce Harper 1-2
• J.T. Realmuto 0-0, 2 BB
• Andrew McCutchen 0-0, BB
• Alec Bohm 0-1
• Didi Gregorius 0-1, K

The Mets get to face a long time foe in Aaron Nola this afternoon, making his second start of the season. In his first start he allowed 2 runs over 6.2 innings from 6 hits and no walks while striking out 6. Last year he pitched 71.2 innings over 12 starts (and two complete games) with a 3.28 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.079 WHIP and a 135 ERA+. Nola faced the Mets three times last year totaling 17.2 innings here he allowed 11 runs, 8 earned from 16 hits and 8 walks while striking out 25 batters. The Mets have the following numbers against Nola:

• Pete Alonso 5-20, 3 HR, BB, 7 K
• Dominic Smith 8-27, 5 2B, HR, 10 K
• Jeff McNeil 6-22, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• James McCann 1-3
• Michael Conforto 7-37, 3 2B, HR, 5 BB, 14 K
• Brandon Nimmo 4-21, 9 BB, 9 K
• Jonathan Villar 3-14, 2B, 3 BB, 3 K
• Luis Guillorme 1-4, K
• J.D. Davis 2-12, 2 BB, 6 K

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets looked like a team that hadn’t played in a week last night. They also haven’t played a real game in a week.

Let’s get the good out of the way first – deGrom was deGrom, which is to say, amazing. He coasted through 6 innings, throwing only 77 pitches and was taken out of the game earlier. Whether we agree with that or not (and I think the major consensus is – don’t do that, it’s deGrom!) I think we’ll see managers pulling pitchers early often this month as baseball revs back up after a short season. Jacob also had two hits on the night too. Just a normal legendary performance.

If you’re going to pull pitchers earlier then the bullpen has to hold it together. That was true for the Phillies. Not so much for the Mets who melted down in the 8th inning and allowed 5 runs. The Mets offense also looked rusty over the first few innings. I’m hoping that both the bullpen and the bats issue is a product of not playing for a week while the Phillies have already swept the Braves to start the season. We’ll find out tonight!

Marcus Stroman will make his first start since 2019 today. Stroman opted out of the 2020 season and was one of the first major signings for the Mets this off-season when he accepted the qualifying offer to come back on a one year deal. In 2019, Marcus pitched in 32 games and 184.1 innings with a 3.22 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.307 WHIP and a 137 ERA+. Over 5 games and 18.1 innings this spring he has posted a 3.44 ERA and a 1.091 WHIP. He did not have fun facing the Phillies in 2019, allowing 7 runs, 6 earned over 10.0 innings from 17 hits while striking out 12 batters. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Adam Haseley 2-4, 2B, BB
• Andrew McCutchen 1-2, 2B
• J.T. Realmuto 3-5, BB
• Didi Gregorius 8-31, 2 2B, 3B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Jean Segura 4-13, 3 K
• Rhys Hoskins 1-6, 2 K
• Bryce Harper 0-3, 2 K

For a second day in a row – the Mets will see a veteran starting pitcher make their Phillies debut. Chase Anderson made his debut with Arizona and pitched from 2014-15 for the Diamondbacks before being part of a trade to the Brewers. for (now teammate) Jean Segura. He was traded again a few years later to the Blue Jays. Chase Anderson has a career 4.06 ERA and 4.60 FIP. Last year was a tremendously off year of him posting a 7.20 ERA, 6.16 FIP, 1.634 WHIP and 61 ERA+ over 10 games and 33.2 innings. This includes a start against he Mets where he allowed 4 runs from 4 hits and 3 walks in 2.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Chase:

• Brandon Nimmo 3-6, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Michael Conforto 3-13, 3 HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-3, 2B, BB
• Kevin Pillar 2-8, 2 2B
• Albert Almora Jr. 3-17, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• J.D. Davis 0-1, BB
• Dominic Smith 0-1, BB, K
• Francisco Lindor 0-2, BB, K
• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

Let’s try that again!

The Mets look to finally get their season started tonight after a Covid-19 delay. Last Thursday, Mets fans woke up to amazing news. Overnight, Francisco Lindor agreed to a 10-year extension with the Mets. Everything was looking great! However, concern was starting to grow with the Nationals. The previous day they announced they had a positive case and 5 team members (4 players) who were deemed close contacts and couldn’t play. But they didn’t make any corresponding moves. By late morning on Thursday, rumors were flying that there were more positive tests and eventually the game was called off completely. The next day, the Nationals announced they had a full on outbreak and they whole series needed to be postponed.

Meanwhile, the Phillies, who the Mets will now open up their season against, are coming off of a three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves (who are facing at least one postponed game with the Nationals). So the Mets will have to shake off the rust today, playing their first game in a week, against a team that is on a roll.

With all that, it’s great to state: IT’S DEGROM DAY. Jacob deGrom takes the mound for the Mets. Last year in 12 starts and 68.0 innings, he posted a 2.38 ERA, 2.26 FIP, 0.959 WHIP and 183 ERA+. He also recorded a league leading 104 K’s for a second straight season. In two starts against the Phillies last year, deGrom allowed 4 runs over 9.0 innings while striking out 13 batters. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Andrew Knapp 4-9, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Ronald Torreyes 2-3, 2B
• Byrce Harper 11-38, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 13 K
• Rhys Hoskins 3-16, 2B, 4 BB, 6 K
• Andrew McCutchen 5-22, BB, 7 K
• Jean Segura 4-19, 2B, 5 K
• Matt Joyce 2-16, 2B, 3 BB, 9 K
• J.T. Realmuto 4-25, 2B, 9 K
• Didi Gregorius 3-19, 4 K

