213 Miles From Shea

Yesterday was another lackluster day for the New York Mets, and today is the day that has been a mystery on the calendar for about half a week now. Last night the Mets got a solid start by Porcello, allowing 2 runs in 6.0 innings, and then three innings of scoreless relief from Hughes and Diaz. When you get pitching like that, you have to win. The Mets were only able to plate one of their 7 hits and 3 walkers and just looked lost when they had runners in scoring position.

A few days ago the Mets added Michael Wacha to the Injured List with no clear person to start tonight’s game, which will be some version of a bullpen game. Robert Gsellman was named today’s starter and he’ll probably be followed at some point by Walker Lockett. Gsellman has seen action in one game this season, allowing 1 hit in his only inning of work. Last year he was in 52 games, pitching 63.2 innings with a 4.66 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.366 WHIP and 87 ERA+. He did not enjoy pitching against the Nationals last year – allowing 8 runs over 8.0 innings over 9 games. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Yan Gomes 2-3
• Michael A Taylor 5-8, HR, 2 K
• Victor Robles 3-6, 2B, 3B
• Josh Harrison 3-5, 2B
• Juan Soto 1-3, 2B, BB, K
• Howie Kendrick 3-8, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Kurt Suzuki 4-12
• Adam Eaton 2-6, K
• Trea Turner 4-17, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Starlin Castro 0-5, K

Anibal Sanchez gets the start for the Nationals tonight. Over his first two starts Anibal has allowed 9 runs from 16 hits (4 homers!) and 4 walks in 10.1 innings while striking out 11. Last season he made 30 starts and logged 166.0 innings posting a 3.85 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 1.271 WHIP and 118 ERA+. Against the Mets he made three starts, pitching 11.1 innings, and allowed 10 runs from 16 hits (3 homers) while walking 5 and striking out 7. The Mets have the following numbers against Sanchez:

• J.D. Davis 4-7, 2B
• Pete Alonso 2-6, HR
• Wilson Ramos 8-22, 2 2B, 4 BB, K
• Brian Dozier 11-40, 2 2B, 3 HR, 3 BB, 8 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-4, 2 BB, K
• Michael Conforto 2-14, HR, BB, 8 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-6, 2B, BB
• Amed Rosario 2-10, 2B, K
• Billy Hamilton 0-3, K

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday was quite a reversal for both the Mets and the Nationals. The Nationals came into New York crushed by the Orioles and completely off the rails. The Mets woke up yesterday a team that looked like it was finally putting all the pieces together despite a mystery as to who was pitching on Wednesday. Then Stroman opted out of the season (a decision I support) and then last night’s game happened. Matz struggled. The bullpen struggled, the bats struggled. The Mets lost 16-4, more than doubling their negative run differential on the year. Doolittle also struggled, which is part of the reason the game was a bit closer.

But hey, Luis Guillorme tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

So now the Mets will try to get back on the right track with Rick Porcello. Through three starts this year, Porcello has allowed 12 runs, 10 earned, over 13.0 innings, a 6.92 ERA. Those numbers hide how good he was his last time out, and how bad he was before that. He allowed 1 run over 7.0 innings against the Nationals last week from 5 hits and 4 strikeouts. Before that he allowed 11 runs, 9 earned over 6.0 innings. Here’s hoping the Nationals haven’t figured Porcello out yet. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Juan Soto 3-5, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Wilmer Difo 2-3, K
• Adam Eaton 7-18, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Yan Gomes 6-18, 3 2B, 2 K
• Kurt Suzuki 6-27, 2 2 B, 4 BB, K
• Starlin Castro 6-22, 2B, 3B, 4 K
• Howie Kendrick 1-=34, 3 2B, 9 K, 3 SB
• Asdrubal Cabrera 18-65, 3 2B, 3 BB, 10 K
• Josh Harrison 1-6, 2 K
• Treat Turner 0-6, K
• Michael Taylor 0-4, K
• Victor Robles 0-2

