213 Miles From Shea

The Mets are 0-1 in the José Bautista era as the Marlins snapped the Mets’ 4 game winning streak last night. Wheeler did a lot better than his line suggests as two of his three runs came after a critical José Reyes error on the field. Reyes’ fielding, coupled with an offense that struggled to string hits together led to a 5-1 loss.

Luckily Jacob deGrom is here to make us all feel better. Jacob is 4-0 over 9 games and 51.1 innings with a 1.75 ERA, 1.82 FIP, 1.013 WHIP and 219 ERA+. In his last five starts he has allowed 1 run over 26.1 innings from 17 hits and 8 walks while striking out 39 batters leading to a 0.34 ERA. His worst start of the season came in Miami, in a game the Mets eventually won, where he allowed 4 runs from 6.0 innings, 7 hits and 1 walk. The Marlins have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Dietrich 4-19, BB, 9 K
• Castro 6-15, BB
• Bour 7-15, 2B,2 HR, 2 BB
• Rojas 4-16, BB
• Prado 3-13, 2B, BB
• Realmuto 2-12
• Maybin 0-9
• Anderson 1-1, BB

The Mets bats are still on a journey to find themselves. Will they do it against Dan Straily tonight? Dan is 2-0 over 4 starts and 20.0 innings with a 3.60 ERA, 6.57 FIP, 1.450 WHIP and 102 ERA+. He is coming off by far his best start of the season where he shutout Altanta over 7.0 innings allowing 3 hits and 3 walks. He was great in three games against the Mets last season where he held the Mets to 3 runs over 15.1 innings (1.76 ERA). Surprisingly, the discrepancy between his ERA and FIP/WHIP this year was also featured against the Mets last year as the Mets only scored 3 times despite getting 8 hits and 10 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against Dan:

• Reyes 2-11, 4 BB
• Cabera 3-8, 2 2B, BB
• Gonzalez 0-5, 2 BB
• Bruce 1-6, HR
• Flores 1-6

Lets Go Mets!

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Can the Mets make it 5 in a row?

That’s the question tonight as Jason Vargas was able to extend the Mets winning streak to four games! Vargas came out looking like a different pitcher from his first three starts yesterday as he tossed 5 scoreless innings. That may not sound like a lot but in his first four starts he maxed at around 84 pitches and gave up a ton of runs so this was a welcome surprise. To summarize the Mets Radio Team: Vargas was similar last night to Colon in terms of hitting his spots (not as much in speed differentiation) and that was the difference for him! The Mets survived a dicey 6th inning when they loaded the bases and used 3 pitchers but didn’t allow any runs. The hope for tonight is the offense returning to give the Mets pitchers some breathing room.

Zack Wheeler gets the nod for the Mets. On the season he is 2-3 over 7 games and 38.0 innings with a 5.92 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 1.553 WHIP and 65 ERA+. He is coming off of one of his worst starts of the season against the Blue Jays were he allowed 6 runs over 4.0 innings from 7 hits and 3 walks. In the month of May so far he has been terrible, followed by amazing, followed by terrible again, so here’s hoping the pendulum swings back to amazing tonight. His 2018 debut was against the Marlins where he held the fish to 1 run (a solo homer) 7.0 innings of work while striking out 7, so more of that please! The Marlins have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Dietrich 2-9, 3B, 6 K
• Castro 2-9
• Prado 3-8
• Maybin 1-7
• Bour 0-4, 2 BB
• Rojas 1-3, HR

The Mets bats draw former Yankee now Marlin Caleb Smith who is 2-5 over 9 starts and 42.2 innings this year with a 4.22 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 1.289 WHIP and 87 ERA+. He is coming off of a short outing where he allowed 4 runs in 4.0 innings off 2 hits and 4 walks. Before that he had a stretch of four games where he pitched 24.0 innings with a 1.50 ERA. Earlier this season he faced the Mets allowing 3 runs from 5 hits and 1 walk in 5.0 innings while striking out 7. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Conforto 2-3
• Flores 1-3, 2B
• Cabrera 1-2, HR
• Mesoraco 0-2
• Rosario 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

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What a weekend for the Mets! The Mets finally swept a series at home and put together a winning streak against the division leading Arizona Diamondbacks. Yesterday, Syndergaard pitched one of his best games of the year holding the Diamondbacks to 1 run. The Mets offense wouldn’t show up until late with Rosario hitting a solo shot to knot the game at one, Cabrera hitting a two run shot to put the Mets ahead, and Rosario, again, hitting a ball out of the park on the next pitch.

