213 Miles From Shea

The Mets bullpen held onto a one-run lead Friday night in Cincinnati! We are so back!

A win this afternoon will block the Reds from winning the season series, and the tiebreaker, against the Mets. The Mets are looking to run into the playoffs this year on the strength of their bats and the excitement of their rookie starting pitchers. The Mets are about to have three consecutive starts by their most exciting pitchers. Jonah Tong will make his second start this afternoon, Brandon Sproat makes his debut Sunday and Nolan McLean most likely will start the first game against the Phillies. Today is all about the Canadian Cannon!

Jonah Tong is coming off of a fantastic major league debut where he cruised through the first four innings and had a rough fifth inning (a true Mets baptism). He allowed only one earned run, four total runs (everything happening in the fifth inning) from six hits and no walks while striking out six batters. It was also a very strange start where the Mets hitters scored 12 runs over the first two innings, keeping Tong off of the mound for over 20 minutes at a time. Tong’s fastball sat in the mid-90’s and the average exit velocity was 86.3 mph, which is very good for a pitcher. Tong’s curveball, which he only tossed 13 times (13.4% usage) had a 50% whiff% according to Statcast!

The Mets bats look to give Jonah Tong 19 runs again, this time against Brady Singer. Singer has pitched 143 1/3 innings over 27 starts with a 4.08 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 1.256 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. Singer is coming off of the definition of a quality start, allowing three runs from five hits over six innings while striking out eight. Before that he allowed only two runs over 18 innings over three starts. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-3, K
• Brett Baty 0-3, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 0-8, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 0-3
• Cedric Mullins 1-2, 2B
• Juan Soto 3-7, 2B, 2 BB
• Luis Torrens 0-3, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 1-3

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Late Summer Mark Vientos. Mark Vientos has played in 25 games since August 1st slashing .277/.333/.638 with seven doubles and nine home runs, including the one he hit Friday night. Over 50% of his home runs have come in the last month! He’s raised his season slash line from .234/.285/.372 to .245/.298/.441. He has completely flipped the script on his season going from a negative bWAR to essentially 0 and from a below average OPS+ to 108. Hopefully he keeps raking tonight!
2. A collection of Juan Soto stats to tell a friend. Juan Soto had a very 2025 Juan Soto night on Friday going 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base. He now has 5.8 bWAR, the third most in his career, a .924 OPS (third consecutive season above .900), and a 161 OPS+ (also the third highest in his career). Soto has lead the league in walks, pretty much the whole season and now leads the league in OBP at .401. At 116 walks, he is now only nine away from John Olerud’s franchise record 125 walks in a season. He is only three home runs and two stolen bases away from a 40-30 season.
3. Scoreboard Watching. The Phillies maintained their six game division lead on Friday with another win. This afternoon will be a Marlins battle as the Phillies send out Jesús Luzardo against Sandy Alcantara. Things are getting interesting in the wild card race though. The Padres lost their fifth straight game, this time against the Rockies last night. The Mets and Padres are now tied for the last wild card spot. The Giants won so they stayed four back in the race while the Reds fell to six back. Two weeks ago it looked like the Reds were the only team that had a chance at that last spot. As they have struggled, they have let the Giants and Diamondbacks (5.5 back) slip in front of them). We may have a surprise race now for the last wild card spot!

Let’s Go Mets!

The next seven games can decide if the Mets make the playoffs.

Heading into play today the Mets trail the Phillies for the division lead by six games. They are five games ahead of the Reds for the last wild card spot. A solid series in Cincinnati this weekend could effectively knock the Reds out of the postseason picture (barring a Padres and Giants collapse). In July the Reds took two of three games from the Mets, so there is a possibility the Reds could get the tiebreaker outright from the Mets this weekend. The Mets are still in control of their destiny, let’s go!

