213 Miles From Shea

Happy Christian Scott Home Debut Day!

The Mets look to rebound after Friday’ night’s loss to the Braves with Christian Scott making his Citi Field debut this afternoon at Citi Field. The Mets got last Friday’s game in after about an hour of delays and the Mets offense spent most of the night looking like they haven’t played in days. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso powered the offense but overall the team fell short 4-2.

Christian Scott looked electric in his debut last weekend where he held the Rays to one run from five hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings while striking out six. He tossed 94 pitches, 67 of them for strikes. The Rays are a much more free swinging team than the Atlanta Braves, and today may be the toughest lineup that he faces all season. We’ll see if the Braves approach him differently at the plate after seeing the tape of what he did to the Rays lineup.

The Mets bats started to heat up late in Friday’s game, hopefully that’s a sign they’ll be ready for Max Fried this afternoon. Over seven starts Fried has pitched 38 1/3 innings with a 4.23 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.148 WHIP and a 98 ERA+. Fried had a tremendous end of April where he tossed a complete game shutout against the Marlins and followed it up with shutting the Mariners out over six innings. His last time out though the Dodgers tagged him for four runs over seven innings. His season stats are still heavily impacted by his second start of the season where he allowed eight runs, seven earned over 4 1/3 against the Diamondbacks. The Mets have the following career numbers against Fried:

• Pete Alonso 10-34, 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 12 K
• Harrison Bader 2-9, BB, 4 K
• Brett Baty 2-5, K
• Francisco Lindor 3-25, HR, 6 K
• Starling Mart 4-18, 2 2B, BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 10-28, 3 2B, BB, 5 K
• Tomás Nido 3-12, 2 2B, K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-26, 2 2B, 4 BB, 11 K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-6, 2 K
• Joey Wendle 0-4

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Lindor is slugging now! Since April 28th Lindor has 10 hits in 44 trips to the plate. Six of his ten hits have been for extra bases. Three of them have been doubles, three of them have been homeruns. Five of his seven homeruns this season have come in his last 14 games played (or in other words he had two homeruns in his first 23 games played this season).
2. Back-to-back multi-hit games for Pete. Pete Alonso was in the midst of a long slump before this week. In his last two games he has gone 4-for-9 at the plate with two doubles, a homerun, and two runs scored. This feels like Pete Alonso breaking out of his slump.
3. The bullpen is well rested. The Mets bullpen has essentially had three days off in a row with Yohan Ramírez and Adrian Houser taking care of business Friday night. Yohan was recently reacquired by the Mets and Houser was just bumped to the bullpen. Both tossed two scoreless innings. If both pitchers can continue to be successful in long relief, this will allow the Mets to pivot and use Reed Garrett in higher leverage situations.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are having a mini-break right now that might get extended by another day. On Wednesday the Mets were primed to sweep the Cardinals over three games coming off of a game where their bats were firing on all cylinders. Then the severe weather started. The Mets and Cardinals couldn’t get the final game of the series in after three hours of rain delays. The game got punted all the way to August 5th, sandwiched for the Mets between a series in Anaheim and one in Denver.

Now the Mets come home to soggy Queens. As of writing, Queens has been subjected to rain for most of the day with more periods of rain tonight. Tomorrow during the day looks nice but rain is supposed to come back Saturday night and Sunday. (Is it really the weekend in the tri-state area if it doesn’t rain?) There’s potential for a bit of a chaotic weekend with delays, postponements and pitchers’ schedules collapsing.

Jose Quintana has made seven starts this season totaling 36 1/3 innings with a 5.20 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.541 WHIP and a 76 ERA+. His last start in Tampa Bay was terrible – he allowed eight runs over 2 2/3 innings from 10 hits and a walk. His start before that though was his best of the season where he held the Cardinals to only one run over eight innings. In his one start against the Braves this season, the Braves scored three runs over five hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Braves have the following career numbers against him:

• Ronald Acuña Jr. 2-16, 2 BB, 4 K
• Ozzie Albies 7-13, 2 2B, 2 HR, BB, K
• Orlando Arcia 4-33, 2B, 7 BB, 6 K
• Travis d’Arnaud 1-6, BB, 2 K
• Adam Duvall 4-10, 2 HR, 5 BB, K
• Michael Harris II 3-11, 2B, 2 K
• Jarred Kelenic 1-2, K
• Matt Olson 5-21, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, 9 K
• Marcell Ozuna 11-24, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• Austin Riley 2-12, 3 BB, 2 K