The Mets bats will get (probably) a real look at Max Scherzer tonight. He has allowed 5 runs over 13.2 innings in three starts this year. He allowed 4 runs over 12.2 innings before his last start last week against the Mets were he was dealing with a hamstring injury. He had the same injury his start before where he shutdown the Blue Jays for 7.1 innings but his injury last week flared up and he didn’t look like his normal self throughout the first inning. The Nationals were aware of this before the game and had another pitcher warming up with him at the start of the game. The Mets have the following numbers against Max:

• Luis Guillorme 2-3, 2B, K
• Michael Conforto 11-32, 2B, 4 HR, 3 BB, 13 K
• Billy Hamilton 3-9, 2 2B, 2 K, 2 SB
• J.D. Davis 2-6, 2B, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-19, 2B, HR, 5 BB, 11 K
• Brian Dozier 3-17, HR, 4 BB, 7 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-10, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 4-15, 2B, 7 K
• Wilson Ramos 4-17, 2B, K
• Pete Alonso 2-13, 8 K
• Dominic Smith 0-5, BB, 4 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets won a series and they’ve won 3 of their last 4 games! Friday night set up a familiar stage of disappointment this weekend for the New York Mets but they battled through the last two days. On Saturday, they powered through the Nationals with homers. Yesterday, deGrom rose above issues with his finger and the bullpen was able to close the door behind him.

And now the Mets get to welcome the Nationals to Queens. The Nationals have lost three games in a row and were on their way to getting swept by the Orioles when a bizarre situation on the field led to an even more bizarre situation in the box score. There was a sudden downpour in DC but the tarp was tangled up and couldn’t be unrolled in time. The field became unplayable and now the game is going to be finished in Baltimore. One game, two cities. Fascinating.

Steven Matz will look to keep up the good times in Flushing. He has a 5.65 over three starts and 14.1 innings this year allowing 9 runs on 17 hits and 3 walks. Homers have hurt him – he’s allowed 5 on the season so far. However, he hasn’t been bad in every start. He was great in his first start of the season, allowing 1 run over 6.0 innings. Then he allowed 3 over 5.1 innings. Last time out in DC he allowed 5 runs over 3.0 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Josh Harrison 5-10, 3B, 2 HR, 2 K
• Asdrubal Cabrera 2-4, 2B, K
• Juan Soto 6-13, 2B, 3B, 4 K
• Victor Robles 2-7, HR, BB, 2 K
• Starlin Castro 8-25, 2B, HR, 6 K
• Treat Turner 8-27, 3 2B, 2 BB, 2 K, 4 SB
• Howie Kendrick 4-15, HR, 3 K
• Adam Eaton 4-13, BB, 2 K
• Michael Taylor 4-23, HR, 2 BB, 13 K
• Yan Gomes 1-8, 2 BB, 3 K

Patrick Corbin will make his third start of the season today. In his first two starts he has allowed 4 runs from 10 hits and 1 walk in 12.0 innings while striking out 16 batters. His last start was against the Mets and it was an average start – he allowed 3 runs from 8 hits and a walk including a homer, while striking out 8 over 5.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 8-22, 2B, 5 HR, BB, 6 K (1.428 OPS)
• J.D. Davis 6-20, 2 2B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 7 K
• Pete Alonso 5-17, 2 2B, HR, BB, 8 K
• Andres Gimenez 1-3, K
• Amed Rosario 3-22, 2B, 2 HR, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 4-15, BB, 8 K
• Billy Hamilton 3-14, 2 2B, 5 K
• Wilson Ramos 2-15, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-9, BB, 3 K
• Brian Dozier 0-6, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have a chance to take a series win today! After a lackluster Friday night, the Mets bounced back behind rookie David Peterson last night and the homers of J.D. Davis, Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto last night! For Pete Alonso – there are signs that he’s finally shaking off the slump he was in to start the year. For Michael Conforto, his third homer this year and all three have come against lefties, there are even more reasons to believe that he is the answer to all of life’s questions (that Jacob deGrom isn’t already the answer too).

