213 Miles From Shea

The Mets are undefeated in the Ronny Mauricio era! Ronny Mauricio collected his first hit in his major league debut last night. The ball came off of his bat at 117.3 MPH, which was the hardest hit ball by a New York Met this year. What a way to start his career! Now the Mets will try to win the series tonight against the Mariners!

David Peterson will look to build off of his last start this evening. On the season he has pitched in 22 games totaling 84 1/3 innings with a 5.23 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.601 WHIP and a 80 ERA+. His last time out he allowed only one run over seven innings from three hits and three walks while striking out eight batters, his best start in a while. He also threw over 100 pitches for the first time this season. The only current Mariner that has seen Peterson in a major league game is Josh Rojas (1-for-1).

The Mets bats will get a look at Luis Castillo tonight. The long-time Red was traded to the Mariners in the 2022 season. This year over 27 starts, 164 1/3 innings he has a 3.01 ERA, 3.64 FIP, 1.004 WHIP (league leading) and a 136 ERA+. It makes sense that in addition to leading the league in WHIP he is also leading the league in H/9 at 7.0. Over his last two starts Castillo has held opponents to only one run from six hits while striking out 15 batters over 14 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Omar Narváez 5-23, HR, 5 K, 2 BB
• Daniel Vogelbach 1-9, HR, 3 K, 5 BB
• Rafael Ortega 2-9, 3 K, 3 BB
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4, K, 2 BB
• Pete Alonso 0-5, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-6, 2 2B
• Jeff McNeil 3-6, HR

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Mets collected hits last night. The Mets only scored two runs, but they did have nine hits on the night, which is a good sign for a team that has been struggling of late. Ronny Mauricio was the only player who collected two hits (what a debut!) and he was joined by seven other players collecting one hit. Can the Mets string hits together tonight to score more runs?
2. Vientos playing time. With all of the baby Mets up right now there’s going to be a squeeze on playing time for someone. For the Mets future development, it makes the most sense to have Vientos as a DH and sit Vogelbach. Vogelbach however is one of the hottest hitters on the team right now, emphasized by his go-ahead RBI last night. Baty, Vientos and Vogelbach will probably enter a weird time share of third base and DH duties. We’ll see how this continues throughout the weekend.
3. The bullpen is well rested! The Mets really needed to use their bullpen on Wednesday, with Brigham, Reid-Foley and Ottavino each throwing over 25 pitches. The only pitchers not used on Wednesday was Bickford and Smith, who both had solid outings for the Mets last night. Reid-Foley has yet to allow a run this season and came out unscathed on Wednesday after walking three batters.

Let’s Go Mets!

After the Mets sold at the trade deadline, the natural question became, “When does Ronny Mauricio come up?”. With rosters expanding today, the Mets will finally call-up Mauricio with Brett Baty. They join a roster that already has Francisco Álvarez and Mark Vientos. At long last the four most intriguing Mets are all playing in Queens.

Kodai Senga will kick-off the weekend series for the Mets. Over 24 starts and 136 1/3 innings this season, Senga has a 3.17 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 1.240 WHIP and a 131 ERA+. Since July 5th he has made nine starts totaling 54 2/3 innings with a 2.63 ERA, 2.82 FIP striking out 63 batters during that stretch. In his last start he struck out 10 batters, his first time with double digit strikeouts since July 5th. Senga has gone from a promising rookie, to an All-Star to now being in a position where he’ll probably get some Rookie-of-the-year votes.

