213 Miles From Shea

The Mets affiliate in Columbia, South Caroline is just beautiful. Picture taken 4/12/17

The Marlins have a Bobblehead Hall of Fame. You’ll probably see a lot of it during All-Star coverage if you haven’t already. This is the first of three posts with Mets bobble heads in it. The others are being posted on the 14th and 19th. Picture taken on 4/13/17

Yesterday was a clunky game for the Mets. Zack Wheeler provided a solid start but the bullpen let the game expand enough that it felt like an unreachable goal to tie the game. In the end, the Mets got limited offense and lost 4-1 so the Mets will look to take the rubber game this afternoon.

Steven Matz is 2-1 over 5 games and 34.0 innings with a 2.12 ERA, 4.56 FIP and 1.029 WHIP. Matz is coming off back to back starts where he held teams scoreless over 7.0 innings. In his last 14.0 innings he has allowed only 10 hits and 3 walks. Matz has never faced the Cardinals and only member has seen him in a game, Fowler, who is 1-3.

The Mets bats will try to bounce back against Lance Lynn who is 6-6 over 17 games and 95.1 innings with a 3.87 ERA, 5.35 FIP, 1.175 WHIP. He is coming off Tommy John surgery which took him out of the 2016 season. His ERA is up 0.84 runs from the 2015, his WHIP is up almost 1.9 runs but his WHIP is down. He was doing great until mid-June where he allowed 7 runs in back to back starts. Since then he has tossed 11.1 innings with 7 runs, 5 earned. In 2015 he allowed 1 runs and 3 hits over 7.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Lance Lynn:

• Bruce 14-33, 2B,  3B, 3 HR, 3 BB, 1.310 OPS
• Duda 0-13, 3 BB
• Cespedes 2-6, 3B
• Granderson 1-2, HR, 4 BB
• R Rivera 2-5, 2B
• Flores 0-5
• Reyes 1-2, 2 BB

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets play game two with the Cardinals this afternoon. Today is also a 7 Line Army game! Are you going to the game? Do you want to meet up? Please reach out to me on Twitter @213mfs!

Anyway, Zack Wheeler gets the start this afternoon as the Mets use the rain out on Wednesday to skip Montero’s spot in the rotation. Wheeler is 3-5 over 14 starts and 70.0 innings this year with a 5.01 ERA, 4.80 FIP and 1.514 WHIP. In his return from the DL, he allowed 2 hits and 2 walks in 3.2 innings against the Phillies leading to 2 unearned runs. With the Cards being in a different division, and Wheeler’s recent injury woes the last couple of years, the only person on the Cardinals roster who has seen Wheeler is Gyorko who is 0-3 with 3 K’s.

The Mets get a look at an old foe, embedded in Mets lore, Adam Wainwright, who is 9-5 with a 5.48 ERA over 17 starts and 90.1 innings. He also owns a 3.87 FIP and 1.550 WHIP. His FIP is why I’m not getting my hopes up too much. While it is above his career mark of 3.24, it suggests that there are mistakes happening behind him leading to runs. In two starts against the Mets last year he allowed 20 hits and 3 walks over 11.2 innings leading to 11 runs, 6 earned. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 12-41, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB
• Granderson 2-15, 2B, BB
• Cespedes 3-14, HR, BB
• Duda 3-10, 2B, HR, 2 BB
• Reyes 1-13
• Cabrera 2-7, 2B
• Flores 2-5, 2B
• R Rivera 1-5

Let’s Go Mets!

Snapped this photo on 4/13/17 of the manager/umpire meeting at home plate.

The Mets travel to St. Louis tonight as Jacob deGrom takes on the Cardinals. The Mets last played at 11 AM on Tuesday in a game that was lackluster at best for the Mets. The next night, clouds moved over DC pretty much exactly at game time and dumped on Navy Yards. In normal DC fashion (or at least what fans sitting around me explained as normal), the Nationals didn’t postpone the game until a little after 9 PM although it was clear the rain was going to continue throughout the night. Thus, the Mets circumvented the three game sweep by not playing the 3rd game.