Jason Vargas gets the start tonight and this is a big moment for the 2018 Mets. Can Vargas, who has struggled so far this season, keep the winning going? In three starts this year Vargas has allowed 19 runs from 26 hits and 7 walks in 12.1 innings. His last start, which was all the way back on May 8th, was his best one where he allowed 4 runs in 4.0 innings. Unsurprisingly, between the amount of time that Vargas has spent in the American League and the amount of new-to-baseball players on the Marlins roster, only two Marlins batters have seen Vargas in a major league game: Castro (3-8, 3 2B, 2 BB) and Maybin (4-6).

Despite three wins this weekend, the Mets bats as a whole haven’t woken up yet (however it was a great weekend for two of the sleepiest bats this year – Conforto and Rosario), so the Mets bats will hope to wake up against rookie pitcher Elieser Hernandez. Elieser is a rule 5 pick from the Astros, so he must stay on the roster for the entire season. He was held up for about 6 weeks due to a tooth infection and finally made his major league debut on the 10th where he pitched 8.0 innings allowing only 2 runs off 9 hits and a walk while striking out 3. In four rehab games this year he allowed 10 runs, 8 earned, over 15.0 innings from 16 hits and 8 walks.

Let’s Go Mets!

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Stop the Narrative: The Mets won two games in a row! For the first time in what feels like forever, the Mets have one back to back games, won the series and set themselves up to sweep the first place Diamondbacks today at Citi Field. Last night the Mets got a lackluster start for Matz (4 runs over 4.0 innings, but it felt like Matz was pitching better than that to be honest) and the bullpen bailed the Mets out with 5.0 innings allowing only 2 hits and no walks. The Mets bullpen was great at the start of April and has been terrible of late, this was a welcomed change of pace. It allowed Mesoraco to hit a homerun in the 8th to make the game 4-4 and Wilmer “Walk-Off” Flores ended it in the 9th.

Syndergaard looks to build off last night’s momentum and hammer in the win today. He is 3-1 over 9 games and 51.2 innings with a 3.14 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 1.219 WHIP and 122 ERA+. In his last start he allowed 2 runs over 5.0 innings from 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. In his last two starts he has allowed 4 runs over 11.0 innings from 11 hits and 6 walks. The last time Noah faced the Diamondbacks was in back to back starts in 2016 where he allowed 7 runs, 5 earned over 10.2 innings from 15 hits and 3 walks while striking out 14. Arizona has the following numbers against Noah:

• Goldschmidt 2-8, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Lamb 0-8, BB
• Owings 1-9, 2B, 5 K
• Descalso 3-6
• Mathis 0-5
• Peralta 1-4, 2B
• Ahmed 0-3

Clay Buchholz will make his 2018 major league debut today as he has not pitched in more than a year. The long time, and successful, Boston Red Sox pitcher was traded to Philly before the 2017 season, made a couple of starts, had season ending surgery, signed with the Royals, was released by the Royals and recently signed with the Diamondbacks. In the minors this year he has tossed 27.2 innings over 5 games with a 2.93 ERA. Last year he allowed 10 runs from 16 hits in 7.1 innings including his 2017 debut which was against the Mets where the Mets scored 4 runs in 5.0 innings from 8 hits and 2 walks. In his last full season with Boston, he went 8-10 over 37 games and 21 starts logging 139.1 innings with a 4.78 ERA, 5.06 FIP, 1.328 WHIP and 94 ERA+. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Reyes 9-34, 2B, 3B, 4 BB
• Cabrera 8-16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB
• Bruce 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

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The Mets needed some good news in the worst way yesterday. Hours before first pitch the Mets announced Juan Lagares was heading to the DL for the rest of the season and the Mets were one loss away from falling to .500 for the season. Thanks to a wonderful performance by deGrom, the Mets got a win against the first place Diamondbacks and at least for one night could breath a little easier. Last time out the Mets ace threw 45 pitches in a scoreless, laboring inning. This time he threw 44 pitches across three great innings and ended up tossing 7.0 innings of 1 run ball with 13 strikeouts.

