What a difficult week for the New York Metropolitans! The first place Yankees, followed by the second place Red Sox and now the first place Dodgers! Whew!
For the first time in a while the Mets will play a team tonight with a better record. This will also be the first time the two teams play each other since the 2024 NLCS. The Dodgers will face a Mets team trying to break out of a rut. The Mets offense in their last game finally got a hit with runners in scoring position on their way to beat the Red Sox 5-1. Can the Mets light up Clayton Kershaw tonight?
Griffin Canning has a 2.47 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.289 WHIP and a 157 ERA+ over 47 1/3 innings (nine starts) this season. In his last six starts he has a 1.67 ERA, 3.48 FIP over 32 1/3 innings while striking out 33 batters. Before his last start against the Yankees, the only game that series the Mets won, we talked about how there was a warning sign starting to blink for Canning – home runs. He allowed home runs in back-to-back starts in May. Well it happened again against the Yankees, bringing his total to four home runs over three starts. The Dodgers have the following career numbers against Canning:
- Mookie Betts 3-7, 2B, HR, BB, K
- Tommy Edman 1-4, BB, K
- Freddie Freeman 1-5, K
- Kiké Hernández 1-4, 2B, BB
- Teoscar Hernández 4-9, 2B, HR, 3 K
- Max Muncy 0-9, 2 BB, 5 K
- Shohei Ohtani 0-3, K
- Andy Pages 1-1
- Miguel Rojas 0-2, BB
- Will Smith 2-4, 2B, BB
Clayton Kershaw looks to bounce back from his first start this season. Last week he allowed five runs from five hits and three walks over four innings against the Angels. Last season he made seven starts totaling 30 innings with a 4.50 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and an 88 ERA+. Kershaw has been limited by various injuries over the last couple of seasons and he’s still an absolute legend in baseball. The Mets have the following career stats against him:
- Pete Alonso 1-7, 2 BB, 2 K
- José Azócar 1-2, 2B, K
- Francisco Lindor 2-8, 3 K
- Starling Marte 4-22, BB, 9 K
- Jeff McNeil 1-8
- Brandon Nimmo 0-8, 3 K
- Juan Soto 3-14, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-5, 3 K
- Luis Torrens 1-3, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- The home run battle. On Wednesday night the Mets hit their first home run in eight days (thank you Francisco Lindor!). The Mets schedule has been insane this month in regards to home runs. In the month of May the Mets have faced the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs and Diamondbacks, all in the top five for home runs hit this season. Griffin Canning has started against all four teams. This is going to be another weekend where the Mets need their stars to blast some balls to the Van Wyck and Whitestone Expressways.
- Francisco Lindor. Lindor had a rough week before Tuesday. Over six games he went 1-for-22 at the plate with a double and three walks. The Mets as a team went 2-4 over that stretch. In his last two games he has gone 3-for-8 with a double, home run and three stolen bases. Lindor has also been a much better hitter at home (.386/.429/.693) than away (.200/.291/.309) this season.
- Brett Baty. Brett Baty saved the Mets on Wednesday night. He went 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI’s. More importantly, he had the first Mets hit with RISP in what felt like 32 years. Baty now has 14 RBI’s on the season, good for 6th on the team, despite playing in only 32 games and having less than 100 AB’s so far.
Let’s Go Mets!
