213 Miles From Shea

The Mets are coming off of a three game sweep of the Phillies and look to extend their winning streak to four games tonight as they take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Mets starting pitching rotation had a major turnover this past off-season with three major pitchers (deGrom, Walker and Bassitt) leaving the team as free agents. The Mets faced off against Taijuan Walker yesterday and tonight they draw Chris Bassitt as he makes his Citi Field return.

Justin Verlander looks to move beyond his last start where he allowed six runs over five innings. It was the second time in three starts that he allowed six runs over five innings of work. Both of these terrible starts were preceded by a start where Verlander allowed exactly one run over at least seven innings. If the pattern continues, Verlander should have a good start today. Overall this season he has a 4.80 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.100 WHIP and 87 ERA+ over 30 innings. Verlander faced the Blue Jays last April and allowed three runs from four hits and a walk over six innings of work. The Blue Jays have the following career numbers against him:

• Whit Merrifield 5-24, 2B, BB, 7 K
• Matt Chapman 1-20, HR, 2 BB, 10 K
• George Springer 5-13, HR, BB, 5 K
• Kevin Kiermaier 1-11, 5 K
• Bo Bichette 0-6, BB, 3 K
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1-6
• Brandon Belt 1-3

Chris Bassitt has pitched 66 1/3 innings with a 3.80 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 1.146 WHIP and a 109 ERA+ this season. Bassitt has already had three different seasons in 2023. After allowing nine runs in his first start he settled in for a good April where he had a 3.03 ERA, 4.20 FIP over 29 2/3 innings and five games. Then Bassitt became the best pitcher in baseball for three consecutive starts, allowing no runs from nine hits and seven walks over 23 innings while striking out 20 (2.86 FIP). In his last two starts he has allowed 13 runs, nine earned. It is a fair question to ask – which Bassitt do the Mets see tonight? The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Eduardo Escobar 2-9, 2 2B, BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-9, HR, K
• Daniel Vogelbach 2-5, HR, 2 BB, K
• Starling Marte 0-5, BB, K
• Tommy Pham 0-1, BB, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Canha Szn. Mark Canha has turned a corner the last week and is entering a hot streak. Over his last seven games he has gone 7-for-19 at the plate with two homers and five walks hitting .368/.520/.684. He’s now homered in back-to-back games and has six RBI’s in the last two games. The Mets have only scored eight runs those games!
2. The Mets bullpen is bouncing back. Last weekend was a rough one for the Mets bullpen. Due to the Mets game script, the Mets top relievers were also left out of a bunch of the games. The Mets needed to heavily rely on Ottavino and Robertson for the first two games in the Phillies series, which meant that the rest of the Mets bullpen needed to get the job done yesterday in a close game. To quote the SNY broadcast, the law firm of Brigham, Raley and Smith were able to get the final six outs and allowed only one hit.
3. Starling Marte could set a personal record for stolen bases. In 2016 and 2021 Starling Marte recorded 47 stolen bases. Yesterday he stole his 16th stolen base on the season. This would put him right around 45 for the season if he continues at his current pace. There is no one else close to Marte right now. Pham is second on the team with five stolen bases and is only in second because he stole two bases in one game recently.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for a series sweep this afternoon! So far the Mets have beat the Phillies 2-0 and 4-1 this week. In the first game the Mets got an excellent start from Kodai Senga. Last night the Mets got an amazing start from Carlos Carrasco (his second in a row) and outstanding performance from Mark Canha. Canha hit his fourth homer on the season and recorded all four RBI’s in the game.

Senga, Carrasco and Canha have all made their mark on this series. Who will be hero today?