Matz will look to keep the Mets on the right path tonight. He is 1-3 over 7 games and 32.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 5.50 FIP, 1.255 WHIP and 100 ERA+. In his last two starts he has tossed 11.0 innings allowing 2 runs from 8 hits and 5 walks while striking out 8. His last two starts has dropped his ERA from 4.98 to 3.86. In one career start against the Diamondbacks he allowed 2 runs from 5 hits and 1 walk in 6.0 innings while striking out 9. Arizona has the following numbers against Steven:

• Mathis 2-5, HR
• Goldschmidt 1-3, HR
• Lamb 0-3
• Murphy 0-3
• Owings 0-2

The Mets bats will try to spark back to life against Patrick Corbin tonight who is in the midst of a career year. So far he is 4-1 over 9 starts with a 2.53 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 0.860 WHIP and 167 ERA+. His career numbers, for comparison, are 4.00 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 1.313 WHIP and 106 ERA+. Corbin is coming off of by far his worst start of 2018 where he allowed 4 runs from 6 hits and a walk in 6.0 innings while striking out 8. Outside of that start he has allowed 3 runs in only two other starts and in four starts has allowed 1 run or less. He faced the Mets twice last year. In May he allowed 4 runs over 6.0 innings from 9 hits and a walk and in July he allowed only 1 run from 4 hits and 2 walks in 8.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Corbin:

• Gonzalez 5-26, HR, 3 BB, 10 K
• Bruce 2-14, HR, 3 BB
• Flores 3-12
• Reyes 7-11, 3 2B, BB
• Mesoraco 2-9, 2B
• Cabera 0-3
• Conforto 1-3, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

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The New York Mets, New York’s National League Water Polo team, returns to the pool tonight to play the Arizona Diamondbacks. Our nation’s collective rainy spring continues as tonight’s game looks to find a dry slot in weather in water logged Queens. The Mets are coming off an off day after a loss as they continue a one week trend of one step forward, one step back.

Jacob deGrom takes the mound for the Mets tonight. He’s 3-0 over 8 games and 44.1 innings with a 1.83 ERA, 2.22 FIP, 1.038 WHIP and 211 ERA+. His last start on Sunday was utterly bizarre, mostly due to Mother Nature. The Mets and Phillies had a long rain delay to start the game. When the game finally got underway, deGrom proceeded to walk the first three batters he faced to load the bases. He then got two strikeouts and got out of the inning unscathed but tossed an enormous amount of pitches (45) and was done for the day. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Mathis 2-7, BB, 3 K
• Pollock 1-4
• Ahmed 0-3
• Avila 1-3
• Descalso 0-3
• Goldschmidt 1-2, BB
• Lamb 0-3
• Owings 1-3

The Mets bats will try to find some positive consistency against Zack Godley tonight who is 4-2 over 8 game sand 46.1 innings with a 4.08 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 1.424 WHIP and 104 ERA+. In his last two starts he has pitched 12.0 innings allowing 8 ER from 13 hits and 5 walks. He’s allowed 4 runs or more in three of his last fours starts and four of his last six starts. He pitched well against the Mets last year allowing 1 run from 1 hit and 5 walks in 6.2 innings and then allowed 3 runs, 2 earned in 5.0  innings in Queens. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 1-8, 2 BB
• Gonzalez 1-8, 3 K
• Reyes 1-5, BB
• Conforto 2-6
• Flores 0-4
• Cabrera 0-3
• Nimmo 1-1, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

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After an extended rain delay the Mets were able to deliver a win, putting them in a position to sweep the two game set this afternoon. Last night Syndergaard led the Mets through 5.0 innings of good pitching and got the offense started with an RBI. After giving up 2 runs the Mets offense turned it on and ended up winning the game 12-2 thanks to a 4-hit game by Lagares and Mesoraco who scored 4 times and was on base 5 times (2 hits, 3 walks).