David Peterson has pitched 152 innings over 26 games this season with a 3.61 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 1.309 WHIP and a 111 ERA+. Peterson is coming off of a rough start against the Marlins where he allowed eight runs over the first two innings from eight hits and three walks. Before that start he allowed only three runs over his previous 13 2/3 innings while striking out 18 in that stretch. He had a great start against the Reds back in July holding the Reds to one unearned run over six innings, scattering four hits. The Reds have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Miguel Andujar 2-7, 2B, BB
• Elly De La Cruz 1-3
• Santiago Espinal 1-4
• TJ Friedl 1-6, BB, 2 K
• Ke’Bryan Hayes 4-9, 2B, 2 BB, K
• Austin Hays 0-4, K
• Gavin Lux 0-2, BB
• Noelvi Marte 2-5
• Matt McLain 1-3, 2 K
• Spencer Steer 1-6, HR, 2 BB, K
• Jose Trevino 1-1

Andrew Abbott has pitched 139 innings over 24 starts with a 2.65 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 1.115 WHIP and a 173 ERA+. August was a rougher month for Abbott who has a 4.45 ERA, 3.63 FIP over 30 1/3 innings spread over five games. This includes a seven inning shutout (August 17th) and seven runs, six earned over four innings (August 23rd). He held the Mets to two runs over six innings back in July and the Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Luisangel Acuña 1-1, 2B
• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Brett Baty 2-6, K
• Francisco Lindor 3-7, 2B, HR, BB, K
• Starling Marte 1-2, BB, K
• Ronny Mauricio 2-2
• Jeff McNeil 1-4, 2 BB
• Cedric Mullins 2-4, 2B, HR, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-8, 3 K
• Juan Soto 3-8, BB
• Luis Torrens 1-3
• Mark Vientos 2-5, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Alvarez. Alvarez is somehow expected to be activated before tonight’s game. We say somehow because he has been through it over the last month. Against the Mariners in mid-August, he sprained his UCL in his right thumb sliding around the bases. He’s playing through the injury despite needing surgery to really fix it. While rehabbing, he got hit in his left hand by a pitch, fracturing his pinky finger. So here comes Francisco Alvarez with two hurt hands. Alvarez was smoking the ball before getting injured, with three multi-hit games in his last seven played with three home runs, two doubles, seven runs scored and nine RBI’s over that stretch. He’s coming off a game in the minors where he hit a grand slam.
2. Ballpark Factors. Over the last three years, The Great American Ball Park has had a park factor of 103, which is fourth in the majors (positive for hitters). Great American’s park factor is almost entirely due to its home run numbers, 123, meaning that players from all teams are observed to have 23% more home runs at GABP compared to their performance elsewhere. We already know the Mets smash home runs. We also know the Mets bullpen has been a struggle recently. This will play part of the story all weekend. Interestingly, Andrew Abbott has much better splits at home (81 innings, 2.11 ERA, 8 HR) compared to on the road (58 innings, 3.41 ERA, 7 ER).
3. Scoreboard watching. The wild card race has gotten interesting over the last couple of days. The Padres have lost eight of their last ten games and now have a one game lead over the Mets for the second wild card spot. They are playing the Rockies this weekend. The Giants have surged winning nine of their last ten games and have leapfrogged the Reds now. While the Reds are five games back, the Giants are only four games back of the Mets for the last wild card spot. The Phillies with their six game lead in the division start a series with the Marlins tonight.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for a sweep against one of the best teams in baseball this afternoon!

Tuesday night the Mets and Tigers traded shots early before the Mets offense took off in the middle third of the game. Juan Soto hit his fifth home run in five days! Pete Alonso had a two-homer night! Nolan McLean allowed two runs in the first inning and then allowed nothing else for the next five innings!

The Mets will finally have a day off tomorrow as they head to Cincinnati on Friday for a series that will determine if the wild card race will be a real race or not. But first, the Mets need to get by the Tigers one more time!

Clay Holmes has made 27 starts totaling 142 1/3 innings this season with a 3.60 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 1.314 WHIP and a 111 ERA+. Holmes was betrayed by the defense last week, allowing four runs but only two earned over five innings. It was his third consecutive start (sixth start in his last seventh) allowing two earned runs or fewer. He has a 2.76 ERA, 3.01 ERA over his last three starts. The Tigers have the following career numbers against Holmes:

• Javier Báez 4-10, 4 K
• Kerry Carpenter 0-4, 3 K
• Andy Ibanez 2-4
• Colt Keith 1-1, 2B
• Justyn-Henry Malloy 0-1, K
• Zach McKinstry 1-3, 2B, K
• Chris Paddack 0-1
• Jake Rogers 0-1
• Trey Sweeney 0-1, K
• Spencer Torkelson 1-7, BB, 4 K