Logan Gilbert has pitched 155 innings this season over 26 starts with a 3.66 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.045 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. Gilbert has allowed only three runs over his last 13 innings while striking out 10. Since June 17th he has pitched 81 innings over 13 starts with a 3.00 ERA, 4.00 FIP. The only Met who has seen him in a major league game is Tim Locastro (0-for-4, 2 K).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Baby Mets. Ronny Mauricio makes his debut, Baty returns as they both join Vientos and Álvarez. Mauricio started off his 2023 campaign hot, cooled off between June and July. Since August though he has been scorching hot. As the Mets look at their roster and their farm system, this is Mauricio’s chance to show how he fits into the 2024 and beyond plans. Since going to the minors, Baty has gone 17-for-69 at the plate with two doubles and five homers during that 17 game stretch. We are hoping to see all four Baby Mets get a lot of playing time for the remainder of the season.
2. Daniel Vogelbach and playing time. Since August 12th Vogelbach has gone 13-44 at the plate with six homers and nine walks, leading to a .296/.426/.705 batting line. This includes a homer he hit on Wednesday night, also known as the DJ Stewart game. Going forward the best way to get all four Baby Mets into the lineup is for Vientos to DH. The younger players really should be getting the bulk of the playing time for the rest of the season. We are curious to see how Buck Showalter manages this for the next few weeks.
3. Dominic Leone. Dominic Leone is now a Mariner after the Angels waiver wire sale yesterday. Leone has had a crazy 2023. He was signed by the Rangers during Spring Training and released at the end of March. A week later he resigned with the Rangers and was released at the start of May. He then signed with the Mets and was traded to the Angels for Jeremiah Jackson (who has been doing well in the Mets system). The Angels then fell apart after becoming buyers at the deadline and put players who would be free agents after the season on the waiver wire to save money. What a weird season for Leone.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Rangers look to complete the three game sweep of the Mets tonight at Citi Field. The Mets have been competitive in both games this series but their bats have just not come through. The Mets are sole holders of last place and now have lost seven of their last ten games, putting that little run from two weeks ago deep in the rear view mirror.

Denyi Reyes will get the spot start for the Mets tonight. The start comes as the Mets begin to ramp down Kodai Senga’s work load for the 2023 season. Reyes has pitched seven games for the Mets season, totaling 12 innings with a 7.50 ERA, 5.43 FIP, 1.917 WHIP and a 57 ERA+. His two starts this season have come on double header days for the Mets. Back on May 1st he allowed five runs from five hits and a walk in one inning of work against Atlanta. A couple of weeks ago on August 12th he allowed five runs from eight hits and four walk over 4 2/3 innings. The Mets have received solid starts this week from Peterson, Megil and Quintana on back-to-back-to-back days. That with the off-day tomorrow means the Mets an absorb a rough start if it happens this evening.

Dane Dunning has pitched 136 2/3 innings over 28 games (20 starts) this season with a 3.36 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 1.207 WHIP and a 130 ERA+. The bulk of his work this season (116 1/3 innings) has come as a starter where he has a 3.64 ERA. In his last two starts he’s allowed seven runs from 12 hits and seven walks over nine innings (7.00 ERA, 6.60 FIP). The Mets have only three players on the roster who have seen Dunning before in an official game:

• Francisco Lindor 1-3, K
• DJ Stewart 0-3
• Jonathan Araúz 1-3

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Vientos. Mark Vientos returned from the injured list on August 27th. In his first two games he went 0-for-6 at the plate, but had a couple of hard hit outs. Last night he went 2-for-4 with his third homer of the season, his first since July 29th. The Mets offense is in desperate need for someone to get hot right now.
2. Strikeouts. We’ve talked about this for a few days in a row now. The Mets at-bats as a collective haven’t been great since the start of last weekend. In their last five games they’ve struck out 11, 10, 11, 13 and 11 times. Last night Alonso, Álvarez, Vientos and Araúz each had two. You can have two strikeouts in a game and still have a good game (for example, Mark Vientos), but when so many players are mired in a slump it is difficult to get momentum going.
3. Sean Reid-Foley. Sean last pitched on Monday night and he’s looked good since returning to the Mets. In 3 1/3 innings he has allowed a hit, a walk and nothing else while striking out five batters. You may have missed him on the mound because thanks to the pitchcom, he no longer has his signature, bird-of-prey style hunch over the mound before he pitches. He will be arbitration eligible for the first time next season.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to rebound from a disappointing loss to the Rangers last night. Yesterday the Mets got one of the best Megill starts this season, but the bats couldn’t create enough separation and the bullpen slowly fell apart over three innings. Now the Mets have José Quintana on the mound tonight. Can the team fire on all cylinders again?