Wheeler looks to keep the Mets on the right track this afternoon. He is 2-2 over 6 games and 34.0 innings with a 5.03 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.441 WHIP and 77 ERA+. Zack is coming off of his best start since his first start. On May 9th he allowed 1 run from 4 hits and 3 walks in 6.0 innings while striking out 7 in a game the Mets eventually lost 2-1. Very few Blue Jays have seen Wheeler in a game:

• Grichuk 0-3
• Donaldson 1-2
• Solarte 1-1

The Mets bats will get a look at long-time Philly, now long time Blue Jay, J.A. Happ. The 35 year-old is 4-3 this season over 8 starts and 45.0 innings with a 4.80 ERA, 4.32 FIP, 1.267 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. He is coming off his worst start of the season against the Mariners where he allowed 7 runs from 10 hits and 2 walks in 3.1 innings which raised his ERA from 3.67 to 4.80. The last time he faced the Mets was in 2015 as a member of the Pirates where he held the Mets to 1 run from 7 hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Happ:

• Cespedes 5-22, 2 2B, HR, BB
• Reyes 2-21, 2B, 2 BB
• Cabrera 2-9, 2B
• Gonzalez 1-6, BB
• Mesoraco 0-6, BB
• Lagares 1-3
• Flores 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

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Yesterday Vlad Guerrero Jr caused a stir with an Instagram posted tagged at JFK, not too far from Queens where the Blue Jays were coming. He has since deleted the picture and there is some reason to believe it is an identical picture from a while ago. Why lead with this? The most exciting aspect of the Blue Jays, the reason to go see them outside of a chance to Curtis Granderson again, is the promise of their young star who should be making his major league debut at any moment now.

Across the diamond in Mets land, the excitement from Friday’s comeback win was erased with a soaking, late starting Mets game on Sunday which they dropped 4-2. With thunderstorms in the forecast tonight, the Mets are literally and figuratively raining on my 2018 Baseball Parade.

Noah Syndergaard was pushed all the way back to tonight thanks to off days and rain outs. He is 2-1 over 8 games and 46.2 innings with a 3.09 ERA, 2.78 FIP, 1.200 WHIP and 125 ERA+. In the month of May he has allowed 5 runs in 12.0 innings from 16 hits and 5 walks while striking out only 8. He faced the Blue Jays all the way back in his rookie season of 2015 where he held them to 1 run and 2 hits with 2 walks in 6.0 innings while striking out 11. The Blue Jays have the following numbers against Syndergaard:

• Grichuk 0-3, BB
• Diaz 1-3
• Donaldson 0-3
• Moralez 1-3, 2B
• Solarte 1-3
• Pillar 0-2

The Mets get to see an old foe in a new place: Jaime Garcia. The long time Cardinal ended up in Atlanta, Minnesota and in the Bronx in 2017 and is now in Toronto. He is 2-2 over 7 games and 35.0 innings with a 5.40 ERA, 5.92 FIP, 1.571 WHIP and 84 ERA+. He is coming off his second best start of the season where he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, over 5.0 innings from 3 hits and 5 walks. Between April 17th and May 3rd, he made 4 starts where each one he allowed 1 additional run over the other (so 3 runs, 4 runs, 5 runs, 6 runs). Tell that one to your friends, they will politely tell you that was interesting. His 2017 debut was against the Mets last year and he allowed 4 runs over 6.0 innings. Two months later he held the Mets to 2 runs over 7.0 innings and two months after that the Mets got him for 3 runs over 5.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 12-58, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 16 K
• Reyes 7-24, 2B, 2 BB
• Frazier 6-23, 2 2B
• Cabrera 4-14, 2 2B
• Flores 4-12, 2B, 2 HR
• Lagares 3-9, 2B
• Cespedes 1-8, 2B
• Conforto 3-7, 2 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