The Mets bats will close out the series against Casey Mize who is having a bounce-back season. The 2025 All-Star has made 23 starts totaling 120 2/3 innings with a 3.95 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 1.309 WHIP and a 106 ERA+. Mize is coming off of a tough start where he allowed five runs over 3 1/3 innings. Overall August was difficult for Mize who had a 5.81 ERA, 4.77 FIP over five starts (26 1/3 innings). The Mets have the following career stats against Mize:

• Pete Alonso 2-3, K
• Brett Baty 0-1, BB
• Francisco Lindor 0-4, BB
• Starling Marte 0-2
• Jeff McNeil 0-2
• Cedric Mullins 3-10, 2 2B, 3B, BB, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-2, BB, K
• Juan Soto 1-3

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Juan Soto. What else is there to say about Juan Soto? He’s pulling 2024 Francisco Lindor numbers for the Mets coming down the stretch. Tuesday was his fourth game in his last five games with two hits and at least one walk. He has five home runs in that stretch and four stolen bases. Soto now leads the league in offense bWAR (6.1) and has a 5.5 bWAR, his third best total in his career. His OPS+ is 161. It feels like he’s doing something incredible every night right now.
2. Pete Alonso. Alonso started the year with an incredibly hot April, and now he’s ending the year incredibly hot. Over his last five games he has gone 7-for-24 with three home runs. This includes two games where he went 0-for-8. He now has 33 homers on the season, just one behind last year. If this hot streak takes off, he could push towards 40 before the end of the season.
3. Scoreboard watching. The Mets gained half a game on the Phillies Tuesday and are now only 5.5 games back. The Phillies continue their series with the Brewers today after the rare mid-series day off, with Aaron Nola taking on an old friend in Jose Quintana. On the Mets off day Ranger Suárez takes on Freddy Peralta. The Reds are chasing the Mets and they send Littell against Shane Bieber tonight. The Reds are five games behind the Mets heading into play today. Finally, the Orioles are making things interesting for everyone, beating the Padres in the first two games of their series. The Padres have now lost three games in a row and only have a one game lead on the second wild card spot against the Mets. Both starting pitchers in the Orioles vs Padres series this afternoon have a 5+ ERA.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets try to take the series against the Tigers today! Monday was a back-and-forth affair ending in a 10-8 win. Juan Soto was the hero hitting his first grand slam as a Met and ending the day with six RBI’s! The Mets are still searching for consistent starting pitching performance and today they turn to the only person who has won his first three games as a Mets pitcher, the only pitcher to do that in Mets history – Nolan McLean!

Nolan McLean has pitched 20 1/3 innings over three starts this season allowing only two runs while scattering ten hits and striking out 21 batters. He has a small-sample size 0.89 ERA, 2.44 FIP and 0.689 WHIP over his three game career. In his last start he allowed no runs over eight innings against a mighty Phillies lineup. The vibes have completely changed since McLean came up to the majors, hopefully he keeps that going today!

The Tigers are recalling Sawyer Gipson-Long for tonight’s game. Over six games and 25 innings this season he has a 4.32 ERA, 4.21 FIP, 1.040 WHIP and a 98 ERA+. Gipson-Long has pitched in 12 games across three minor league levels this season totaling 39 2/3 innings with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.084 WHIP. He’s gone as high as 77 pitches in a game this season (June 27th) and has most recently tossed 70 pitches on August 19th, so he probably can go at least three innings, max five innings tonight. The only player on the Mets to face him in a major league game is Cedric Mullins (0-for-2).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Juan Soto, the hero. For the third time in four games, Juan Soto had a multi-hit game on Monday. He now has four home runs and 11 RBI’s in the last four games while scoring seven runs. With 36 home runs on the season, he has a solid chance of surpassing his career-high 41 home runs he hit last season. We’ll be watching if the Tigers approach him differently today after Monday’s monster game.
2. Mets bullpen. The Mets bullpen had to use all the big arms on Monday (Soto, Rogers, Helsley, Díaz). The Mets pitching struggles have been two-fold over the last month. Their veteran starters have collectively fallen apart and their several major relievers have had difficulties pitching clean innings. Díaz looked great on Monday needing only 11 pitches to record four outs. More of that today please!
3. Scoreboard Watching. Monday wasn’t the best day for the Mets as the Phillies, Reds and Cubs all had wins. The Mets enter play today six games behind the Phillies and four games ahead of the Reds. With the Padres losing on Monday, the Mets are now only two games behind the second wild card spot. The Reds play the Blue Jays today and it’s a good pitching matchup with Nick Lodolo going up against José Berríos. The Phillies have the rare mid-series day off, and resume their series in Milwaukee tomorrow.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to shake off a rough weekend against the Marlins against the Detroit Tigers. The Mets comeback on Saturday fell short and on Sunday they couldn’t get anything going against the Marlins, erasing some of the momentum they built against the Phillies earlier in the week. Like everything we’ve seen with the Mets recently, winning changes everything and a couple of wins against a good Detroit Tigers team can swing that pendulum again.