Speaking of Jacob deGrom, he starts for the Mets today! In his first three starts of the year, deGrom has allowed 4 runs over 17.0 innings from 9 hits and 3 walks while striking out 22. He has a 2.12 ERA, 1.67 FIP, 0.706 WHIP and 188 ERA+. Jacob made an astounding 6 starts against the Marlins last season pitching 38.0 innings against them. He allowed 11 runs, 10 earned (2.37 ERA) from 30 hits and 7 walks and struck out 46 fish. The Marlins have the following numbers against him:

• Jonathan Villar 2-5, 2B, BB, K
• Jon Berti 5-12, 3 2B, 2 K
• Jesus Aguilar 1-3, 2B, K
• Brian Anderson 7-25, 2 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Lewis Brinson 4-20, 2B, 8 K
• Logan Forsythe 0-3, 2 K
• Corey Dickerson 0-3, 2 K
• Matt Joyce 0-7, 5 K
• Francisco Cervelli 0-5, K

Pablo Lopez will become the first Marlins pitcher to make his second start of the season today. That’s how ridiculous this whole situation has been. His first start of the season was earlier in the week against the Orioles where he shut them out for 5.0 innings allowing only 2 hits and no walks while striking out 7. Last season he made 21 starts and pitched 111.1 innings allowing 111 hits with a 5.09 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 1.240 WHIP and 83 ERA+. In two starts against the Mets last year he allowed 10 runs over 10.0 innings from 11 hits and 3 homers while striking out 10. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Jeff McNeil 3-4, 2B, HR, BB
• Michael Conforto 3-5, HR, K
• J.D. Davis 2-3
• Amed Rosario 2-6, HR, BB, 2 K
• Brian Dozier 1-6, BB
• Wilson Ramos 1-5, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 0-6, BB, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The cynics won out last night! The Marlins, fresh off a four game sweep of the Orioles came into town using a starting pitcher who hasn’t pitched above single A. He was able to hold the Mets to one run and got six strikeouts, including striking out the side in first inning. Wacha struggled earlier and the Mets eventually lost 4-3.

The Marlins, noticing how that worked out for them last night, are going to try it again tonight with a pitcher who has actually seen action in AA> Daniel Castano makes his major league debut tonight. The 25 year old was acquired by the Marlins in the Marcel Ozuna trade (which also brought over Sandy Alcantara). He pitched in 30 games last year and made 11 starts totaling 119 innings across A+ and AA ball with a 3.48 ERA. In AA alone he had a 3.35 ERA (that’s also where all of his starts were).

The Mets send out their own rookie to take on the Marlins – David Peterson. Peterson has allowed 5 runs over 11.2 innings from 12 hits and 3 walks so far in two starts this year while striking out 11 batters. He has also slowly been building arm strength, going from 78 to 87 pitches between his two starts. This will be David Peterson’s first start at home.

Usually we spend time here in game previews going through batters on the rosters vs today’s starters. As you probably figured by now, there are no records for today’s game. Instead lets just bask in the early season success of Michael Conforto who after last night is now hitting .308/.400/.481 (.881 OPS). Please extend him.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets open up a three game series with the Marlins that I’m surprised is happening. The Marlins were able to cobble together a roster with a good amount of players still on the injured list and baseball decided that it was still in the competitive spirit to let the Marlins play – so here we are.

The Marlins, to their credit, won every game in Baltimore in their first series back since the coronavirus outbreak on their team. Don Mattingly last night recorded more wins as a Marlins manager than any other manager. My worry with this success story is baseball turning the “replacement” players as heroes rather than looking at the selfish actions from MLB that led to this happening in the first place. But that’s neither here nor there.

The Mets, to their credit, won with Rick Porcello on the mound on Wednesday. Porcello looked like a different version of himself as he put in seven innings of good baseball. I was pretty down on him in my last preview and I will gladly eat crow.

