213 Miles From Shea

The Mets enter play today only one game under .500 and only 1.5 games back in the Wild Card chase. Tuesday night’s game was a bit more of an adventure than we would have wanted. The Mets had a lead early but David Peterson couldn’t go tremendously deep into the game. Multiple relievers struggled and the Mets found themselves to be in a similar place to mid-May when they were without Edwin Díaz. But these Mets are the Grimace Mets and were able to hold onto the win. Now the Mets look to sweep the two-game series against the Yankees.

Sean Manaea has started 14 games for the Mets totaling 71 1/3 innings this season with a 4.16 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.290 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. Over his last two starts he has allowed four runs from six hits and four walks over 10 2/3 innings, which is a dramatic improvement from the two starts before that where he allowed 12 runs over 9 1/3 innings. The Yankees have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• J.D. Davis 2-6, HR, BB, 2 K
• Trent Grisham 3-7, K
• Aaron Judge 5-12, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K
• DJ LeMahieu 3-8, 2B, K
• Juan Soto 0-4, 3 BB, 2 K
• Gleyber Torres 0-4, 2 K
• Jose Trevino 1-6, 2B
• Alex Verdugo 1-4

Luis Gil has stepped up in a major way for the Yankees this season making 15 starts (81 1/3 innings) with a 2.77 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 1.082 WHIP and a 148 ERA+. The Mets are catching him though coming off of his worst start of the season. The Orioles tagged him for seven runs from eight hits over 1 1/3 innings last week. The last time he had a poor start was on April 26th and Gil bounced back with 6 1/3 scoreless innings his next time out. Only two Mets have seen him in a game before:

• J.D. Martinez 1-2
• DJ Stewart 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Vientos. Vientos had a breakout game last night going 2-for-4 at the plate with two solo homers. He now has nine on the season, which tied his career high he set last season and is hitting .297/.349/.576 with a 165 OPS+. Since June 17th he has gone 9-for-27 at the plate with four homers hitting .333/.333/.815. Vientos is currently tied with J.D. Martinez for 4th on the Mets in homers, despite only playing in 34 games (everyone above him has played between 51 and 77 games). Young hitters got to Gil last week, can Vientos lead the charge tonight?
2. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo hit another homerun last night! It was his second straight game with one and he now has 12 on the season. Since June 17th (are you sensing a theme here?) Nimmo has gone 10-for-28 at the plate with five homers, hitting .357/.438/.929. We are fully in a Nimmo hot streak right now!
3. The sky. As of writing there is a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms right now. The Mets blew through a significant part of their bullpen last night and need Sean Manaea to go deep in today’s game in order to reset the bullpen. A lengthy rain delay could interrupt that. Further, if the game gets pushed to tomorrow, the Mets would haven have 18 straight games without a day off, a tough stretch for a team that is already down a pitcher.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets come into the first subway series of the year hot. The Mets have won eight of their last ten games and have been soaring since Grimace tossed out the first pitch. They are tied with the Diamondbacks and Nationals at 1.5 games out of the Wild Card and are only two games below .500.

The Yankees have hit a bit of a rough patch recently only winning three of their last 10 games but they still lead the American League with 52 wins this season. They are fourth in Major League baseball with a +109 run differential trailing only the Phillies, Dodgers and Orioles.

Both teams need these two games, lets go!

David Peterson has made four starts for the Mets totaling 22 2/3 innings with a 3.97 ERA, 4.56 FIP, 1.412 WHIP and a 98 ERA+. In three of his four starts this season he has allowed two earned runs. Peterson had a season high in strikeouts his last time out with six and season high pitch count at 100. The Yankees have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Trent Grisham 1-4, K
• Juan Soto 1-11, 2B, 4 BB, 5 K
• Gleyber Torres 1-1, HR
• Alex Verdugo 0-1, K

The Mets bats draw Gerrit Cole for his second of the season. In his first start he allowed two runs off three hits and a walk over four innings while striking out five, tossing 62 pitches. Aaron Boone declined to directly state after Cole’s last start how much he would pitch today, only to indicate that he would pitch more than 65 pitches. In one start against the Mets last season he allowed only one run from four hits over six innings while striking out eight. The Mets have the following career numbers against Cole:

• Pete Alonso 0-2, K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
• Harrison Bader 0-1, K
• José Iglesias 3-24, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-20, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• J.D. Martinez 8-43, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 18 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-6, 2 K
• DJ Stewart 1-11, HR, BB, 7 K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-4, 2B, HR, K
• Luis Torrens 0-4
• Mark Vientos 1-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Closer by committee, again. Edwin Díaz received a 10-game suspension for sticky stuff on Sunday night, before throwing a pitch. We aren’t going to get into that suspension here. The Mets have two games against the Yankees, an off day, and then 17 straight games going to the All Star break. The Mets were already trying to figure out a way to work in a six-man rotation and now need to do it with a roster spot tied up in an suspension. We’ll be watching to see Mendoza handles the late innings tonight. Mendoza already did this for two weeks when Díaz was injured, but that also coincided with the Mets just falling apart at the seams.
2. Can Brandon Nimmo set a season high for homers? Brandon Nimmo has hit four homers in his last six games (9-for-24, .375/.444/.917). Before this streak it looked like Nimmo was not going to hit his power numbers from his ridiculous 2023 campaign. Now he’s at 11 on the season and if he puts up similar numbers for the second half of the season, he’ll be right around the career high he set last season of 24 homers. For the Mets as a team, his four homers mixed in with his nine total hits has translated to 8 RBI’s.
3. Francisco Lindor should be an All-Star. Lindor got snubbed for the 2023 All-Star game. He ended the year with 31 homers, 31 stolen bases and a 122 OPS+. This year he has a 115 OPS+ and on Sunday he stole his 13th base of the year and hit his 13th homer of the year. He’s heading towards at least as 25-25 season and if he continues his June, he could possibly get a second straight 30-30 season.

Let’s Go Mets!

Friday and Saturday have been inverses of each other for the Mets. On Friday afternoon the Mets bats could not be stopped and the pitching sliced through the Cubs lineup. Saturday afternoon, the Cubs returned the favor cruising to a victory against the Mets. The series comes down to tonight’s rubber game!

Luis Severino has pitched 84 1/3 innings for the Mets this season over 14 starts with a 3.52 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 1.198 WHIP and a 109 ERA+. He’s coming off of a rough start against the Rangers where he allowed six runs over 6 1/3 innings from eight hits, a game the Mets eventually won 7-6. In his two starts before that one he allowed only two runs from 14 hits over 14 innings. One of his best starts this season came against the Cubs where he pitched eight innings of one-hit baseball. The Cubs have the following career numbers against Severino:

• Michael Busch 0-2, BB, K
• Pete Crow-Armstrong 0-3
• Ian Happ 1-5, BB, 2 K
• Nico Hoerner 0-6, K
• Christopher Morel 1-6, K
• Dansby Swanson 1-3, K
• Patrick Wisdom 0-2, BB, 2 K

Javier Assad is having a great season for the Cubs. Over 78 2/3 innings (15 starts), the 26-year old has a 2.75 ER, 3.79 FIP, 1.246 WHIP and a 151 ERA+. Similar to Saturday’s starter, Jameson Taillon, he had a rough stretch in mid-May to early June. During that stretch he had a 5.66 ERA, 5.81 FIP over 20 2/3 innings. Since then he has allowed three runs over 9 2/3 innings. He had a solid, if not a bit short, start against the Mets in April where he allowed one run from five hits over five innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-4
• Harrison Bader 0-1
• Francisco Lindor 2-5, BB
• J.D. Martinez 1-4, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-4, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 1-6, 2 K
• DJ Stewart 0-2, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-3

Three Things To Watch For:

1. How do the Mets batters handle Javier’s arsenal? According to Baseball Savant, Javier Assad has been mixing in six different pitches to hitters this year. He uses a low-90’s sinker 36% of the time. His next two most frequent pitches are a high-80’s cutter (20%) and a low-90’s 4-seam (19%). Finally he mixes in a curveball, slider and changeup.
2. Strikeouts. The Mets batters has 14 strikeouts on Saturday with Francisco Lindor and DJ Stewart striking out three times each. Here’s hoping that the Mets change their approach at the plate today, work counts and wait for their pitches.
3. J.D. Martinez goes for three games in a row. Saturday J.D. went 2-for-4 at the plate, the second straight game where he collected two hits. On Friday he went 2-for-4 with a massive home run.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to secure another series victory this afternoon as they take on the Cubs for game two of their series. The Mets trounced the Cubs on Friday afternoon 11-1 powered by home runs from J.D. Martinez, Francisco Alvarez and Brandon Nimmo. This lopsided Mets win has shifted their run differential on the season to +3, making them one of four teams in the chasing the last two wild card spots with a positive run differential (out of nine teams total).