José Quintana has pitched 41 innings over seven starts for the Mets with a 3.73 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.390 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. His last start against the Braves was his first rough start of the season where he allowed five runs from nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. Before that he had a 3.03 ERA over six starts. The Rangers have the following career numbers against him:

• Robbie Grossman 8-27, 3 2B, 6 K, 3 BB
• Marcus Semien 6-13, 3 2B, 3 K
• Corey Seager 2-7, 2B, 3 K, 2 BB
• Adolis García 1-5, 2 K
• Nathaniel Lowe 0-4, 2 K, BB
• Austin Hedges 4-6, BB
• Jonah Heim 0-2
• Travis Jankowski 1-2, K

The Mets bats will try to break out of their collective slump against Andrew Heaney tonight. Heaney has spent the vast majority of his career with the Angels after debuting with the Marlins in 2014. Since 2021 he has spent time with the Angels, Yankees, Dodgers and now Rangers. He’s starting to become an “Immaculate Grid” super player. Anyway over 122 1/3 innings this season Heaney has a 4.34 ERA, 4.93 FIP, 1.357 WHIP and a 100 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed six runs from 14 hits over eight innings (6.75 ERA, 6.90 FIP). The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Daniel Vogelbach 1-5, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-5, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 2-3, K
• Pete Alonso 0-3, 3 K
• DJ Stewart 1-1
• Jeff McNeil 1-2

Three Things To Watch Out For:

1. Strikeouts, again. Over the weekend the Mets racked up 32 strikeouts, with 11 Friday night, 10 Saturday and 11 on Sunday afternoon. Yesterday they had 13 as a team including three each for Pete Alonso and Daniel Vogelbach. This has happened before where the offense has struggled to score more than three runs per game and it coincided with a streak of games with the Mets having double digit strikeout totals.
2. DJ Stewart. Stewart has continued to just crush baseballs and get better defensively every game he starts with the Mets. Since August 15th he has hit 15-for41 with three doubles and six homers, turning in a batting line of .366/.409/.878. He is absolutely making the most of his extended audition in the outfield and has become one of the more interesting stories for the end of the year. He has a chance to become just the seventh Met to hit double digit homers on the season, behind Tommy Pham at 10 (now a Diamondback) and Daniel Vogelbach at 12.
3. Brandon Nimmo looked more like himself last night. From August 22nd to the 27th Nimmo went 0-for-20 at the plate with one walk and eight strikeouts, very unlike him. Last night he went 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and a strikeout. The strikeout was his first at bat and after that he started to look a lot more like the Brandon Nimmo that has powered the Mets offense. We are looking for him to continue that trend tonight.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets survived the weekend thanks to an amazing start yesterday by David Peterson and now welcome the Texas Rangers to the ballpark for a three game set. The Rangers traded for Max Scherzer at the deadline to bolster their rotation and prepare for a deep playoff run. They were in first place for over 100 days this season until the Mariners took over yesterday. The Rangers have only won one of their last ten games. This is just not where you expected the Rangers to be about a month ago. The good news for the Rangers is there are still a month left of games to play and they face the Mets this week.

Tylor Megill has pitched 91 1/3 innings over 19 starts this season with a 5.54 ERA, 5.29 FIP, 1.725 WHIP and a 75 ERA+. In his last two starts he’s allowed five runs from 13 hits and six walks over 9 2/3 innings, leading a 4.66 ERA and 7.10 FIP. Megill has struggled to go deep into games since returning to the rotation due to the sheer amount of hits he gives up. The Rangers hitters have the following career numbers against him:

• Corey Seager 1-3, 2B, K
• Marcus Semien 0-3, K
• Austin Hedges 1-2, 2B
• Travis Jankowski 0-2, BB