Max Scherzer looks to lock down the Phillies offense this afternoon as he makes his ninth start of the season. Over 40 2/3 innings this season, Scherzer has a 3.54 ERA, 4.64 FIP, 1.131 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Scherzer pitched 22 2/3 innings over his first five starts with a 5.56 ERA and a 6.28 FIP with opponents hitting .259 against him (.851 OPS). Since then, over three starts, he’s pitched 18 innings with a 1.00 ERA and 2.56 FIP. Opponents are hitting .172 with a .486 OPS against him. Last season he made four starts against the Phillies with a 3.38 ERA over 24 innings while recording 29 strikeouts. The Phillies have the following career numbers against him:

• J.T. Realmuto 7-61, 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 18 K
• Bryce Harper 6-20, 2 2B, 3 HR, 5 BB, 9 K
• Nick Castellanos 3-20, 2 2B, BB, 10 K
• Kyle Schwarber 4-11, 2 HR, 4 BB, 4 K
• Edmundo Sosa 2-8, 4 K
• Bryson Stott 6-7, 2B
• Brandon Marsh 0-3, 2 K

The Mets bats will face off against old friend today as Taijuan Walker makes his first start against the Mets as a member of the Phillies. Walker had two seasons as one of more reliable starters in the Mets rotation, making 58 starts and pitching over 150 innings in both seasons. Walker earned his first All-Star with the Mets and overall had a 3.98 ERA, 4.11 FIP and a 99 ERA+.

This season Walker has made 11 starts totaling 53 1/3 innings with a 5.57 ERA, 5.16 FIP, 1.463 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. When you look at his game logs, they look very Walker-like. In the month of May he had two very good starts, one where he allowed one run over six innings, another where he allowed no runs over 5 1/3 innings. He also has a start where he allowed eight runs over 3 1/3 and four runs over just 2/3 innings. Which Walker will show up against the Mets today? The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Tommy Pham 1-9, BB, K
• Mark Canha 3-5, HR, BB
• Francisco Lindor 1-6, K
• Starling Marte 0-2, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 1-3, 2B
• Eduardo Escobar 0-2

Things To Watch For:

1. Mets feasting on Quality Starts. The Mets improved to 15-0 when their starting pitcher tosses a quality start. When Scherzer started this season, he was struggling to get to the sixth inning. More recently he has looked like himself. Can Scherzer give the Mets the chance today to further improve this record to 16-0?
2. Mets bats could help out the back of the bullpen today. After having several days off in a row, Robertson and Ottavino had to go in back to back games to start this series. Robertson has tossed 38 pitches and started to look a bit gassed by the end of his outing yesterday. Ottavino only needed 6 pitches yesterday (17 in his last two games), so he’s probably good to go if needed today. Leone, Brigham, Drew, Hunter, Nogosek all haven’t pitched in the last three calendar days (four days for Drew). Hopefully the Mets bats can give enough of a cushion to use other bullpen arms today.
3. The Mets are showing their defensive chops. Last night Francisco Lindor made an excellent play in the field. The night before Brandon Nimmo reached over the wall and brought back a homerun. Francisco Álvarez is in the 86th percentile for pitch framing this year and has been praised for his ability to steal strike three calls. These things make the Mets that much more fun to watch!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Phillies gear up for game two tonight at Citi Field! Last night Kodai Senga gave the Mets his best performance of the year, pitching seven innings of one hit ball, holding the Phillies scoreless. More amazingly, he struck out nine batters while allowing zero walks, the one weakness in his game this season.

Tonight Carlos Carrasco will look to build off that momentum and try to secure a Mets series victory.

Carlos Carrasco is coming off of a great start himself. In five starts this season he has tossed 25 1/3 innings with a 6.75 ERA, 6.44 FIP, 1.421 WHIP and a 62 ERA+. His last time out he held the Cubs to one run and five hits over 6 2/3 innings, by far his best start of the season. Carrasco faced the Phillies once last year (almost exactly a year ago on May 27th) and allowed five runs from six hits over 5 2/3 innings, a game the Mets eventually won 8-6. The Phillies have the following career numbers against Carrasco:

• Nick Castellanos 12-49, 5 2B, 3 BB, 15 K
• Bryce Harper 2-9, BB, K
• Jake Cave 1-8, 3 K
• Trea Turner 6-8, 3 2B
• J.T. Realmuto 2-7, 2 K
• Kyle Schwarber 0-6, 3 K
• Alec Bohm 1-3, K
• Brandon Marsh 0-2, BB, 2 K