With the Padres, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Nationals, Mets and Reds all winning yesterday, the Mets remain one game out of both the second and third Wild Card spots. The Cubs now fall to two games out. There’s a lot of competition in a very tight field. Right now teams are evaluating whether they are buyers or sellers – should be a fun couple of weeks!

Tylor Megill has tossed 30 2/3 innings over six starts this season with a 3.52 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. He’s coming off of a good start against the Padres where he held them to two runs over five innings from five hits and two walks. Despite the low FIP, his xERA is a bit higher than his actual ERA, sitting at 4.12. The Cubs have the following career numbers against him:

• Cody Bellinger 1-2, K
• Ian Happ 0-2, K
• Nico Hoerner 1-3
• Christopher Morel 0-1, BB
• Seiya Suzuki 1-1, HR, BB
• Dansby Swanson 2-10, BB, 5 K
• Patrick Wisdom 0-2, 2 K

Jameson Taillon has made 11 starts (61 1/3 innings) in 2024 with a 3.08 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 1.321 WHIP and a 135 ERA+. He had a more average stretch of games from mid-May to early-June where he posted a 5.91 ERA over 21 1/2 innings. Since then he has allowed two runs over 12 innings while striking out eight. Against the Mets in April, he held the Mets to one run from four hits over 7 1/3 innings in a game the Cubs won 3-1. The Mets have the following career numbers against Jameson:

• Pete Alonso 1-6, HR
• Harrison Bader 2-15, BB, 3 K
• José Iglesias 6-8, 2 2B, HR
• Francisco Lindor 2-10, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-2, K
• J.D. Martinez 5-21, 2B, HR, BB, 6 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-6, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-5, HR, BB
• DJ Stewart 0-2, BB, K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-8, 2B, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 0-5, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. OMG, José Iglesias. Iglesias went 4-for-5 at the plate yesterday recording six RBI’s. He hasn’t recorded an RBI since June 5th where he had three in his first five games as a Met. He’s been cruising as a Met hitting a smooth .438/.486/.500 over 12 games with a 190 OPS+. Against Taillon he is 6-for-8 lifetime, is he going to do something else today that makes the Mets players sing Oh My God?
2. The bullpen is rested. Between the off-day and a couple of good starting pitching performances, the Mets bullpen is fairly rested. Ottavino tossed 44 pitches Friday working into and out of trouble and Drew Smith worked for a second straight game to get positive momentum after his performance on Wednesday. The result is that Diekman, Díaz and Garrett all haven’t pitched in the last three calendar days. Adrian Houser and Reid-Foley tossed 13 and 18 pitches respectively on Wednesday.
3. Does the top of the Mets lineup deliver again? Success for the Mets yesterday came early with Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez setting the table. All together they went 7-for-13 with seven runs scored, six RBI’s a walk, a double and two home runs. Video game numbers really.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets winning streak came to an end Wednesday night in Arlington. After a phenomenal seven game winning streak the New York Mets have gone 13-5 in their last 18 games played and now to head to Chicago to take on the Cubs.

The Cubs have won their last two games and are 5-5 over their last ten games. They have played two more games than the Mets have at this point in the season and essentially have the same winning percentage (.480 compared to the Mets .479). Both teams are one game out of the last wild car spot. This weekend is a huge weekend for the Mets to make some separation between teams in a crowded wild card scene.

