213 Miles From Shea

It was pretty clear around the 3rd inning that last night’s game was going to be one of those games that despite the marquee pedigree of Syndergaard and Nola on the mound, that the wind, the friendly confines of the ballpark and the way the baseball just flies now, it was going to be a back and forth offensive game. This one ended with the Mets on top in the 11th.

Steven Matz will look to keep the Mets in the win column tonight. Over his first three starts of the season he has allowed 5 runs, 3 earned over 16.1 innings with a 1.65 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 1.041 WHIP and a 251 ERA+. He faced the Phillies 4 times last year totaling 17.0 innings allowing 9 runs, 7 earned over 17.0 innings (3.71 ERA). The Phillies have the following numbers against Matz:

• Bryce Harper 4-17, 2 2B, 3 BB, 3 K
• Rhys Hoskins 1-10, HR, 2 BB, K
• Cesar Hernandez 3-9, 4 BB
• J.T. Realmuto 3-9, BB, 3 K
• Aaron Altherr 1-5, 2B, 2 BB
• Odubel Herrera 1-5, HR
• Maikel Franco 2-5
• Jean Segura 1-3, K

The Mets will get their first 2019 look at Nick Pivetta who is in the midst of his third major league season. So far he has allowed 15 runs, 14 earned over 13.1 innings leading to a 9.45 ERA, 5.10 FIP, 2.175 WHIP, and a 49 ERA+. Last year he made a significant step forward from his 2017 rookie year. In 2018 he tossed 33 games, 32 starts and 164.0 innings with a 4.77 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 1.305 WHIP and a 87 ERA+. He only faced the Mets once last year where he allowed 6 runs from 8 hits and a walk in 3.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Nick:

• Brandon Nimmo 0-6, BB, K
• Dominic Smith 2-7, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Amed Rosario 4-7, 3 K
• Michael Conforto 1-5, HR, BB, K
• Keon Broxton 1-3
• Travis d’Arnaud 2-4, HR
• Juan Lagares 1-3, 2B
• Jeff McNeil 0-2, K

Let’s Go Mets!

After taking the first two games from the Braves, the Mets dropped two in a row to split the series and now travel to Philly to face the team they are a half game behind in the standings. The Mets at 9-6 have split the difference with every opponent so far this season with the exception of a sweep of the Marlins. The four teams on top of the division are similar and all could benefit from Keuchel, Kimbrel or both, which will continue to become “Exhibit A” in the collusion case against the owners.

Noah Syndergaard is on the bump for the Amazin’s tonight. He’s 1-1 over his first three starts of the season with a 4.74 ERA, 2.89 FIP, 0.789 WHIP and a 87 ERA+ in his first 19.0 innings. Two of those stats say he’s struggling. two of those stats say he’s excelling. All of them are subject to small sample size bias. He made 4 starts against the Phillies last year, more than any other team and he allowed 13 runs of 28 hits and 12 walks in 20.1 innings, a 5.75 ERA. The Phillies have the following numbers against Syndergaard:

• Bryce Harper 7-24, 2B, 4 BB, 7 K
• Cesar Hernandez 8-22, 4 BB, 6 K
• Odubel Herrera 2-20, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Maikel Franco 5-19, 2B, 4 K
• Rhys Hoskins 4-9, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB
• Aaron Altherr 1-11, K
• Andrew McCutchen 1-8, 2B, 3 K
• J.T. Realmuto 1-8
• Aaron Nola 0-7, 4 K

The Mets bats draw the Phillies ace, Aaron Nola who competed with Scherzer and deGrom for the Cy Young last year. Last year he was 17-6 over 33 games and 212.2 innings with a 2.37 ERA, 224 K’s, 3.01 FIP, 0.975 WHIP, and a 175 ERA+. He has had a bumpy start to the season allowing 12 runs, 11 earned over 15.1 innings with a 6.46 ERA, 7.26 FIP, 1.435 WHIP and 72 ERA+.

