213 Miles From Shea

The Mets fell to the Royals last night 4-1 as KC was able to scatter the 8 hits the Mets had in such a way to prevent runners from scoring. Thor was still effective, Brach for the first time was not effective, Diaz didn’t allow a run, and Rosario had two hits, bringing his total to 7 in the last two games. Now the Mets look to move beyond last night in the battle of Jacob vs Jakob tonight.

Jacob deGrom is 7-7 over 24 starts and 148.0 innings with a 2.68 ERA, 2.82 FIP, 1.068 WHIP and 155 ERA+. His ERA+ now is his second best in his career (last year he had that insane 221) and he now leads the leagues in strikeouts at 189, translating into 11.5 K/9. Last time out was a weird one for Jacob. He allowed 3 runs over 5.0 innings, none of them earned and threw a TON of pitches in a first inning that was filled with some defensive miscues, the largest one coming from deGrom (although charged to Alonso) where he missed a throw covering first leading to three runs coming across the plate. In deGrom’s last 5 starts he has allowed 6 runs, 3 earned, over 33.0 innings which is a 0.82 ERA and opponents are posting a paltry .484 OPS. The Royals have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Billy Hamilton 2-6
• Jorge Soler 1-5, HR
• Alex Gordon 0-2, 2 BB

Jakob Junis is 8-10 over 25 starts and 144.1 innings with a 4.80 ERA, 4.76 FIP, 1.386 WHIP and 99 ERA+. Throughout his three season, Junis has been pretty consistent on season results, posting a 104, 99, 99 ERA+ in consecutive seasons. That being said, he’s on a bit of a hot streak his last two starts, allowing 3 runs from 13 hits and a walk in 12.0 innings. In his two starts and 13.0 innings before that, he allowed 10 earned runs from 16 hits and 4 walks. There are only two Mets on the active roster who have seen Junis in a game. Todd Frazier is 0-3 with a strikeout and Wilson Ramos is 0-2 with a strikeout.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets got back in the win column last night as they outhit the Braves by 10-8. Confused by the score? Are you like me and went to sleep when the game seemed like a run differential dream for the Mets? Drew Gagnon had a rough outing allowing 5 runs and the Braves were able to make the game much closer than it felt at the start. Heroes of the game include Alonso and Rosario both recording 5 hit games, Ramos with a 4 hits and Lagares breaking out with three.

Now the Mets need to keep winning to stay in pace with the Wild Card race as they head to Kansas City and who better to open up in KC then Noah Syndergaard who told the Royals he would meet them 60 ft 6 inches away. Noah is 8-5 over 23 games and 148.0 innings with a 3.89 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 1.209 WHIP and 106 ERA+. In his last 6 starts he has tossed 42.1 innings with a 1.91 ERA while opponents have a .219 BA, .268 OBP and .584 OPS against him. The Royals have the following numbers against Syndergaard:

• Billy Hamilton 2-9
• Alex Gordon 1-4, BB, 3 K
• Jorge Soler 2-3
• Danny Duffy 0-1
• Ian Kennedy 0-1, K

The Mets bats will get a look at Mike Montgomery who was traded from the Cubs to the Royals this season. As a Royal he has made 5 starts totaling 23.1 innings with a 4.63 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.371 WHIP and 103 ERA+ which was better than his time in Chicago. As a Cub he pitched relief in 20 games totaling 27.0 innings with a 5.67 ERA, 6.22 FIP, 1.778 WHIP and 80 ERA+. One of those outings was against the Mets where he allowed 2 hits and a walk but no runs 1.1 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Mike:

• Joe Panik 3-10, 2 2B
• Michael Conforto 1-4, HR, 2 K
• Juan Lagares 1-2
• Amed Rosario 0-3
• Pete Alonso 0-1

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets try to salvage their series against the Braves tonight after dropping their third game overall in a row to them last night. After a lengthy rain delay things were going alright for the Mets until the 7th inning. In the top half of the frame they finally took the lead, in the bottom half of the frame, the bullpen melted down and the Mets were left with an insurmountable lead to get ahead of.