Aaron Nola makes his 12th start of the season today for the Phillies. Over 68 2/3 innings, Nola has a 4.59 ERA, 4.32 FIP, 1.121 WHIP and a 94 ERA+. Nola is having a weird month where he has been alternating between bad starts and good starts. Three times his month he has allowed at least four runs. Two times this month he has allowed exactly two runs. Every game this month he has pitched at least six innings. If the pattern continues he should have a good game against the Mets tonight. Nola faced the Mets five times last season totaling 29 1/3 innings with a 3.99 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Brandon Nimmo 12-43, 3B, HR, 11 BB, 16 K
• Jeff McNeil 12-39, 2B, HR, 5 BB, 9 K
• Pete Alonso 15-43, 3 2B, 5 HR, 3 BB, 12 K (1.159 OPS)
• Francisco Lindor 6-23, 2 2B, BB, 6 K
• Starling Marte 9-24, 2 2B, HR, 7 K
• Eduardo Escobar 2-9, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Tomás Nido 1-9, 5 K
• Daniel Vogelbach 3-8, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Mark Canha 1-6, 2B, K
• Brett Baty 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Mets and Quality Starts: The Mets improved to 14-0 last night when they get a quality start from a starting pitcher. During the free-fall period in April, the Mets couldn’t barely find a quality start. Now they are starting to get them more frequently. Carlos Carrasco joined the quality start club his last time out. Two quality starts in a row from Cookie will get a long way in calming anxiety around the Mets starting rotation.
2. Bryce Harper: The Mets will get their first look this season at Bryce Harper who is amazingly playing baseball again only 159 days after having Tommy John surgery. The Phillies are still exclusively using him as a DH right now and the Mets broadcast booth talked about how he could come back as a first basemen after the All-Star break since Rhys Hoskins is most likely out for the season. In his first 23 games this season, Harper is hitting .306/.406/.482 with a 145 OPS+.
3. Francisco Lindor: Lindor has been destroying the baseball this week hitting three homers in his last four games, becoming the second player on the Mets to reach double digits for homers. He’s the leader of this team and if he keeps getting hot at the same time that the Baby Mets are hot, the rest of the National League needs to watch out.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets return to Citi Field tonight after a mixed road trip. Some days the Mets got good starting. Other days they got good hitting. There were some games that had effective bullpen outings. The Mets are still looking to get a groove where all three parts of the team fire at the same time.

In the Mets two most recent losses, the bats were fully on and kept them in the game each night. Can the pitching keep up tonight?

Kodai Senga returns to the mound tonight. On the season he has made nine starts tossing 48 innings with a 3.94 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 1.521 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. He allowed three runs from six hits and five walks over five innings. Senga has a very high 5.8 BB/9 on the season but it is also paired with a high 11.4 K/9. Unfortunately the walks came back to hurt him in his last start. If he can keep his walk count lower tonight, he will have a solid chance to rack up another quality start and give the Mets a chance to win the game.

The Mets bats look to keep the momentum going against Ranger Suárez tonight. He’s made only three starts this season (11 innings), allowing 12 runs from 17 hits (9.82 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 2.000 WHIP and a 45 ERA+). His last outing was his deepest of the season. Ranger was able to pitch five innings and 85 pitches but still allowed five runs from five hits. His two starts against the Mets season were quite different from each other. He opened the season against the Mets, allowing three runs from five hits over 2 2/3 innings. Then last August he tossed a gem against the Mets, holding them to one run from three hits over seven innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Brandon Nimmo 3-10, 2 BB, K
• Pete Alonso 0-7, 3 BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 2-9, BB, K
• Francisco Lindor 1-6
• Mark Canha 1-3, BB, K
• Eduardo Escobar 3-5, 2B, HR
• Luis Guillorme 2-4
• Jeff McNeil 0-3, K
• Tomás Nido 0-2, 2 K
• Tommy Pham 0-1, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The back of the bullpen is rested, but not the middle inning crew. The Mets haven’t had to call on Adam Ottavino or David Robertson since Friday night. Brooks Raley tossed six pitches on Sunday and nothing on Saturday. So if Kodai Senga has a quality start, then the Mets are good. If Senga has an early exit that the Mets are going to have to use their overused arms. Brigham, Leone and Nogosek have each pitched on back to back days (and we know how that went).
2. Francisco Álvarez continues to crush it. In his last eight games Francisco has gone 12-for-30 with seven runs and 13 runs batted in. Seven of his 12 hits went for extra bases including five homers. He has an absurd 1.421 OPS during this stretch. Francisco got pushed higher up in the lineup by the end of the weekend, and he delivered.
3. Trea Turner’s struggles. Turner was the big acquisition for the Phillies this off-season. He had a big game on Saturday going to 2-for-5 at the plate hitting his second homer of the season. In his last nine games though he is hitting just .154/.195/.308. Overall this season he is hitting .243/.288/.383 with an 83 OPS+. Which Turner shows up tonight?