Michael Wacha gets to take on the first place Marlins tonight. In two starts this season he has allowed 6 runs on 12 hits and 3 walks while striking out 9 batters in 9.0 innings. This line is due to one bad start and one good start. He opened up the season allowing only one run over 5.0 innings against the Red Sox. Then he allowed 5 runs in 4.0 innings against the Braves. Wacha made one start against the Marlins last year and shut them out over 6.0 innings, holding them to 5 hits. The Marlins have the following numbers against Wacha, who is making his first home start this season:

• Logan Forsythe 0-1, BB
• Matt Joyce 1-2
• Ryan Lavarnway 1-3, 2B, K
• Corey Dickerson 2-5, BB, K
• Francisco Cervelli 5-16, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Jonathan Villar 2-11, HR, BB, 6 K
• Jesus Aguilar 2-12, HR, BB, 3 K
• Brian Anderson 0-2, BB, K

Overnight the Associated Press reported that Sandy Alcantara would be returning to the mound tonight after being sidelined with a covid19 in the viral outbreak on the Marlins. But that ended up not happening – Humberto Mejia will instead make his major league debut tonight for the Marlins. Mejia has not pitched above Advanced A ball in his career. Last year he had a 2.28 ERA in the Florida State League over 5 games and 4 starts, 23.2 innings. He spent most of the season Midwest League (A ball) where he was pretty much exactly the average age. He pitched 66.2 innings over 13 games and 10 starts with a 2.03 ERA. The season before he pitched in Batavia (New York Penn League) with a 3.30 ERA over 62.2 innings.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets had another frustrating loss tonight as they look to split the two game series with the Nationals before heading into their first day off this season. Matz had a rough start yesterday, but the bullpen was able to bail him out and kept more Nationals from crossing the plate. The Mets bats though, both still suffering from their collective slump and missing three regulars with injuries just couldn’t make it happen. The Mets need the day off tomorrow badly to regroup, hopefully they can squeeze out a win before hand.

It’s going to be tough though to make that win happen. The Mets will be sending out Rick Porcello to go head to head with Max Scherzer. Porcello has gotten off to a rough start as a Met, allowing 11 runs, 9 earned from 12 hits and 6 walks in 6.0 innings. He hasn’t allowed a homer yet though. The Nationals have the following numbers against Porcello:

• Emilio Bonifacio 1-2, 2B
• Wilmer Difo 2-3, K
• Adam Eaton 6-15, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Juan Soto 1-2, BB, K
• Yan Gomes 6-18, 3 2B, 2 K
• Starlin Castro 6-19, 2B, 3B, 3 K
• Kurt Suzuki 6-25, 2 2B, HR, 4 BB, K
• Howie Kendrick 10-31, 3 2B, 9 K
• Asdrubal Cabrera 17-62, 3 2B, 3 BB, 10 K
• Trea Turner 0-3
• Michael Taylor 0-4, K

The Mets, who can’t seem to find a hit with runners in scoring position, get to figure things out against Max Scherzer. How fun. He has allowed 4 runs over 12.2 innings (2.84 ERA) from 9 hits and 7 walks while striking out 21 this season. Last year in 27 starts he pitched 172.1 innings with a 2.92 ERA, 2.45 FIP (league leading), 1.027 WHIP and 155 ERA+. The Mets, to their credit, scored 10 runs in 26.0 innings against him last year (3.46 ERA) from 19 hits and 6 walks while striking out 35 times. The Mets have the following numbers against Max:

• Michael Conforto 10-31, 2B, 4 HR, 3 BB, 13 K
• J.D. Davis 2-5, 2B, 2 K
• Billy Hamilton 3-9, 2 2B, 2 K, 2 SB
• Brian Dozier 3-17, HR, 4 BB, 7 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-19, 2B, HR, 4 BB, 11 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-12, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 4-15, 2B, 7 K
• Wilson Ramos 4-17, 2B, K
• Pete Alonso 2-12, 2B, 7 K
• Dominic Smith 0-6, BB, 4 K

Let’s Go Mets!