Jose Quintana gets the start to open the series for the Mets. Over 14 starts and 72 1/3 innings, Quintana has a 4.98 ERA, 5.16 FIP, 1.369 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. He’s coming off of a strong start against the Padres where he allowed only one run on two hits and two walks over six innings while striking out six batters. The Cubs have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Cody Bellinger 4-18, 2 2B, HR, BB, 8 K
• Ian Happ 2-5, K
• Nico Hoerner 3-8, K
• Christopher Morel 1-6, 2 K
• Seiya Suzuki 1-6, HR, K
• Dansby Swanson 3-8, 2 2B, 2 K
• Jameson Taillon 0-2, 2 K
• Patrick Wisdom 2-7, HR, 2 BB, 4 K

Shōta Imanaga has had a phenomenal start to his major league career. Over 13 starts, 76 innings, he has a 1.89 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 0.987 WHIP and a 216 ERA+. The Cubs have a losing record as a team but have won 11 of Imanaga’s 13 starts. At the end of May Imanaga started to come down to Earth a bit. He allowed seven runs over 4 1/3 innings against the Brewers. In his next start he allowed five runs, only one earned, over 4 1/2 innings against the White Sox. Since then he has allowed only three runs over 13 2/3 innings while striking out 13.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Tomás Nido. Nido signed a contract with the Cubs earlier in the week and will probably make his Cubs debut at some point this weekend. There is something poetic about Nido who has spent parts of eight major league seasons playing for the Mets will play against the team that drafted him. There is also a question about how much knowledge he brings about the Mets to the Cubs and how much that matters in a day and age where analytics knows so much.
2. Battle of the bullpens. The Cubs in general have had good starting pitching this season, it’s their bullpen that has caused them problems. By Fan Graphs’ WAR, the Cubs bullpen is #27 in MLB with a -0.5 WAR. The Mets are actually #9 with a 1.9 WAR (which is amazing considering how the bullpen problems fueled that rough stretch in May). For the Mets, they need to get Imanaga’s pitch count up early, out of the game early and into that Cubs bullpen. This will be tough as Imanaga has a league leading 1.3 BB/9.
3. Mets strikeouts. Part of the issue for the Mets on Wednesday night was strikeouts. The team struck out 12 times with Martinez, Marte, Vientos and Alvarez each striking out two times. It’s hard to get any rallies going when batters are striking out. Imanaga has a K/9 rate of 9.2.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Grimace-era Mets go for their 8th win a row and their second consecutive series sweep tonight in Texas!

The key aspect of the 2022 Mets that made them feel so invincible was this inevitability about them, a never say die attitude. That can only happen the offense clicks! After the Mets took a 2-1 lead on Tuesday night, the Rangers roared back with a five-run inning, taking a 6-2 lead. The Mets then proceeded to score in five consecutive innings to eventually take the lead. In the ninth inning, after a bloop hit, José Iglesias took a massive hit turning a key double play before Edwin Díaz locked down the game. The vibes are great!

Sean Manaea has made 13 starts this year tossing 65 2/3 innings with a 4.11 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.325 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. He is looking to build off of his last start where he held the Padres to to run over five innings while striking out seven batters. In the previous two starts he allowed a total of 12 runs over 9 1/3 innings. The Rangers have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Adolis García 2-6, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Robbie Grossman 5-12, BB, 4 K
• Travis Jankowski 0-2
• Nathaniel Lowe 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Corey Seager 3-6, HR
• Marcus Semien 0-3, K
• Leody Taveras 1-3, K

Andrew Heaney has pitched in 14 games (13 starts) totaling 66 2/3 innings this season with a 4.19 ERA, 4.19 FIP, 1.320 WHIP and a 94 ERA+. He hasn’t been great over over his last two starts, allowing six runs from 11 hits and four walks over 10 1/3 innings. Heaney had a very good start against the Mets in 2023 where he held the Mets to five runs and no runs over 5 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Heaney:

• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, 4 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
• José Iglesias 2-7, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-8, 2B, K
• Starling Marte 2-3, HR
• J.D. Martinez 4-11, 2 HR, 4 BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 3-5, K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-6, K
• DJ Stewart 1-1
• Tyrone Taylor 0-6, 3 K
• Luis Torrens 1-6, BB, K
• Mark Vientos 1-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The next generation. Twice in Tuesday’s game Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez had back-to-back hits. In his last two games Vientos has gone 6-for-10 with five runs scored. Francisco Alvarez has gone 6-for-9 in his last two games, including a game tying double Tuesday night. It’s one thing to have the top of the lineup clicking, but now back of the lineup is in overdrive at the same time. The Mets booth multiple said multiple times during Tuesday’s broadcast that there is no place to breath as a pitcher right now against the Mets.
2. Pete Alonso – RBI machine. Pete Alonso has gone 7-for-14 at the plate over his last three games with eight RBI’s. His seven hits include a double and homerun. You’ve probably have noticed that multiple Mets over the last several days have had absurd times on base to runs scored ratios, and Pete (among others) has been a massive reason why.
3. A different Adam Ottavino. Adam Ottavino last pitched on Monday, so he could pitch today. His role has shifted a bit in his last two outings where he has pitched multiple innings. In those outings he has allowed one hit and nothing else over 3 2/3 innings while striking out five batters. This is something to keep an eye on.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Grimace Era Mets are on a roll!