But tonight they try to turn it around. Marcus Stroman‘s line from his last game doesn’t really match how it felt. He allowed 4 runs over 6.0 innings from 9 hits and and 3 walks while striking out 3. But three of those runs came on swing and early in the game Stroman was just dominating. This was the game the Mets would come back twice from 3 run deficits to win. Can they do it again tonight? The Braves have the following numbers against Stroman:

• Brian McCann 5-23, BB, 3 K
• Matthew Joyce 3-6, 2B, 3 BB
• Ender Inciarte 1-7, 3 K
• Tyler FLowers 1-6, 2B, 3 K
• Ronald Acuna Jr.0-3, K
• Ozzie Albies 2-3
• Josh Donaldson 1-3, 2B
• Freddie Freeman 0-2, BB, K

The Mets draw Julio Teheran who is 7-7 over 25 games and 137.0 innings with a 3.35 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 1.277 WHIP and 136 ERA+ (a career best). He is coming off a tremendous start against the Marlins holding them to 1 run over 7.0 innings and in his last five starts he has pitched 30.1 innings with a 2.08 ERA. He has faced the Mets three times this year and each game was quite different. In the first one he allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings, then he allowed 6 runs in 4.0 and finally 2 runs in 3.1 innings (from 5 hits and 3 walks). The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 7-29, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• Aaron Altherr 3-22, HR, 4 BB, 10 K
• Todd Frazier 3-23, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-22, 3 2B, HR, BB, 5 K
• Amed Rosario 3-20, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, 7 K
• Juan Lagares 4-21, 5 K
• Pete Alonso 4-6, 2 2B, HR< 2 BB
• Joe Panik 2-6, 3 BB
• J.D. Davis 1-2, HR, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are coming off back to back losses for the first time in a while as they face the Braves in Atlanta tonight. Last night the Mets offense struggled to get into gear while starting pitching, through Wheeler, struggled for the first time in a long time. This happens, let’s see what happens next. The larger concern – Jeff McNeil – left the game in the 9th inning with a hamstring problem. As of writing this at 6 AM, the Mets are planning to get McNeil an MRI at some point today.

The Mets bats will be facing Dallas Keuchel tonight. There’s some universe that the Mets signed Keuchel in the off-season as an upgrade to Jason Vargas. There’s some universe where the Mets signed Keuchel when the rotation was facing problems in late April and early May. More plausible – there’s some universe where anyone signed Keuchel in the off-season well ahead of spring training and he has a normal start to the season. We do live in the universe where none of that happened.

Keuchel is 3-5 over 10 games and 59.2 innings with a 4.83 ERA (worst since 2013), 5.23 FIP (worst since 2012), 1.358 WHIP (worst since 2013) and has a 95 ERA+ (which is actually his 5th best in 8 years). He’s coming off his worst start of the season where he allowed 8 runs from 10 hits in 3.2 innings against the Marlins. Before that he had a 3.86 ERA and the beginning of this paragraph probably looks a lot different. He has had outing that he looks like his classic self but in others, he hasn’t. This will be his first start this season against the Mets and the Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Robinson Cano (obviously not playing) 11-46, 2B, HR, BB, 5 K
• Todd Frazier 0-4, K
• Wilson Ramos 0-2, BB

Steven Matz is 7-7 over 23 games and 21 starts pitching 110.1 innings with a 4.49 ERA, 4.72 FIP, 1.396 WHIP and 92 ERA+. Matz is coming off of a strong start against the Marlins, allowing 2 runs over 6.2 innings from 7 hits and is only two starts removed from his complete game shutout against the Pirates. He was good in his first start against the Braves allowing 2 runs over 6.0 innings and then his second start he allowed 5 runs over 5.0 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

• Freddie Freeman 7-22, 2 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Tyler Flowers 2-14, 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
• Ozzie Albies 3-9, 2B
• Ender Inciarte 2-7, BB
• Ronald Acuna Jr. 3-6, 3B, BB, K
• Josh Donaldson 1-5, HR, BB, 3 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and NL East reunion tour returns tonight as the Mets travel south to Atlanta. Previously: the Mets squared off against the NL East almost exclusively in April and early May, and not much since then. In the last week week they’ve had a 4 game sweep of the Marlins and took 2 of 3 from the Nationals. Now they get to play the division leaders.