Charlie Morton has made six starts this season totaling 36 innings with a 3.50 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 1.139 WHIP and a 119 ERA+. Over his last three starts he has allowed only four runs from 13 hits and five walks over 19 innings (1.89 ERA, 3.37 FIP). Against the Mets this year he allowed four runs from five hits and five walks over 5 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Morton:

• Pete Alonso 6-27, 2B, 4 BB, 7 K
• Harrison Bader 0-2, K
• Brett Baty 3-6, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 6-44, 3 2B, HR< 2 BB, 12 K
• Starling Marte 5-24, 2 BB, 8 K
• J.D. Martinez 13-36, 2 2B, HR, BB, 13 K
• Jeff McNeil 6-26, 3 BB, 7 K
• Omar Narváez 5-16, 2B, hR< BB, 3 K
• Tomás Nido 2-6, BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 6-26, HR, 5 BB, 10 K
• DJ Stewart 2-7, 2 2B, 3 BB, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-4, BB, K
• Joey Wendle 6-17, 2B, BB, 5 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brandon Nimmo’s power is back! Brandon Nimmo has always been an on-base machine, last year he added power to the mix. On Tuesday night he homered for the fifth time this season, his second in his last two games. Since April 29th, in his last nine games, he has hit 10-for-32 with three doubles, three homers and eight RBI’s (.313/.436/.688). Both of his homers in the last two games have either tied the game for the Mets or gave them a lead.
2. Vintage Jeff McNeil: The Mets have missed the 2022, batting champion version of Jeff McNeil. Tuesday night he Mets got a glimpse of that version of McNeil as he went 3-for-4 at the plate including a run scored. If the Mets can get Jeff McNeil going consistently the whole lineup will improve!
3. The return of Zack Short. When the Mets went to Atlanta in early April, they were greeted by an old Mets hero, Luis Guillorme. Thursday the Braves made a couple of moves, sending Luis Guillorme to Anaheim, and acquiring Zack Short from the Red Sox. As a member of the Mets this year Short went 1-for-9 over 12 plate appearances hitting .111/.273/.111 over 10 games. Short played in two games for the Red Sox going 0-for-7. Does he get a revenge bump against the Mets this weekend?

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for the sweep this afternoon in the St. Louis! Tuesday’s game featured the return of the Mets offense with a six run inning and a Pete Alonso homer. The Mets will now ride that wave into an off-day.

Tuesday’s game was an example of how quickly vibes can change. The Mets gave up three runs in the first inning, which for the Mets feels like a giant hole. Then in the fifth inning Brandon Nimmo got the comeback started with a three-run homer. The Mets would then pile on three more runs. Where has this team been?

Jose Quintana has made seven starts this season totaling 36 1/3 innings with a 5.20 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.541 WHIP and a 76 ERA+. His last start in Tampa Bay was terrible – he allowed eight runs over 2 2/3 innings from 10 hits and a walk. His start before that though was his best of the season where he held the Cardinals to only one run over eight innings. The Cardinals have the following career numbers against him:

• Nolan Arenado 2-21, 2 HR, BB, 5 K
• Dylan Carlson 1-2
• Brandon Crawford 3-12, HR, K
• Brendan Donovan 0-4
• José Fermín 0-2
• Paul Goldschmidt 12-22, 3 2B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Nolan Gorman 0-3
• Ivan Herrera 0-3
• Lars Nootbaar 1-3, 2B
• Michael Siani 0-2
• Masyn Winn 1-3, 2B, 2 K

