The Mets enter play today 20 games over .500 and with the best record in baseball!
Wednesday night David Peterson put on a clinic pitching a complete game shutout, masterfully making quick work of the Nationals, keeping his pitch count low and working out of trouble late to keep the shutout alive. The Mets look to build off Peterson’s excellent start with their ace Kodai Senga today!
Kodai Senga has pitched 68 innings this season with a 1.59 ERA (league leading), 3.30 FIP, 1.176 WHIP and a 238 ERA+ (league leading). In his last three starts he has a 2.04 ERA, 4.61 FIP with 18 strikeouts over 17 2/3 innings. Senga faced the Nationals at the end of April holding them to two runs from six hits and two walks while striking out five. The Nationals have the following career numbers against Senga:
- CJ Abrams 3-6, 3B, 2 BB
- Josh Bell 2-8, HR, BB, K
- Alex Call 0-2, 2 BB, 2 K
- Luis García Jr. 1-6, 2 BB, K
- Nathaniel Lowe 0-3, K
- Keibert Ruiz 0-6, 2 BB, K
- José Tena 1-2
- James Wood 1-3, K
- Jacob Young 1-2
The Mets bats get to see an old friend tonight in Michael Soroka. Soroka had a fast and bright start to his career with the Braves. He was an All-Star in his first full season with a 2.68 ERA over 174 2/3 innings. He then had a series of injuries that limited him to three games in 2020, and prevented him from playing at all in 2021 and 2022. Last season he pitched 25 games, nine starts, with the White Sox.
He has made seven starts totaling 37 innings for the Nationals this season with a 4.86 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 1.108 WHIP and an 82 ERA+. He’s coming off of his best start of the season, holding the Rangers scoreless over six innings. In the three starts before that he allowed 10 runs over 17 innings (5.29 ERA, 5.14 FIP). The Mets have the following career stats against Soroka:
- Pete Alonso 4-12, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
- Starling Marte 2-3, HR
- Jeff McNeil 1-9, 2B, K
- Brandon Nimmo 2-9, BB, K
- Juan Soto 6-10, 2 HR, 4 BB, K (.714 OBP, 1.914 OPS)
Three Things To Watch For:
- Juan Soto Summer. Call your favorite New York area sports radio station and let them know, it’s Juan Soto Summer! Soto went 2-for-4 at the plate yesterday with a home run. It was his fourth multi-hit game in his last five games. Over that stretch he is 10-for-19 with a double, two home runs and nine runs scored (.526/.625/.895). Sot is now sixth in MLB for runs scored (49) and first in walks (55).
- Brandon Nimmo. Brandon Nimmo had a huge game Wednesday night going 2-for-3 with two home runs, bringing him to 12 for the year. This puts Nimmo on track to have a career high in home runs. His current best is 24, which he did in 2023. It’s not his best season by far, he’s still far off his OPS+ stats from early 2020’s where he was consistently at 130 or above, but his slugging right now is quite a bit higher than last year. Let’s see how the rest of June goes!
- Kodai Senga. An ace to me is a pitcher you buy a ticket that day to go see pitch. Kodai Senga is that type of pitcher. There is a buzz at Citi Field when he pitches, and the graphics team at the ballpark does a good job turning it into an event. Right now Senga is in the 95th percentile for offspeed run value. While he needs to keep the walks down (eight in his last three starts, in the 18th percentile), he’s doing enough to get out of jams and spin gems.
Let’s Go Mets!