As of 2 PM, the game tonight hasn’t been cancelled, so here we go! The Mets and the Nationals will try to play some baseball tonight as long as the weather holds out.

It has been a very different last couple of days for both teams. The Mets were in the midst of a terrible losing streak that they ended last night behind Jacob deGrom. However, one day after Cespedes opted out of the season, the Mets had to play without Jeff McNeil, Robinson Cano and Amed Rosario for all or part of the game due to injuries. So if your line of thinking this season has been something about the Mets cramming as much Mets like behavior as they can one season, then you probably feel vindicated right now.

The Nationals have had the whole weekend off, and a scheduled off-day yesterday. They were supposed to go down to Miami for the weekend but those games were cancelled due to the outbreak on the Marlins team. The Nationals also have an off day on Thursday. So if the game doesn’t happen tonight, they’ll go 5 days without playing, have a doubleheader tomorrow, and then another off-day. Crazy.

Steven Matz will get the start for the Mets tonight. He has allowed 4 runs off 10 hits in 11.1 innings this year (3.18 ERA) while walking 3 and striking out 10. Steven had a dominate start against Atlanta to open up the season, 1 run over 6.0 innings from 2 hits and an average start against Boston allowing 3 runs on 5.1 runs. Tonight will be his first road start of the year. He made two starts against the Nationals last season, allowing 1 run from 12 hits and 6 walks while striking out 15 batters in 11.0 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Josh Harrison 4-9, 3B, HR, 2 K
• Victor Robles 2-6, HR, BB, 2 K
• Trea Turner 8-25, 3 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Starlin Castro 7-23, 2B, HR, 5 K
• Adam Eaton 4-11, BB, K
• Michael Taylor 4-23, HR, 2 BB, 13 K
• Yan Gomes 1-6, 2 BB, 3 K
• Howie Kendrick 2-13, 3 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Patrick Corbin making his second start of 2020. In his first start he allowed 1 run on 2 hits and no walks while striking out 8 over 6.1 innings. Last year he made 33 starts and pitched 202.0 innings with a 3.25 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 1.183 WHIP and a 139 ERA+, the best ERA+ of his career. He made more starts against the Mets last year than any other team, making 5 starts and pitching 31.0 innings allowing 12 runs on 26 hits with 8 walks and 39 strikeouts. Homers were his big weakness against the Mets, giving up 7 bombs over the year. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 7-19, 2B, 4 HR, BB, 6 K
• J.D. Davis 5-18, 2 2B, 3 HR, BB, 6 K
• Pete Alonso 4-14, 2 2B, HR, BB, 7 K
• Robinson Cano 2-11, HR, BB, 3 K
• Amed Rosario 3-22, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-12, BB, 6 K
• Wilson Ramos 1-12, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-9, BB, 3 K
• Brian Dozier 0-3, K

Overall, players on the Mets roster have had 134 PA’s against Corbin and have hit 12 homers, but only have 26 hits leading to a fascinating line of .208/.261/.544/.805.

Let’s Go Mets!

If you are Mets fan, you are dealing with three different baseball related emergencies right now. There’s the overall crisis – can (or should) continue playing baseball in a pandemic. The continued stories of Cardinals players testing positive, the Marlins having half of their roster test positive seem to be glaring, flashing stop signs. Manfred has seemingly walked back from “competitive integrity” to intending to play the games.

Then, almost as always with the Mets, there’s the “how does this organization even function” emergency. The team now has traded away three arms this week and has received money and an outfielder they could have signed as a free agent in the off-season. The team may have led a shame campaign against Cespedes yesterday as he was opting out – leading the fan base to be worried about his well being for a significant chunk of time. This is the same organization that forced him to play hurt, and forced Devin Mesoraco into early retirement.

