213 Miles From Shea

After losing a heart breaker on Sunday, the Mets followed up with losing a laugher of a game last night. Wacha had a terrible night and the Mets ended up losing 11-2. It is worth noting that in the last two game set with the Orioles, the Mets lost the first game before using the second game to jump start a mini run. Here’s hoping the same thing happens tonight.

The Mets will be sending out Rick Porcello who has made 8 starts and pitched 39.0 innings with a 5.54 ERA, 2.97 FIP, 1.462 WHIP and 77 ERA+. He’s coming off of one of his better starts of the season, allowing 2 runs over 6.0 innings against the Phillies. It was also his first start where he tossed 100 pitches this season. Rick struggled against the Orioles last year, allowing 10 runs from 21 hits over 15.0 innings. The Orioles have the following numbers against him:

• Cedric Mullins 0-0, BB
• Chance Sisco 3-8, 2B, 4 K
• Renato Nunez 2-10, HR, BB, 3 K
• Chris Davis 13-56, 2B, 4 HR, 2 BB, 16 K
• Rio Ruiz 2-7, BB, K
• Jose Iglesias 1-5, 2B
• Pedro Severino 1-5, K
• DJ Stewart 0-2

Jorge Lopez is slated to start for the Orioles tonight. He’s pitched in 5 games and has made two starts this year, totaling to 18.2 innings with a 4.82 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 1.179 WHIP and a 97 ERA+. His last two outings have been as a starter, he’s allowed 6 runs in 9.2 innings. The Mets have limited chances against Lopez with Conforto and Rosario each going 1-1 against him and Nimmo picking up a walk.

Let’s Go Mets!

If the Mets miss the playoffs by one game – games like the one yesterday are going to hurt. The Mets were down 6-0 and some how managed to score 7 unanswered runs late in the game. The Phillies were able to scratch one back and then scored two in the 10th to win the ball game.

If the Mets are going to make a run, they need to let yesterday roll off their backs as the Orioles come to town to take on Michael Wacha, who struggled in his last start against the Orioles. Wacha pitched 3.0 innings, allowing 2 runs from 4 hits. The Mets eventually won the game thanks to a David Peterson relief outing and an offense that found themselves. In 5 starts this year, he has posted a 7.20 ERA, 4.40 FIP, 1.750 WHIP and 60 ERA+ over 20.0 innings. The Orioles have the following numbers against Wacha:

• Pedro Severino 1-2, 3B
• Pat Valaika 1-1
• Andrew Velazquez 0-0, BB
• Ryan Mountcastle 1-2
• Jose Iglesias 3-9, K
• Renato Nunez 0-2, K

The Mets bats draw John Means who is in the midst of a rough year. Over 6 starts and 20.0 innings he has an 8.10 ERA, 8.05 FIP, 1.400 WHIP and 57 ERA+. He’s giving up 3.6 homers per nine innings. His last start was against the Mets and it was both a good news / bad news start. On the bad news side, he allowed 4 runs from 8 hits, including two homers. On the good news side, he pitched 5.1 innings, beating his longest mark of 4.2 innings from August 4th. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 2-3, 2B, HR
• Wilson Ramos 2-2
• Pete Alonso 1-3, HR
• J.D. Davis 2-3
• Jeff McNeil 0-3
• Todd Frazier 0-3
• Robinson Cano 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets put themselves in the position they needed to be in today and now they have one more step – beat Zack Wheeler in the midst of a career year and take three of the four games in the series. The Mets, off back to back wins and four wins of their last five now find themselves only 1.5 games behind the Phillies for the second automatic playoff berth in the division.

The Mets are also coming of a crucial, and interesting, game yesterday. By defeating the Phillies 14-1, the Mets have erased their run differential, putting it at +1 on the season, giving them an expected win loss record of 21-20. The first place Braves are the only other team in the division with a positive run differential.

David Peterson gets the start today for the Mets, his last outing being relief for Michael Wacha. On the season he has pitched 29.2 innings with a 3.03 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.213 WHIP and 141 ERA+. In his last outing he pitched 4.0 scoreless innings, holding the Orioles to 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 1 (in a hitters ballpark like Camden Yards, against a team that can hit). It was a good bounce back from his start against the Yankees where he allowed 3 runs over 4.0 innings. This will be David’s first career start against the Phillies.