At some point, you have to feel bad for the Mets bats today. Yesterday they faced Julio Teheran who last year started against the Mets 5 times and had an ERA against them around 1.6 something. Today they face Nola who started against the Mets 6 times last year and posted a 2.15 ERA over 37.2 innings (9 runs from 26 hits and 11 walks). Back to back days against pitchers who feast on the Mets lineup. The Mets have managed these numbers against Nola in his career:

• Michael Conforto 3-21, HR, 2 BB, 8 K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-12, 6 BB, 5 K
• Amed Rosario 3-15, 2B, 5 K
• Dominic Smith 3-12, 2B, HR, 4 K
• Wilson Ramos 3-8, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-9, 2B, 2 K
• Noah Syndergaard 0-4, BB, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and the Braves match-up tonight for the National Broadcast, marquee game of the week on Sunday Night baseball with the ace of the Mets vs one of the long time prominent pitchers in the Braves rotation. It’s a shame that one of the most anticipated season premiers in television history is happening at the same time. Is Jacob deGrom the night king? Would you rather be turned into a white walker or be forced to watch Jason Vargas pitch every night? Will deGrom go back to being deGrom tonight or will it be a red wedding. (At this point, if it’s not clear, I really have no idea what’s happening with Game of Thrones but I’m probably going to tune out of the Mets game around 9 PM anyway).

Jacob deGrom finally had a bad start his last time out. It happens and it’s amazing that he was able to be so good for so long. Hopefully another streak starts tonight. Despite blowing up in his last start, on the season he still has a 3.18 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 1.118 WHIP and a 131 ERA+ over three starts and 17.0 innings while striking out 17. Last year he was 1-2 against the Braves over 6 starts. Six starts! He tossed 41.0 innings against the Braves holding them to 4 runs, a 0.88 ERA while recording 50 K’s. The Braves have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Freddie Freeman 12-44, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 11 K
• Nick Markakis 10-39, HR, BB, 6 K
• Ender Inciarte 6-35, 2 2B, 2 BB, 8 K
• Ozzie Albies 3-20, 2B, BB, 5 K
• Johan Camargo 6-17, 2B, HR, BB, 6 K
• Tyler Flowers 4-14, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• Dansby Swanson 3-13, 2B, 3 BB, 6 K
• Ronald Acuna 3-9, 2B, 3 K

The Mets bats get their first 2019 look at Julio Teheran. Julio is 1-1 over three starts this year and 15.0 innings with a 6.00 ERA, 5.08 FIP, 1.533 WHIP and a 76 ERA+. Last year over 31 starts and 175.2 innings he posted a 3.94 ERA, 4.83 FIP, 1.173 WHIP and a 101 ERA+. He faced the Mets a whopping 5 times last year tossing 32.2 innings and holding the Mets to 6 runs from 18 hits and 12 walks, a 1.65 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Julio:

• Travis d’Arnaud 2-26, 2 BB, K
• Michael Conforto 5-22, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Juan Lagares 4-21, 5 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-17, 3 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Amed Rosario 1-12, 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-6, 2B
• Jeff McNeil 1-6, 2B
• Robinson Cano 1-2, 2B
• Keon Broxton 2-2, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have a three game winning streak! First they walked all over the twins. Then they powered past the Braves. Last night? Timely hitting against the Braves and a bullpen that re-inspired confidence! One of the best developments in the past 5 games has been Brandon Nimmo. Over the last 5 games and 21 PA’s he’s gone 7-18 with 3 2B, 2 HR, and 2 BB hitting .389/.476/.889. In his previous 8 games he was hitting .077/.250/.077. Nimmo won’t produce the line from his last 5 games forever but he also won’t hit at the same rate that he did in the first 8 games for an entire season. He’s a key part of the offense and if his streak continues, the Mets could have a good rest of the weekend.