Sean Manaea has pitched 41 1/3 innings for the Mets this season with a 5.01 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 1.137 WHIP and a 80 ERA+. He’s coming off of a short start, 4 2/3 innings, where he allowed only two runs from six hits while striking out eight. While the results haven’t been great recently for Manaea over his last three starts (6.28 ERA over 14 1/3 innings) his strikeouts have been up (23). Can he strikeout at least seven batters for a fourth consecutive start? The Tigers have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Javier Báez 2-7, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Riley Greene 2-6, 3B, BB, 2 K
• Andy Ibanez 2-8, 2 K
• Jake Rogers 0-3, 2 K
• Spencer Torkelson 0-3, K
• Gleyber Torres 1-7, HR, 3 K

Charlie Morton is a Tiger! And he’s facing the Mets today. After several years with Atlanta, Morton signed a deal with the Orioles in the off-season and was traded to the Tigers at the deadline. Overall this season he has pitched 128 2/3 innings with a 5.25 ERA, 4.65 FIP, 1.484 WHIP and a 78 ERA+. He’s been better with the Tigers over 27 1/3 innings with a 4.61 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 1.207 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. Morton is coming off of a rough start where he allowed five runs over five innings against the Athletics. The Mets have the following career numbers against Morton:

• Pete Alonso 7-35, 2 2B, 4 BB, 8 K
• Brett Baty 3-10, 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
• Francisco Lindor 8-50, 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 13 K
• Starling Marte 5-27, 2 BB, 9 K
• Ronny Mauricio 0-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 7-30, 2B, 2 HR< 4 BB, 7 K
• Cedric Mullins 1-5
• Brandon Nimmo 8-33, HR, 6 BB, 13 K
• Juan Soto 8-14, 3 HR, 8 BB, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-7, 2B, BB, K
• Luis Torrens 0-3
• Mark Vientos 5-7, 2B, HR

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Sean Manaea. Manaea has been a lot better than his numbers suggest. He’s in the 89th percentile for strikeouts and the 75th percentile for chase percentage (60th for Whiff’s). He’s also in the 96th percentile for walk percentage. He has an xERA of 3.76 which is much closer to his FIP (3.46 FIP) than his actual ERA (5.01). At some point, the results are going to start to match what he’s actually doing, right?
2. It’s September, time to scoreboard watch. This is the final push! The Reds send Hunter Greene, who is having a fantastic season, against Chris Bassitt and the Jays. The Jays have faltered lately and are trying to hold onto their division lead. The Reds need to win every game to set up a critical series with the Mets at the end of the week. The Phillies have to deal with rookie Misiorowski this afternoon in Milwaukee. The Phillies and the Brewers each have 6(ish) game leads in their divisions and are looking to lock down titles.
3. Stat Watch. Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto both stole bases in Sunday’s game and now are both sitting at 26 stolen bases for the season. Lindor is now five home runs and four stolen bases away from his second 30-30 season. Juan Soto is now five home runs away and four stolen bases from a 40-30 season. There are also two Mets franchise records that could fall this month. Soto is at 111 walks, trying to beat John Olerud’s 1999 record 125 walks. Pete Alonso needs a monster month to go from 110 RBI’s to 132 in order to break his franchise record 131 RBI’s set in 2022.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets try to salvage the series with the Marlins this afternoon. It’s been a wild series with the Mets beating themselves Thursday, routing the Marlins on Friday and almost completing the comeback on Saturday. At one point Saturday the Marlins were beating the Mets 8-2 in the middle of the third innings. The Mets clawed all the way back to make it 8-8, but then they allowed the Marlins to score three more runs.