The Mets bats will try to get going again, this time facing Jon Gray. Over 131 2/3 innings this season, Gray has a 3.76 ERA, 4.13 FIP, 1.230 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. He is coming off of a terrible start against the Diamondbacks where he allowed five runs over four innings. Before that he allowed one run over 14 innings across two starts while striking out 11. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-5, 2 K, BB
• Tim Locastro 1-5, K
• Francisco Lindor 0-3, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, K
• Rafael Ortega 1-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2B, K
• Danny Mendick 0-2, K
• Omar Narváez 1-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The return of Max Scherzer. Max pitched on the 26th and will most likely not start against the Mets during this series. Max contributed a ton to the 2022 Mets, and is a big part of why that team won 101 games. Since leaving the Mets he’s looked more like the Max Scherzer we saw last season (there were signs pointing this way before he was traded) but also talked to the media a lot about how the trade process went down. I’m curious to see if his comments have fired up the Mets to really put on their best showing over the next few days.
2. The Mets are striking out a lot right now. Strikeouts have been the sign for the when the Mets bats are collectively slumping. Friday night the team had 11 strikeouts. Saturday they improved to 10 strikeouts. Yesterday they were back to 11. We’ll know the Mets bats are really coming out of this funk when these numbers start to take a dive.
3. The bullpen got the rest they needed. Since the trade deadline, the stretch between Carrasco, Peterson and Megill has been pretty tough on the bullpen. Peterson had a brilliant start yesterday and tossed seven innings, so the Mets were able to go to Drew Smith and Ottavino, both who pitched on Saturday, to finish out the game. This now means that Gott and Coonrod have two days rest for tonight. Raley, Bickford and Reid-Foley are each one day’s rest. Plus they brought back Jeff Brigham yesterday. The pen is good to go!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to avoid being swept this afternoon at Citi Field as they take on the Angels for the nationally televised early game on Peacock. Last night the Angels were able to knock Carlos Carrasco out of the game early and the Mets bats couldn’t get anything consistent going with the bats. The only positive for the Mets was the bullpen tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings after Carrasco left.

David Peterson looks to give the bullpen some time off today as he makes his 16th start of the season. Over 77 1/3 innings he has a 5.59 ERA, 4.94 FIP, 1.668 WHIP and a 75 ERA+. In his last three starts he has allowed seven runs from 14 hits and 10 walks over only 12 innings of work. His strikeout numbers are up (14 in that stretch) but he’s throwing way too many pitches per inning. His last outing he tossed 4 2/3 which was the deepest he’s gone since returning to the rotation. The Angels have the following career numbers against him:

• Andrew Velazquez 0-4, 2 K
• Randal Grichuk 2-5
• Hunter Renfroe 0-1, 2 BB
• Eduardo Escobar 0-2
• Mike Moustakas 0-2, 2 K
• Brandon Drury 2-2
• Shohei Ohtani 1-1

The Mets bats will try to break out of their funk against Griffin Canning. Canning has pitched 91 2/3 innings over 18 games with a 4.61 ERA, 4.63 FIP, 1.255 WHIP and a 98 ERA+. Over his last four starts he has a 4.58 ERA, 2.93 FIP in 17 2/3 innings, but this is being inflated by one start where he allowed four runs in 3 2/3 innings. Only two Mets have seen him before in a major league game. Daniel Vogelbach is 0-for-2 against him with two strikeouts and Omar Narváez is 2-for-2.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Daniel Vogelbach. Since August 12th, Vogelbach has been hitting more like a DH. He’s gone 10-for-37 at the plate with five of those hits being home runs. He’s slashing .278/.422/.694 over this stretch. From the start of the season to August 11th Vogelbach hit .214/.313/.348. Obviously a much larger sample size. There’s still about a month left in the season and it will be interesting to see what Vogelbach’s splits are, using this August 11th/12th cut-off.
2. Brandon Nimmo. When the Mets where winning a whole bunch of games, Brandon Nimmo was on a hot streak. He’s now 0-for-17 over his last four games, including having a two strikeout game yesterday. The Mets offense just doesn’t function without Brandon Nimmo. Let’s hope he starts a new hot streak today.
3. The Bullpen. The bullpen put a lot of work in yesterday with only Sam Coonrod and Trevor Gott not pitching. The Mets don’t have another off day until Thursday. Knowing how the Mets have treated the bullpen recently, someone is getting optioned, possibly even before today’s game to give the Mets more fresh arms. It’s just so important that David Peterson can go deep into this game and give the Mets bullpen arms a rest.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets dropped the first game of the series last night against the Angels and look to rebound tonight with Carlos Carrasco on the mound. The Mets got an amazing start from Kodai Senga last night but the offense could not contribute. This is now back-to-back losses for the Mets with their two most reliable starters on the mound. Can Carrasco be the stopper?