Jacob deGrom is 8-3 over 16 games and 104.0 innings this year with a 3.55 ERA, 3.63 ERA and 1.221 WHIP. Jacob is also in the midst of a great stretch where he is 4-0 in as many games over 32.0 innings allowing only 4 runs, 3 earned while striking out 31 and posting a 0.84 ERA and holding opponents to a .139 batting average. Last year Jacob picked up the loss in one start against the Cardinals after allowing 12 hits and 3 walks over 4.2 innings to St. Louis over 4.2 innings. The Cardinals have the following numbers against him:

• Carpenter 2-9, HR
• Grichuk 2-5, 2B, HR, BB
• Molina 2-5, 2B, BB
• Martinez 1-4
• Gyorko 1-3
• Piscott 2-3, HR

Carlos Martinez is 6-7 over 17 games pitching 111.1 innings with a 3.15 ERA, 3.54 FIP and 1.123 WHIP. Martinez over the last three years has been one of the most consistent pitchers for the Cardinals, especially through the lens of similar stats. That being said, he’s coming off one of his worst starts of the season against the Nationals where he allowed 5 runs over 5.0 innings where he allowed 7 hits and 4 walks. He was 2-0 in as many starts against the Mets last year allowing only 3 runs over 13.0 innings that included 9 hits and 7 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 2-16, 2B, HR, 3 BB
• Granderson 2-11, 2 BB
• Cespedes 3-9, 2B, HR, BB, 1.178 OPS
• Reyes 2-10
• Fuda 3-7, 2B, BB
• Cabrera 2-4, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

April 13th was a rare night in Miami where the roof was open and it was wonderful.

Snapped this photo in Miami on 4/13/17.

The Mets followed up their close, heartbreaking game on Monday night with an ugly, one sided affair yesterday morning. They will look steal one against the Nationals with Jacob deGrom on the mound. A couple of weeks ago the Mets were in a similar situation where they dropped the first 3 games in a 4 game set against the Nationals and it was Jacob deGrom who bailed them out.

On the season deGrom is 8-3 over 16 games and 104.0 innings with a 3.55 ERA, 3.62 FIP and 1.221 WHIP. Jacob is also in the midst of a great stretch where he is 4-0 in as many games over 32.0 innings allowing only 4 runs, 3 earned while striking out 31 and posting a 0.84 ERA and holding opponents to a .139 batting average. One of those starts was against the Nationals where he held them to 1 run, not earned over 8.0 innings allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks. The Nationals have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Harper 9-24, 2 2B, HR, 5 BB
• Rendon 0-16, 4 BB, 5 K
• Zimmerman 5-16, 2 HR, 6 K
• Taylor 0-14, BB, 7 K
• Wieters 3-12, HR
• Murphy 3-9
• Lind 1-5, BB

The Mets bats will get a crack at Tanner Roark who is 6-6 over 17 games and 95.2 innings this season with a 5.27 ERA, 4.40 FIP and 1.484 WHIP. In his last four starts he has allowed 22 ER in 16.2 innings over 28 hits and 11 walks. He has an 11.88 ERA over this stretch and batters are hitting .378 against him with a .453 OBP and 1.021 OPS. In his one start against the Mets this year he held the Mets to 3 runs over 6.2 innings allowing 7 hits and 3 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Granderson 9-27, 4 2B, HR, 3 BB
• Duda 4-16, 2B
• Bruce 2-14, 3 BB
• R Rivera 4-16, 2B, BB
• Cespedes 2-13, 2B, 2 BB
• d’Arnaud 1-13, 2 BB
• Flores 2-10, 2B
• Reyes 1-8, 2 BB
• Cabrera 2-8, 2B, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

May 20th was a great night for baseball. Nice sky above the field. Nice fans around the seats.