Finally, there’s the play on the field. Yesterday the Mets were an abysmal 1-15 with RISP, capping off a trend for the last four games where they can’t seem to push runners across the plate. The Mets have scored 38 runs over 10 games so far this season with 10 of those runs coming in one game that they lost 11-10. Something needs to turn around.

And what better day to turn it around than Jacob deGrom day. In two starts and 11.0 innings this year, Jacob has allowed 2 runs off 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 12. This will be his second start against the Braves. On Opening Day he pitched 5.0 innings of shutout ball against them, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out eight. In his first outing he tossed 72 pitches and last time he pitched 88 as he continues to get back into normal rhythm. The Braves have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Austin Riley 2-7, HR, 4 K
• Freddie Freeman 15-55, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 BB, 15 K
• Tyler Flowers 4-16, HR, 3 BB, 7 K
• Johan Camargo 7-24, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 8 K
• Dansby Swanson 4-18, 2 2B, 3 BB, 9 K
• Ronald Acuna Jr 6-22, 2B, 2 BB, 6 K
• Marcell Ozuna 9-38, 2 2B, HR, BB, 13 K
• Mat Adams 5-20, 3B, 10 K
• Ender Inciarte 7-39, 2 2B, 2 BB, 9 K
• Ozzie Albies 5-34, 2B, BB, 7 K

The Mets bats will get their second look at Mike Soroka this season. Over the last two days the Mets have faced pitchers that struggled against the Rays but saw bounce back performances (at least in terms of runs scored) against the Mets. Soroka has allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 11.1 innings from 8 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8. Most of the damage was done in his last start against the Rays. In his first start of the season he allowed 4 hits but no runs against the Mets in 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• J.D. Davis 1-4, HR, 2 K
• Tomas Nido 3-6, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 4-12, HR, 4 K
• Robinson Cano 3-10, HR
• Amed Rosario 4-13, 2B, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-8, K
• Michael Conforto 3-15, BB, K
• Brian Dozier 1-5, 2 K
• Dominic Smith 1-5, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-9, 2B, K
• Wilson Ramos 0-5, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Major League Baseball are living in two different emergencies right now. MLB has a real crisis on its hand with coronavirus breakouts on two teams. They never had a concrete, specific, and objective response plan for something that seemed inevitable in a global pandemic. Over the last couple of days, MLB has decided to blame athletes (their general response for everything) rather than taking the blame themselves for not preparing. It remains a mystery how much longer baseball can (and should) continue.

Meanwhile, the Mets are having a baseball emergency. They’ve now dropped 4 games in a row, which is like losing 11.2 games in a row in a normal season. The first two were games the Mets really should have come back to win, the third was a game the Mets should have never lost lead in and last night was just terrible.

So it all falls to the rookie David Peterson making his second career start to the stop the slide in the first early afternoon game the Mets have played all season. In his major league debut Peterson allowed 2 runs off 7 hits and 2 walks over 5.2 innings while striking out 3 at Fenway. Today will be his first time facing an NL East team and playing in an official major league game at a stadium with normal field proportions.

The Mets bats will get their first 2020 look at Kyle Wright who struggled against the Rays earlier in the week. He allowed 5 runs from 4 hits and 3 walks over 2.2 innings. Last year he pitched in 7 games, 4 starts, allowing 19 runs over 19.2 innings for the Braves. This includes one start against the Mets where he allowed 6 runs over 3.2 innings off 8 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3. Wright had a 4.17 ERA over 21 starts and 112.1 innings in AAA Gwinnett during the 2019 season. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Brandon Nimmo 2-2, HR
• Michael Confortio 2-3, 2B, HR, BB
• Dominic Smith 2-3, HR
• Brian Dozier 1-1, BB
• Jeff McNeil 2-3, 2B
• Robinson Cano 1-3, 2B
• Wilson Ramos 0-2, 2 BB, K
• Amed Rosario 0-3, K

Let’s Go Mets!