Zack Wheeler gets the start for the Amazin’s tonight. He is 9-6 over 22 starts and 139.1 innings with a 4.20 ERA, 3.44 FIP, 1.220 WHIP and 98 ERA+. In two starts in August he has pitched 15.0 scoreless innings holding opponents to 12 hits and a walk while striking out 12. His two starts against Atlanta have been quite different. In April he allowed 2 runs over 6.0 innings fom 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8. At the time, this was his best start of the season. In June he allowed 5 runs, 4 earned over 6.0 innings from 10 hits and 2 walks. After that start he went on a bit of a positive streak. Including tonight, all 3 of his starts against the Braves have taken place in Atlanta. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

• Freddie Freeman 12-24, 3 2B, 2 HR, 12 BB, 7 K
• Ozzie Albies 1-12, 3 K
• Brian McCann 5-9, HR, 3 BB, 2 K
• Sansby Swanson 1-11, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Josh Donaldson 6-10, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Ronald Acuna Jr. 3-9, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Tyler Flowers 5-9, HR
• Ender Inciarte 2-9, 3 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Max Fried who is 13-4 over 24 games and 22 starts with 120.1 innings of work. Throughout the season he’s posted a 4.11 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.371 WHIP and 111 ERA+. In his last five starts he has alternated terrible/below average with pretty good:

• 5.0 IP, 11 H, 5 ER
• 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER
• 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER
• 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER
• 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER

Which puts the Mets in a tougher situation tonight if the pattern, that is probably cosmic coincidence more than anything else, holds. He faced the Mets twice in June and was pretty average, allowing 5 runs over 11.0 innings from 16 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Amed Rosario 2-8, 2B, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 0-6, 2 BB, 4 K
• Todd Frazier 3-8, 2 K
• Juan Lagares 2-8, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-8, 2 2B, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 0-4, 2 BB, 3 K
• J.D. Davis 4-6
• Wilson Ramos 2-4, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for a Sunday Day win, a series sweep, and their 9th win in a row today as they finish their set with the Nationals. For the second time in two nights the Mets beat the Nationals yesterday by coming back from being down, twice! The Nationals struck early on a two run shot by Soto and took the air out of the ballpark. A few innings later Davis and Ramos went back to back, re-energizing the 43,000+ in attendance, the second most attended game of the year. Soto then homered, again, giving the Nats the lead until Luis Guillorme played unlikely hero, tying the game up with a solo shot before the Mets went ahead for good. The team did not quit. The ballpark was electric. We get to do it all again today!

Jacob deGrom makes his 24th start of the season tonight. He has pitched 143.0 innings with a 2.77 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 1.070 WHIP and 149 ERA+. In his last 14 games and 91.0 innings he has posted a 2.08 ERA, with opponents hitting with a .215 BA, .262 OBP and .591 OPS against him. In his last 6 games he has pitched 40.0 innings with a 1.35 ERA while opponents are hitting a .186 BA, .253 OBP and .525 OPS. In two starts against the Nationals this season he has allowed 1 run over 12.0 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Anthony Rendon 2-28, 2B, 7 BB, 7 K
• Trea Turner 9-31, 2B, HR, BB, 12 K
• Howie Kendrick 2-26, 6 K
• Adam Eaton 6-15, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
• Gerardo Parra 4-18, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Kurt Suzuki 1-14, 5 K
• Victor Robles 2-8, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Juan Soto 1-8, BB, 3 K
• Asdrubal Cabrera 1-6, 2B
• Brian Dozier 0-4, 2 K

The Met bats close out the series against Anibal Sanchez who is 7-6 over 21 starts and 112.2 innings this year posting a 3.67 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.314 WHIP and 125 ERA+. Sanchez is coming off a good start in San Francisco where he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over 6.0 innings. In his last 5 games he has pitched pretty much to his season line posting a 3.72 ERA over 29.0 innings with opponents batting with a .252 BA, .306 OBP and .715 OPS against him. Anibal started against the Mets once this year, tossing 1.1 innings allowing a hit and a walk before tweaking his hamstring and landing on a short IL stint. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Todd Frazier 1-19, 2 BB, 7 K
• Wilson Ramos 6-18, 2B, 3 BB, K
• Michael Conforto 1-8, HR, BB, 3 K
• Joe Panik 3-6, 3B
• Amed Rosario 1-4, 2B, K
• J.D. Davis 1-1
• Jeff McNeil 0-1

Let’s Go Mets!

Last night was one of the most memorable Mets games since 2015. Down three runs in the 4th, the Mets hit back to back homers (Alonso and Davis) to tie the game up. The Mets went into the bottom of the 9th down three runs, again. Two quick hits and Todd Frazier came up and sent a ball 437 feet down the line above where GKR were calling the game. Tie game. Then Conforto later in the inning hit a ball deep into the outfield to win the game! It was the first time the Mets won after trailing in the 8th inning all season.