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Rockies play the rubber game of the series today! Last night the Mets went down 6-1 early, but mounted a fierce comeback that fell just slightly short. Álvarez hit an epic three run home run to tie the game at six runs and the Mets eventually went ahead 7-6, but then the Mets gave the lead right back and the Rockies held on to win 10-7.

Tylor Megill looks to lead the Mets to another series victory this afternoon. Over ten starts (50 innings) he has a 4.32 ERA, 5.45 FIP, 1.480 WHIP and a 97 ERA+. On May 12th and 18th he tossed back to back good games where he allowed a total of four runs, three earned, from eight hits over 11 innings. He took a step backwards in his last start allowing six run, four earned, over 3 2/3 innings. The Rockies have the following career numbers against him:

• Kris Bryant 0-4, BB, 3 K
• Randal Grichuk 0-4, BB
• Charlie Blackmon 0-1, BB
• C.J. Cron 1-3, K
• Elias Díaz 2-3
• Ryan McMahon 0-2, K
• Ezequiel Tovar 1-2

The Mets bats look to keep the offense rolling against Austin Gomber today. Over ten starts (50 innings) Gomber has a 6.48 ERA, 6.05 FIP, 1.460 WHIP and a 78 ERA+. He has given up a league leading 36 runs this season. Gomber had a stretch of four good starts in a row starting on April 24th and ending on May 12th where he pitched 23 2/3 innings with a 2.28 ERA, dropping his season ERA from 12.12 to 6.30. This includes a star against the Mets where he allowed two runs over six innings. Since then he has allowed eight runs from 12 hits over 10 innings. Gomber had a great start against the Mets last season, holding the Mets to two runs and seven hits over seven innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Tommy Pham 1-10, 2 BB, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 4-11, 2B, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-8, BB, 4 K
• Pete Alonso 1-6
• Tomás Nido 0-6, K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-6
• Mark Canha 1-5, K
• Eduardo Escobar 0-5
• Daniel Vogelbach 1-3, BB, K
• Brett Baty 0-3
• Jeff McNeil 1-3, 2B
• Francisco Álvarez 1-1, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Baby Mets drove the Mets offense yesterday. All three baby Mets were given a chance to start the game and went a combined 5-for-9. Álvarez did the most damage with his sixth double of the year and his sixth homer. Baty added his fifth double of the season. Vientos collected multiple hits. Will the Baby Mets be given another chance to shine today?
2. Pete Alonso keeps his homer lead. Jorge Soler for the Marlins has been heating up recently with 17 homers on the season. Max Munch added his 16th of the season yesterday. Pete Alonso responded by becoming the first player in the majors to reach the 20 homer mark. Insert eye emoji here when you start to extrapolate his end of season numbers.
3. Jeff McNeil has been getting hits in bunches. Since May 12th, McNeil has played in 15 games going 19-for-57 at the plate. Last night was his sixth time in that streak, second in his last three games, where he collected at least two hits. When McNeil started this stretch, he was only scoring once per game, if at all. In the last three games he has scored five times.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to extend their winning streak to three games tonight as they take on the Rockies for game two. Last night the Mets got another great start from Max Scherzer. The Mets bats came alive thanks to a homer from Francisco Lindor and a two-triple, three-walk day from Brandon Nimmo. Let’s keep it going tonight!

