The Mets won a series! The Mets won a series!
After losing 14 of 17 games, the Mets have now won two games in row and are building a bit of momentum heading into this weekend’s series against the Yankees. The Yankees are also in a bit of a slump. They just got swept by the Blue Jays who took over first place from the Yankees in the process.
The Mets rotation though is in shambles. The Mets announced Friday that Paul Blackburn was headed to the IL with a shoulder injury. Over the last few weeks Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn have all landed on the injured list leaving the Mets in a bit of a pickle this weekend.
Recently recalled Justin Hagenman will get the bulk of the work today. He’s pitched two games for the Mets (April and June) totaling six innings allowing only one run from five hits while striking out five batters. The success in the majors has not been replicated consistently in Syracuse where he has a 6.21 ERA over 42 innings. Since his last outing in June with the Mets he has allowed six runs over 8 2/3 innings in Syracuse. When pushed, Hagenman can go 70-80 pitches.
The Mets will face off against former Met Marcus Stroman this afternoon. Stroman has made four starts this season totaling 14 1/3 innings with a 8.16 ERA, 6.58 FIP, 1.674 WHIP and a 50 ERA+. His season got off to a rough start, posting an 11.57 ERA over three starts from the end of March to mid-April. A knee injury sidelined him for a few months and he came back strong in his last start allowing only one run over five innings against the Athletics. The Mets have the following career numbers against Stroman:
- Pete Alonso 2-5, 2B
- Brett Baty 0-3
- Travis Jankowski 3-11, 2B, 5 K
- Francisco Lindor 6-27, 2B, 2 BB, 6 K
- Starling Marte 1-8, BB
- Jeff McNeil 0-5
- Brandon Nimmo 1-5, 3 BB, 2 K
- Juan Soto 3-10, 2B, HR, 4 BB, 2 K
- Tyrone Taylor 1-2, 2B
Three Things To Watch For:
- Brandon Nimmo. From June 22nd to July 1st Nimmo played in nine games where he hit well (9-for-33, .273/.314/.303) but only had one extra base hit. In his last two games he has gone 3-for-9 with two home runs (including a grand slam Wednesday night). The offense right now overall is still struggling to score run. A Nimmo hot streak can go a long way to relieve this tired pitching staff.
- Juan Soto. Luckily for Mets fans all three games this weekend against the Yankees are being broadcasted on SNY. During the nationally televised games during the last subway series, we got our fill of Juan Soto talk. During that series Soto went 2-for-10 with four walks (.357 OBP). Over his last 31 games Soto is hitting .320/.474/.699 with 12 home runs and 29 walks – earning player of the month honors for June!
- Devin Williams. Williams last pitched on July 2nd where he allowed two runs and got tagged for the loss in an 11-9 games with the Blue Jays. Williams has had an up and down season so far but is coming off of a tremendous month of June where he allowed only one run over 9 2/3 innings while striking out 12. He pitched two scoreless innings against the Mets earlier this season, his first time facing the Mets since Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead home run against him.
Let’s Go Mets!