You probably knew all of this, but it was just fun to rehash it.

Tonight Noah Syndergaard looks to keep the series moving in the right direction. Noah is 8-5 over 22 starts and 141.0 innings with a 3.96 ERA, 3.44 FIP, 1.206 WHIP and 104 ERA+. In his last five starts he has pitched 35.1 innings allowing 9 runs, 7 earned from 27 hits and 8 walks while striking out 39 batters. This has translated to a 1.78 ERA and opponents having a .209 BA, .257 OBP and .559 OPS against Syndergaard. So far Syndergaard has faced the Nationals three times this season totaling 20.0 innings with a 3.60 ERA. The Nationals have the following stats against Noah:

• Anthony Rendon 11-34, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 8 K
• Adam Eaton 3-16, 4 K
• Ryan Zimmerman 3-17, 2 2B, BB, 6 K
• Trea Turner 3-15, 2 2B, 3 K
• Juan Soto 4-13, 2B, BB, 5 K
• Howie Kendrick 1-13, K
• Kurt Suzuki 0-8, BB, K
• Asdurbal Cabrera 4-7, 2 2B, 2 BB
• Victor Robles 4-7, 3 HR

The Mets bats draw Patrick Corbin, the big off-season acquisition for the Nationals. On the season he is 9-5 over 23 starts and 141.2 innings with a 3.43 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 1.172 WHIP and 134 ERA+. He’s coming off of a rough start where he allowed 5 runs over 5.1 innings and in his last five games he has pitched 28.1 innings with a 3.81 ERA while opponents have a .266 BA, .328 OBP and .750 OPS against him. In four games against the Mets this year he has been his average season self, pitching 25.0 innings with a 3.60 ERA. Two games have good, one was great and the other was pretty terrible. But these games were in April and May and the Mets (and the Nationals) are both different teams from that point. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Juan Lagares 4-21, 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Todd Frazier 6-19, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Amed Rosario 3-19, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 3 K
• Michael Conforto 6-17, 2B, 4 HR, 6 K (1.507 OPS)
• Joe Panik 1-13, 4 BB
• J.D. Davis 4-15, 2 2B, HR, BB, 5 K
• Pete Alonso 4-11, 2 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Wilson Ramos 0-10, 2 BB, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-6, BB, 2 K
• Tomas Nido 0-3, K

Let’s Go Mets!

In 2015 the Mets went on an incredible run to take the division title that was started with an early August series with the Nationals and completed in an earlyish September series with the Nationals. It may be the Wild Card this time, but there are shades of the 2015 run here. The Mets, winners of 13 of their last 14 square off with the Nationals in a critical 3 game set.

Marcus Stroman makes his second Mets start tonight. He is 6-11 over 22 starts and 129.0 innings with a 3.07 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 1.256 WHIP and 147 ERA+. His debut wasn’t great with the Mets but he battled through 4.1 innings allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. The Nationals now have quite a few AL hitters on their roster, so there are more players than I originally expected having a “significant” amount of PA’s against Stroman:

• Brian Dozier 3-13, 2B, K
• Yan Gomes 0-8, 2 BB, 4 K
• Adam Eaton 1-7, BB, K
• Kurt Suzuki 3-8
• Howie Kendrik 3-6, K
• Asdrubal Cabrera 3-5, 2B
• Gerardo Parra 1-3

The Mets bats will look to continue knocking those home runs over the wall against Stephen Strasburg who has allowed 16 so far this season. Stephen leads the league in wins (if you care about that) with a 14-5 record over 23 starts and 145.1 innings posting a 3.72 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 1.080 WHIP, and a 123 ERA+. He is coming off of his worst start of the season, allowing 9 runs over 4.2 innings, which raised his ERA from 3.26 to 3.72. Before that, in July, he had a 1.14 ERA over 5 starts and 31.2 innings (which was great considering he had a 5.70 ERA in 30.0 innings in June).