Justin Verlander is coming off of the best start by a Mets pitcher this season. Last Sunday he held the Guardians to only one run over eight innings, scattering three hits, while striking out five batters. Overall this season Verlander has pitched 25 innings with a 3.60 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 0.920 WHIP and a 156 ERA+. Six of the ten runs he’s allowed this season all came in the same start. The Rockies have the following career numbers against him:

• Mike Moustakas 12-71, HR, BB, 16 K
• C.J. Cron 5-29, 2B, HR, 8 K
• Jurickson Profar 1-16, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Charlie Blackmon 3-12, HR, BB, 4 K
• Randal Grichuk 0-6, 2 K
• Ryan McMahon 0-2, 2 K

Chase Anderson will be making his third start for the Rockies tonight. The veteran righty made his debut with Arizona, spent four years with Milwaukee and since then has bounced around between Toronto, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay and now Colorado. He started this season with the Reds, in May his contract was purchased by the Rays and then nine days later the Rockies selected him off waivers. His first start with the Rockies was brilliant – he allowed one hit and a walk over five innings. His last time out he allowed only two runs over 5 2/3 innings despite the Marlins racking up eight hits against him. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Starling Marte 16-37, 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K (1.218 OPS)
• Tommy Pham 4-15, 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• Brandon Nimmo 4-12, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• Pete Alonso 2-10, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Francisco Lindor 0-9, 2 BB, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2B, 2 BB, K
• Eduardo Escobar 2-8, 3 K
• Mark Canha 2-4, 2 2B, BB, K
• Daniel Vogelbach 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Aces High: Having Scherzer and Verlander on top of the rotation as a one-two punch was the whole hope for 2023. We got a glimpse of it last week as Scherzer and Verlander combined for a great day of doubleheader baseball. Last night Scherzer did his part. Can Verlander make one-two punch a thing tonight?
2. What’s going on with the veteran DH bats? Last night Buck put Vogelbach and Pham in the lineup and they combined for an 0-for-8 day at the plate. Vogelbach is now 3-for-29 in his last 11 games. Pham is now 4-for-31 over his last 13 games. Can it please be Vientos time now?
3. Creeping back to the top of hit by pitches. After the Mets sent Locastro down, the team stopped their epic pace of being hit by pitches. The Mets have been hit a few times in the last couple of days and are now tied for second in majors with the Mariners at 31. The Rays increased their lead in this dangerous category to 34 last night.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets head into Colorado tonight after salvaging their last game of the series against the Cubs. The bats last night showed everything that had been missing for the first two games. They strung hits together, there was a Pete Alonso homer, there were 10 runs on the board, fun times were had. Now the Mets look to use this as momentum and maybe get another winning streak going.

Max Scherzer heads back to the mound tonight. Over 33 2/3 innings he has a 4.01 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 1.188 WHIP and a 105 ERA+. He is coming off of a great start against Cleveland where he held the Guardians to three hits and no runs over six innings (his second quality start of the season). In Scherzer’s last two starts now he has allowed only one run over 11 innings. Max faced the Rockies last season in Queens and held them to one run over seven innings while striking out 11 batters. The Rockies have the following career numbers against him:

• Mike Moustakas 6-40, 2B, HR, BB, 13 K
• Charlie Blackmon 5-18, 2 HR, BB, 5 K
• Kris Bryant 2-16, 3B, 2 BB, 10 K
• Randal Grichuk 2-14, 6 K
• Jurickson Profar 2-11, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• C.J. Cron 4-14, 5 K
• Ryan McMahon 1-9, BB, 7 K
• Elias Díaz 0-4, 2 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Connor Seabold tonight. Over 11 games and four starts, Seabold has pitched 31 2/3 innings with a 5.97 ERA, 5.58 FIP, 1.642 WHIP and an 85 ERA+. As a starter only he has pitched 18 innings with a 6.50 ERA and 1.722 WHIP. Most of the damage to his season stats were done in his last two starts where he allowed 11 runs, 9 earned, over eight innings against the Reds and the Rangers. No one on the Mets has faced him in a major league game yet.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete Alonso keeps hitting bombs. After going silent for a couple of nights, Pete Alonso hit his 19th homer of the season, four ahead of Max Muncy and Jorge Soler who are tied for second. Alonso now has 45 RBI’s on the season which is good for third in the majors (leading the national league) and is slugging .559 (7th in the majors). Can he get to 20 homers before the month is over?
2. Can the Mets keep the hit parade going? The Mets came out swinging last night and recorded 15 hits on their way to scoring 10-runs. The Mets offense has gone through a walk phase and a power phase so far this season but not a “everyone gets a hit phase” yet. Every starter last night recorded at least one hit with Álvarez, Nimmo, Alonso and Marte each recording two. Jeff McNeil went 3-for-4 on the night and scored three times.
3. The Mets are stealing bases again. At the start of the season the Mets were stealing bases at a good clip, but so was the entire league. When the Mets entered their month long slump, they essentially stopped stealing. On the season they have 35 stolen bases, tied for 14th with the Braves. Last night they stole three bases. Marte stole his 14th base (he has a huge percentage of the team’s total stolen bases), McNeil got his third stolen base of the season and Alonso stole his first.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to avoid the sweep tonight as they take on the Cubs for the last game of the series. The Mets offense failed to get off the ground last night for the second game in a row. Despite a two run homer from Álvarez, the Mets couldn’t get anything else going last night and lost a winnable game 4-2.