The Mets bats will try to figure out Sonny Gray who has been on a roll this season. Over five starts (30 1/3 innings) has a 0.89 ERA, 1.56 FIP, 0.857 WHIP and a 466 ERA+. Gray is coming off of a great start against the White Sox where he allowed no runs from three hits and a walk. The Mets got to him back on April 27th, but it doesn’t show up in his season stats. The Mets scored four runs from four hits and three walks but struck out nine times. Only one of those four runs were earned. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 1-5, HR, BB, K
• Harrison Bader 2-10, 2 K
• Brett Baty 0-1, BB
• Francisco Lindor 5-24, 4 BB, 8 K
• Starling Marte 3-12, HR, 2 BB
• J.D. Martinez 4-13, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2B, K
• Omar Narváez 3-17, 2 2B, 2 K
• Tomás Nido 1-2
• Brandon Nimmo 3-8, 3 K
• DJ Stewart 1-1, 2 BB
• Tyrone Taylor 2-8, HR, K
• Joey Wendle 1-6, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brandon Nimmo’s power is back! Brandon Nimmo has always been an on-base machine, last year he added power to the mix. On Tuesday night he homered for the fifth time this season, his second in his last two games. Since April 29th, in his last nine games, he has hit 10-for-32 with three doubles, three homers and eight RBI’s (.313/.436/.688). Both of his homers in the last two games have either tied the game for the Mets or gave them a lead.
2. Vintage Jeff McNeil: The Mets have missed the 2022, batting champion version of Jeff McNeil. Tuesday night he Mets got a glimpse of that version of McNeil as he went 3-for-4 at the plate including a run scored. If the Mets can get Jeff McNeil going consistently the whole lineup will improve!
3. Hits in general! The Mets are going to need hits today and need them in a hurry to push Sonny Gray out of the game. On Tuesday the Mets recorded 14 hits including five players who had at least two hits (Marte, Lindor, Alonso, Martinez, and McNeil). The Mets also went 4-for-7 as a team with RISP.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets won a game!

Monday night the Mets took an early 3-0 lead against the Cardinals playing small ball, stringing hits together, bunting players over, hitting sacrifice flies, etc. Sean Manaea cruised through the first five innings of the game but hit a rough patch in the 6th and gave back all three runs. Brandon Nimmo hit a solo shot and that was all the bullpen needed to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard for the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. A win tonight will bring the Mets back to .500 for the season!

José Buttó has made five starts this season totaling 28 innings with a 2.57 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.071 WHIP and a 154 ERA+. He a strong bounce back start his last time out where he held the Cubs to one run from four hits and two walks over six innings. He was bouncing back from a less than stellar start against the Cardinals where Buttó allowed four runs from four hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings. The walks for Buttó have been a sign as to what type of night he’s going to have and hopefully he can keep them down tonight. The Cardinals have the following career numbers against him:

• Nolan Arenado 0-2
• Alec Burleson 1-2, HR, BB, K
• Willson Contreras 1-2, BB
• Brandon Crawford 1-2
• Brendan Donovan 0-3
• Paul Goldschmidt 1-2, BB
• Nolan Gorman 0-2
• Lars Nootbaar 0-3, K
• Michael Siani 0-2, 2 K

The Mets bats will get another look at Miles Mikolas tonight who has made seven starts already this season. Over 38 innings he has a 5.68 ERA, 4.72 FIP, 1.395 WHIP and a 73 ERA+. Since he faced the Mets he allowed three runs from six hits over six innings against the Tigers. Against the Mets this season he allowed only two runs despite allowing seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. Overall he’s allowed 21 hits in his last three starts while walking zero batters. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-15, BB, 3 K
• Harrison Bader 0-2
• Brett Baty 1-5, 2B, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 5-14, 2 2B, K
• Starling Marte 8-41, 2B, 2 BB, 7 K
• J.D. Martinez 3-6, 2B, HR< K
• Jeff McNeil 8-16, 3 2B, BB, K
• Omar Narváez 4-17, 2 2B, 3B, BB, 3 K
• Tomás Nido 2-5, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-16, 2B, 3 BB, 3 K
• DJ Stewart 1-2, HR, K
• Tyrone Taylor 3-10, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Joey Wendle 1-7, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete Alonso: Pete Alonso was given the first half of Monday night’s game off, partially to get bench players in the game who happened to have good numbers against Kyle Gibson, partially to allow Alonso to reset. He lined out straight at the second basemen in his one at bat in Monday’s game. Since April 28th Alonso has gone 1-for-29 at the plate with a double and five walks. Tonight is a great night to break out of the slump!
2. Brandon Nimmo: Nimmo has quietly been carrying the Mets offense for the last eight games. Over that stretch he has gone 9-for-28 at the plate with three doubles, two homers and four walks hitting .321/.441/.643. Nimmo’s solo shot on Monday night was the deciding factor for the game.
3. Do we see Adrian Houser tonight? Adrian Houser officially joined the bullpen before Monday night’s game. Everyone in the Mets bullpen has pitched in the last two games. If the Mets get a solid lead tonight (or if the Mets fall back by a lot), it seems destined for Houser to get some work in.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets head to St. Louis today after a frustrating weekend in Tampa Bay. The Mets were swept over the weekend but had a chance in each game. On Friday night the Rays took a massive early lead that the Mets were able to chip away at and lost by only two runs. On Saturday the Mets walked in the two winning runs. On Sunday the Mets blew the lead in the 9th and 10th inning.