The Mets draw Zack Wheeler today who is off to a career year. In 7 starts and 45.0 innings, Wheeler has a 2.20 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 1.067 WHIP and 214 ERA+. For comparison, his career numbers are: 3.68 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 1.282 WHIP and 104 ERA+. Wheeler is coming off of a 6.2 inning shutout performance against the Nationals and has steadily decreased his ERA each start from August 11th, where it hit a season high of 2.89. This includes a start against the Mets where he allowed 2 runs over 7.0 innings in Philly. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Robinson Cano 2-3, 2B
• Luis Guillorme 1-2, BB
• Robinson Chirinos 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-17, 2B, K
• J.D. Davis 1-3
• Dominic Smith 1-3, K
• Jake Marisnick 1-5, BB, 2 K
• Todd Frazier 0-2, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, K
• Michael Conforto 0-3, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

It’s deGrom day! If the Mets are going to make a run, it may come down to today. The Mets won behind Seth Lugo, doubles and a solid bullpen performance last night, and have now won 3 of their last 4 games. In order to get back in the playoff picture, the Mets are going to need to sustain a run through the weekend which comes down to winning this afternoon. Will the Mets fall back to 5 games below .500? Will they climb to only three?

Jacob deGrom is the person you want on the mound any day. In 7 starts this season he has a 1.76 ERA, 1.93 FIP (league leading), 0.902 WHIP and 242 ERA+. He’s also leading the league in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.7. His last start was an odd one and deGrom was hard on himself after the game, but he allowed 4 runs, only 1 earned, in 6.0 innings in a game the Mets eventually lost 5-3. He has not faced the Phillies this season and last year he only faced the Phillies once – allowing 2 runs from 3 hits in 7.0 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Andrew Knapp 2-6, 2B, 3B, BB, 3 K
• Bryce Harper 10-34, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 12 K
• Rhys Hoskins 3-13, 2B, 4 BB, 4 K
• Andrew McCutchen 4-17, BB, 6 K
• Neil Walker 4-22, 3 BB, 5 K
• Jean Segura 3-15, 3 K
• Didi Gregorius 3-15, 3 K
• J.T. Realmuto 4-25, 2B, 9 K
• Jay Bruce 0-6, 2 K

The Mets bats draw Aaron Nola who is having a resurgent season this year. Over 7 starts and 44.0 innings with a 2.45 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 0.865 WHIP (league leading), and a 192 ERA+. He’s coming off his strongest start of the season where he shutout the Nationals over 8.0 innings with 9 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 2.45. His start against the Mets this year is the only other time he shut out his opponent. The Mets have the following numbers against Nola:

• J.D. Davis 2-6, 2 BB, 3 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-16, 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
• Robinson Cano 3-11, 2B, BB
• Pete Alonso 3-14, HR, BB, 5 K
• Dominic Smith 4-21, 2 2B, HR, 9 K
• Jeff McNeil 5-19, 6 K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-16, 8 BB, 7 K
• Michael Conforto 5-32, 2B, HR, 4 BB, 12 K
• Amed Rosario 5-29, 9 K
• Todd Frazier 0-17, 2 BB, 4 K

Let’s Go Mets!

Coming off one of the more emotionally charged days in the history of the Mets, one reliever had a bad day and the whole game fell apart. The Mets were able to fight back from being down two runs early after one of the more well-rounded and longer Porcello starts of the season. Hughes struggled though, allowing 3 runs in 1.1 innings and the Mets couldn’t recover from that, wiping away their momentum from the last few days.

