I’m cheating a bit with this picture of the day. First, I posted a still of this picture of the of the day on 5/29/17. Second, it’s a video. Whatever.
Today’s video is one of the many ovations Mike Piazza got during his induction last year. This was taken on 7/24/16.
The Mets got one from the Nationals last night as they escaped home without being swept. Jacob had a great start for the Mets and tied the game on a homer before the Mets scored some insurance runs. The reward for escaping the sweep? Kershaw. Yay.
The Mets will counter with Zack Wheeler who is coming off of his first rough start in a while. He is 3-4 this season over 12 games and 64.1 innings with a 4.48 ERA, 4.36 FIP and 1.461 WHIP. In his last outing, he allowed 8 runs off 6 hits and 3 walks in 1.2 innings. I was at the game and just wasn’t good. There were a few plays that could have been made behind him that weren’t and then he just got spent out there and lost all movement from his pitches. The Dodgers have the following numbers against him:
The Mets draw Kershaw who is 9-2 over 14 starts and 97.0 innings with a league leading 2.23 ERA, 3.20 FIP and 0.918 WHIP. His FIP is curiously high, its actually the highest since his rookie year and only the 4th time in his career where its above 3. He has previously led the league in 2014 and 2015 in FIP at 1.81 and 1.99 (last year he had a career low FIP at 1.80). He had two starts against the Mets where he pitched 16.2 innings allowing 2 runs and 7 hits and 1 walk. One of those starts was a complete game shutout. The Mets have the following numbers against Kershaw:
Let’s Go Mets!
Again, two of my favorite things. Citi Field and the sky. Picture taken on 7/5/14.
The sky and Flushing are two of my favorite things. Here are both of those together from 7/9/14.
There is a huge difference in being swept in a four game set and losing 3 of the 4. The Mets hope to make it the latter situation today as the close the series with the Nationals. Yesterday Lugo kept the Mets in the game but the bullpen couldn’t completely shut the door behind him making any come back difficult to achieve, despite a monster homer from Cespedes in the 8th.
Jacob deGrom is 5-3 this season over 13 games and 81.0 innings with a 4.33 ERA, 4.05 FIP and 1.395 WHIP. He is coming off his best start of the season where he held the Cubs to 1 run of 5 hits and 4 walks in a complete game effort. Earlier this season he had mixed results against the Nationals in back to back starts allowing 6 runs off 14 hits and 7 walks in 12.2 innings. He also recorded 22 strikeouts in those games. The Nationals have the following numbers against Jacob:
The Mets bats draw Joe Ross who is 3-2 over 8 starts and 43.2 innings with a 6.39 ERA, 4.83 FIP and 1.534 WHIP. June was has been marked with one very good start and two bad starts for Ross. On the 8th he allowed only 1 runs over 7.1 innings. On the 3rd he allowed 7 runs, 6 earned in 3.0 innings and on the 13th he allowed 5 runs over 5.2 innings. In his one start against the Mets this year he allowed 5 runs over 7 hits and one walk in 4.0 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Ross:
Let’s Go Mets!
The Mets have put themselves in a position where they need to win out the weekend to split and to prevent from falling in a deep whole in the standings. Last night Matz was serviceable to good, allowing 4 runs over 7.0 innings. Salas had his first blowup in the pen in a while and put the game out of reach.
Seth Lugo will make his second start of the season today. In his first start he picked up the win over 7.0 innings allowing 6 hits and 2 walks leading to only 1 run. Last year he faced the Nationals twice: once in relief and once as a starter. In 9.0 innings he allowed 6 hits and 2 walks leading only 1 run (eerily similar numbers to his last start). The Nationals have the following numbers against him:
The Mets will try to get through Stephen Strasburg who is 7-2 over 13 games and 85.1 innings with a 3.27 ERA, 3.03 FIP and 1.055 WHIP. Oddly, it’s his worst FIP in three years and his best ERA in three years. He faced the Mets at the end of April where he allowed 6 hits over 7.0 innings leading to 3 runs. The Mets have the following numbers against Stephen:
Let’s Go Mets!
Here’s another trip down memory lane, Jon Niese pitching on 9/14/14. Feels like ages ago because it was ages ago.
Yesterday was a normal day for the 2017 Mets. Before the game the Mets got an updated list of injuries. Harvey is out for “a few weeks”, Syndergaard cannot pick up a baseball for at least 4 weeks, and Smoker has loose bits in his elbow. During the game last night, Juan Lagares suffered an injury. On top of all of this, the Mets lost the game last night.
Steven Matz will look to make things better tonight. In his first start of the season last week he pitched 7.0 innings, allowing 5 hits and 1 walk leading ton 1 run. Last year he was 1-1 in two starts and 15.0 innings against the Nationals allowing 10 hits and 5 walks totaling only 3 runs while striking out 12. The Nationals have the following numbers against Matz:
The Mets bats get a chance at Max Scherzer who is in the midst of his best season going 7-4 over 13 games and 91.2 innings with a 2.36 ERA, 2.81 FIP (league leader) and 0.851 WHIP (league leader, also the 2016 league leader). That being said, he’s coming off a bad start for him, allowing 3 ER over 7.1 innings from 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 10. He pitched against the Mets twice this year. His first tiem out he allowed 3 runs off 5 hits and a walk over 8.0 innings. In his next start, he allowed 9 hits and one walk totaling 5 runs over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Max:
Let’s Go Mets!
On 9/28/14, Bobby Abreu recorded his last AB, a hit, as a New York Met.
The Mets, off a series win against the Cubs, and a good weekend against the Braves, welcome the Nationals to town for a four game set. Last night the Mets got a sub-par start from Matt Harvey but the bullpen held the game together and the offense came out swinging late leading the Mets to a win. Now the Mets find themselves 4 games below .500 and 8.5 games out. A bad weekend here could destroy hope, an average weekend here maintains the status quo and a good weekend can send out strong optimistic hopes. Let’s go!
Robert Gsellman is 5-3 over 14 games and 11 starts over 63.2 innings with a 4.95 ERA, 4.27 FIP and 1.461 WHIP. In his last three starts he is 3-0 over 19.0 innings allowing 4 runs, 3 earned which is a 1.42 ERA. Opponents are batting .183 against him over this time. He had two starts against the Nationals last year where he allowed 1 run over 11.2 innings and 11 hits with 4 walks. The Nationals have the following numbers against Gsellman:
The Mets bats draw Gio Gonzalez who is having, arguably, at least his best season since 2012 when he was 21-8 if not his best season overall. This year he is 5-1 over 13 games and 80.1 innings with a 2.91 ERA, 4.36 FIP and 1.320 WHIP. The last two stats are why he’s off the 2012 mark. In 2012 he had a 2.81 ERA and a 2.82 FIP, this year his FIP is much higher (and not surprisingly, so is his WHIP which is exactly at his career average). In his only start against the Mets this year, he pitched 6.1 innings allowing 2 hits and 3 walks leading to 1 run. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
Let’s Go Mets!