Mets baseball is back!
The Mets are half a game out of first place and 13 games above .500 to start the second half. After stumbling in the second half of June, the Mets have been better of late. Heading into the All-Star break the Mets got Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga back from injury, the best start we’ve seen from Frankie Montas. Plus saw signs that Mark Vientos was turning things around.
The Reds are in 4th in NL Central, but have a winning record. If the season ended today the Brewers, Mets and Padres would each get a wild card spot, with the Mets 2.5 games ahead of the Padres and the Reds 2.5 games back of the Padres. This is a big series for the Reds who are trying to collapse the Wild Card standings a bit heading into the trade deadline.
Sean Manaea makes his first start at Citi Field this afternoon. Manaea looked excellent in his outing of the season right before the All-Star break pitching 3 1/3 innings allowing one run on five hits while striking out seven. At one point he struck out five batters in a row. Manaea had two different starts against the Reds in 2024. In his first start (April) he held them to one run and three hits over five innings. In September he allowed four runs from three hits including two home runs over 6 2/3 innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against him:
- Will Benson 0-1
- Elly De La Cruz 2-5, HR, K
- Santiago Espinal 0-3, 2 K
- Jake Fraley 0-4, 3 BB
- TJ Friedl 2-5, HR, 2 K
- Austin Hays 2-6, HR, 2 K
- Connor Joe 0-8, BB, K
- Matt McLain 0-1, BB
- Spencer Steer 1-6, BB, 2 K
- Tyler Stephenson 1-5, BB, 2 K
- Jose Trevino 1-8, 2B, 2 K
The Mets bats will get the second half started against Nick Lodolo who is having a career year. Over 19 starts, 106 2/3 innings, Lodolo has a 3.38 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.106 WHIP and a 132 ERA+. Lodolo is coming off of a strong start where he shutout the Marlins over six innings while striking out four batters. In his last five games he has a 2.28 ERA and a 4.35 FIP. His rise FIP can be attributed to the home runs he’s been allowing of late. He’s allowed eight home runs over his last seven starts. The Mets have the following career numbers against Lodolo:
- Pete Alonso 0-2, 2 K
- Francisco Lindor 0-2, 2 K
- Jeff McNeil 1-1, BB
- Brandon Nimmo 0-3, 2 K
- Tyrone Taylor 2-6, HR, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Getting Plunked. Surprise, surprise – the Mets are leading the league in getting hit by pitches. Mets batters have been plunked 57 times this season. This isn’t new as the Mets were 3rd in the league in 2024 (92 times), 2nd in 2023 (107), and 1st in 2022 (112). Tonight they are facing Nick Lodolo who is leading the league with 11 hit batters. He also led the league in 2022 (19). Let’s put 11 hit batsmen in perspective. The Reds as a team have hit 39 batters. Anyway, the Mets need to stay safe at the plate tonight.
- Pete Alonso. The countdown is on for Pete Alonso! Alonso is sitting at 247 home runs, five runs back from Strawberry’s franchise leading 252 career home runs. Pete has had more home run success on the road this season hitting 13 bombs with a .553 SLG compared to 8 home runs and a .509 SLG at home (50 away games vs 47 home games). Pete is having a phenomenal season so far, leading the league in doubles (26) and he has already accumulated 3.0 bWAR (2.6 last season). He’s coming off a huge All-Star game where he smacked a three-run home run.
- Mark Vientos. Vientos was starting to put things together right before the All-Star break. In his last five games he has gone 7-for-19 at the plate (.368/.368/.579) with two doubles, a triple and three RBI’s. This mini-hot streak has raised his season slash line from .210/.272/.341 to .223/.280/.361. Under the hood, Vientos has had an average exit velocity of 90.9 mph (67th percentile) and is hitting the ball hard 48% of the time (79th percentile). While the rest of his Baseball Savant page is blue, these are the signs that he’s starting to turn his 2025 around!
- BONUS. This is for fans heading to Citi Field this weekend. The Wok n’ Roll stand behind centerfield has a rotating egg roll for each opponent this season. They’re bringing out the knock-off Skyline (or Gold Star, I’m not weighing in on this debate) this weekend. The roll, which they advertised in April, has chili and spaghetti in it.
Let’s Go Mets!