Jason Vargas makes his second start this season and his stats for this season are wonky. In his first start he was serviceable, going 5.0 innings allowing 2 runs off 8 hits and a walk while striking out 2. The Mets skipped him the last time through the rotation and he was asked to close out a game the Mets were losing by a lot and he somehow made it worse. In one inning out of the pen he allowed 4 runs off 4 hits. He made more starts last year against the Braves than any other team clocking in 21.2 innings over 4 games allowing 10 runs from 22 hits and 6 walks while striking out 18. That would be a 4.15 ERA, which was significantly lower than his season ERA at 5.77. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

• Nick Markakis 8-38, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 9 K
• Josh Donaldson 3-28, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Ozzie Albies 4-11, 2B
• Johan Camargo 1-11, 2B, 7 K
• Tyler Flowers 1-9, HR, BB
• Ronald Acuna, 5-8, 3B, HR, BB
• Freddie Freeman 2-7, BB
• Dansby Swanson 0-3, BB

The Mets bats will get a look at Sean Newcomb for the first time in 2019. Sean has no decisions in his first two starts where he has allowed only 2 runs from 10 hits and 6 walks in 11.0 innings. Last year he was 12-9 over 31 games, 30 starts pitching 164.0 innings with a 3.90 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.329 WHIP and 103 ERA+. Three of those starts were against the Mets where he did very well, holding the Mets to 3 runs, 2 earned over 18.0 innings from 9 hits and 8 walks while striking out 21. That’s a 1.00 ERA against the Mets who have the following numbers against him:

• Juan Lagares 0-10, BB, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 0-4, 3 BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-6, 2 BB
• Amed Rosario 3-7, 2 2B, 3 K
• Dominic Smith 1-4, 2B
• Jeff McNeil 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets took the opener last night thanks to a strong start by Steven Matz, a critical shot of power by Amed Rosario, a crushed baseball by Pete Alonso and then a Mets bullpen that didn’t completely implode. Matz struggled early, like the first two innings, but then settled in dominated the rest of the night. Although Rosario’s homer was more important for the direction of the game, Alonso’s homer is going to be the one we all remember. His 454 ft, 118.3 mph shot was the farthest of his career so far and the hardest hit by any Met in the statcast era. Further, he joins only Aaron Judge and Stanton as players who have hit a ball both 450+ feet and at 118+ mph. Astounding!

Zack Wheeler could use a new start to the season, and hopefully he gets that tonight in Atlanta. Overall in the two games and 9.2 innings he’s tossed he has allowed 11 runs from 10 hits and 8 walks. Seven of those walks and seven of those runs came from his last start on Sunday in a game where the Mets just fell apart before their offense found the Nationals bullpen. He made two starts against the Braves last year allowing 6 runs over 12.2 innings from 11 hits and 5 walks while striking out 11. The Braves have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Freddie Freeman 10-19, 3 2B, 2 HR, 10 BB, 5 K
• Brian McCann 3-7, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• TYler FLowers 3-6, Hr
• Ozzie Albies 0-6, K
• Johan Camargo 1-6, BB, K
• Ender Inciarte 2-6
• Nick Markakis 2-5, BB
• Josh Dondaldson 2-5, BB
• Dansby Swanson 1-5, 2B
• Ronald Acuna 0-3, 2 K

The Mets bats will get a look at the young righty Kyle Wright who has very little service time in big leagues. He’s making his third start of the season and so far has allowed 5 runs over 10.1 innings from 7 hits and 6 walks. Three of the 7 hits he has allowed this year have been homers. Last year he was in the bullpen and pitched in only 4 games totaling 6.0 innings allowing 3 runs from 4 hits and 6 walks. Two of those four hits were homers. So in total, he has allowed 5 homers in 11 hits. One of his outings last year was against the Mets where he allowed 2 hits, both homers over 1.0 innings. It’s important to note this almost definitely a statistical blip rather than a trend. The Mets have the following numbers against Wright:

• Michael Conforto 1-1, HR
• Todd Frazier 0-1, K (IL)
• Dominic Smith 1-1, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

After splitting a series with the Twins the Mets return to their early, heavy NL East schedule tonight. They’re about to kick off a 7 game road trip featuring 4 games against the 7-4 Braves (same record as the Mets!) and then 3 games against the 7-4 Phillies (same record as the Mets!). Early on in the season, the NL East is playing out exactly as described with the Braves, Mets, Phillies and Nationals separated by a game and the Marlins holding a 3-9 record.