Carlos Carrasco has made 19 starts tossing 88 1/3 innings this season with a 6.42 ERA, 5.79 FIP, 1.653 WHIP and a 65 ERA+. Over his last three starts he has allowed seven runs from 16 hits and five walks, leading to a 5.25 ERA over 12 innings. His last time out was his first time all seasons not walking a single batter, but he allowed nine hits, the second most he’s allowed this season. The Angels have the following career numbers against him:

• Mike Moustakas 3-25, 2B, 7 K, 3 BB
• Eduardo Escobar 3-14, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Randal Grichuk 2-7, 2 2B, 3 K
• Andrew Velazquez 1-5, 2 K
• Shohei Ohtani 3-4, 2B, HR
• Brandon Drury 0-2, 2 K
• Luis Rengifo 1-2, 3B

Chase Silseth starts today for the Angels. Over 14 games and six starts this season, Silseth has pitched 45 innings with a 4.00 ERA, 5.11 FIP, 1.289 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. Silseth has been starting consistently since July 31st making four starts totaling 20 2/3 innings with a 3.48 ERA, 5.01 FIP. Before his start he allowed only three runs over 17 innings of work. Last time out he allowed five runs in 3 2/3. Homers seem to be his weakness as he’s allowed five in his last four starts. The only Met who has seen him in an official game is Jonathan Araúz who is 0-for-1 against Silseth with a walk.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. Lindor extended his hitting streak to 11 games last night, going 17-for-44 over that span with four doubles and two homers. In his last 11 games he is slashing .386/.438/.614. He really is putting together one of the best hitting seasons by a Mets middle-infielder and has a real shot now of hitting 30 homers before the season is over.
2. Strikeouts. There wasn’t much to be happy about with the Mets bats last night outside of Lindor’s homer and McNeil’s double. The Mets as team only had four hits, with no-one collecting multiple hits. Ultimately the team looked lost at the plate striking out a collective 11 times, including three players having two or more strikeouts.
3. The back of the bullpen is ready to go. With the off-days and the losses this week, the Mets haven’t needed the back of the bullpen that much. Ottavino and Drew Smith last pitched on Monday. Brooks Raley pitched last night, but has only thrown 11 pitches since Tuesday (and he didn’t throw on Monday!). They’re ready if the Mets bats and Carlos Carrasco put them in a position to be needed.

Let’s Go Mets!

Atlanta cooled down the Mets run this week and the dream of sneaking into the playoffs is just about over. The Mets enter play tonight seven games out and really need to put together a winning streak to make something happen. With the Angels, winners of three games in their last seven, coming to town tonight, who knows?

Kodai Senga gets the start tonight for the Mets. Over 23 games, 129 2/3 innings pitched, Senga has a 3.19 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.249 WHIP and a 130 ERA+. Senga is coming off of a strong start where he allowed one run from two hits over seven innings. Since the start of July (eight starts), Senga has a 2.63 ERA and 2.93 FIP, striking out 53 batters over 48 innings.

The Mets bats will get a look at Patrick Sandoval this evening. Over 22 starts, 117 innings, he has a 4.08 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 1.453 WHIP and a 111 ERA+. His last two starts have been a bit of a mess, allowing 11 runs total, only six earned, over 7 1/3 innings from 11 hits and nine walks. If there’s one thing the Mets are good at, it’s working a walk, so we’ll see what happens tonight. The Mets have the following career numbers against Sandoval:

• Francisco Lindor 0-3, 2 K, 2 BB
• Pete Alonso 0-2, K, BB
• DJ Stewart 0-2, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 3-3