So the Mets will look to Seth Lugo to help them get back on the right track. On the season Lugo has pitched 17.0 innings with a 2.12 ERA, 2.66 FIP, 0.941 WHIP and a 203 ERA+. As a starter he has allowed 1 run over 6.2 innings across two starts while striking out 12 batters. He has stretched his arm out from 39 pitches in his first start to 60 pitches in his last one. He faced the Phillies earlier this season. In his first game against them, he didn’t do so well and allowed 1 run off 3 hits in 0.1 innings. Next time he shut them out over his inning of work. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Neil Walker 2-3, 2B
• Jean Segura 4-9, 2B, 3 K
• Andrew McCutchen 1-3, BB
• Bryce Harper 5-16, 2B, 2 BB, K
• Roman Quinn 2-6, 2 K
• J.T. Realmuto 4-14, 2B
• Didi Gregorius 1-5
• Rhys Hoskins 0-11, BB, 8 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Spencer Howard who has will be making his 5th big league start today. Over his first 4 he has pitched 16.2 innings with a 5.40 ERA, 6.50 FIP, 1.860 WHIP and an 88 ERA+. He’s been much better over his last two starts, allowing 3 runs over 8.2 innings, which lowered his ERA from 7.88 to 5.40. His second start was against the Mets where he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned from 7 hits, including two homers in 3.1 innings. Robinson Cano and Dominic Smith were the two Mets that homered against him and the only Mets who recorded an extra base hit against Spencer. Guillorme, Rosario, Gimenez, Ramos and Conforto each recorded a single hit while Nimmo and Alonso went hitless (although Nimmo drew a walk).

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets invite the Phillies to Queens for a weekend series as the Mets look to build off two straight wins tonight. Yesterday the Mets wrapped up their Yankees series with a win in extra innings. That means in 6 games against the Yankees this year, the Mets won three times in comeback fashion and lost twice in extra innings. The Mets won this time by scoring 5 runs from the 8th inning through the 10th, including a walk off homer from Pete Alonso. In something that can only be said in 2020 – the Mets beat the Yankees twice this season with walk-off homers but once in Queens and once in the Bronx.

From the pitching perspective the Mets weren’t great yesterday. Gsellman was only able to record 5 outs before leaving, meaning the Mets needed outings from Shreve, Familia, Castro, Wilson and Diaz. Shreve, Familia and Diaz, three of the more reliable pitchers in the pen right now, didn’t allow any runs but each pitched two innings as the Mets continue to have a bullpen usage crunch.

So a lot falls to Rick Porcello today. Primarily, he needs to have a good day for himself. He also needs to have a good day for the Mets bullpen to catch a breather. In 7 starts and 33.0 innings this year he has a 6.00 ERA, 3.10 FIP, 1.576 WHIP and 71 ERA+. He’s coming off a quasi effective start against the Yankees where he allowed 2 runs over 5.0 innings in a game the Mets eventually lost. He faced the Phillies once this year in Philly where he allowed 4 runs off 10 hits and a homer in 6.0 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Alec Bohm 2-3, 2B
• Rhys Hoskins 4-11, 2B, 2 HR, K
• Phil Gosselin 1-2
• Jean Segura 5-16, 3B, HR, 5 K
• Jay Bruce 2-10, 2B, HR, 2 BB, K
• J.T. Realmuto 4-11, 2B, BB, K
• Andrew McCutchen 2-11, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Bryce Harper 3-14, HR, BB, 5 K
• Didi Gregorius 7-40, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 7 K
• Neil Walker 1-14, 5 K

The Mets bats draw Jake Arrieta who is trying to find himself this season. In 6 starts and 26.1 innings he has a 6.49 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 1.557 WHIP and 73 ERA+. He is coming off of his worst start of the season against the Braves where he allowed 7 runs in 1.1 innings, which raised his ERA from a 4.32 to a 6.49. Against the Mets in 4 games and 24.1 innings last year he allowed 17 runs, 15 earned (5.55 ERA) from 33 hits including 4 homers. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Dominic Smith 4-7, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, K
• Jeff McNeil 13-20, 2B, HR
• Wilson Ramos 5-13, HR, 2 BB
• Todd Frazier 9-31, 2B, 2 HR, 10 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-10, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 5-20, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• Pete Alonso 4-13, 2B, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 3-15, HR, K
• Robinson Cano 6-31, 2 2B, 4 BB, 7 K
• Bill Hamilton 3-20, 2B, 5 BB, 7 K, 5 SB

Let’s Go Mets!