The Mets won their sixth game in a row on Monday night recording more than 20 hits for the first time since 2019. The Mets are now one game out of the last wild card spot and for the first time since they started this improbable run, the Mets have leapt over two teams they were chasing.

Tonight the Mets will attempt to climb over another wall they’ve encountered this year. There have been times when the offense is clicking that the next game the offense vanishes – it’s even happened during this win streak! The vibes are good, let’s go for win seven in a row tonight!

Luis Severino has pitched 78 innings over 13 starts this year with a 3.12 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.179 WHIP and a 123 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed two earned runs from 14 hits and three walks over 14 innings. He’s allowed exactly one run in three of his last four starts. Severino had a strong start against the Rangers in 2023, holding them scoreless over six innings scattering five hits. The Rangers have the following career numbers against him:

• Ezequiel Duran 0-2
• Adolis García 2-5, BB, K
• Robbie Grossman 1-5, K
• Andrew Knizner 1-2
• Nathaniel Lowe 0-5, BB, 2 K
• Corey Seager 0-7
• Marcus Semien 3-15, BB, 3 K
• Josh Smith 0-1, BB
• Leody Taveras 1-3, 2B

The Mets bats will look to channel Monday night’s energy against tonight’s starter, Michael Lorenzen. Over 11 starts this season he has pitched 66 innings with a 2.86 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.182 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. Lorenzen’s ERA is quite a bit better than his career mark (4.01) but his FIP is actually worse than his career number (4.35). Since May 13th he has allowed six runs over 37 innings (1.46 ERA, 4.12 FIP) . He faced the Mets three times last year (one start, two relief outings) holding the Mets to one run over nine innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-9, BB
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2
• Harrison Bader 1-4, 2 BB, 2 K
• José Iglesias 1-2
• Francisco Lindor 3-12, K
• Starling Marte 6-17, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• J.D. Martinez 1-3
• Jeff McNeil 0-6, 3 BB
• Brandon Nimmo 1-10, 2B, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-0, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. Since May 19th Francisco Lindor has hit .330/.395/.566 with 15 extra-base hits. He’s hit five home runs and he’s stolen five bases. On Monday night he went 4-for-4 with three runs scored. Since June 12th he has reached based 13 times and scored nine times! This is exactly what we’ve been dreaming about.
2. Hitting with runners in scoring position. The only way players like Lindor can have stats like scoring nine times in 13 times on base is hitting with runners in scoring position. On Sunday the Mets went 5-for-8 with RISP and scored 11 runs. Monday nigh the Mets went 9-for-17 with RISP and scored 14 runs. I’m trying to contain my optimism right now, but it’s near impossible after seeing results like that!
3. Which Lorenzen do the Mets get tonight? Lorenzen had good success against the Mets last year and has had pretty fantastic true results in the last month or so, despite the Rangers not always taking advantage of it. However there are some warning signs for him in the underlying numbers. His xERA is 4.65, nearly two runs higher than his actual number. His xFIP is 4.71 suggesting that his actual FIP is probably accurate.

Let’s Go Mets!

This is Texas (woo), ain’t no subway (hey)
So bring your Grimace down, down, down down

The Mets head down to Arlington today today on a five game win streak. Going into play today the Mets are one seven* teams that are within 1.5 games of the third wild card spot in the National League (* depending on how you count the Padres and Nationals being tied, could be eight teams). The vibes on the Mets are so good right now that an 8th inning blow up on Sunday fired up the offense to pile on insurance runs.

The Mets will play a struggling Texas team who have lost three games in a row but have one of their better pitchers this season on the mound. Lets stick around, ’round, ’round, ’round for Mets baseball!

