The Mets try to escape San Diego with a win this afternoon. The last two games have just been no good, terrible times. Monday night the Mets had a bullpen collapse and allowed the Padres to take the lead after the Mets took the lead on a massive Mark Vientos grand slam. The Mets would later come back in the game and blow the game in the ninth inning. Tuesday the Mets and Padres were close for most of the game until the bullpen had another meltdown, leading to a 7-1 Padres win. Soto left Tuesday’s game with a foot contusion and avoided a broken toe.
Let’s just get out of California with one more win!
Clay Holmes has tossed 113 2/3 innings over 21 starts with a 3.40 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 1.276 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. Holmes is coming off of a strong start against the Giants where he allowed one run from six hits and a walk over five innings. Holmes has been in a rut this month alternating between solid starts and allowing five runs. Can he break the pattern this afternoon? The Padres have the following career numbers against him:
- Luis Arráez 2-3, 3B, BB
- Xander Bogaerts 1-6, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
- Jake Cronenworth 0-1
- Elias Díaz 0-0, BB
- Jose Iglesias 1-2, K
- Manny Machado 1-2
- Martin Maldonado 0-1, K
- Jackson Merrill 0-1
- Gavin Sheets 0-1
- Fernando Tatis Jr. 1-3
The Mets bats will get a look at Yu Darvish this afternoon. Over four starts and 16 2/3 innings, Darvish has a 9.18 ERA, 5.32 FIP, 1.800 WHIP and a 47 ERA+. Darvish had an elbow injury that kept him off of the field since the start of July and things haven’t been great for him since returning. His best outing so far was on July 19th were he allowed three runs over five innings. Last time out he got tagged for eight runs over 3 1/3 innings including two homers. The Mets have the following career stats against him:
- Pete Alonso 3-17, HR, BB, 6 K
- Francisco Alvarez 1-2, K
- Francisco Lindor 6-22, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 7 K
- Starling Marte 9-23, 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
- Jeff McNeil 3-20, 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
- Brandon Nimmo 2-15, 3B, BB, 3 K
- Juan Soto 3-4, HR, BB, K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-3, K
- Luis Torrens 0-3, BB
Three Things To Watch For:
- Hugs. I’m currently writing this article at 11:27 EST. With the amount of rumors around the Mets swirling, it feels like the roster is going to go through some changes by the time this team plays again on Friday night. Will the Mets trade someone off of the major league roster? Will someone have to get optioned to the minors to make room for a new trade acquisition? Will the Mets bring back some familiar faces who are currently on other teams? We’ll be watching for hugs in our dugout and around the league.
- Pete Alonso. Alonso is mired in a slump right now. Over his last 12 games he has gone 4-for-42 at the plate with one home run and five walks (.095/.188/.167). Alonso currently sits at 248 career home runs, just four behind Darryl Strawberry’s franchise leading 252. Francisco Lindor was stuck in a terrible slump about two weeks ago. He recorded a multi-hit game the Wednesday for a Thursday travel game and then went on a tear for a few days. Let’s hope Pete can start the same trajectory today.
- Jeff McNeil. McNeil has quietly been putting together a solid 2025 campaign. He’s already at 1.7 bWAR, surpassing 2024’s 1.6 bWAR in 50 fewer games. He’s also already at 33 walks on the season and is on pace to smash past his career best of 40 walks which he set in 2022 (the season he hit .326 and led the league). He’s also only one home run away from his third consecutive season with double digit homers. McNeil’s 133 OPS+ is fourth best OPS+ he’s ever put up and it comes after two consecutive seasons of a sub-100 OPS+.
Let’s Go Mets!