Can the Mets escape Chicago with a win?

Carlos Carrasco makes his second start since returning from the injured list. Over four games (18 2/3 innings) Carrasco has a 8.68 ERA, 6.97 FIP, 1.554 WHIP and a 49 ERA+. His last start was not good – he allowed five runs from five hits and two walks while struck out three over five innings of work. He is now in the 4th percentile for expected ERA, 18th for expected batting average, 7th for expected slugging and 8th for barrel percentage. The Cubs have the following career numbers against him:

• Dansby Swanson 1-10, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Tucker Barnhart 2-8, K
• Ian Happ 2-8, 2B, 3 K
• Trey Mancini 2-6, K
• Cody Bellinger 1-3, 2B, K
• Seiya Suzuki 1-3, 2 K
• Yan Gomes 1-2
• Christopher Morel 0-1, BB
• Patrick Wisdom 0-1, BB

Kyle Hendricks returns to the mound for the Cubs for the first time since early July of last year. He has been recovering from a capsular tear. Before his injury last year he made 16 starts (84 1/3 innings) with a 4.80 ERA, 4.82 FIP, 1.292 WHIP and an 85 ERA+. In five rehab starts with Iowa this season he has a 5.75 ERA and 1.328 WHIP. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Starling Marte 6-26, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Tommy Pham 7-22, 2 HR, BB, 5 K
• Eduardo Escobar 5-14, 2 2B, 3B, 2 BB, 3 K
• Daniel Vogelbach 5-11, 2B, 3 K
• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, K
• Francisco Lindor 0-6, 2 K
• Mark Canha 0-2, BB
• Jeff McNeil 1-3, HR, K
• Gary Sánchez 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Veteran DH Slumps. Vogelbach has gone 2-for-18 in his last eight games. While has worked four walks, a .273 OBP and .111 SLG is not what you want from your DH. Tommy Pham is 4-for-27 in his last 12 games. He’s also worked four walks to a .250 OBP and a .185 SLG. When Baty and Álvarez first came up, it took Buck about a week or so to turn them into regular starters. At some point Ventos needs to get the lion’s share of the starts at DH, especially if these are the numbers Vogelbach and Pham are producing.
2. Álvarez is destroying the ball right now. On May 9th Álvarez hit two homers. Since then (11 games) he has gone 11-for-37 with two doubles and five homers slashing .297/.381/.757. At some point he will get out of the nine hole in the lineup.
3. At some point the back end of the bullpen will need to pitch. After being overworked last week, Robertson and Ottavino have been off since Sunday. They are getting near the point that they will have to pitch even if the game doesn’t dictate their usage.

Let’s Go Mets!

Tonight the Mets look to start a new winning streak. The Cubs beat the Mets 7-2 in a game the Mets fell behind early and could not claw their way back into. Kodai Senga was pushed back from yesterday’s start to continue to give him an extra day of rest between starts (because his next start would have been on regular rest). Tylor Megill was not his best and allowed six runs, four earned, in 3 2/3 innings. The bullpen, which has been overtaxed recently, kept the Mets in the game but this is not how the Mets wanted to start this road trip.

Tonight the Mets look to put last night behind them as they take on an old friend, Marcus Stroman.

Kodai Senga has pitched 43 innings (eight starts) this season with a 3.77 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 1.442 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. Senga is coming off by far his best game of the season where he allowed one run in six innings while striking out 12 Rays. He has now tossed three quality starts on the season, including two of his last three games. Senga’s 12 K’s in his last start has brought him to 55 on the season, good for a 11.5 K/9. He also limited his walks last time to only three (26 on the season), which raised his K/BB ratio to 2.12.