Now the Mets get to start a new series and try to get back in the win column as they start a series against the Cardinals. The Mets played the Cardinals about a week ago with the Cardinals taking two of three games at Citi Field. After this week the Mets and Cardinals won’t face each other again unless they both manage to make the playoffs.

Sean Manaea has made six starts (29 1/3 innings) this season with a 3.07 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.432 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. In his last three starts he has allowed only three runs over 14 2/3 innings (1.84 ERA) but has struggled with control, walking 11 batters. The deepest he’s gone in a game during that stretch is five innings, despite throwing above 90 pitches twice.

Manaea faced the Cardinals once last season in relief, allowing one run over 1 1/3 innings. They Cardinals have the following career numbers against him:

• Nolan Arenado 3-6, HR, 3 K
• Alec Burleson 0-1
• Dylan Carlson 0-1, K
• Willson Contreras 3-5, 2B, 2 HR, 2 K
• Brandon Crawford 5-16, 2 2B, BB, 3 K
• Brendan Donovan 0-1, K
• Paul Goldschmidt 1-3, 3B
• Lars Nootbaar 0-1

Kyle Gibson has made six starts (38 innings) this season with a 3.79 ERA, 4.87 FIP, 1.132 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. His WHIP is down about 200 points from 2023 where he led the league in hits allowed at 198 over 192 innings. Most of the damage done against Gibson in 2024 was in his first three starts of the season. In his last three he has allowed three runs over 19 innings from 12 hits. He’s also coming off of a season high for strikeouts (9). The Mets missed him in the rotation earlier this season and last year he held the Mets to three runs over seven innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-17, 3 BB, 6 K
• Harrison Bader 0-4, BB, 3 K
• Brett Baty 0-4, BB, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 19-54, 3 2B, 6 BB, 9 K
• Starling Marte 5-13, 2B, BB, 3 K
• J.D. Martinez 10-34, 2B, 2 HR, 6 BB, 11 K
• Jeff McNeil 7-19, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 K
• Omar Narváez 5-20, 2B, BB, K
• Tomás Nido 1-5, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 5-18, 2 2B, 3 BB, 4 K
• DJ Stewart 0-5, 2 K
• Joey Wendle 11-29, 4 2B, 2 3B, HR, 5 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Teams are running wild on the Mets. The Mets have been horrid at stopping stolen bases and it hit a fever pitch on Sunday with the Rays stealing a total of seven bases, with one player stealing four bases by himself. The Rays are now fourth in the league for stolen bases (42), and if you take yesterday’s game out of it they would be tied for 7th, so they are a team that runs a lot. The Cardinals are near the bottom of the league with with only 15 stolen bases. Will they feel empowered to steal some bags against the Mets?
2. Lindor hot-streak loading! Over his last four games Lindor has gone 5-for-17 at the plate with three doubles and a homer. He’s also recorded eight RBI’s during this stretch. The increase in power recently with RBI’s is something the Mets offense desperately needs. If a struggling Mets hitter like Alonso can click at the same time, the Mets offense will be in a much better place.
3. The Mets are striking out a lot. On Friday night Mets batters struck out nine times. Seven players had one strikeout and Nimmo had three. On Saturday Mets batters had 10 strikeouts over eight players. On Sunday Mets batters had nine strikeouts again. Jeff McNeil had three and he was followed in the order by Harrison Bader and Brett Baty who had two each. It’s difficult to keep a rally going if you strikeout.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to avoid a sweep and climb back up to .500 this afternoon as they take on the Rays one last time. Saturday was a day of highs and lows for the Mets. Christian Scott made his major league debut and looked terrific through 6 2/3 innings, allowing only one run. The Mets bats though disappeared again and the bullpen ended up walking in two runs in the bottom of the eighth. You know what erases a frustrating loss? A win!