The Phillies won again, extending their division lead back to six games, but the Reds lost again, staying five games back in the wild card race. The Mets could use a normal game today!

Kodai Senga has pitched 108 2/3 innings over 21 starts this season with a 2.73 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.288 WHIP and a 148 ERA+. The last two starts have been rough for Senga, allowing eight runs, seven earned from 12 hits and five walks over nine innings. Senga’s first two starts of the season were against the Marlins. In his first start he allowed four runs, only two earned, over five innings. Then he held the Marlins scoreless over five innings. The Marlins have the following career numbers against Senga:

• Xavier Edwards 3-10, 2B, 3 K
• Otto López 0-4
• Dane Myers 0-4, 2 K
• Eric Wagaman 0-3
• Joey Wiemer 0-1, K

Sandy Alcantara has pitched 141 innings over 26 starts in his first season back from tommy john. He has a 5.87 ERA, 4.30 FIP, 1.348 WHIP and a 75 ERA+. At the start of August, Alcantara allowed 11 runs over 12 innings across two starts. Since then he has allowed only five runs, four earned over 20 innings spread across three starts while striking out 23 batters. It feels like Sandy has started to turn a corner. Back in April the Mets scored two runs from three hits over five innings. The Mets have the following stats against Sandy:

• Pete Alonso 5-34, 3 2B, HR, 2 BB, 8 K
• Francisco Lindor 8-27, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
• Starling Marte 5-15, 2 3B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 10-34, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• Cedric Mullins 4-6, 2 HR
• Brandon Nimmo 5-32, 2 2B, HR, 4 BB, 7 K
• Juan Soto 11-40, 2B, 2 HR, 6 BB, 6 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-6, 2 K
• Luis Torrens 0-2, K
• Mark Vientos 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Juan Soto. We’ll talk about the records and career firsts Soto is knocking on the door later. Soto is just on a tear right now. He hit two home runs on Thursday bringing him to 35 on the season, tied with 2023 with the second most home runs Soto has hit in a single season. He now has 5.1 bWAR, only 0.2 behind his 2023 total and 0.4 behind his 2022 total. His season OPS is now above .900 for the third consecutive season and he has a 156 OPS+, finally higher than his 2023 OPS+. Soto is here and is ready to carry the Mets through October.
2. Mark Vientos. Vientos had one of the big hits on Saturday to get back into the game, smashing a three-run homer. It was his third game in his last four played with a home run and he has seven RBI’s in that stretch. He has just a remarkable turnaround this month. Before this stretch weighted stats had him as a below average hitter, he now has a 106 OPS+. He’s taken a negative win value to essentially 0. This home run stretch gives him a reach chance to end the season with at least 20.
3. Stat Watch. Watchout if Juan Soto’s hot streak continues. He’s now only seven home runs away from a new career best. He currently has a lead leaguing 111 walks as he chases down John Olerud’s 1999 franchise record of 125 walks. He is only five stolen bases away from his first ever 30-30 season. Speaking of 30-30 seasons, Lindor moved closer to his second career 30-30 season hitting his 26th homer of the year. He is now four home runs and five stolen bases away. Pete Alonso had a solid day at the plate on Saturday picking up two hits, but he did not record any RBI’s. He is sitting at 110, trying to break his own franchise record of 131 in a season.

Let’s Go Mets!

Thursday night the Mets made a series of defensive miscues that led to five unearned runs. The hitters took their frustrations out early on the Marlins Friday night scoring 12 runs over the first two innings, eventually beating the Marlins 19-9 on Jonah Tong’s debut. The Reds and Padres also lost last night so the Mets enter play today with a five game lead for the last wild card spot and are only two games behind the Padres for the second spot.

