How lucky are we? We have Francisco Lindor on our team!
Lindor started Friday night’s game on the bench, still healing up from a broken pinky toe after getting hit by a pitch a few days ago. Lindor has insisted that he was going to play through it and he did so in spectacular fashion. With the game tied in the ninth inning, Lindor came off the bench and ripped a two-run double to give the Mets lead.
Momentum was building behind the Rockies. Fresh off a three-game winning streak, they kept the Mets frustrated at the plate the entire night (2-for-15 with runners in scoring position, 12 runners left on). Lindor flipped the script and now the Mets go for the series victory today in Denver!
Clay Holmes has pitched 67 1/3 innings this season with a 3.07 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.158 WHIP and a 124 ERA+. Holmes passed a major milestone in his last start. By eclipsing 63 2/3 innings, he has now pitched more innings since becoming an All-Star relievers for the Yankees in 2022. Holmes will most likely today move to his highest inning mark in the majors for a single season (70 innings). Holmes pitched against the Rockies last weekend, tossing seven innings (a season high) allowing three runs from three hits, including two home runs. Home runs have been the only blight on Holmes recently, allowing seven in his last five starts. The Rockies have the following career numbers against him:
- Orlando Arcia 2-6, HR, BB, K
- Jordan Beck 0-3
- Brenton Doyle 0-3, K
- Thairo Estrada 0-1
- Kyle Farmer 1-2
- Tyler Freeman 1-2, HR
- Sam Hilliard 1-3
- Keston Hiura 1-5
- Ryan McMahon 0-3 2 BB
The Mets draw rookie Carson Palmquist for a second consecutive weekend. Over four starts in his major league career, Palmquist has pitched 18 innings, allowing 18 runs, 17 earned from 23 hits and 10 walks while striking out 14 (8.50 ERA, 6.23 FIP, 1.833 WHIP, 55 ERA+). Last Sunday against the Mets he allowed four runs from four hits, including two homers over 4 2/3 innings. Despite this, Palmquist did strike out eight Mets batters. The Mets have the following stats against Palmquist:
- Luisangel Acuña 0-2, K
- Pete Alonso 1-2, HR, K
- Brett Baty 0-2, 2 K
- Francisco Lindor 1-3, HR, K
- Starling Marte 0-2, BB, K
- Juan Soto 0-1, BB
- Tyrone Taylor 1-2, K
- Luis Torrens 0-2, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Juan Soto & Pete Alonso. It’s not a surprise that Pete Alonso is leading the majors in RBI – he’s hitting behind Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and whomever Carlos Mendoza plugs into the two-hole. Alonso’s two RBI’s Friday night brought him to 57 on the year. He has 14 RBI’s in June alone (six games). Juan Soto had a huge night at the plate, getting on base four times and scoring twice, bringing him to 42 runs on the year (tied with Francisco Lindor for 13th in MLB). Let them cook at the plate all weekend!
- Starling Marte. Marte had a huge day at the plate on Thursday, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, a walk and two runs scored. Friday night he piled on going 2-for-5 with a run scored. As injuries on the Mets have mounted (Jesse Winker, Mark Vientos), the Mets needed someone to step up and Marte has been sizzling.
- Clay Holmes and ground balls. Holmes has an interesting Baseball Savant page. His pitching run values, is mostly in the red, but vast majority of his statcast data is in the blue, in the 56th percentile or less. Where he is excelling though is groundballs. He’s getting them 55.8% of the time, which is in the 92nd percentile. We are seeing the effect of hitters hitting him hard (45.3% of the time) in his home run data. As long as he keeps the ball on the ground today, he’ll be fine.
Let’s Go Mets!