Luis Severino looks to right the ship for the Mets and continue his strong 2024 campaign this afternoon. Over six starts (35 innings) this season Severino has a 2.31 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 1.057 WHIP and a 170 ERA+. He’s coming off of his strongest start of the season where he allowed one run on one hit and two walks over eight innings. Part of his success this year has come from not allowing opponents to barrel up on the ball. He’s in the 89th percentile for barrel% and 79th for average exit velocity. Further he’s in the 85th percentile for groundball%. The only players on the Rays roster who have faced Severino in a major league game are Yandy Diaz (0-for-3, 2 K) and Amed Rosario (2-for-11, HR, 3 K).

The Mets bats will try to find themselves this afternoon against Ryan Pepiot. Over six starts (34 2/3 innings) Pepiot has a 3.12 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 0.865 WHIP and a 120 ERA+. Pepiot came over from the Dodgers as part of the Tyler Glasnow trade and is close to a season high in major league innings pitched (36 1/3 in 2022, 42 in 2023). In two of his first three starts this season he allowed 10 runs over 10 2/3 innings. Since then he has allowed only two runs over 18 innings. The only Met who has seen him in a major league game before is Joey Wendle (0-for-6, BB, K).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Can Starling Marte build on Saturday’s game? Marte was the Mets best hitter on Saturday going 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk (he also stole a base!). When Marte’s been hot this season the Mets have been too. Before this game, Marte was 2-for-22 and no walks over his last five games.
2. Pete Alonso’s slump. In his last seven games, Alonso has gone 1-for-23 at the plate with five walks. The Mets desperately need their big power hitter to bounce back and back up the awesome pitching performances.
3. Can the Mets keep Rays hitters unbalanced? In Saturday’s game chat we talked about how the Braves were one of the least patient teams at the plate, near the bottom of the league in walks and near the top in strikeouts. Well they got patient yesterday at the right moment and were able to work two walks with the bases loaded to win the game. They still struck out nine times though.

Let’s Go Mets!

Happy Christian Scott day!

The Mets are calling up their top pitching prospect this evening! Christian Scott has been tearing up the minor leagues and joins the Mets rotation earlier this season than a lot of people, myself included, expected.

He joins the rotation the day after a rough loss for the Mets. Quintana just did not have it Friday night and the Mets went down 9-3 after taking a quick 3-0 lead in the second inning. The Mets offense showed fight the entire night and actually got the score to 10-8 before ultimately losing. The Mets are hoping their offense sticks around another day as they look to get back in the win column this evening.

Christian Scott, the #62 prospect by Baseball America, takes the mound for the first time this afternoon. Over five starts and 25 1/3 innings he has a 3.20 ERA and 0.711 WHIP. He has struck out an absurd 36 batters through that stretch. It’s even more absurd considering that he only struck out two batters in his last outing. Over his five starts this season he tossed over 80 pitches four times with a season high of 95. He’s got a mid-90’s fastball, a sweeper, slider and and a split change.

The Mets bats will try to keep yesterday’s vibes going against Zack Littell tonight. Over six games and 33 innings he has a 3.27 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 1.364 WHIP and a 114 ERA+. Littell had a 2.14 ERA through his first four starts of the season and then got roughed up for six runs over six innings against the Tigers. He then rebounded in his last started against the White Sox, holding them to two runs over six innings. He faced the Mets twice in relief last season holding the Mets to one run off three hits over two innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Littell:

• Pete Alonso 0-3
• Harrison Bader 1-6
• Brett Baty 1-1
• Francisco Lindor 0-6, K
• Starling Marte 1-3, 2B, K
• J.D. Martinez 0-1, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-1
• Omar Narváez 0-2, K
• Tomás Nido 0-1
• Brandon Nimmo 0-1, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-1

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Christian Scott Strikeouts. The Rays are 26th in league for walks at 89. They have the seventh highest amount of strikeouts at 297. In other words, the Rays are not patient and they swing freely. Scott has made a lot of noise in the minor leagues with his strikeout numbers. On paper this looks like a juicy combination.
2. Brett Baty Breakout? It’s been no secret Baty has been struggling recently. Last night he went 3-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, including the opening three-run homer to start the game. Let’s hope this is the start of a new hot streak for Baty!
3. Amed Rosario, again. Before Friday’s game we talked about how the Mets would see Amed Rosario again and how good of a season he was having. Oops. He had a terrific game against the Mets going 3-for-5 at the plate scoring two runs and driving in two.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets head to St. Petersburg tonight coming off a fantastic end to their series against the Cubs. On Wednesday night the Mets had a crushing, 1-0 loss that ended with a possible obstruction of home plate when Pete Alonso tried to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. The vibes were not good!