David Peterson has pitched 16 2/3 innings over three games this season with a 4.32 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. Peterson is coming off of a start where he allowed four runs from eight hits and two walks over five innings of work. Obviously his sample sizes are small this season so far, but players have been hitting his slider and four seamer. His slider has a .412 BA, .364 XBA compared to a .314 and .303 rate last year. Hitters are getting at his four seamer with a .444 BA, .450 XBA compared to .288 and .286 in 2023. The Rangers have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Adolis García 0-3, K
• Robbie Grossman 0-2, K
• Nathaniel Lowe 1-2, HR
• Corey Seager 0-3
• Marcus Semien 2-3, HR, K
• Josh Smith 0-2, K
• Leody Tavaras 0-2, 2 K

Jon Gray has pitched in 13 games, making 11 starts tossing 62 1/3 innings in 2024. So far this season he has a 2.17 ERA, 2.67 FIP, 1.203 WHIP and a 182 ERA. This is a drastic improvement from his career line of a 4.33 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.302 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. His success has come from keeping the ball in the ballpark. He has a 0.4 HR/9 rate. From 2018 through 2023 his rate ranged from 1.1 to 1.4.

Jon Gray was activated off of the injured list on June 8th and pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. A couple of days after that he allowed one run over three innings. Today is going to be his first start on regular rest since landing on the injured list on May 21st. The Mets have the following career numbers against Gray:

• Pete Alonso 0-8, BB, 4 K
• Harrison Bader 1-7, 2 K
• José Iglesias 1-2
• Francisco Lindor 0-6, 2 K
• Starling Marte 5-18, 2 HR, BB, 3 K
• J.D. Martinez 2-7, 2 HR, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2B, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-5, HR, BB, 2 K
• DJ Stewart 1-2, HR, K
• Luis Torrens 0-2, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 0-1, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. There’s a heatwave (there’s a heatwave) coming at us. Nimmo is continuing to heat up! Sunday he went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Overall in the series against the Padres he went 7-for-13 with four runs scored. Getting on base seven times and scoring four times is a recipe for Mets success.
2. Too hot to think straight. There is no Met hotter than J.D. Martinez right now. In the series against the Padres, Martinez went 6-for-9 at the plate with three runs scored, two doubles, two homers and five walks. He hit .667/.786/1.556 with six RBI’s. Since May 30th he is hitting .333/.449/.702 raising his season OPS from .730 to .881.
3. Too cold to panic. There was a moment Sunday where I’ll admit, I almost stopped believing. Diekman and Drew Smith together allowed two walks and two hits to become three runs. The Padres were able to bring it within one. Thankfully the Mets bats scored more runs and Reid-Foley with ice waters in his veins pitched a clean ninth to finish the game. The good news is Edwin Díaz and Adam Ottavino come into today’s game with two days rest and Reed Garrett has only tossed eight pitches in the last four calendar days.

Let’s Go Mets!

Let’s go sweeping!

The Mets will look for the sweep this afternoon against the Padres after Saturday’s 5-1 win. The Mets have now won four consecutive games and have gone 10-4 since calling a team meeting. The Padres enter play with a 0.5 game lead for the second wild card spot. Thanks to the Mets winning and the Padres losing (among others), the wild card race has collapsed in the National League with the Mets 2 games behind the third sport, and 2.5 games behind the Padres spot. Overall seven teams are within two games. Are the Mets rewriting their seller status for the deadline?

The Mets turn to Tylor Megill to complete the sweep against the Padres this afternoon. Over five starts, 25 2/3 innings, Megill has a 3.51 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 1.286 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. He’s coming off of a shorter outing where he allowed three runs from five hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. He still recorded eight strikeouts though! He held the Padres to two runs over five innings last year, scattering three hits and three walks. The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

• Luis Arráez 4-6, 2B
• Jake Cronenworth 0-2
• Manny Machado 0-2, BB, K
• David Peralta 0-6, 2 K
• Jurickson Profar 1-3, K
• Donovan Solano 0-2, K