Against the Mets he has literally ran the gambit of below expectations, exceeding expectations and just meeting expectations. In his first start of the season he allowed 4 runs over 6.0 innings. Then, his very next start, he shut the Mets out over 6.2 innings. A month later he allowed 3 runs over 7.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Stephen:

• Adeiny Hechavarria 5-35, 3B, BB, 10 K
• Michael Conforto 4-24, 2 HR, 11 K
• Juan Lagares 2-20, 9 K
• Todd Frazier 3-9, 2 BB
• Wilson Ramos 5-12, 2B, 3 K
• Amed Rosario 3-12, 3 K
• Pete Alonso 2-8, 2B, 4 K
• J.D. Davis 1-6
• Jeff McNeil 3-6, 3B, K

Let’s Go Mets!

1.5 Games Back.

The Mets are only 1.5 games back in the Wild Card Race! Winners of 12 of their last 13, the Mets won last night thanks to another great post trade-deadline start from Wheeler, Ramos’ big bat and an Alonso jack to boot. Now the Mets have one more matinee game against the Marlins before an off-day and then a much tougher schedule.

Steven Matz is 6-7 over 22 games and 20 starts tossing 103.2 innings with a 4.60 ERA, 4.77 FIP, 1.399 WHIP and 89 ERA+. He’s coming off a rough start where he fell apart after a couple of strong innings, allowing 5 runs over 3.2 innings from 6 hits and a walk. Before that start in the month of July he allowed only 4 runs over 20.0 innings with opponents hitting against him with a .266 OBP and .629 OPS. In two starts against the Marlins this year he has tossed 9.0 innings against them allowing 5 runs, but 3 earned off 2 homers, 11 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. The Marlins have the following numbers against him:

• Miguel Rojas 3-20, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Starlin Castro 4-19, 2B, HR, 6 K
• Martin Prado 6-15, 2 BB, K
• Brian Anderson 3-14, 2B, 4 K
• Jorge Alfaro 4-9
• Lewis Brinson 0-8, BB, 3 K
• JT Riddle 1-3

The Mets bats will get a look at Jordan Yamamoto. Does that sound familiar? He was originally supposed to start the game yesterday, listed as a probable pitcher early in the morning before the Marlins called up Hector Noesi. The 23 year-old rookie (Yamamoto) is 4-2 over his first 9 starts in the majors with a 3.94 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.042 WHIP and 106 ERA+. Since July 21st he has hit his first rough patch as a major league player. He has made three starts pitching 14.0 innings allowing 13 hits and 15 runs with opponents getting on base at a .323 clip and hitting a .841 OPS. Before this tumble, he was enjoying a 1.59 ERA. .258 Opponent OBP and .418 Opponent OPS over 6 starts and 34.0 innings. This will be his first start against the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets, HAVE A WINNING RECORD. The Mets swept the Marlins in a single-admission double header yesterday pushing them to 1-game above .500 and for the first time in forever, a positive run differential. In game one deGrom led the way and the Mets offense provided enough offense to bring the team back to .500. Then in the nightcap the Mets took an early lead only to see it fade away in the middle in the game. Conforto and Alonso said not fast, hit a homer each late putting the Mets ahead!

Now the Mets look to continue the good vibes with Zack Wheeler on the mound. Wheeler is 8-6 over 21 starts and 131.1 innings with a 4.45 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.226 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. In his first start coming off the IL he was great through the first five innings, and then allowed 3 runs in the 6th to to finish the game with a 5.1 IP, 3 ER line. Last time out he shut the White Sox down, throwing 7.0 scoreless innings. Against the Marlins back in May he allowed 2 runs over 7.0 innings from 9 hits and a walk while striking out 11. The Marlins have the following numbers against him:

• Starlin Castro 5-22, 7 K
• Martin Prado 5-18, 4 K
• Brian Anderson 3-14, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Miguel Rojas 4-11, 2 HR, BB, 2 K
• Curtis Granderson 4-9, 2 2B, BB, 4 K
• Lewis Brinson 0-8, 3 K
• Neil Walker 1-4, K

The Mets bats will get a look at Jordan Yamamoto. The 23 year-old rookie is 4-2 over his first 9 starts in the majors with a 3.94 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.042 WHIP and 106 ERA+. Since July 21st he has hit his first rough patch as a major league player. He has made three starts pitching 14.0 innings allowing 13 hits and 15 runs with opponents getting on base at a .323 clip and hitting a .841 OPS. Before this tumble, he was enjoying a 1.59 ERA. .258 Opponent OBP and .418 Opponent OPS over 6 starts and 34.0 innings. This will be his first start against the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!