Thursday was the Francisco Lindor flu game though to bring the vibes back. Lindor came off the bench, possibly still not feeling great from his 24-hour bug, smacked a two-run double in the middle of the game. He then stayed in the game and later had the winning hit in the bottom of the 11th. Now the Mets bring that energy for a weekend series with the Rays.

Jose Quintana has made six starts tossing 33 2/3 innings this season with a 3.48 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.337 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. Quintana is coming off of a tremendous start where he held the Cardinals to one run over eight innings which snapped a Mets losing streak. Quintana’s Baseball Savant page doesn’t look the greatest, but does show a bit about how he’s getting it done right now. His fastball run value is in the 88th percentile and he’s getting groundballs 66% of the time. The Rays have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Randy Arozarena 1-2, 2B, BB, K
• Yandy Diaz 1-2
• Niko Goodrum 2-4, 2B, 2 K
• Isaac Paredes 1-1
• Amed Rosario 3-7, 2B, K

Aaron Civale has 5.06 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.313 WHIP and 74 ERA+ over six starts (32 innings) this season. Over his first two starts of the season he allowed only two runs from eight hits over 12 innings. In his last three starts he has allowed 14 runs from 21 hits and five walks over 15 innings of work. Homers have been a weakness for him this season. Civale has allowed six so far spread out over five of his six starts. The Mets have the following limited career numbers against Civale:

• Pete Alonso 0-2
• J.D. Martinez 1-3
• Omar Narváez 1-2, BB, K
• DJ Stewart 0-5, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Can the Mets hit the ball out of the Trop? The New York Mets are tied for 13th in the league for homers, sitting at 32 for the season. The power for the Mets have dried up recently only hitting only two in their series with the Cubs. Civale has given up a lot of homeruns this season. Seems like a good time for the Mets to get that aspect of their game back.
2. Amed Rosario. The Mets will face an old friend tonight in a new place. Rosario was part of the trade that brought Francisco Lindor to New York. After a couple of seasons in Cleveland he was traded in 2023 to the Dodgers for another form Met – Noah Syndergaard. Amed Rosario signed with the Rays in the off-season and is having a solid 2024 with his new club. Over 28 games he is hitting .295/.315/.419 (113 OPS+) which is a slight bump from his career .273/.308/.401. He is also in the 80th percentile for whiff% and 87t for K%. Always love to see a former Met prospect succeed.
3. Brandon Nimmo the on base machine. Over his last eight games Nimmo has gone 8-for-28 at the plate with two doubles, a homer and five walks (.394 OBP). While the Mets have turned his on base skills into only four runs (which speaks to the overall offensive struggles), Nimmo is at least setting the table for something to happen. On Thursday he completed the first comeback bringing home Lindor in a key, runner-in-scoring-position situation.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to split the series this afternoon after a disappointing, controversial loss Wednesday night. On Wednesday the Mets and Cubs were locked in a pitcher’s duel. In the bottom of the ninth the Mets were down 1-0 with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Pete Alonso tried to score at the end of the game and was called out on a play where it appears that the Cubs the catcher was standing on the plate before the ball got to him – which would violate the blocking rule. Overall it was frustrating. Carlos Mendoza was frustrated for his players at the end of the game. Pete Alonso was diplomatic about it. Now the Mets need to do the difficult thing of channeling those emotions into positive outcomes for this afternoon’s game.

Adrian Houser is looking to get his season back on the right track this afternoon at Citi Field. Over five starts he has allowed 22 runs from 29 hits and 16 walks over 23 2/3 innings (8.37 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.901 WHIP, 47 ERA+). Houser has had two solid starts for the Mets this season. In his first start he allowed one run over five innings. In his third start he allowed two runs over 5 1/3. Both of his starts against the Cubs last season were great. He held the Cubs to one run over 10 innings. The Cubs have the following career numbers against Houser:

• Miguel Amaya 0-2
• Alexander Canario 0-2, 2 K
• Pete Crow-Armstrong 0-2, BB, K
• Yan Gomes 0-2, BB, K
• Ian Happ 4-11, 2 2B, 5 BB
• Nico Hoerner 0-5, 3 K
• Christopher Morel 2-5
• Dansby Swanson 3-13, BB, 3 K
• Mike Tauchman 0-2, 2 BB, K
• Patrick Wisdom 3-6, K