The Mets bats will get to see the Phillies debut of Matt Moore. The long time Ray was traded in 2016 to the Giants at the deadline and to the Rangers after the end of the 2017 season. He then signed a contract with the Tigers after the 2018 season was a free agent from the end of October 2019 until February when the Phillies picked him up. Matt Moore got off to a good start with the Tigers, pitching 10.0 scoreless innings over 2 starts but an injury knocked him out for the rest of the year (he was avoiding a comebacker which messed up his knee). Spring Training stats don’t mean much, but we don’t really have recent numbers on Moore. In Spring he pitched 15.2 innings over 5 outings with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.149 WHIP. The Mets have the following numbers against Moore:

• Jonathan Villar 3-5, 2B, HR, K
• Francisco Lindo 8-13, HR
• Michael Conforto 4-6, 2B, 2 K
• Albert Almora Jr. 1-6
• Kevin Pillar 1-11, 2 K
• J.D. Davis 0-2, K
• James McCann 0-5, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

Recapping Yesterday:
Saturday was a fun day for the Mets – yesterday not so much. Not a lot went right for the Mets yesterday in their final spring game against the Cardinals. The Mets were using yesterday as a final audition for Mike Montgomery to make the team and after a good spring he really hit a bump in the road yesterday. He allowed 5 runs from 6 hits and 2 walks over 2.2 innings. The Mets released him later in the day.

Yesterday was also the first bad day in a while for Familia, and the first time Miguel Castro allowed a run this spring, and the first time that Edwin Diaz struggled this spring – allowing three runs from 4 hits over an inning where he still struck out the side.

Not much was happing with the Mets bats yesterday. Nimmo hit a solo homer. Conforto had two hits at the plate including a double. Besides that, it was a lot of nothing.

What We are Looking For Today:
Typically the last spring training day we’ll some players get their last cuts in and early exits. We may see some players work on very specific things – and if they don’t talk about what they were working on after the game we just won’t really know that.

So the real thing we’ll look for today is how today’s starter, Taijuan Walker, performs. Taijuan was bumped from his last start to the B game so the Mets could get a better look at Corey Oswalt. Since the Carrasco injury, Walker has become the Mets 3rd start in the rotation. In his two games this spring he has pitched 6.0 innings allowing 3 hits and 2 runs while walking 3 and striking out 5.

Let’s Go Mets!

Recapping Yesterday:
Yesterday was a fun day to be a Mets fan. Dominic Smith continued his late spring heat up hitting two homers and at one point went back to back with Pete Alonso who also hit his 4th homer of the Spring. Francisco Lindor went 3-3 at the plate with a walk raising his OPS to 1.098 in Spring. Kevin Pillar also continued his strong spring with 2 hits. His OPS is sitting at .908. It was a good day to be a fan of the Mets bats.

The real story from yesterday’s game – the Mets were going to mess around with an Opener. Barnes opened the game for the Mets and pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts (his one bad outing was his first outing and now he hasn’t allowed a hit from his third spring outing onwards). Barnes was followed by Lucchesi who allowed a run off a homer, three hits total in 4.2 innings of work, lowering his Spring ERA to 2.77. Jerry Blevins also bounced back with a scoreless outing to close out the game. All around, fun times in Mets land.

What We’re Watching For Today:
We are almost at the regular season! This is the Mets second to last spring training game of the year and the roster is mostly set. Mike Montgomery was invited to Mets camp on an NRI and has an opt out of contract that he can activate starting today. Luis Rojas early this week talked about how Mike is still being evaluated as either a starter or a reliever. He remains one of the few question marks in camp (as in, having a role that isn’t fully determined yet) and when were looking at NRI’s at the start of spring, he did stand out as a veteran player with a strong chance of making the team if there were injuries else where.

So Mike is what we are watching for today. He does he do? Does he stay with the Mets after today? So far he has pitched 4.2 innings over 3 games this Spring allowing 4 hits, 1 unearned run, a walk and struck out 7. He has a small sample size 0.00 ERA and 1.071 WHIP.

Let’s Go Mets!

Recapping Yesterday:
Steve Cohen took to twitter yesterday to joke about signing Lindor to a long term deal – which feels like a good sign that something is moving on that front. That overshadowed the Mets game a bit. The good news from the game – David Peterson looked great. He allowed 2 runs from 4 hits and a walk over 6.0 innings. Gsellman and Tarpley behind him did not look great, which is why the Mets lost the game.

Jeff McNeil has had a tough spring. Two days ago he hit his second double of the spring. Last night he hit his third double of the spring. With the season right around the corner, what a time to start to heat up. Dominic Smith smacked a triple, McCann had two hits raising his batting average to .333 and Francisco Lindor had two hits raising his average to .348. Lots of things to be happy about.

What We Are Looking For Today:
The Mets have talked a lot about using an opener to start the game when Lucchesi is scheduled to pitch, and that’s exactly what the plan is today. Jacob Barnes had a terrible first outing this spring. Since then he’s been wonderful. Since his first start he has allowed 2 hits over 4.0 innings with 6 K’s. In his last three starts he has allowed no hits and recorded all of the strikeouts. Let’s see what he does today!

Joey Lucchesi gets his work in after Jacob. In 8.1 innings this year he has allowed 3 runs from 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 11. Small sample size warning – but his WHIP is 0.840 (career WHIP is 1.280). Also scheduled to pitch – Aaron Loup, Trevor May and Jerry Blevins. Loup and May have had terrific springs. Blevins is looking bounce back from a rough outing a couple of days ago.

Let’s Go Mets!