Sometimes pitchers make the game look easy. Sometimes pitchers show how incredibly hard it is to post a a good outing. Steven Matz was the latter on Saturday. He had a great outing but threw a ton of pitches early, knocking him out of the game early due to pitch count. Overall on the season he has allowed 3 runs, 1 earned over 10.1 innings (0.87 ERA) from 8 hits and 4 walks. Matz only faced the Braves once last year and pitched 3.0, 1-hit innings, injured his hand and had to leave the game. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

• Freddie Freeman 4-15, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Nick Markakis 3-15, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Tyler Flowers 2-10, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Ender Inciarte 2-7, BB
• Johan Camargo 2-5
• Dansby Swanson 1-3, 2B
• Ozzie Albies 1-2

The Mets bats get to see long time Oriole, Kevin Gausman! Gausman was traded to Braves with O’Day at the deadline last year for prospects and slot money. He had a fantastic 2019 debut last week picking up the win after allowing 2 hits and 2 walks and nothing else over 7.0 innings. In 10 starts and 59.2 innings as a Brave last year he had a 2.87 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.140 WHIP and 140 ERA+. For comparison, with the Orioles last year he tossed 124.0 innings over 21 starts and posted a 4.43 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 1.379 WHIP, and a 95 ERA+. Kevin’s one start against the Mets last year wasn’t very good as he allowed 3 runs off 6 hits and 2 walks in 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Robinson Cano 6-15, 3B, 2 K
• Wilson Ramos 4-15, HR, 2 K
• Michael Conforto 2-6, 2 K
• Travis d’Arnaud 0-2, BB, K
• Jeff McNeil 3-3, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 0-2, BB
• Amed Rosario 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday is a game the Mets would like to forget. It was the first time deGrom was human in (literally) years where he allowed 3 homers, 6 runs in 4.0 innings ending his streak of quality starts and 3 runs or less per start. The bullpen wasn’t great behind him and without knockout stuff (and defensive miscues) Gsellman and Vargas allowed 7 runs in the last two innings of the game (which will probably increase the requests for Dallas Keuchel from Mets fans).

It wasn’t all bad though. The Mets still showed fight late in the game and the final score a lot closer than it should have been for a second straight game. Pete Alonso had his first multi-homer game and now has 5 on the season, Conforto had a homer and Nimmo had a double and a homer as he tries to break out of his funk. Quck note on Alonso – this game brought his batting average up to .385 and OPS to a 1.352.

Noah Syndergaard will try to put the Mets back on track today. In two starts this year he is 0-1 allowing 6 runs and 8 hits over 12.0 innings while striking out 13. After a rocky season debut he rebounded in a positive way limiting the Nationals to 2 runs over 6.0 innings from 1 hit (a homer) at the Opening Day at home. Syndergaard has never faced the Twins before and since the Twins have so many home grown players, there are only two players he has seen while they were with other teams:

• Jonathan Schoop 1-3, HR, K
• Michael Pineda 0-2, K (who is definitely not taking ABs tonight)

The Mets will get to see Jake Odorizzi tonight who is in his second season with the Twins. Jake has been pitching for a while, making his debut in 2012 with the Royals and becoming a regular starter with the Rays in 2014. So far this year he has allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 6.2 innings and two starts. Last year he had a 4.49 ERA over 164.1 innings through 32 starts posting a 4.20 FIP, 1.345 WHIP and 97 ERA+. He has made one start against the Mets way back in 2015 where he allowed 1 run over 6.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Robinson Cano 5-15, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Michael Conforto 0-3 K
• d’Arnaud 0-2, BB, K
• Wilson Ramos 2-3, 2B
• Keon Broxton 0-1
• JD Davis 1-1, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