The Mets bats will look to string together a few hits and score a couple of runs this afternoon against rookie Ben Brown. Brown has pitched in seven games this season including three starts totaling 23 innings with a 4.30 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 1.174 WHIP and a 100 ERA+. Brown made back to back starts between April 9th and 15th, allowing one run over 10 2/3 innings while striking out nine batters. His last start though was forgettable, he allowed three runs from seven hits over 3 2/3 innings. No one on the Mets roster has seen Ben Brown in a major league game.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Emotions from Wednesday. The way the Mets lost the game on Wednesday is deflating. The Mets didn’t blow the game and it can feel like the game was taken from them. This becomes and important test for Carlos Mendoza to publicly back up his players (which he did after the game on Wednesday) and to keep the game in perspective. Ultimately, it’s one game out of 162.
2. Surprise unavailability. Lindor left Wednesday’s game early due to flu-like symptoms. Hopefully he feels better soon and comes back when he’s 100%. We know that Lindor plays through just about everything so this is definitely ailing him. (There is also a larger conversation about working while sick we could get into, and how we could all do a better job of prioritizing our health.) Anyway, the bug is going around the clubhouse, hopefully no one else catches it.
3. Who, if anyone, rebounds after a bad start? Adrian Houser allowed six runs in his last start and 14 runs over his last two starts. Ben Brown allowed three runs from seven hits over 3 2/3 innings. Then the game just got away from the Cubs and they ended up losing to the Red Sox 17-0. Who returns towards their average performance this afternoon?

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets got back in the win column Tuesday night behind DJ Stewart who delivered the Mets the big hit they’ve been missing. For much of the night the game felt the same as Sunday and Monday. The Mets were getting effective starting pitching, keeping runs off the board. The Mets were struggling to push any of their own runners across the plate. In the bottom of the sixth Stewart hit his fourth homer of the year and carried the Mets to victory.

Today’s game, on paper, is the toughest pitching matchup of the series for the Mets bats as they face off against Shōta Imanaga. Can the Mets channel last night’s magic for a second straight game?

Jose Buttó looks to keep the Mets starting pitching streak going tonight! Mets starters have been excellent in three consecutive games, with two pitchers going eight innings and Manaea last night allowing only one run over five. This season Buttó has made four starts totaling 22 innings with a 2.86 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.091 WHIP and a 140 ERA+. He’s coming off of his worst start of the season where he allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings from four hits and three walks. Walks has been weak point this season, currently allowing 12 free passes this season. Buttó has not faced anyone on the Cubs roster in a major league game before.

Shōta Imanaga is having a phenomenal start to his major league career. Over his first five starts he has pitched 27 2/3 innings with a 0.98 ERA, 2.40 FIP, 0.795 WHIP and a 443 ERA+. In five of his six starts he has allowed one run or less (in his first three starts he allowed zero earned runs). He’s getting results with his fastball which has a .166 wOBA so far this season and has put him in the 100th percentile for fastball run value. His off-speed stuff is more susceptible (.336 wOBA for his sweeper, but he only throws it 8% of the time). No one on the Mets roster has seen him in a major league game.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Mets need rallies. On Sunday’s game the Mets had eight hits and recorded six walks, which all converted into only four runs. Harrison Bader and Mark Vientos (who has since been optioned to the minors) were the only two Mets with two hits. Lindor and Alonso together accounted for five of the walks. Monday the Mets had only four hits and three walks, which turned into only run. Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil were the only two hitters that were on base twice. On Tuesday the Mets had seven hits and only one walk. Only Jeff McNeil was on base twice. The Mets bats are slumping and they are struggling to get rallies going right now.
2. Mets need to find playing time for DJ Stewart and Tyrone Taylor. DJ Stewart was difference maker Tuesday night, hitting a three run homerun that increased his RBI total to 14 on the year. Only Pete Alonso (15) and Brandon Nimmo (18) have had more this season. Tyrone Taylor is right behind DJ Stewart with 13. The Mets depth has been a real strength so far in 2024.
3. Extended Rest? No Problem. Ottavino pitched in his 10th game on Tuesday night, but it was his first game since April 24th. Ottavino didn’t look rusty at all though, only needing nine pitches to get out of the inning, recording his fourth hold of the year.

Let’s Go Mets!