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Shohei Ohtani. The Angels revealed this week that the greatest baseball player on the planet right now has a UCL tear and will not be pitching for the rest of the season. Whether he gets surgery or not is unclear as of writing, and reports yesterday said the he would continue to DH this weekend. In 2018 Ohtani hit played after announcing a UCL tear and had two homers. All of the Ohtani injury news exists with talk of his impending free agency, one that the Mets are expected to participate in. Do the Mets do anything special tonight to try give off a strong impression?
2. Not Mike Trout. You probably already know the joke. Mike Trout does something amazing, Shohei Ohtani does something that hasn’t been done in 50+ years, and the Angels lose the ball game. The Angels have two generational talents on their team. I know I’ve sought out Angels tickets in the past when they come to the East Coast to Jersey’s own Mike Trout. Trout was on the injured list from July 4th through August 22nd. He was activated on the 23rd and ended up back on the injured list yesterday. Just brutal for everyone involved, we hope he gets better soon!
3. Old Friends. The Mets are going to see a few old friends tonight. Former Mets Dominic Leone, Aaron Loup, Brandon Drury, and Eduardo Escobar are all on the roster for the Angels. Since being traded to the Angels, Escobar is hitting .224/.270/.308 with a 57 OPS+. compared to his .236/.286/.409, 90 OPS+ with the Mets. Leone has gone from a 95 ERA+ to a 97 ERA+.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets get another opportunity tonight to win the series against the Braves after losing the second game of the series yesterday 3-2. The pitching came to play again for a second straight night in Atlanta, with the bullpen allowing no runs after Megill exited the game. The bats just couldn’t score anything beyond Vogelbach’s two-run homer. Two out of three though in Atlanta would still be pretty great and the Mets turn to one of the steadiest pitchers in the rotation to lead them – Quintana.

José Quintana has pitched 35 2/3 innings over six starts since returning to the majors with a 3.03 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 1.262 WHIP and a 139 ERA+. In his last three starts he has posted a 2.50 ERA, 3.82 FIP over 18 innings allowing five runs from 13 hits and nine walks while striking out 15. He has also allowed only one home run over his six starts this season. He has already faced the home run hitting machine braves this season, allowing one run over six innings. The Braves have the following career numbers against him:

• Orlando Arcia 4-31, 2B, 6 K, 4 BB
• Marcell Ozuna 8-19, 2B, HR, 3 K, 2 BB
• Matt Olson 1-12, 5 K, 2 BB
• Eddie Rosario 4-16, 3 K, BB
• Kevin Pillar 6-17, 3 2B, 4 K, BB
• Ronald Acuña Jr. 0-7, 3 K, 2 BB
• Austin Riley 0-5, K, BB
• Travis d’Arnaud 0-4, 2 K, BB
• Sean Murphy 2-4, 2B
• Michael Harris II, 1-4, K
• Luke Williams 0-2

The Mets bats look to get back to doing their thing against Charlie Morton tonight. Over 24 starts, 134 2/3 innings, Morton has a 3.54 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 1.433 WHIP and a 126 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed no runs from seven hits and eight walks over 11 innings of work. Before those two starts he had a 7.32 ERA over four starts, so something has shifted in the last two weeks. This includes a start against the Mets where despite walking seven times, the Mets couldn’t get any runs across the plate. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Francisco Lindor 6-40, 3 2B, HR< 11 K, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 4-21, 7 K, 4 BB
• Daniel Vogelbach 5-19, 2B, 2 HR, 10 K, 5 BB
• Pete Alonso 6-22, 2B, 4 K, 3 BB
• Jeff McNeil 5-22, 2 HR, 7 K, 2 BB
• Omar Narváez 5-16, 2B, HR, 3 K, BB
• Francisco Álvarez 2-7, HR
• Rafael Ortega 2-2, 2B, 2 BB
• DJ Stewart 0-2, K, 2 BB
• Abraham Almonte 1-2, K, 2 BB
• Jonathan Araúz 0-1, BB
• Danny Mendick 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete Alonso. During the game Alonso got hit by a pitch and the Atlanta fans actually cheered. He handled it after the game like the pro he is saying “Boos are just the same as cheers on the road, that means you’re doing something right. For me, it’s fine. That’s jus away fans doing their job.” Pete Alonso is a better person than I. Last night’s boos from the fans continues a similar narrative we saw with Tommy Pham this week that some fans lack the ability to see baseball players as humans.
2. Jeff McHits. While most of the team struggled at the plate last night, Jeff McNeil recorded his second straight multi-hit game. In his last 12 games, starting on August 12th, McNeil has gone 20-for-51 at the plate slashing .392/.396/.510. He has a hit in 11 of those games and he has multiple hits in six of them. He’s also recorded three hits, three separate times in that stretch. What McNeil has not done during this time is scored multiple times in the same game. When the Mets can help him cross that threshold the offense really will be on fire.
3. The Bullpen has looked good the last two nights. The Mets bullpen has held one of the best power hitting teams in check the last two nights, and for long stretches of time. Adam Kolarek was the hero last night, tossing 28 pitches over two innings. Because of his performance (and Garrett, Raley behind him), Smith, Gott, Bickford, Ottavino and Coonrod all got the night off. Further Raley only had to throw five pitches, so he should be good to go today as well.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have the opportunity tonight to take the series from the first-place Braves! The Mets took an early three-run lead against the Braves last night which the Braves eventually clawed back. As soon as the Braves took the lead, that familiar, 2023 sense of “it’s over / it’s inevitable” started to take over. But these are the new 2023 Mets! The Mets would go on to score seven more runs, capped by a three-run homer from Francisco Lindor to win 10-4! Can that momentum spill into Tylor Megill tonight?