Last night the Mets lost a legend in Tom Seaver. The Franchise was such a presence on the mound that his Hall of Fame vote percentage is the third highest at 98.8%. He defined the 1969 Mets, the transformation from the lovable losers to the team that shocked the world. The Mets will (hopefully) do something today in remembrance.

The news is so jarring that its easy to forget that the Mets played a baseball game yesterday. The Mets finally stopped their 5 game slide behind a strong outing by David Peterson, who took over for Michael Wacha. Michael Conforto had himself a day at the plate going 4-5 with 5 RBI’s (two doubles and a homer).

We’ll see if the Mets bullpen strategy yesterday pays off today. Between both games in Baltimore, the usual bullpen guys only threw 3.0 innings (Wilson, Hughes and newcomer – Miguel Castro). With Robert Gsellman (and later Seth Lugo) still being stretched out, the Mets are going to need more use of their pen in the upcoming days. In 4 games and 8.2 innings this year, Gsellman has a 5.19 ERA, 5.34 FIP, 1.615 WHIP and 86 ERA+. In his four outings he has been steadily increasing his pitches thrown from 13 to 33 to 47 to 57. His last outing, against the Yankees, was his best yet, going 4.0 innings allowing 1 run off a solo shot in a game the Mets ultimately lost. The Yankees have the following numbers against Gsellman:

• Luke Voit 1-2, HR
• DJ LeMahieu 1-4, 3B
• Mike Tauchman 1-2
• Brett Gardner 1-7 2B, BB
• Gio Urshela 0-1, BB
• Gary Sanchez 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Aaron Hicks 0-7, BB, 3 K

The Mets will get another look at J.A. Happ who is probably very happy to face the Mets again. In 4 starts and 20.0 innings this season he has a 4.05 ERA, 6.15 FIP, 1.150 WHIP and 105 ERA+. After two terrible starts to the season, he has been great in his last two, pitching 13.0 innings of 1 run ball with 6 hits, 2 walks and 8 K’s. His last start was a 7.1 innings shutout performance against the Mets, in a game the Mets eventually won. The Mets have the following numbers against Happ:

• Robinson Chirinos 4-12, 2B, HR, BB, 6 K
• Luis Guillorme 1-2
• Todd Frazier 4-15, 2B, HR, BB, K
• Robinson Cano 9-34, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 2 BB, 5 K
• Wilson Ramos 3-8
• Pete Alonso 1-3, K
• Amed Rosario 1-4, K
• Billy Hamilton 2-12, 4 K
• Jake Marisnick 3-18, 6 K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, K
• Michael Conforto 0-6, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

Last night wasn’t great.

The Mets scored 5 runs, which should be enough to win the ball game, but struggled with pitching between Jurado’s Mets debut and Kilome’s relief outing. The good news: Jurado and Kilome ate up a combined 7 innings so Hughes was the only bullpen regular that had to pitch, giving most of the team the day off. Now the Mets will try to rebound as they are 6 games under .500. This article is being written at 6:00 AM, I’m sure the Mets roster is going to look completely different by game time as they still have to make roster moves for all their “buzzer beater” trade deals.

Michael Wacha tries to get back on the right track tonight. In 4 starts and 17.0 innings he has a 7.41 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 1.765 WHIP and 58 ERA+. In his first start back against the Yankees he allowed 4 runs in 3.0 innings of 6 hits including a homer, a game the Mets eventually bailed him out of. (It was one of the few bright spots in the last 7 days of Mets baseball). Since his first start of the season, he has allowed 13 runs in 12.0 innings.

John Means is looking to make like J.A. Happ tonight. As a quick refresher, Happ was struggling this season until the start he made before the Mets, which was pretty good, then he started against the Mets and he was excellent. Means is in a similar position. On the season, over 5 starts and 14.2 innings, he has a 8.59 ERA, 7.97 FIP, 1.295 WHIP and 54 ERA+. Homers have hurt him – he’s giving up 3.7 per nine innings, his career numbers are 1.6. In his last start he took some steps forward, allowing 2 runs on 4.0 innings (although both runs were solo homers). Complicating his homer numbers – 4 of his 5 starts have been in hitter friendly Camden Yards. His last start was in Buffalo.