David Peterson has made 25 starts this season totaling 150 innings with a 3.18 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 1.253 WHIP and a 126 ERA+. He’s starting to gain positive momentum again allowing only three runs over 13 2/3 innings in his last two starts, scattering nine hits and five walks while striking out 18 batters (the most he has struck out in any back-to-back starts this season). His first start of the season was against the Marlins where he held them to two runs, both from solo homers, over six innings while striking out nine. The Marlins have the following career numbers against him:

• Xavier Edwards 1-6, 2 BB, 3 K
• Liam Hicks 0-2, K
• Derek Hill 0-2, BB, K
• Otto López 2-9, 2B, HR, 2 K
• Dane Myers 2-4, 2B, BB
• Javier Sanoja 0-2, 2 K
• Eric Wagaman 1-3, HR, 2 K
• Joey Wiemer 2-4, 2B, HR, K

The Mets bats will get a look at Edward Cabrera this afternoon. Over 23 starts (124 2/3 innings) Cabrera has a 3.32 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.179 WHIP and a 133 ERA+. Cabrera is coming off an excellent start where he held the Braves to one hit, no runs over seven innings while striking out 10. In five of his last seven starts, he has allowed a total of four earned runs. In the other two starts, he has allowed nine earned runs. He’s either been excellent, or terrible. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 3-14, 3 HR, 4 BB, 5 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-14, 4 BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-1, BB
• Ronny Mauricio 1-2, K
• Jeff McNeil 3-14, 2B, HR, BB, K
• Cedric Mullis 1-3, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 4-11, 7 BB, 2 K
• Juan Soto 0-6, BB, K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-5, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 2-4

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Patience. Edward Cabrera has had a fairly low walk rate over the last two months. This season he is down to a career low 3.0 BB/9 (compared to his career 4.5 BB/9). The Mets over their career though have walked a ton against Edward Cabrera. They have 19 walks which is good for a collective .387 OBP compared to a collective .230 batting average. This is especially true for Alonso, Lindor and Nimmo who have 15 of those 19 walks.
2. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo has the best stats on the team against Cabrera with a .611 OBP. He’s also scorching hot right now. Friday night Nimmo went 3-for-4 at the plate with two home runs. He had three hits on Wednesday also. Nimmo now has a 3.2 bWAR and a 121 OPS+, approaching the OPS+ he put up in 2023 (128). His two homers last night put him at 22 on the season, only two away from his career high 24 (2023).
3. Stat Watch. Pete Alonso picked up two more RBI’s Friday night. He now has 110 on the season and has a real chance to break the franchise record of 131 RBI’s in a season that he set in 2022 (previous record was 124 RBI’s set by David Wright in 2008). Juan Soto walked again last night and currently leads the league with 109 walks. He is knocking at the door of John Olerud’s franchise record 125 walks set in 1999. Francisco Lindor stole a base in the first inning Friday night before the rout started, his 25th of the season. He is now five home runs and five stolen bases away from his second 30-30 season.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to bounce back after a disappointing loss on Thursday night. Coming off the high of sweeping the Phillies, the Mets played a sloppy night of baseball and allowed the Marlins to score five unearned runs. The Mets made multiple comebacks throughout the night, but ultimately started to land in bad luck at the end of the game, hitting the ball directly at people.

But that’s not the story tonight. The Mets are calling up top prospect Jonah Tong to make his major league debut. The electric prospect will go head-to-head with Eury Pérez, a young-phenom pitcher on the Marlins. Should be an exciting night!

Jonah Tong has excelled this season in the minors. Across 102 innings in Binghamton, he has a 1.59 ERA, 0.922 WHIP with an insane 14.3 K/9 from 162 strikeouts. He has allowed eight hits, no runs over his first 11 2/3 innings in Syracuse while striking out 17 batters. He has a minor league career K/9 of 13.7. Tong has a deceptive delivery with a low-to-mid 90’s mph fastball with great break. He mixes in a mid-70’s curve, low-to-mid 80’s slider and a mid-80’s changeup. He’s getting an absurd amount of swings and misses in the minors this season. Now the Mets need him to carve up major league lineups.