Tylor Megill has pitched 86 1/3 innings over 18 starts with a 5.53 ERA, 5.15 FIP, 1.703 WHIP and a 76 ERA+. He’s coming off of his best start in a while where he held the Pirates to only two runs over five innings from five hits and four walks. Before that he allowed 11 runs over 10 innings in two starts since returning to the majors. One of those starts was against the Braves who scored six runs over 5 1/3 innings. That was however the only start since he returned to the majors that he didn’t allow a home run (against the league leading home run team no less!). The Braves have the following career numbers against him:

• Austin Riley 5-18, 2B, HR, 7 K
• Matt Olson 2-8, K, 2 BB
• Ronald Acuña Jr. 1-7, 3 K, 2 BB
• Eddie Rosario 3-7, 2 2B, K, BB
• Orlando Arcia 1-5, 2B
• Marcell Ozuna 2-6
• Travis d’Arnaud 2-6, 2B, K
• Sean Murphy 2-2, BB
• Luke Williams 0-2, K
• Michael Harris II 1-2, K
• Kevin Pillar 0-2

Bryce Elder makes his 25th start for the Braves tonight. Over 138 innings he has a 3.46 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.210 WHIP and a 130 ERA+. After a rough start to the month of August (12 runs, 10 earned, 9 1/3 innings) Elder rebounded in his last start allowing one hit, three walks and no runs over seven innings of work against the Yankees last week. He missed the Mets last weekend but did face them back in June where he allowed four runs from four hits, including two homers, over six innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Jeff McNeil 0-4, K, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 1-4, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 1-2, HR, BB
• Daniel Vogelbach 0-3, 3 K
• Pete Alonso 1-4, HR
• Omar Narváez 1-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. DJ Stewart. Stewart hit another homer last night. In his last six games, five starts, eh has gone 8-for-20 with five homers (1.150 SLG). He would have had a seventh homer if the Cardinals didn’t rob him on Sunday afternoon. Stewart is making the most of his extended audition with the Mets. The longer he keeps this up, the easier it is to start to wonder if the Mets found lightning in a bottle. I did not have DJ Stewart trying a Hail Mary save of the Mets season on my 2023 bingo card.
2. The Mets bullpen bounced back! The Mets bullpen had a rough Sunday. It was rough enough to make the hope and optimism that was emerging throughout the week disappear. Last night the bullpen pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and a walk. Is momentum building?
3. Jeff McHits. From March 30th to August 4th McNeil hit .251/.324/.324. From August 5th to last night night McNeil is hitting .358/.405/.537. McNeil recorded three hits last night for the second time in three games, it was also his third multi-hit game in his last four. The Mets have desperately needed another veteran hitter to step up with Alonso, Lindor and Nimmo all season to keep this offense going. We’re just glad to see McNeil start to drag his season numbers closer to his career marks.

Let’s Go Mets!