Let’s Go Mets!

The last several days for the Mets have been interesting:
– Saturday: lose a close game against the Yankees that the Mets tied late
– Sunday: lose a game in extra innings that they had a 7-2 lead going into the last inning
– Sunday: lose a game in extra innings when the home team, playing as the road team, hit a grand slam to start off the 8th
– Monday: lose a game they had an early lead in against the Marlins
– Monday: inexplicably acquire Todd Frazier, a veteran catcher and Miguel Castro at the trade deadline costing Kevin Smith, a starting pitcher, when the rotation is a giant question mark for next season.

So things have been odd at best.

And now they play the Orioles.

The Mets will be sending Ariel Jurado tonight to pitch in his first game as a Met. Last year as a Ranger he had pitched in 32 games making 18 starts posting a 5.81 ERA, 5.10 FIP, 1.504 WHIP and 89 ERA+ over 122.1 innings. He was less effective as a starter with a 6.68 ERA over 93.0 innings and a WHIP that jumped from 1.159 to 1.613. He faced the Orioles last year and allowed 3 runs over 6.0 innings from 8 hits while striking out 6. All this being said, he had a four good starts in AAA last year with a 3.57 ERA over 22.2 innings and the year before in AA he had a 3.72 ERA over 101.2 innings.

The Orioles send out Asher Wojciechowski tonight who is seeing regular time as a starter for a second consecutive season. This year in 6 starts and 26.1 innings he has a 5.13 ERA, 6.02 FIP, 1.405 WHIP and 90 ERA+. In his last three games he has allowed 9 runs off 16 hits and 4 homers in 12.2 innings, a 6.39 ERA. Last year he made 16 starts and pitched in 17 games, totaling 82.1 innings with a 4.92 ERA, 5.30 FIP, 1.312 WHIP and 96 ERA+. A few Mets have seen him in action before:

• Dominic Smith 1-1, HR
• Robinson Cano 2-2, 2 2B
• Amed Rosario 1-1

Let’s To Mets

Well yesterday was a disaster.

The Mets had a pretty amazing double header sweep of the Yankees on Friday. Saturday the Mets lost a close game. Yesterday was another story. The Mets blew a 7-2 lead in the the 7th inning (final) inning of the first game, and then lost in extra innings. Then they lost the second game with the Yankees hitting a grand slam in extra innings. The Mets need a reset.

Hopefully they get that reset today with Jacob deGrom on the mound. Jacob deGrom is doing something incredible – he is making his 4th consecutive start against the same team. On the season he has made 6 starts with 35.0 innings with a 1.80 ERA, 1.68 FIP (league leading), 0.829 WHIP and a 235 ERA+. His last three starts, all against the Marlins, he has pitched 18.0 innings with a 1.50 ERA with a 0.733 WHIP. In his last start he allowed 1 run off 2 hits while striking out 14. The Marlins have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Jesus Aguilar 4-12, 2B, HR, 2 K
• Jon Berti 6-18, 3 2B, 5 K, 3 SB
• Brian Anderson 8-32, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 8 K
• Lewin Diaz 1-3
• Jorge Alfaro 3-15, HR, BB, 8 K
• Garrett Cooper 3-11, BB, 6 K
• Jonathan Villar 2-10, 2B, BB, 5 K
• Miguel Rojas 7-34, 3 BB, 6 K
• Matt Joyce 2-14, 2 BB, 8 K
• Lewis Brinson 4-22, 2B, 8 K
• Corey Dickerson 2-12, 4 K

Trevor Rogers will make his second big league start against the Mets today! Of course, he made his first big league start against the Mets too. In that game he allowed only 1 hit (Amed Rosario) and walked 5 batters but the Mets didn’t score at all. As a reminder, Rogers is coming off a year in the minors where he made 23 starts from high A to AA ball, tossing 136.1 innings with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.137 WHIP.

Let’s Go Mets!