Marcus Stroman has made ten starts pitching 56 innings this season with a 3.05 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.143 WHIP and a 143 ERA+. This is a slightly better line than his last season with the Mets where he had a 3.02 ERA. 3.49 FIP, 1.145 WHIP and 133 ERA+ over 33 starts (one of the Mets more reliable pitchers that season). Stroman has allowed two runs or fewer in eight of his ten starts this year including three times that he has shutout opponents. In the other two starts he allowed 11 of the 19 total runs he’s given up this season. He faced the Mets once last year allowing one run from one hit in 4 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Francisco Lindor 6-21, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Eduardo Escobar 4-17, 2 2B, BB, 2 K
• Tommy Pham 5-8, 2B, 3 BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 1-6
• Brandon Nimmo 1-2, 3 BB
• Mark Canha 1-3
• Pete Alonso 1-2, 2B
• Jeff McNeil 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brandon Nimmo hot streak loading? While most of the Mets offense was asleep last night, Brandon Nimmo went 3-for-4 at the plate with a a double and a run scored. It was his fifth game in a row that he recorded a hit. There have been six times this season when Nimmo has followed up a multi-hit game with another multi-hit game!
2. The back of the bullpen is rested and ready to go. While the Mets bullpen needed to put a lot of work in last night, that work was contained to Leone and Nogosek (and a sprinkling of Brigham). Robertson, Ottavino and Raley have each had two full days of rest. Smith has had four full days of rest.
3. Pete Alonso doing Pete Alonso things. Pete Alonso was the Mets offense last night driving in both runs. He hit his major league leading 18th homer of the season, which now gives him a three homer lead over Max Muncy who is in second.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are riding high right now with five consecutive wins. The Mets have been “never say die” during the stretch, coming back from behind in almost all of their wins and winning each game by only one run. Now the Mets will look to extend their winning streak to six games as they take on the Cubs in Chicago.

Kodai Senga has pitched 43 innings (eight starts) this season with a 3.77 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 1.442 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. Senga is coming off by far his best game of the season where he allowed one run in six innings while striking out 12 Rays. He has now tossed three quality starts on the season, including two of his last three games. Senga’s 12 K’s in his last start has brought him to 55 on the season, good for a 11.5 K/9. He also limited his walks last time to only three (26 on the season), which raised his K/BB ratio to 2.12.

The Mets bats will look to keep their momentum going against Drew Smyly. Smyly is off to a tremendous start posting a 2.86 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 0.934 WHIP (league leading) and a 153 ERA+ over 50 1/3 innings this year. In two starts against the Mets last year he allowed four runs, only two earned over 9 1/3 innings scattering nine hits while striking out nine. The Mets have the following career numbers against Smyly:

• Eduardo Escobar 8-14, 2B, 4 HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 5-15, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Starling Marte 4-15, 2 2B, 3 K
• Mark Canha 1-12, BB, 3 K
• Pete Alonso 3-11, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-10, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Daniel Vogelbach 2-8
• Jeff McNeil 0-5, 2 BB, K
• Tommy Pham 1-5, HR
• Mark Vientos 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets are feasting on quality starts now. The Mets were last in the majors in quality starts going into this win streak. They’ve now had four quality starts in their last five games including Justin Verlander’s eight inning performance on Sunday night. We saw this past week how tired and overworked the Mets bullpen has been. Eventually the pen was going to hit some trouble due to the sheer volume of work they’ve needed to do. The Mets look to keep the quality starts trend going tonight and keep the bullpen rested. Also, the Mets are 10-0 when they get a quality start.
2. Mets power numbers are climbing. The Mets are tied for 14th now with 54 homers and 18th in slugging with .391 on the season. In the last week though the Mets are tied for first place in homers (13, with the Rays) and are in 5th in slugging at .468. This is not surprising as the home run has been the Mets calling card during this current win streak.
3. Francisco Lindor has another multi-hit game. Francisco Lindor had another multi-hit game in the night cap on Sunday. In his last eight games he has gone 11-for-35 with three doubles and a homer (.314/.333/.486). This was his fourth multi-hit game during this eight game stretch.

Let’s Go Mets!