The Padres got Dylan Cease from the White Sox right at the start of the season, and it was a major sign that the Padres were not throwing in the towel on the season. Over 14 starts (83 innings) this season Cease has a 3.36 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 1.000 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. He’s coming off of a strong start against Oakland where he held the Athletics to only one run from eight hits in six innings of work. Before that start he had a stretch of five starts with a 5.86 ERA, 4.23 FIP where opponents hit .279/.314/.487 against him. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-3, 2 K
• Harrison Bader 0-1, BB
• José Iglesias 1-2, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-7, 2 HR, K
• Starling Marte 0-2, BB, K
• J.D. Martinez 3-7, BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-3
• DJ Stewart 0-3, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-3, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. We are just living J.D.’s world. Martinez went 3-for-3 Saturday with two home runs, 3 RBI’s and two walks yesterday. Since May 30th, J.D. has gone 17-for-54 hitting five home runs and slashing .315/.422/.685. He now has 26 RBI’s on the season, 5th on team, despite only playing 43 games. This is the whole reason why the Mets brought Martinez to the team!
2. Nimmo is continuing to bounce back. Nimmo went 2-for-5 at the plate on Saturday with a double and two RBI’s. He has been the team leader for a while in RBI’s but his slump over the last couple of weeks allowed Pete and Lindor to catch up. Nimmo is now back on top and has gone 4-for-8 in the last two games. Don’t let Nimmo get hot!
3. Adrian Houser? Adrian Houser was last used on June 8th in the Mets 7-2 loss against Philly in London. In his last three outings he has allowed no runs, scatting four hits and three walks over seven innings of work. This feels like a logical day to use Houser if Megill has a short day. At some point Houser is going to have too much rest.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Padres offense was red hot going into Friday’s game. The Mets offense was heating up going into Friday’s game.

Naturally the Mets won the game 2-1.

The Mets look to extend their winning streak to four games this afternoon and take the series against the Padres. Winners of nine of their last 13 games, the vibes on the Mets are starting to turn around and checked off a key component in Friday’s game: Edwin Díaz saves the game. Díaz was pitching on back-to-back days, something that was bothering him early in the season, and he shut the door last night, working around letting the leadoff hitter on. Let’s keep the vibes going today!

Jose Quintana has pitched 66 1/3 innings over 13 starts this season with a 5.29 ERA, 5.24 FIP, 1.432 WHIP and a 72 ERA+. He has allowed exactly three earned runs over his last three four starts, the problem is the amount he has pitched has decreased over those starts. After two starts going six innings, he has pitched four innings and 3 2/3 innings over his last two starts. His last start was his first start over his last three where he didn’t allow a home run. The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

• José Azocar 0-2
• Jake Cronenworth 1-3
• Kyle Higashioka 0-3, 2 K
• Ha-Seong Kim 1-3, HR, BB
• Manny Machado 5-23, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• David Peralta 1-4, K
• Jurickson Profar 2-8, HR< 2 K
• Donovan Solano 2-4, 2B
• Fernando Tatis Jr. 2-5, HR

Adam Mazur was the fifth best prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline with an estimated major league debut of 2025. He bucked that projection and is already making his third major league start this afternoon. In his debut against the Angels he allowed only one run from two hits and four walks over six innings. His last start against the Diamondbacks was the polar opposite as he allowed eight runs from eight hits over three innings. In his two starts he has used his mid-90’s fastball about 40% of the time mixing in a high-80’s slider 36% of time. He also uses a changeup (average 90 mph) and a curveball (average 80 mph).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Home runs and Jose Quintana. Over his first seven starts of the season, Quintana allowed only three home runs. Over his last six starts he has allowed eight homers, including three games where he allowed more than one. He has a career 0.9 HR/9 inning and lead the league in HR/9 back in 2022 with a 0.4 mark. This season he his allowing 1.5 HR/9, a rate he hasn’t seen since 2021. The weather is only getting warmer, how will Quintana adjust?
2. Can Nimmo build on his bounce-back game? Friday night Nimmo went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and most importantly, no strikeouts. From June 5th to the 13th Nimmo struck out 11 times in 23 trips to the plate. Today we’ll see if Friday night was a blip or the start of a rebound.
3. Mark Vientos is due. Since coming back to the Mets Mark Vientos has been on fire. The fire has started to die down a bit over the last week. In his last six games he has gone 3-for-18 at the plate with a double and two walks. Over the last two games he has gone 0-for-6.

Let’s Go Mets!