Eury Pérez is finally healthy and is doing Eury Pérez things. He’s made 14 starts totaling 70 2/3 innings this season with a 3.44 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 0.976 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. Eury had an great stretch from July 3rd to August 2nd allowing only four runs over 34 innings (1.06 ERA). Since then he has a 5.23 ERA from allowing 14 runs over 20 2/3 innings with nine of those runs happening in back-to-back starts. The Mets have the following career stats against Eury:

• Pete Alonso 0-1, K
• Brett Baty 0-1, K
• Francisco Lindor 0-2
• Ronny Mauricio 1-1, BB
• Jeff McNeil 0-1, BB
• Cedric Mullins 1-2, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-1, BB
• Tyrone Taylor 1-2, 2B, K
• Mark Vientos 1-1, HR

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. Lindor now has a three game multi-hit streak. Over his last three games he has gone 7-for-13, all singles. In his last 15 games Lindor is hitting .455/.507/.712 with a total of 30 hits and nine extra-base hits. The difference Thursday night and a month ago was now when Lindor is on base, it feels like there is a chance the Mets are going to drive him in. Let’s keep this going tonight!
2. Fielding. The fielding was just off last night. It wasn’t just a single player making a mistake, there were multiple plays around the infield where the Mets just looked discombobulated. The Marlins took advantage of the Mets mistakes and forced them to make plays at the plate (which the Marlins beat out by a half step/slide each time). Really frustrating stuff, but also stuff a good team will let wash off of them before tonight’s game. We’ll be watching to see how loose the Mets seem early.
3. Pete Alonso. Alonso is looking to end the season strong. He hit his 30th home run of the season last night and now is looking to surpass his home run total from 2024 (34). He has a 3.1 bWAR, which is already ahead of his 2024 amount (2.6) and nearing his 2023 total (3.3). He now has a 144 OPS+, which is third best season (2019 – 147, 2022 – 146) and much better than his 2023 and 2024 mark (123 OPS+). In his last three games he has gone 7-for-12 at the plate with two doubles and a home run (.583/.615/1.000).

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are rolling right now!

The Mets are coming off of a series sweep against the Phillies. They are now trailing the Phillies by only four games for the division lead. While the focus has been on the Phillies, a lot of other things have broken the Mets way this past week. They are now only four games out of the top wild card spot. The Reds are now 4.5 games behind them for the last wild card spot (1.5 to start the week). The vibes are good!

It has been a minute since the Mets have played the Marlins. The Mets and Marlins played each other every other day in spring training and then had two of the first four series of the year against each other. A lot has changed for the Marlins since then, mainly that their starting pitching has started to become a real strength for them, which we’ll see later in this four game set. The Mets offense has finally started to step up, should be an interesting weekend in Queens!

Clay Holmes has pitched 137 1/3 innings over 26 games this season with a 3.60 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.318 WHIP and a 109 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only three runs over 11 1/3 innings scattering eight hits while striking out eight. He went 6 1/3 innings in his last start, which was the first time he did that since June 7th. Holmes faced the Marlins in back-to-back starts in April, allowing two runs, one earned over 4 2/3 innings the first time out and four runs over 5 1/3 innings the second time. In that second start, he struck out 10 Marlins which was a season high. The Marlins have the following career numbers against Holmes:

• Xavier Edwards 2-6, K
• Liam Hicks 2-4, 2 K
• Derek Hill 0-2, K
• Otto López 2-5, 2B, BB, K
• Javier Sanoja 1-4, 3 K
• Eric Wagaman 0-2
• Tyler Zuber 0-1, K

The Marlins are recalling prospect Adam Mazur tonight. Mazur made eight starts in 2024 for the Padres pitching 33 2/3 innings with a 7.49 ERA, 6.23 FIP, 1.812 WHIP and a 56 ERA+. This includes a start against the Mets where he allowed two runs over 3 2/3 innings from three hits and six walks. The Marlins acquired him at the 2024 deadline as part of the Tanner Scott trade. As a Marline, he has made one start against the Phillies this season back in June where he allowed four runs from five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He has 107 1/3 innings in AAA ball this season with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.295 WHIP. The Mets have the following career stats against Mazur:

• Pete Alonso 0-2, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 1-1, 2B, 2 BB
• Jeff McNeil 0-2
• Brandon Nimmo 1-3, 2B, K
• Mark Vientos 0-1, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Vientos. Vientos was the x-factor for the 2024 Mets and it feels like he’s back. Over a 10 game hitting streak he has gone 15-for-38 with four doubles and six home runs and 17 RBI’s slashing .395/.442/.974. He has completely flipped the script on his OPS+. A couple of days ago he had a 97 OPS+ and now he’s at 106. His slugging has gone up 70 points in the last 10 games. Carry us to October Swaggy V!
2. Runners In Scoring Position. The Mets have become a different team recently with RISP. Earlier this season, even when the team was cruising back in May, the team couldn’t buy a hit with RISP. This past week they have gone 21-for-37. Numbers we could only dream about! Was this a Philly special or will it continue on with the Marlins tonight?
3. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo is quietly putting together a solid season for the Mets. Wednesday night he went 3-for-4. Tuesday he had two RBI’s including the game winning single. He also praised every hitter before him in a great postgame interview. He now has a 3.0 bWAR, 0.8 bWAR higher than last season. He has a 117 OPS+, which is not as good as his 2020-2023 stretch, is still quite a bit better than his 107 OPS+ last season. His OBP is essentially identical to 2024 (.327 last year vs .328 this year) but his slugging has jumped 36 points.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are on the verge of sweeping the Phillies!

Going into this series, the Mets were seven games back in the division and had 1.5 game lead over the last wild card spot. Now the Mets are only five games out of the division with about a month to go and have stretched their wild card lead to 3.5 games. Tuesday night the Phillies struck first, but then the Mets hit right back, flipping a 2-0 Phillies lead to 5-2 Mets. The Phillies would get back at the Mets throughout the game and eventually tied the game at five, scoring crucial runs against major trade acquisition Ryan Helsley. The Mets then got four hits in a row against the Phillies major trade acquisition Jhoan Duran to win the game. Let’s do it one more time Mets!

Nolan McLean has had a fairy tale start of his career. He’s pitched 12 1/3 innings over two starts allowing only two runs from six hits and four walks while striking out 15. In his first start he kept the Mariners scoreless over 5 1/3 innings. In his last start he pitched seven innings against the Braves. Now he’ll take on the Phillies potent lineup for the first time in his career.

Taijuan Walker has turned his season around with the Phillies. Over 96 2/3 innings, Walker has a 3.44 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.283 WHIP and a 128 ERA+. It’s his best season since joining the Phillies. Walker had a strong start to August allowing only one run over 12 innings. In his last two starts he allowed five runs over 11 2/3 innings from nine hits and five walks. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 5-18, 2 2B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Brett Baty 3-13, 2B, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-20, 2 BB, 4 K
• Starling Marte 3-9, BB
• Ronny Mauricio 1-6, BB, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-10, HR, BB
• Cedric Mullins 3-10, 2 BB, 5 K
• Brandon Nimmo 4-14, 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Juan Soto 4-13, 2 2B, 2 BB, K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-9, BB, 4 K
• Luis Torrens 2-5
• Mark Vientos 2-4, HR, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Umpire Interactions. Monday night the Alec Bohm caused a long delay due to a parabolic mic supposedly being in his line of sight in the batter eye. The parabolic mic became a turning point in the game and headed straight to Grimace territory with fans bringing parabolic mics and signs to the game Tuesday night. The umpire on Tuesday night made some questionable calls that led to multiple reactions from the Phillies starter Luzardo. Luzardo eventually took it too far when he was pulled from the game, getting ejected in the process. The Mets on the other hand look loose for the first time in months. This is when they play their best. Emotions are high in different ways for both clubs. Will things level off tonight or it will be a third straight game with a major umpire-related moment.
2. Hitting with runners in scoring position. The Mets have been *parabolic* in their ability to hit with RISP over the last week. Over the last week or so there have been games like last Friday where the Mets went 8-for-18 with RISP, scoring what felt like a month’s worth of runs. There have been games like last Saturday where they went 1-for-9, but hit six home runs so it didn’t matter. Last Sunday they went 1-for-9 again, only scratching out three runs and lost the game. The pendulum has swung back the other way with the Mets going 16-for-29 this series with RISP. The Mets are finally flipping the season long narrative!
3. Stat Watch. Francisco Lindor stole his 24th base of the season Tuesday night. He is now only five home runs and six stolen bases away from his second 30-30 season. Juan Soto only walked one time last night, which broke a streak of four straight games with two walks. He now has 107 walks on the season and is on his way to break Jon Olerud’s Mets franchise record of 125 walks in a season (1999). About a week ago, Soto had 10 more strikeouts than walks on the season, he rarely ends a season with more strikeouts than walks. He’s cut that number to only five now.

Let’s Go Mets!