Interleague play this year is with the AL Central and for the first time in a while the Twin are coming to Queens, albeit for a short two game series. The Mets tonight will look to forget parts of Sunday’s game where Wheeler was tagged for 7 runs and walked 7 batters and the Mets as whole walked 12 batters. The Mets in Sunday’s game were able to get back 8 runs in the final 3 innings of the game to make it close, 12-9, thanks to the bats of Alonso and Conforto. Sunday showed that the Mets are not perfect and have some holes, but that they also have some fight.

Sunday was also Jacob deGrom bobblehead day and today is actual deGrom day. Happy deGrom day! Jacob is 2-0 over as many starts this year pitching 13.0 innings allowing no runs on 8 hits and 2 walk while striking out 24. In his last start, the Mets almost let entire game slip away in the ninth, and it would have been vintage 2018 Mets squandering a deGrom start. Thankfully that didn’t happen. Jacob missed the Twins the last time the interleague schedule paired up with the AL Central and has never faced them however he has seen a few players on the Twins when they were with other teams:

• CJ Cron 1-2, 2 BB
• Nelson Cruz 1-2
• Jonathan Schoop 0-3
• Ronald Torreyes 2-3, 2B
• Ehire Adrianza 0-1, K

The Mets bats will get to wrestle with long time Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson who made his debut for the Twins in 2013 and has been pitching with them since. In his first start this season he allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 4.2 innings from 8 hits and 2 walks but he’s coming off of his best season in bigs. Last year he pitched in 32 games and 196.2 innings (career high) posting a 3.62 ERA (career best), 4.13 FIP, 1.302 WHIP and 122 ERA+ (career high). He faced the Mets back in 2016 where he allowed 3 runs over 5.0 innings from 7 hits and 2 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against Kyle:

• Robinson Cano 8-30, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Wilson Ramos 3-6, 2 2B
• Travis d’Arnaud 1-4, BB
• Michael Conforto 2-3
• Keon Broxton 1-2, 2B
• JD Davis 1-1
• Juan Lagares 2-2

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday was a fun baseball game. I’m not sure if highlights will capture how much fun it was. Steven Matz threw a lot of pitches early, but recovered to throw 5 scoreless. Corbin was good to this point allowing only a solo homer to JD Davis. Gsellman promptly allowed a run after Matz knotting the game up but the Mets responded with two more solo homers (JD Davis again and Conforto) off Corbin in the 6th to take back the lead and knock Corbin out.

This is where things got interesting. The Mets would then allow the game to get tied, and then allow the Nationals to take a 5-3 lead in the 8th. Pete Alonso and Robinson Cano responded with back to back homers to open up the 8th and then the Mets were able to squeak out a go-ahead run with Diaz shutting the door in the 9th.

A back and forth, fun game. Made even better with all the celebration in the Nationals dugout in the top of the 8th. Now the Mets find themselves with a rubber game on a lovely Sunday afternoon. If they win, they’ll be 4-2 against the Nationals this year. If they lose, they’ll be a .500 team with a sweep of the Marlins being the difference on season.