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Jacob deGrom comes back to the Mets today, giving Mets fans a roller coaster ride that lasted about 2 weeks. He left his last start on May 2nd after 4 fantastic innings where he held the Braves scoreless with 2 hits, no walks and 6 strikeouts due to a hyperextended elbow. For the next day or so Mets fans were bracing themselves for every possible outcome: 4 weeks of no deGrom to no deGrom for at least a year. Then the Mets said, “Hey! It’s not so bad! He’ll make his next scheduled start”. Right before that start they moved deGrom over to the DL and brought up PJ Conlon to make his major league debut and promptly sent him back down because Jacob is ready to go.

In Jacob’s last three outings he has allowed no runs over 18.1 innings with 11 hits, 5 walks and 24 K’s. On the season he is 3-0 in 7 games and 43.1 innings with a 1.87 ERA, 2.09 FIP, 0.992 WHIP and 207 ERA+. This will also be deGrom’s first time against the Phillies this year. Last year he went 2-1 in 4 games over 23.1 innings posting a 3.47 ERA. The Phillies have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Herrera 5-27, 8 K
• Hernandez 3-16, 3 BB
• Franco 3-15, 2B
• Williams 2-8
• Hoskins 1-3, 2 BB
• Altherr 0-3, 2 K
• Crawford 0-2

The Mets bats draw Aaron Nola who is in the midst of his best season in his career. He is 5-1 over 8 games and 52.2 innings with a 2.05 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 0.892 WHIP, 192 ERA+. In the month of May so far he has allowed 1 run off 9 hits and a walk in 14.1 innings of work while striking out 19. His second start of the year was against the Mets where he allowed 2 runs over 5.0 innings from 4 hits and 4 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 3-11, BB, 4 K
• Cespedes 4-11, 2 2 HR, BB, 3 K
• Cabrera 3-8
• Conforto 2-7, HR, BB
• Mesoraco 0-5, BB
• Nimmo 0-3, 3 BB
• Reyes 1-5
• Rosario 2-4, 2B
• Smith 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

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Last night’s Mets game looked identical to last Saturday’s game for a while. Steven Matz started both games. Matz allowed a solo shot in the first inning for both games. Matz didn’t allow any runs after that and got out of jams in both games. The Mets bats did nothing in both games. But last night featured an alternate ending. Conforto hit a two run shot in the 9th to give the Mets the lead and then Mesoraco hit a solo shot to extend the lead. Now the Mets find themselves in a situation where they can get a much needed series win.

Noah Syndergaard gets the start tonight. He is 2-1 over 8 games and 46.2 innings with a 3.09 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 1.200 WHIP and 125 ERA+. Noah is coming off a 6.0 inning outing where he allowed 2 runs in a game the Mets eventually lost 3-2. His seconds tart of the season was against the Phillies and he allowed 2 runs over 4.0 innings from 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. The Phillies have the following numbers against Noah:

• Herrera 1-17, 3 K
• Hernandez 2-13, 3 BB
• Franco 4-15, 2B
• Altherr 1-9
• Knapp 2-5, 2B
• Hoskins 1-1, 2B, 2 BB
• Santana 1-2, 2B

The Mets bats will face Zach Eflin who will make his 3rd start of the season. He is 1-0 over 12.2 innings allowing 1 run from 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 13. Last season he was 1-5 over 11 games and 64.1 innings posting a 6.16 ERA, 6.10 FIP, 1.415 WHIP and 69 ERA+. He made two starts against the Mets last season including his major league debut. In his major league debut (April of last year) he held the Mets to 2 runs, 1 earned over 5.0 innings. In August the Mets got 7 hits and turned them into 4 runs over 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Cabrera 0-9
• Reyes 3-7, 3 2B
• Cespedes 1-4, 2 BB
• Conforto 1-4, HR, BB
• Gonzalez 1-5
• Flores 1-3
• Lagares 1-3, 3B
• Smith 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

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