Zack Wheeler has made one start this year (against the Nationals) and he allowed 4 runs over 5.0 innings from 6 hits and a walk while striking out 7. He was bumped yesterday because the Mets wanted to split up Matz and Vargas in the rotation. Last year against the Nationals he made three starts over 20.2 innings with a 3.05 ERA from 7 runs off 21 hits and 8 walks. The Nationals have the following numbers against Zack:

• Anthony Rendon 10-28, 5 BB, 4 K
• Ryan Zimmerman 8-25, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K
• Adam Eaton 8-13, 2B
• Juan Soto 2-9, BB, 3 K
• Wilmer Difo 1-7, K
• Brian Dozier 0-5, K
• Yan Gomes 1-5
• Max Scherzer 0-3
• Victor Robles 1-2, 2B

Max Scherzer is making his third start in his team’s first 8 games of the season. The Nationals saw a schedule opportunity during the spring to do this and they went with it. For his part, Max says he can do this generally about 5 starts in a row before he needs a day to recoup. For the Nationals this means their ace goes up against the Mets twice and the Phillies once in their first 8 games giving them an advantage. He’s 0-2 this year over 12.2 innings allowing 9 hits and 4 runs, 3 earned while striking out 21 batters and posting a 2.13 ERA, 2.67 FIP, and a 1.026 WHIP. Basically the losses are not his fault. On Opening Day against the Mets he allowed 2 runs over 7.2 innings from 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 12. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 8-26, 4 HR, 3 BB, 10 K
• Robinson Cano 4-21, 2 HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-16, HR, 3 BB, 11 K
• Juan Lagares 1-16, HR, BB, 11 K
• Wilson Ramos 2-11
• Amed Rosario 2-9, 2B, 4 K
• Dominic Smith 0-6, BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-5, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 0-3, 2K
• Keon Broxton 1-1, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

Thursday just was not the day for the Mets, and it really started on Wednesday. We all knew that the Mets were going to have a tight turn around going from a night game in Miami to a day game in New York in a situation that didn’t seem fair. (Remember, the Mets started their road trip with a workout in Syracuse following a day game in Sarasota, and then went to DC for a day game). The situation became even more unfair for the Mets after the game as Dominic Smith was selected for a random drug test so the Mets couldn’t leave the ballpark in Miami until 11 PM.

On top of that, Strasburg is a pretty good pitcher and on Thursday he was on his game and the Mets as a team, after slogging hits all week could only muster 4 hits against Stephen on Thursday. Now the Mets are coming off of a much needed day off, hopefully got some sleep and are ready to take on the Nationals at WWE day at Citi Field.

The Mets used the off-day to switch Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler in the rotation to break up Matz followed by Vargas in the rotation. In Matz’s first start of 2019, he allowed 3 runs, only one earned, over 5.1 innings off 6 hits and no walks while striking out 3. Steven faced the Nationals a ton last year and generally struggled against them making 6 starts totaling 26.0 innings allowing 18 runs, 17 earned from 32 hits and 10 walks (a 5.88 ERA). The Nationals have the following numbers against Matz:

• Michael A Taylor 4-23, HR, 2 BB, 13 K
• Anthony Rendon 8-24, 3 HR, 9 K
• Ryan Zimmerman 3-16, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Howie Kendrick 3-13, 3 K
• Juan Soto 3-8, 2 K
• Adam Eaton 1-6
• Victor Robles 1-2, HR
• Patrick Corbin 0-4 , 3 K

Patrick Corbin will make his second start of the season against the same team he made his first start of the season against. Thank you baseball schedulers. Opening Weekend against the Mets he allowed 2 runs off 7 hits and 6.0 innings while walking 2 and striking out 4. I feel compelled to tell you in this paragraph that Todd Frazier is 4-15 with a double and a homer against Corbin, even though he’s injured right now, just because today is his bobblehead day at Citi Field. The Active Mets have these individual numbers against Corbin:

• Juan Lagares 2-16, 2B, HR, 2 K
• Michael Conforto 5-11, 2B, 3 HR, BB, 3 K (8 RBI)
• Keon Broxton 6-8, 2B, 3B, 3 BB (.818 OBP)
• Amed Rosario 2-11, 2B, HR, K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-9, BB, 3 K
• Robinson Cano 1-5, HR, BB, K
• JD Davis 1-6, 2B
• Pete Alonso 2-2, 2B, BB
• Wilson Ramos 0-2, BB, K

Let’s Go Mets!